And The Page Turns - thoughts from the Cheap Seats

So now we have a new GM and a new coach.

What do we think about that?

Here are some general thoughts and points - let us know what you think below.

Obviously, there is a lot unknown. Would Tippett have been able to continue to have success in the regular season? Probably. Would he have been able to have success in the playoffs? Maybe. Maybe even probably. I think the conventional wisdom after Joe Nieuwendyk was brought in to be the lone GM in place of Les and Brett was that Tippett would be allowed at least a pre-season and a fair run in the relguar season to prove himself.

Didn't happen.

Earlier this week, Marc Crawford was named as the new gaffer for the Dallas Hockey Club, and now the questions are about his goals - how does he want to play, who does he want to play, how is he going to manage all the personalities.

Publicly he has said he wants a more offensive system, and it sounds like he wants to roll three - not the Dallas Stars traditional four - lines.

Crawford comes in with some significant skins on the wall.

Then again, those skins aren't hot off the presses, either.

Fair or not, some are going to look at this as "Marc had better win in the playoffs" - i.e., had better than Tip had been with his very consistent regular season success. Are you in that camp? I'm not sure I am, but I certainly see the validity of it.

Me? I like the fact that GM Joe is reputed to be smart, Bob Gainey-like. Obviously, that is a name that is well respected not only in Dallas, but throughout the game.

And I want to see GM Joe do with the Stars what we've (probably....) seen with the other Hicks team, the Texas Rangers - build the kind of foundation that is set for success for a long period of time.

And as we know, the Stars aren't - or, weren't - that far two seasons ago. How much of that was lost last season? Hard to tell.

But from my cheap seat, if GM Joe thinks we need to take a slight step back to redirect and have a more successful road ahead, and that means that Crawford takes a season to instill a new philosophy, management sees who gets on board and then fills the gaps, then I'm willing to give them the space to do that.

Now, I'll admit some trepidation - obviously, it is scary to walk away from what we knew was in all likelihood another solid regular season and, most likely, a good playoff push. There is a queasiness even as I write this. But the intellectual side of me is the stronger - at least in this discussion.

But enough about me and my egg-head. Where are you?

Sean Avery returns to New York-ish

Sean Avery has resurfaced as top news with his return from banishment.  He recently completed his NHL-Mandated anger management therapy and was added back to the Dallas Roster, forcing Dallas to send Chris Conner back to the minors.

Yesterday was an eventful day for Sean, starting with a plane trip to Dallas where he spent about 6 hours in town for a visit with the Stars team doctors to clear a medical release so he could play in the minors.  Concurrently the Stars announced that Sean had cleared waivers and rumors resumed regarding his placement in the AHL, where it was assumed he would join the Hartford Wolfpack to prove he was ready to play again.

This morning the rumors were confirmed that New York wanted Sean back as his first practice with the Wolfpack began and quotes were released from GM Glen Sather, Sean Avery, and Rangers coach Tom Renny:

"I would like to thank Glen Sather and the Rangers organization for giving me the chance to resume my hockey career by affording me this opportunity with the Hartford Wolf Pack. I am looking forward to getting back on the ice, working my way back to the NHL and playing the game I love. While I appreciate the many interview requests, at this point in time, I would like to focus on hockey and will not be making any further statements while with the Wolf Pack." - Sean Avery

"Sean and the Dallas Stars approached me looking for an American Hockey League team for him to resume playing, and I am happy to provide him with the opportunity to continue his career. Sean was a good player for the Rangers during his time here and has worked extremely hard off the ice over the last two months. He remains under contract to and property of the Stars, therefore, any further comment would be inappropriate." - Glen Sather

"Sean's a good hockey player. He can help anybody he plays for, there's no question about that.  This is a guy who could play and was a great teammate, and was always there for his teammates and laid it on the line every single night. How could you not admire that?" - Tom Renny

I know Avery did well in New York the past 2 years, but doesn't it sound a bit too much like Renny is hoping Sean is the Rangers' love child?  During his time in the AHL, then Detroit, then the LA Kings and finally here in Dallas the only person to speak so highly of Sean was Brett Hull, and you can see how that worked out for him.  Doesn't this make you wonder, exactly what kind of "anger management" therapy do the Rangers' front office actually think he went through?

One last thing to remember, New York, this is not a done deal.  When they decide they are ready for him he has to go back through recall waivers, which is where they are expected to claim him and will assume half his salary.  Before they can claim him, however, EVERY TEAM in the league that is lower in the standings then them will have an opportunity to claim him.  Les Jackson is rumored to have stated other teams have an interest in Sean.

The question is, which team has the balls to actually take him on?

Remarks from a Rangers fan - after the Stars dramatic loss to Martin Broduer and John Madden

... because really, those are the two guys that owned the game!  After a game like last night it's hard to find anything worth talking about - I think most fans want to take our referee chants (like A rope, a tree, lets hang the referee) and reword them for ... well ... ANYONE on the Stars.

But as I skimmed through the blogs and news articles on the web I found this great one from the perspective of a Rangers fan who wanted to follow the Avery Circus around the New York area:

What resulted was a clinical dissection of Dallas by Jersey's regimented offense in front of maybe, maybe 7,000 fans. The Dallas Stars that beat the Rangers on Monday were nowhere to be found, as were the Devil fans, who stayed away in droves. On the ice, the Marty Turco that was there to stop every Blueshirt break through the Star defense didn't show up. The Turco who made it to Newark pulled himself grossly out of position twice to allow a pair of amateurish goals on his way to being yanked for a Swedish kid who had 110 minutes of NHL time before taking the Rock ice.

To be fair, Scotty Hockey, the blogger responsible for this well-written description of our boys' (yes, last night they were truly boys) foul attempt to play AHL level hockey, was as mean to the Devils as he was to the Stars; the difference was it seemed his hatred towards the Devils was of a rivalry, and his distasteful words for the Stars were purely driven by their untoward play.

They looked so awkward on the ice last night that each and every one of the contracts should be nullified.  In fact, I have a new way to pay them - purely based on their performance each game:

• Their first goal of the game, a player earns $10,000.  Each goal there-after earns double the previous payment, thus, goal 2 is worth $20,000, goal 3 is worth $40,000 and goal 5 would then be worth $160,000.
• First Assists are worth 25% of that goal's value, second Assists are worth 50% of that.  However, this amount comes out of the player's check who scores the goal.  Thus, the player who scores his 5th goal in a game must pay $40,000 to whomever got the First Assist and $20,000 for the Second Assist.  This still earns the goal scorer $100,000 for that goal; nevermind how much they earned for their first 4.
• Hits would also be worth something, lets say $500 to start, thereafter they can grow exponentially as well.

Goalies are a bit more difficult, they don't make hits, usually don't make assists, and almost never make goals.  Goalies could get paid by ...

• The saves.  Let's say a goalie blocks 30 shots in a game: $1,500 per blocked shot would earn them $45,000 for that game (which, by the way, is worth $3.7mil per year).
• Not all saves are equal though - lets say a save based on a turnover which gives the offense a 2-on-1 advantage: $1,750; 3-on-1 $2,000.  Penalty shot?  $3,000 - and the extra $1,500 comes from the player who is serving the penalty!

This is BY NO MEANS an exact or fully-thought out system, but something like this is SURE to force players to work smarter, not harder; not only that but it will force players who play as abysmal as our boys did last night leave the league if they can't begin to perform - for it's those players who would be paying the other players' salaries.

Do I think this would actually work?  Not likely, but it's something to think about.  Do I want this to happen to the Stars?  No, but I'm at a loss what else could make them pull their heads out of those cavities they've found themselves in and begin playing like the skilled TEAM that they truly are.

Scotty Hockey, thanks for the inspiration to write this column today.  I really wasn't in the mood but the minute I read your post I became filled with such rage at my boys that the above filth just started pouring out.

Hey Stars, how about tonight against the Islanders you actually show up, as the proud NHL players that you are, and just ENJOY yourselves.  We go through this every season - you forget to ENJOY hockey and you go on a skid.  Last March, you forgot, but the minute you remembered you actually made it to the Western Conference Finals.  This October you've forgotten, and now you're risking your chances of ... well ... they say you can't make the playoffs in October, but you can sure make it difficult to do so if you keep this up.

Avery after Rangers game

I'm actually really impressed with Avery's post game with the MSG Network.  I've always thought of him as a meat-head for the other teams and I said here he needs to prove he can control himself and he needs to prove he can be more than a big hitter.

I was pleasantly surprised when, in preparation for the visit to NY the Stars (or Avery directly, I'm not sure which) released this message to the NY media:

Thank you all for your inquires and requests for interviews. I also wanted to thank you guys for the great work you did in the coverage while I was here; I appreciate your enthusiasm about the team and the game in general. In my effort to focus on the game at hand, I would prefer not to do a lot of interviews so please accept this statement in lieu of full court press.
I extremely enjoyed my time in NY playing for the Rangers. Jim Dolan runs a first-class organization, the fans are as passionate and as tough as they come, and they make MSG a very special place to play and call home. I wish the Rangers all the best and I hope that they have a great season. I have no animosity towards anyone in this organization for not bringing me back; that is sometimes how things work out. On the other side of the coin, however, I am very happy to now be a member of the Dallas Stars organization. This team is one any player would be lucky to be a part of, and I think we have a very exciting and positive season ahead of us.

Then, I was more pleased upon seeing how he reacted to the Rangers' choice of himself as one of their main targets.  Although he was involved in a couple of good hits he kept to himself and did his best for his team.  No goals, no assists, but no major penalties, no game misconduct, no loud mouthing and this well spoken interview where he even talked decently about some of the more vocal Rangers who recently talked about him:

ok, maybe he didn't talk decently about Vliquette ... hah!

Brunnstrom proves Star Qualities (and receives NHL Star of the Week honors)

Hyped all summer as the "Next Big Thing" Brunnstrom overcomes what many expected to be a wash and provides the NHL with enough ammunition to name him Third Star of the Week.

Just before his debut I was watching Brunnstrom warm up during the pregame from the first row on the glass.  I leaned over to my girlfriend and asked if she knew why I was excited about the kid.  The answer is simple, "in a couple years this kid will be a superstar" I explained to her; to which she shrugged with interest but not the gut feeling I had.  I don't know if you've had a chance to see this kid on the ice yet, NHL ice that is, but he really does have what it takes.

In the Traverse City rookie tournament (this thing really needs a contest name, is "Rookie Tournament" widely accepted as that?) he was described as "less than stellar" by himself and many critics agreed as he posted only four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in four games.  You read that right, with four points in four games he and the critics have described his performance there as sloppy and under whelming.  If only all our players were judged that way!

Not wanting to rush Brunnstrom before he was ready Tippet sat him for the first two games of the season.  When the Stars couldn't make the grade he was put into the line up.  That's the night I described above, a foretelling of the future for this player, directly before his first ever point, goal and subsequently hat trick as an NHL player.

Maybe the European ice did him good - IIHF & Olympic standards, which are used in Europe, define the ice as approximately 95 feet wide by 197 feet long; the NHL uses a rink size of 85 feet wide and 200 feet long.  While ten feet sounds small to us who don't play everyone I talk to describes the size difference as huge.  As I sit here considering the possibilities it makes sense: when driving on the highway you have to pay attention to as many as 6 lanes, watching cars weave in and out of their lanes, many without turn signals; now put yourself on a small 2 way road with one lane in each direction and consider how much easier it is to focus on the road with the fewer amount of lanes.  Of course, the argument could be turned around when consider the same amount of players are on the road - errr - ice.

So here he stands, in 3 games the rookie has tallied 4 goals in 10 shots with line-mates of Morrow, Richards, Avery, Peterson ... I won't suggest what NHL awards he'll get or which NHL superstar he'll be "the next", but does anyone else consider perhaps this is our next "go to" offensive offenseman?

Know who else thinks I may be on the right track?  James Mirtle, while discussing this years early candidates for the Calder Trophey suggest Fabian's debut, which included that slick little hat track was an eye-opener in what was supposed to be a given for Steven Stamkos.

Jason Arnott to miss Wednesday's game

For those of you who care to remember game #2 for the Stars you'll recall a certain fan favorite showing us what we're missing ... yes, I'm talking about Jason Arnott.

Allow me to first say the following two disclaimers:

1. I do not approve of the taking of pleasure in someone else's injury.
2. I do not approve of basking in a win over a competitor who is missing their top player(s)

That said, Jason Arnott will THANKFULLY not be on the ice Wednesday night due to a fracture in one of the fingers on his right hand [ Tennessean ].  I enjoy seeing Jason on the ice as much as the next guy (more likely girl, he always had a way with the ladies!) but he absolutely kept us in our place on Saturday night.

The Stars need this win: mentally for themselves and physically for their fans.  There is no two ways about it, we need to win.  I know it's only game 3 of 82 before the playoffs, but it's not healthy to be where we are right now - these are hard points to make up in the points racing leading up to the playoffs, and a losing skid is not a good way to start the season, especially not for a team being touted as Stanley Cup contenders [ Hockey News ].

Jason, you're welcome back later in the season, after we've gotten our feet under us again - and please, get better soon, just not by Wednesday!

At least we're not the Canucks!

AKA: YAY!  CENTER ICE!!

To start off, my girlfriend let me buy Center Ice.  This may not be profound to you young, single guys but to you married types I'm sure you understand.  So much thanks to the Best Girlfriend in the World^TM!  It does help that she loves hockey; Stars hockey!

On to the title I chose to use.  The stars are off to a rough season.  The more I think about it the more I feel like we've lost our chemistry (except Ribs).  I was talking to one of my coworkers the other day and I described it as this: "It looks like a bunch of skilled hockey players who were just put together for the first time ... All Star Game, slightly less skill."

I'm sure different people will argue it differently, and when it comes down to it, there are different thoughts on each player, but as an overall explanation, I think that's what it comes down to.

I did comment on one specific player - and it's not totally his fault.  We're only two games in so far but Mike Ribeiro has been billed as "the play maker".  Forgive me if I add "the Five Million Dollar play maker".  I'm all about giving players the chance to have a slump, the chance to be over-billed ... I'm not the kind of guy who normally holds on to things like this - but WHERE ARE You RIBS!

The Fanatics LOVE Ribs.  We chant for him, we cheer for him, we hold inappropriate signs for him.  But in the 2 games plus the pre-season I've seen NOTHING spectacular from him.  Not a single thing.

On the positive side, here's a player whose name you don't hear me chanting very often ... Trevor Daley.  After two games Daley has the most points on the team - with one goal per game.  DALEY!  TWO GOALS!  TWO GAMES!  That's not an average, ladies and gentlemen, that's a statistic!  Think he'll come anywhere near keeping it up?

As for the title of the post?  In jumping around Center Ice tonight I watched the final 10 minutes of the Capitals hosting the Canucks ... who had 10 shots on goal for the night.  Yes, 10 shots FOR THE NIGHT.  Come on Stars fans, we're off to a slow start, but when is the last time you said that about your team?

Allow me to make a prediction - this slow start sucks, but it won't last.  The boys are building confidence and chemistry ... while we, as fans, don't see why the chemistry and confidence were gone, it was.  Another week of practice, playing and Tippett's foot up their ass ... you'll see the Stars you thought you'd see on opening night.