Standing Tall

I've been hesitating a post because I kept hoping for good news, and while I have some (interviewed my favorite Ice Girl tonight) it isn't exactly the news I was hoping for. I try to stay away from this phrase, but I think it's fair to say: The Stars are in a slump.

The month of February was a good one. The team went 8-2-1, with some of our best long-term hockey since we opened the season. However, coming out of February has been disastrous. Tippet can't find harmony with the lines, the lines can't find harmony with each other, and the goals our team is barely posting 1.5 goals per game. To top that off our league best lowest goals record has shit the bed dropping 9 points in the last two games to bring us 3 behind the Devils and tied with Detroit, yeah you heard me right, the Red Wings. Just a week ago we had 9 goals on the ladies in red, and now we're holding hands with them.

Now, I'm not pushing the panic button. I still believe if starting Friday at the Blue Jackets we can clean up our passes, target our shots better and actually pepper the net and not the post we can retake the Sharks, who are sub 500 hockey in the last 10, and overtake the Ducks, who are barely pulling ahead with single-point OTLs. But we can ill afford these games where we spend the first two periods watching the other team talley points and then try to come back in the third period. Want to know why we got beat 4-0 on Sunday? Because our previous 3 games had been 100 yard dashes at the end, because we couldn't concentrate, because our passing was inconsistent and because while our hearts are there, our minds are out picking daisies.

We have a contending team, no, we ARE a contending team. I want to see these boys walk out of their locker room tomorrow night, stand proudly on the ice in Columbus and stare down Brain Boucher, Fredrik Norrena & Pascal Leclaire and show them what we're made of, show them (whichever unlucky bastard ends up in the net) what it's like to play against a championship team.

And in honor of this joyous declaration I bring you one of the most classic "tough get going" speeches of all time, you'll recognize this from the 3rd period Jumbotron videos: