Richards' Debuts as a TRUE STAR

Jeff Halpern had a goal and an assist in his first outing with Tampa , so Brad Richards had to out-do his performance with five assists . Richards played great . Ric "Bad Hair" Renner asked Richards before the game where he thought he would fit with the team . He said that he did not know , he just wanted to be a positive for the team and not a distraction . I would have to say things were definately positive . In an interveiw with Tippett , he was (again) asked about Richards and responded with we got a player to help the team , not just for one other player . It is all about the team . I was impressed with his evemindedness . I was very annoyed that the media were already calling it "The Brad Richards Era" . That is not a good way to start things . It is a good way to annoy fans (or at least , annoy me) .
The game itself started exactly like every other Stars game , with a faceoff . No , really , the game really did have an exciting first shift . Ribs , Mittens and The Cap'n were robbed by Lalime on their first shift . Ott , Lehtinen and Mo came out next shift and they kept the pressure going . Lundqvist took a penalty later for a Hawks powerplay . Turco got too far away from the net on the resulting powerplay and did not get back fast enough to stop Byfluglien's shot . Hagman , Miettinen and Richards take the ice a short time later and Hagman makes a beautiful play by passing off to Richards as he drives the net and Richards makes the retun pass to Hagman for a tip in right behind Lalime . Both teams were energized by the goals and the thought of a tight scoring and fast paced game . Both teams played very fast paced hockey but Our Stars definately had the advantage . Modano skated in the offensive zone and took a pass from a Hawk player and buried in the back of the net for a two-one score . Our Stars' first powerplay seemed to be all passing and no shots . That sounds too familiar . This period was still all Stars . They attacked hard and the only Hawk player who seemed interested in attacking our net was Toews . Our Stars did not really dominate , but the Hawks had trouble with the puck often .
The second period showed that Our Stars had no intention of backing off ofensively . Again , Richards , Miettinen and Hagman had a great three way passing play and Hagman scored another goal . Ribs , Eriksson and The Cap'n seemed encouraged by this and carry on the momentum . They barged right in the Hawks zone and with even more beautiful passing , Eriksson scores his twelfth goal of the season . Our Stars did not relent on their attacks . Richards and Daley connected and finish off Lalime's night of work with Daley's third goal of the season . The Hawks later went on the powerplay yet again , but they just could not find the net , despite a huge amount of time in Our Stars' zone . Richards and Hagman had YET ANOTHER fabulous chance in the last seconds of the period , but Hagman's stick was liberated from his hand without a penalty call .
The third period started with the Hawks so far down a hole there was no way they could ever dig themselves out . But they tried . Our Stars seemed to relax a little but things changed quickly after Rene Bourque scored a short handed marker . Our Stars' earned a powerplay that ended with Hagman scoring his first NHL hat trick . On a RARE entrance to Our Stars zone , Ladd manages to get off a lucky shot that beat Turco for the Hawks' third goal . Eriksson , Ribs and The Cap'n went out and had a very violent shift . On the very next shift , Ott is attacked by Seabrook and Ott only really mouthed at him between linesmen . Our Stars went on the powerplay for Barker's misdeeds . That powerplay started with The Cap'n PUMMELING Adam Burish . He needs to remember who took on the WHOLE freakin' Canucks' bench last season . Don't mess with The Cap'n . Our Stars are awarded a five-on-three powerplay and it ends when Lehtinen hits a yawning net . The Hawks did not give up and attack as hard as they could . A freak accident occurred and Bourque scored with a primary asstit by Norstrom . That would prove to be the final goal of the very lopsided affair .

Blockbuster Trades DO Pay Dividends ;

This game was a rout no matter how you look at it . The Hawks were missing some key players but that is not an excuse for their lack of pressure or their lack of puck hounding . No matter where the puck was the Hawks were almost lethargic around it . They rarely stole the puck and broke up plays . It almost seemed that they played the game lying down . They truly did not play well . Not that I mind our opponents playing poorly , I hope all our opponents play badly . Hagman's hat trick was a great thing for him to earn . He is a fabulous player and he really deserved it . He is alway playing hard and never gives up . Razor and Strangis have both said that he has an extra gear that no other player has . He certainly seems to have more drive than most . KUDOS NIKLAS ! I just wish I had been able to give him my hat , but alas , my seats were so good , I could not have tossed my hat to the ice because of the distance .
While Our Stars defense seemed to back off and be almost non-existant , when you are up by so many goals , it almost "just does not matter" .
Tippet seemed cautiously pleased with the win . I am sure he wants seven goals every night , but certainly not four against .
Brad Richards . How could I NOT write about him . An almost fight , winning most of his face-offs , threading-the-needle passing , five assists and roughly twenty minutes of ice time is one hell of a way to make a slpash on a team he had only practice with once . That and the fact that he only had one or two good sticks . The rest were all destroyed in the move down to Dallas . Talk about over-coming all odds !
I have visions of Stanley Cups dancing in my head after that fine performance . I hope those visions become reality .