Slumping, but is it really that bad?

A lot of speculation will continue to sprout up around the Stars with their current lack of ability to play 60 minutes, however, Scott Burnside has some interesting thoughts about it:

As bad as the Dallas Stars have been lately, it might actually help them. After sitting atop the Pacific Division and closing in on Detroit for the Western Conference lead, the Stars have lost four in a row and are 1-7-0 in their last eight. The team doesn't play again until Thursday, but are fifth in the conference, just one point ahead of Calgary. The problem for the Stars and Flames, and even Vancouver, is that finishing fifth almost certainly means a first-round date with defending Cup-champion Anaheim. That's not a good thing. Let's be honest -- finishing sixth and playing the winner of the Northwest Division, whether it's Minnesota or Calgary or Vancouver, is a much more palatable matchup.

His full article is actually about Coaches who need to take another look at their resumes, and yes, he does include Tippett, but only barely at the end:

Another highly regarded bench boss who needs a strong playoffs to ensure continued employment is Dave Tippett in Dallas. If the Stars falter, Tippett will move to the top of almost everyone's wish list.

I appreciate that Burnside only barely touches Tippet in this article, a lot of fans will call for his head, but have you seen what he's been doing to try to turn things around for this team? Easter Sunday was an off day for the Stars, but he had them on the ice working so hard that, Hagman tossed up his Easter breakfast and Robidas was slumped over at the end of practice (thanks Heika for those visuals).

For those calling on Tippett's head, maybe you're right. Maybe he just can't get these guys properly inspired for the long haul. Or maybe, with his first season not under Armstrong, and with a team who took a huge mental hit losing Mike Smith, Jeff Halpern and Jussi Jokinen, he needs a fresh start to the season.

I like Tippett, in fact, I'd call myself a Tippett fan and supporter (no, not like a bra, get your mind out of the gutter); but I hope he can turn things around so Hull, Jackson and ultimately Hicks, don't have to make a tough decision.

I'm pullin' for ya Stars, you can do it ... we know you can.

--The Wall

PS - Sorry for the lack of podcasts the past month. Scott and I have been incredibly busy and just can't seem to meet up. I promise, you'll get to hear our sexy voices once again soon ... well, soon-ish.

Steve Ott Suspended

First off , I want to warn you that I am about to break one of the cardinal rules of blogging . You know , the rule that says , “Never blog angry” . I am angry and you get to be the poor souls who are “unloaded” on . This blog maybe argumentative , but I can live with arguments .

My take on Steve Ott’s suspension is this ;

I am not here to argue whether the hit was legal or not . It does not matter any more but I will say that I have seen hits like that put on other players who were not injured and the player who gave the hit received no penalty or suspensions .
My whole fight about the hit and the suspension is the fact that when the hit was delivered , no penalty was assesed against Ott . That is mistake number one . Then THREE DAYS AFTER the game , he is suspended for the hit without pay because Leopold was injured . There is mistake number two .
The way I see it , either the NHL needs to come back and rescind the suspension or the officials who supposedly refereed the game need to come back and apologize for their failure on ice . Neither will happen because neither can be wrong .
The truth of the matter is somebody screwed up and somebody needs to have accountability for it . Refs are never punished because they ruined a game and Gary Bettman will never come out and say his staff was wrong . Hell will freeze solid before either happen .
If the refs apologize for their failure , then they would be acknowledging that they have made mistakes in hockey games that may have affected the outcome of the game and THAT could NEVER happen . They would publicly undermine everything that refs stand for , you know , ludicrous calls and the blind eye being turned on their favorite players’ obviously committed penalty . They would no longer be able to say that referees are infallible . But by failing to make the call in the first place and the suspension ensuing , they should have already done that for those who are paying attention . Sadly , only Stars fans are paying attention and not the NHL’s elite and that leads me into the next part of my complaint .
The NHL will never say that the suspension is wrong because if they do then they all look like fools for assessing it in the first place . They instead have made the referees look blind . The NHL is also infallible . They suspend Ott for his hit for three games with out pay because he injured Leopold’s pinky (or something equally weak) . Randy Jones probably ended Patrice Bergeons’s career and he was suspended for two games ! Of course the NHL is being fair . Consistency is the biggest problem here . If the NHL needs to wait for three days to see how badly the injured player was injured before handing out a suspension , then they need to do that with EVERY PLAYER’S suspension . They need to be even-handed with everything they do and not just do things under pressure from the NHL’s ‘darling teams’ . (It is NO secret that the Wings , Pens , Sens and Avs are the NHL’s darlings , in fact I challenge you to find a POSITIVE front page article on NHL.com about Our Dallas Stars or The Columbus Blue Jackets or ANY southern team ).

Whether the hit was clean or not , the NHL and the on-ice refs have both proven that somebody is wrong . Whomever it is needs to step up . I am starting to lose more faith in the league and I never had faith in the refs to behave properly (especially when McGeough is on the ice) . It is just a shame that Steve Ott has to pay $12,834.21 for it .

It really is a travesty that I did not even touch on the hits put on Morrow and the slew-footing of Modano the game in Colorado on the 8th . Or the inconsistency of the last minute high-stick put in Brenden Morrow’s mouth but not called . Just wait , that might spew out at another time when I have had enough and I am boiling over yet again . I blog angry .

Stars Sweep Away Avalanche

What a great game ! After the game the day before , Our Dallas Stars needed to win this one . All their seeming lethargy had cost them the Pacific Division lead . It was a shame to see the Minnesota Wild AND the San Jose Sharks in front of them on the leader / points board . That was repaired by the end of this game , though . Before the game , Razor and Strangis were talking about the last few games and how nobody stepped up to score the goals when the ‘big guns’ were not responding like they did before the “Richards” trade or in the game with Chicago . I , honestly , was not surprised . Hull and Jackson traded two of the guys who have the ability to step up and score when the big guns are silent . One day , maybe I will not be bitter about the trade , but I have not gotten over it yet . Maybe when Lord Stanley’s Cup is hoisted high over Our Sats players’ heads again , I will , but , not yet .
The game’s first face-off started with the ‘fourth’ line on the ice . Stu Barnes , Kris Barch and Joel Lundqvist started the game and attacked the Avs immediately . The Avs freaked on the second shift of the game and Salei makes a hooking mistake for the game’s first power-play for Our Dallas Stars . The power-play showed that Tippett still suffers from ADD and / or ADHD with his lines . But it worked . Our Stars generated huge chances . Daley was absolutely robbed on a shot that looked like it was an easy goal . Somehow Jose Theodore managed to stop the puck just in time . The refs felt like they needed to review that one . I felt like I needed to review it myself ! Stu takes the puck and puts it in the net after the next face-off with Daley earning an assist instead of the goal . After that goal , Our Stars did not let up on their attacks . They kept bringing the pressure and it paid dividends . Modano and Richards get the assists on Robidas’ goal from a hard shot from the blue line . The Avs attempt to get things going offensively , but Our Stars harassed them so badly in the neutral zone , that they just could not get anything going . Sauer put a rather vicious hit on Richards and Daley drops the mitts to defend him . The resulting fight ends with Suaer having a few knuckle bumps on his head , or at least more than Daley had on his head . Daley took an additional roughing for the tussle and it put the Avs on the power-play for the first time . The Avs’ power-play was absolutely terrible . Not only did they never even manage to get set up in Our Stars’ zone , they could not even get the puck in for more than a few seconds before Our Stars cleared the zone . As soon as the Avs’ power-play ended , Our Stars attacked back immediately . The hard attacks by Out Stars included a hit that Salei took exception to . He decided to make a very poor choice and toss aside his gloves and hit Ott in the face . Ott was not having any of that . He obliged Salei’s wishes and pummeled him to the ground . What a poor choice by Salei . Everybody knows not to mess with Steve Ott . I think that Salei will be hurting for about a week from the pounding that Ott gave him . When that very one-sided fight ended , Hagman and Miettinen attacked the net and both had grand larceny committed against them by Theodore . The Avs attempted to get things going at the 2:30 mark and Grossman committed a hold , more by accident than anything else , for a second Avs’ power-play . The Avs STILL could not manage to get a shot at Turco on the resulting power-play . Our Dallas Stars out shot the Avs twelve to nothing . They absolutely shut the Avs down this entire period . Anytime the puck was loose (and that was rare) Our Stars picked it up . The rest of the time , Our Stars owned the puck . They forced the Avs to turn over the puck continuously and took advantage of it .
The first intermission ran a story about Jere Lehtinen meeting Slayer , his favorite band . I had read about it earlier in the season at DallasStars.com , but I still enjoyed the story . I thought it was a little ironic that he would say that maybe next time the band members would remember him . Isn’t that the way fans of anything feel ? Irony .
The second period started with the scoreboard being added a courtesy shot on goal to the Avs in the first . Obviously somebody felt sorry for them (I did not) . The Avs start game-play (if that is what you want to call it) with multiple elbows and hard hits on Our Stars . Finally the refs see Sakic’s stick in Modano’s face and make the call . The resulting power-play was weak , but not terrible . After an entire period of giving Marty Turco time off , the Avs make their first shot at the 15:50 mark . He made the save off-handedly and Our Stars attack back immediately . Modano , Richards and Morrow race down for a three on two chance and Richards scores his first goal as a Dallas Star . The game play that followed could simply be called “puck movement” . Our Stars still had the puck often , but no real scoring chances followed for a while . The only way that the Avs managed to get the puck was when they had two players to take the puck from the one Stars’ player . The game-play was mostly battles along the boards . The Avs went on the power-play after Norstrom took a weak hooking penalty . The Avs had a few good chances , but it was nothing that our defensemen and Marty Turco could not handle . Our Stars dominated this period as well . They continued to force turn-overs and they swarmed the puck . Where ever the puck was , so were many guys wearing black jerseys .
The third period started with a new face in net for the Avs . Budaj had to handle Our Stars after Theodore clearly could not . There was far more back and forth hockey at the first part of this period than there was in the earlier periods . The Avs seemed to be pushing harder but Turco still answered everything that came his way . Morrow , Modano and Richards had a huge chance , but they could not manage to find the net again . Lundqvist , Barnes and Barch had a great follow-up shift and Ludqvist put a huge hit on one poorly positioned Avs player . Robidas took a hooking call and , despite huge chances for the Avs , they still could not beat Turco . The power-play ended and Our Stars went back for more . Modano and Richards try it again , but come up empty . Hagman tried out Budaj as well but could not beat him either . Both teams decide to have a see-saw battle but nobody could score anything else . At the two minute mark Morrow took a stick to the face , but the refs refused to call it . Morrow was continually molested after that and after the game ended , he still wanted explanations as to why it was allowed . To be honest , I want the explanations , still .

Beaten in more ways than one ;

Our Dallas Stars beat the Avs badly . They needed to after the past three games . They came out of the locker room determined and it showed on the ice and on the scoreboard . They never truly allowed the Avs to get anything going . They completely dominated game-play and the puck . They gave a sixty minute effort and received the two points as a reward . They truly earned this win .
Stephane Robidas earned his third star of the game . He was everywhere . He took hits , gave better than he received , blocked shots and scored the game’s first goal . I am proud that he is getting the recognition that he so rightly deserves . He really led the defensive core to a very solid outing despite missing Boucher , Zubov and Niskanen .
Marty Turco was not tested too terribly much , thanks to his defensemen . He still earned the shut out that he posted . I am pleased to see that it was a shut out that earned his thirtieth win of the season . He is truly a great player .
This game was won on hard work and effort . I am glad to see that Our Stars remembered that they can dominate a game like this . I hope that they continue to do it . With so many other teams breathing down their collective necks , they would do well to repeat this performance .

A Great practice in Frisco .

Yesterday I returned from Our Dallas Stars’ practice in Frisco . I took many pictures and had a great time (If you would like to see all the pictures I took , you will need to go to http://myspace.com/dallasstars247365/ and click on my pics) .
I was very fortunate in the fact that not only was I able to see Our Stars practice , but all of the players took their time with all the fans and signed everything that they asked them to . I thanked them all for doing so profusely , even though I only asked Stephane Robidas , Brad Richards , Johan Holmqvist and Tobey Petersen to sign things for me . Even the lately sulky Sergei Zubov signed things (he has not done that since he was injured) .
The best part of the time I spent out there was really with other fans . I had the pleasure of meeting Justin who came down from Canada to visit Our Dallas Stars and go to the game on March 9th . He had a very busy trip scheduled and I truly hope that he has a great time here in Texas .
I also met Andy (not Mohawk Andy) out there and we talked and took some really great pictures . We had a great time and he had every player sign his hockey stick that he bought . He could not have picked a better day to go out to a Stars’ practice .
I was very shocked and surprised to meet up with That Zany Lady . We talked for almost half of the practice . We had a wonderful time and I really am looking forward to our next conversation . If you do not know her , you are truly missing out . She is probably one of the most hockey-intelligent people (and for that matter just plain intelligent people) I have ever had the pleasure of knowing . If you do not know something about hockey or if you have forgotten , she probably knows all about it or can remember it from reading it somewhere . Kudos to you , Zany . I am impressed .
The practice itself was very good . Our Dallas Stars ran through what seemed like full-contact drills . I honestly have not seen them run through drills like that for a long time . They rattled the boards and a couple of times a few players were up-ended . THAT I had NEVER seen in a practice . Our Dallas Stars looked sharp and they were in good spirits . The practice makes me look forward to the game tomorrow .
Originally I had decided to go out to the Stars’ Center only to have my wife’s newly purchased jersey personalised with Stephane Robidas’ name and number . When I walked into the Stars Stuff shop , he was walking in from the other side of the store . I laughed and said good morning . I then explained what I was doing . He told me thank you for choosing his name and number . He did seem very pleased . I asked that if I stuck around after the practice , if he would sign it for my wife . He said he would be glad to . So , I waited and he was happy to see that I had kept my word . I also had explained to him that my wife chose him because he is probably the most unsung hero on the team . He was very flattered .
If you have not gone out to a practice and you have the ability to do so , I suggest going . It is truly a wonderful time .

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 .