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!

Past, Present & the Future

So we swept the Kings this year, going to only give up one game to the Coyotes as long as we play our game, three to the Sharks and hopefully no more than three to the Ducks. So after picking up all those points in our own division, why are we only in third place? The answer - it doesn't matter! The Stars are a top team in the NHL and I don't care what people said about them before the season started or what they are saying now about where we are and what chances we have in the playoffs. I know for a fact that the Stars players' mindset is not only making the playoffs but making it through the first round. Do I think they are thinking about where they are at in the standings, absolutely! But more importantly they are thinking about what it is going to take to win the next game more than who their opponent will be in the first round.

So here are my predictions for the eight spots in the West. Not going to touch the East until the final week. Number one will be Nashville. I don't like picking Nashville but I don't want the Dead Wings in first again. Second place will go to the Sharks. They are playing solid hockey night after night and nothing seems to faze them. Third will be held by Vancouver. They have been the strongest team in the Northwest despite the Wild making a late season rush. Fourth will go to the Dead Wings because they aren't strong enough to beat out the Preds but are strong enough to beat out Anaheim. The Ducks will sit in 5th and will beat out the Dead Wings in the first round. Sitting sixth will be Dallas and will take out the Canucks in a long drawn out first round. Seventh will be the Wild and will get beat by the Sharks in the first round. Finally and more surprisingly in eighth will be Colorado. Since they fought so hard to gain a playoff spot, they will continue that run past the first round of the playoffs and defeat the Predators.

That is it, my predictions. Give me your thoughts, arguments, support and your predictions!

Shall We Dance?

With the race to the playoffs heating up and as we head into the busiest month of the season for the Stars playing 16 games, 7 at home and 9 on the road, I am glad the Stars are where they are right now. Sitting with 79 points we are only 5 behind Anaheim for the Pacific Division title, 11 behind from being the Western Conference champs and 13 ahead of being knocked out of a playoff spot. We have one game against the Sharks and two games against the Ducks to gain even more ground towards that Pacific Division title.

As far as the ground to make up for the Western Conference title, that is going to be a much harder battle. We play Nashville twice and Detroit once and besides the Ducks we don’t have another team to gain on when it comes to points. So what can we do? For starters, we can score more than one goal in regulation and not wait till the third period to do it! The type of play in the past two games is not going to cut it when we play the top teams in the conference. Play consistent hockey and we will consistently be at the top.

Now, as for the dancing, since there is a nice 10 point cushion between the 8th seed and the 9th seed in the West, there will be a lot of “dancing” between playoff spots between now and the end of the season. Vancouver, Calgary, and Minnesota are all separated by one point and San Jose is very close to falling into 7th or 8th after the Stars passed them up earlier this week for 5th. Granted Dallas could easily fall as well if they were to slip into a loosing slump like the Flames did and the Sharks are doing, however we are no longer suffering from long term injuries (besides Morrow) and have plenty in Iowa just itching to contribute to our success.

-Scooter

Why 6th place is not so bad!

Okay, call me crazy but I think 6th place is the best place to be. Sure, I would love for the Stars to win our division and the conference, heck I would love them to be the best team in the NHL, but with this team this year, 6th place is fine with me. We probably won't be able to catch Anaheim even though we play them three more times and San Jose continues to win plus we only play them once more. But looking at the standings today, we are in better position going into the playoffs facing any of the three possible Northwest division teams being Vancouver, Minnesota or Calgary then we would be facing Detroit or Nashville. If we faced the Sharks in the first round, I would feel comfortable that we could handle them without a problem. Anaheim would just be a long hard series. So, save it for the second round and let the Northwest division bottom two seeds knock out or knock up the top two seeds in the conference (as long as it is not us) and give us a greater advantage in round two!
-Scooter