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.

Round 3, FIGHT!

26 teams down, 3 to go. The 2^nd round of this years playoffs was an exciting non-stop race and, not to talk in clichés but the best teams did in fact win.

Red Wings v Sharks
Hockey Town USA has had a hard time selling out their games, but that hasn’t slowed down their game. Coming into this series many people expected to see the Sharks come out on top, and why not? They’re a strong, young team whose drive can’t be beat … but experience won out in this series and Round 2 went to Detroit … maybe next year Shark Tank, maybe next year.

Ducks v Canucks
It’s not that I’m happy the ‘nucks didn’t make round two, I don’t hold a grudge against them for taking out my Stars in 8 games in Round 1, really, I don’t. It’s just they were nowhere near the stronger team going into Round 2. Vancouver is one of the best teams I’ve ever seen at adapting to new situations and play styles, but just like we can say about Dallas in Round 1, you can’t expect your goalie to win every game for you. And not for nothing, this Ducks team is amazing.

Sabres v Rangers
My heart sat in Maddison Square Garden this series, and after a rough opening 2 games I had given up, but when the Rangers brought it home, they brought out the big guns. Goalkeeping was strong in both Miller, and one of my favorite goalies Henrik Lundqvist. Leadership was strong in both Jagr and Drury (who went to high school in my home town, by the way). I was incredibly proud of the Rangers, they were amazing in Round 1, and they didn’t give up in Round 2 fighting to tie it at 2-2 before losing, but the Sabres were strong all season. I’ve said it before, these guys played the ENTIRE SEASON to win it all, and they just might (maybe).

Devils v Senators
This one was an easy call for me. Martin Broduer is one of the best goaltenders the NHL has ever seen, but you can not rely on your goaltender like that: played 78 games, totaled over 4600 minutes averaging OVER 60 minutes per game. Not only that but you can NOT take away the man that brought your team to the playoffs with three games left in the regular season. And lets not discount a Senators team that is playing the best they’ve played all season who have a goalie (I’m sensing a theme) who is playing his top game. Maybe around the All-Star break I’d have given more props to the Devils for this series, but in my opinion they didn’t have a chance – heck, I was surprised they beat the Lightning!

So where does that leave us? That’s right, Conference Finals are here - and in no way are these games easy to pick.

Red Wings v Ducks
My favorite in this series is the Ducks, but let me reiterate how hard it is to make these decisions. Maybe I’m just upset that the Hockey Town USA isn’t pulling its weight in ticket sales, maybe I just want to see the Pacific Division make the playoffs – but watch for a long, fast paced, high shooting series, and expect the goalie who can keep his cool the longest to win.

Sabres v Senators
I feel like I’m cheating and I think I’ve flip-flopped on this decision as many times as most of the senators in the House of Representatives on the War in Iraq, but here’s my call and I’ll stick with it through the end of the series. The Sabres will lose; the Senators will make the Stanley Cup Finals. Yeah, that’s right – they already won a spectacular Game 1, 5 to 2 (honestly beating Miller 4 times) and it’s going to continue. Don’t get me wrong, this will be a dog fight; after this game the Sabres will come back swinging, but in the end we will see one Canadian team in the finals.

I bet you want to know my picks for the Cup, don’t you? Too bad, that’s for me to know, I’ll share it with you in a couple weeks.

Ding Ding Ding...Round 2

Since nobody asked us when to begin round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, I thought I would let you know that they start tonight - April 25th. Here are the schedules and just because the Stars aren't playing doesn't mean you have to stop watching hockey. Yes I know, it is painful to not be watching our home team, but please do root for the next best team, whomever it may be.

Eastern Conference

#1 Buffalo Sabres vs #6 NY Rangers
GM 1: Wed. April 25 at Buffalo
GM 2: Fri. April 27 at Buffalo
GM 3: Sun. April 29 at New York
GM 4: Tue. May 1 at New York
GM 5: Fri. May 4 at Buffalo *
GM 6: Sun. May 6 at New York *
GM 7: Tue. May 8 at Buffalo *
* If necessary

#2 NJ Devils vs #4 Ottawa Senators
GM 1: Thu. April 26 at New Jersey
GM 2: Sat. April 28 at New Jersey
GM 3: Mon. April 30 at Ottawa
GM 4: Wed. May 2 at Ottawa
GM 5: Sat. May 5 at New Jersey *
GM 6: Mon. May 7 at Ottawa *
GM 7: Wed. May 9 at New Jersey *
* If necessary


Western Conference

#1 Detroit Red Wings vs #5 San Jose Sharks
GM 1: Thu. April 26 at Detroit
GM 2: Sat. April 28 at Detroit
GM 3: Mon. April 30 at San Jose
GM 4: Wed. May 2 at San Jose
GM 5: Sat. May 5 at Detroit *
GM 6: Mon. May 7 at San Jose *
GM 7: Wed. May 9 at Detroit *
* If necessary

#2 Anaheim Ducks vs #3 Vancouver Canucks
GM 1: Wed. April 25 at Anaheim
GM 2: Fri. April 27 at Anaheim
GM 3: Sun. April 29 at Vancouver
GM 4: Tue. May 1 at Vancouver
GM 5: Thu. May 3 at Anaheim *
GM 6: Sun. May 6 at Vancouver *
GM 7: Tue. May 8 at Anaheim *
* If necessary


Good luck to the remaining 8 team still alive. Be sure to check out Episode 34 which will be released Monday, April 30th to hear our picks for the Conference Championships.

-Scooter
http://dallasstarspodcast.com/

Not a time to lament the past

it's time for the 'couver fans to gloat. They deserved that win, and we didn't. There were plenty of bad calls against us, heck there were even some bad calls against the Nucks, but the biggest thing is our boys didn't come to this game with the same intensity that they brought to the previous two :(

On the other hand, we saw fairly solid leadership out of Morrow, amazing goal tending out of Turco, and even a strong push by the big E in the post season ... so there is hope for next year.

The question now is who do we let go of this summer. Were Nagy & Nordstrom all they were expected? I'll say I was happy with Nagy's integration before post season, but during post season he and Matty (excepting much of Matty's play last night) were no more than a weak link on the team during this series. What about Anti, Robi, and some of the juniors down in Iowa? I think it will be a very interesting summer, to say the least.

Luckily we have a strong enough set of veteran leadership up top to keep whatever rotation we have over the summer in check come next season.

I'll hold my head up high as a Stars fan though ... When we were down 3 to 1 we had the strongest goalie of the round across all 16 teams, we had a team with more heart and determination than any other, and we fought our way back to Game 7. I say GO STARS GO ... 07/08 is only 5 months away.

RoBorat Luongo

Ronnie "The Hockey Goon", of the Havoc Fanatics worked on a project all day long Saturday, no exaggeration. What project, may ask? Well there's a good chance, at least if you're a local fan, that you've heard RoBorat Luongo thrown around a few times. It's truely uncanny how similar Roberto Luongo looks to Borat. Anyway, the point of this article is to tell you about Ronnie's project, not describe the similarities between Borat and Roberto.

You see, as a joke during the watching party for Game 5, Ronnie, Jeff K and I all joked about how great it would be to have a giant poster of RoBorat, to help raz Roberto during warmups. Come Friday Ronnie and I were passing back and forth an image that we were considering use for this project. Finally, come 11pm Friday night Ronnie stopped by my office (we have a nice color printer) with a pack of cardstock to do some prints. We decided to do something a little different though, instead of a giant poster, how about a few heads-on-sticks?

And thus became Ronnie's all day project, cutting out, taping together, and adding handles, to 30 slightly-larger-than-life RoBorat Luongo heads. And what an effect it had. At one point Robert skated over to the glass laughing and asked if he could have one, of course I, being a dumbass, forgot they didn't go back to their bench but left out the corner, and wasn't able to get it to him.

We were only able to get 30 out for the game, but if you wanted to make your own here's how:

1. Print out this image
• We printed it out to stretch to fit 2 sheets of paper white card stock (80lbs) paper in landscape format, which made the head about 50% bigger than life-size
2. Tape the two sheets of paper together, front and back, so that the image lines up
3. Cut out the image so the excess paper is gone
4. Take a long stick, or as we used a 3rd sheet of cardstock folded up many times, and tape it to the back of the head as a handle, make sure it sticks out 3 or 4 inches to give you something to grasp

Simple, isn't it? Here are a couple shots of the heads in action, including this one from Getty Images (pardon the water mark):

What it's going to take...

The first thing that comes to my mind is the boys are going to have to come out to play. They can't win the game if they don't come out to play. Next, goaltending. They can't win a game if they don't keep the puck out of the net, and as long as Marty keeps doing what he has been doing and keeps his mind clear of all the negativity going around, he will "Git er done"! For the final ingredient for what it's going to take, goals. Not just one goal or two goals, but three, four, five...however many we can shove behind Luongo to prove that we have what it takes.

Jokinen didn't make the trip up to Vancouver due to an upper-body injury sustained in Tuesday night's game. Lindros, who has been out with a groin injury, made the trip and may get the nod to play tonight. Will Big E bring enough offense and grit to help the rest of the team to another victory? Let's hope that his presence in front of Luongo will give the screen we will need or the deflection that pushes the puck past the tenacious force in net for the Canucks.

Vancouver knows that this game won't be easy, but I don't think they realize how much emotion the Stars will bring to tonight’s game, Saturday night’s game and Monday night’s game. I am confident I will see the Stars team I saw in Game 1 and in Game 2 where we dominated play, we out shot them, we got pucks past Luongo and we outplayed them. Look out Canucks; the Stars aren't going down that easy. They DO have what it takes!

178:05 minutes of heaven - 1 second of heart break

Mud Bruneteau, Ken Doraty, Keith Primeu, Petr Sykora, Petr Nedved ... what do these 5 people have in common with Henrik Sedin? They all broke thosands of hearts in one simple flick of the wrist - these 6 people are the game winning goal scorers for the longest 6 Stanley Cup playoff games, ever.

Last night Dallas showed just how badly they want this series, last night they fought harder then I've ever seen them fight. In a 3rd period come back with goals by Miettinen (assisted by Hagman & Jokinen) and Nagy (assisted by Miettinnen and Zubov) the Stars just would not give up; the problem was neither would the Canucks.

The anti-Turco crowd will complain that the Stars outplayed, outshot and outlasted the Canucks, that Turco screwed the pooch on this one. They will say if he had done his job we'd have won, and you know they have something of a point, but don't get me wrong, I don't blame him for this loss - the team didn't do what was needed, as a whole. Shots on goal don't mean anything when they're at the chest of the goalie, offensive time on ice don't mean anything when you miss opportunities, and blocked shots don't mean anything when rebounds aren't properly taken care of.

If I did have to blame this on any single thing (besides the ever-so-easy-to-blame Sedin twins, of course) I'd say it was our power play. Twice we had 5 on 3 opportunities, 5 additional times we had 5 on 4 opportunities great than a full minute (only 1 of which w scored on). The Stars have got to figure out how to score more on these opportunities.

But in all seriousness, I've talked to people whose hearts were broken last night, and I agree to a point, it was heartbreaking watching the Stars play almost 140 minutes of hockey to lose, however that wasn't the real overall effect on me. After last nights game I'd do anything to watch Friday's game now - anything for it to be Sunday night to see game 3, Tuesday night for game 4 ... I'm more excited after last nights loss then I think I would have been after a 3 period win. The stars fought hard last night, and showed me that they are serious about this post-season.

I say GO STARS - I say rest up tonight because Friday night is going to be a long ride - If you're in town make sure you come out to Frankie's to watch the game with all the other local fans - and I say BRING IT ON CANUCKS! Worry not Stars Fans, our boys will do it!!!

Pacific Division Title Lost?

So are you like a lot of other Stars fans thinking that the Pacific Division Title is lost? Well, let me shed some light in the matter real quick. Bottom line, it's not...and here is why. The Sharks and Ducks play each other on Wednesday. The Sharks need to take that win without overtime. Then, Dallas needs to win against the Blue Jackets and the Ducks. Beating the Ducks will give them two losses on their last 3 games. Now for the Sharks - they need to loose against the Flames and the Canucks to give them their two losses in their final 2 games after their win over the Ducks. And finally, the Stars need to continue their two game winning streak after Columbus and Anaheim and beat Chicago on Sunday. That is the way I see the Stars as the Pacific Division Champs! Something else to ponder, if all the top teams loose the rest of their games for one reason or another, Dallas will win the Presidents Trophy as well...but likely won't happen...but it could!

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

Stars @ Canucks

It was truely a great game. I know, "but Jay, it was another 1 goal game!" It was one of the most exciting 1 goal games I've ever seen. First of all, that was a beautiful goal. Stefan's pass up to the break-away Eriksson ... it just couldn't have looked any prettier. That, followed by the shootout? That heart wrenching shootout? Yes, we lost in the end, sure there are shoulda woulda coulda's ... If nothing else, look at the Three Stars of the Game, or at least the first two. Roberto Luongo and Marty Turco. How often do you see the losing goaltender in that list?

I hope you had a chance to watch that game. If not, I hope you have it recorded somewhere or can find it on YouTube or Google (I looked already today, couldn't find it).

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to tonights game vs Edmonton. Mark over at Andrew's Dallas Stars Page has pulled out and put back and pulled out again the big red panic button and if we don't win tonight I think I'll let him hit it. Good news for us? We're a strong team, even with our 4 forwards out, our backups are showing their worth. Also, we haven't lost a game in Edmonton since 2004, so we've got a great streak up there. However, Vancouver just came off their 1000th franchise win and snapped a 4 game losing streak by throwing Florida to the ice 4-1 Tuesday. I guess we'll see.