For those of you who did not know , I injured my shoulder several weeks ago . Due to my injury (and all of the doctors appointments) I just have not had the time to blog . It also hurts to a disabling point sometimes , but not on a consistant basis . Please bear with me . I will blog when I can .
Thank you ,
Adam
From the beginning of the pre-game show (and even before) we were all thinking the same thing . This is going to be one tough game . For those of you who did not or do not know why this is so , I will explain .
The Sharks have lots of talent on their team . Boyle , Heatly , Setoguchi , Marleau , Thornton , Nabokov and a whole slew of other top players fill their lines . They are a fast and hard-hitting puck possession team who like to score . And they do , often . The Red Wings went into the “Shark Tank” and were absolutely embarrassed . The Sharks have the best record in the NHL . We have trouble with the Wings (whether we play here or at the Joe) and we have far from the best record in the league .
Even though we do not have all the headliner names on our team that they do , we had a chance to win – and we took it .
The first period seemed like both teams were testing the waters . Each team tried to score but they both tried to do so safely . Both teams did have their chances to score but the goaltenders and their defensemen answered any and all challenges . This was a fast paced , hard-hitting period that ended with neither team having a clear advantage over the other .
The second period was not as kind to us as the first was . Heatly scored the first goal of the game just as a powerplay had ended . Skrastins had Heatly covered , but did not lift his stick to keep him from hitting net . Only a few minutes later (quite literally), Clowe took a shot from the boards that pinballed off of at least two Stars players and wound up hitting the net behind Marty . Neal had a few chances on Nabokov but was unable to score . This period was not as bad as it seemed , despite the score . The missed stick lift by Skrastins was not a huge coverage breakdown , but it did result in a goal . That was really the only mistake that we made in the period . The pinball goals are rarely stoppable when shot as hard as that one was . We did panic a little bit but we had a powerplay near the end of the period that kind of helped to get our collective heads back together .
The third period started out almost explosively . The Sharks seemed to think that they could keep the rink semi-tilted against us . Marty was not having any though . The only time he got into trouble was during the four on four when a stick-less Daley came in and literally kicked a puck out of the crease . A short time later Neal took a shot that bounced off Demers’ knee and went in behind Nabokov who was on the complete opposite side of the net . The very next time that Neal , Modano and Eriksson took the ice Modano scored – and he made it look so easy too . The next time that same line took the ice , they almost did it again . While the Sharks certainly had late period chances to score , this game was destined for more than sixty minutes .
The overtime period showed Marty making big saves and immediately . Richards , Daley , Neal , Robidas and Eriksson all had their chances to score as well . Neal did manage to earn a powerplay but it was so late in the period , it amounted to almost nothing .
The shootout did finally decide the game at about twelve fifteen in the morning (for me anyhow). When Robidas skated out and took the game winning shot , it so reminded me of Sergei Zubov . High glove side and made the water bottle jump . Great goal and a great way to end the game . The only way it could have been better is if we had handed them their first regulation defeat at home .
Despite the see-saw nature of this game , neither team ever really owned the other . It was simply great hockey . Everybody did their jobs and stopped most of the things that the other team was trying to get rolling .
Our Stars did not pull a rabbit out of a hat for this win , they just got their “A” game from most every player that we had on the ice . Coming from behind to win this game was fabulous , but I do wish we had never gotten into a two goal hole . Holes are hard to dig out of . I am very pleased at how well we played to make things even and then get the win - even if it was in overtime . It shows maturity and poise .
MY STARS of the game ;
1. Marty Turco – Hands down , he took this one . He made saves even when his defensemen backed off . He moved the puck early in the game and totally threw off the Sharks’ attacks . He was fabulous and earned the first star in the game as well as here .
2. Mike Modano - An assist and a goal in such a low scoring affair would catch an eye anyway , but he played well away from the puck too . Kudos on your first points of the season Mo !
3. James Neal – Man , did we ever miss him . While his goal was certainly not the prettiest scored in this game , he tries to score all the time . He is (and I quote Razor on this) “the poster boy for the way Crawford wants his forwards to play” . He is great defending and great at scoring . I truly hope he stays with us for a long time .
Honorable Mentions ;
Where should I start ? Robi scored the game winner so he has to be on this list . Morrow still set up shop in the crease every shift in their zone so he has to be here too . Richards played very well so he has to be here as well . You know , in all honesty , almost the whole team should be on this list except for one player and that leads me right into ………..
Now I am going to introduce a new part of my blog : In The (Penalty) Box . Each game a new player (or not) will be placed in here and they will always have an explanation of why they are here and not just some foolishness like “he sucks” . Today , we get :
In The Box ;
Mike Ribeiro – He gets the gate for standing waaaaaay too much (standing up means your stick does not touch the ice). He also gets the “alone time” for making consistent turnovers as though he intended to pass the puck to the opponents players . His place in the box is solidified by his apparent uncooperativeness to play in Crawford’s “new” system . It appears to me that he does not want to play like the coaches want him to , thus his lack of points this season . Enjoy the Box Ribs .
We played a frustrating game against the Canucks for our shooting players . Then the next night (and after travelling) we had the same frustrations with the Wild . We must figure out how to beat goalies a little more often than we have . I know that we won our last game but we still could have scored at least one more for insurance measures . To our credit , the lack of goals are usually due to the fact that the opposing goalies have been very good in their net . That is still no excuse for not scoring a little more .
The first period against the Wild was terrible . Almost all of our players looked like they had just come in off a three-day bender . We took two successive penalties right from the opening faceoff . The Wild had pretty much free run of the rink for the entire period - even on the powerplay when Clutterbuck scored short-handed . Adding insult to injury , Koivu scored with about two minutes left in the period . The Wild owned the puck . They out-shot and basically out-played us . Alex Auld and Brad Richards seemed to be the only players who looked like they did not come out of the gates exhausted .
The second period started out with Auld making even more saves almost immediately . We did finally get a goal when Schultz scored on his own goaltender in a panicked play to clear the puck away from Loui Eriksson . Eriksson was awarded the goal (Nelson “ha-ha”) . Much later in the period Richards took a shot from the point and Eriksson was in the right position to deflect the puck in behind Backstrom . At the end of the period we got scrambling in our own zone and Grossman ended up scoring on Auld . While we did play better in this period than in the first , we still had many issues . We were out of position far too often . Our coverage broke down too often and we were turning over the puck as if we enjoyed it . The referees began making questionable calls and ignoring obvious penalties .
The third period started with Lehtinen playing center on a four on thee powerplay against us . While we escaped this period without being scored on , we still could not manage to score again to tie the game even when Auld vacated his net with a minute or so left in the period . We did have some quality chances in this period but we never had good enough sustained pressure on Backstrom .
The refs did not do what I would call a good job in this game at all . Both teams had plenty of reasons to complain about the officiating . Elbows , interference , tripping and a few other penalties were allowed while other phantom calls were inforced . A perfect example of this was when Jamie Benn finished his hit on Havlat who then slashed him in retaliation . Then all the Wild players on the ice congregated around Benn pushing and shoving him . Somehow , Benn ended up in the box despite the fact that any number of Wild players could have gone to the box for roughing never mind Havlat slashing Benn in retaliation . The officiating has been suspect at best in far too many games this season .
We lost this game because of the fact that we did not start out the game at one-hundred percent . Almost every play looked exhausted and we paid for it . We cannot allow our opponents to run the tables on us for an entire period and try to play catch up for the rest of the game .
We did try to play hard but we did not start out playing like that . No matter how tired and worn out we are , we have to do our best every single shift . Some of our players did play their best but not from the beginning .
MY STARS of the game ;
1.Alex Auld – Despite allowing three goals , he kept us in the game right from the start of the game . He made many great saves that could have made this game a total blowout . He even ended up mopping things up a few too many times .
2. Loui Eriksson – He was one of the few players who played from the start despite being tired . He was in the right place at the right time and it showed on the scoreboard .
3. Brad Richards – Nobody can argue the fact that he has been one of (if not the) best player(s) for us this season . He reads the ice very well and always seems to know where everybody is going to be and when . He has stepped up in to the role of being the best playmaker on our team since Ribeiro has slacked off .
Honorable mentions;
Jere Lehtinen , Brenden Morrow , Stephane Robidas and Karlis Skrastins all played their “A” games . It is just a shame that they could not have contributed to the scoring more . I have faith that all four of those guys will be on the scoresheet for something good and soon .
FINALLY !
I was beginning to wonder who was supposed to play better in Our arena , us or our opponents . We have not done well very often in our own home .
I am very happy about beating the Canucks . It is not that they are the greatest team out there , but it is important to win at home . We have not been doing that much . My theory on that is that I do not think we make it as hard to play in the AAC as we should . I do not mean just the players , either . We , as fans , need to cheer for Our team when we go out to the games . I am sure that the players do not like to play in an arena full of people who think they are watching golf . We , fans , need to do our part .
The game showed that we really wanted to score . Everybody shot the puck at the net . We had a multitude of chances to score . Schnieder(their back-up goalie to their back-up goalie) played like a possessed man . Every one of our players had shots on goal . Without James Neal playing due to a groin injury , somebody had to pick up the slack .
We played well despite the final score being only two to one . There were times that we positively owned the game and then there were times that all we seemed to do was chase . Even when we were chasing we did not do so foolishly . We all played smart . Only once did we allow the Canucks too much time and space and that was the time that they scored on us .
MY STARS of the game ;
1. Marty Turco – He allowed only one goal and helped the rest of the team to beat the fore-check often . That is an enormous help since we have been struggling to exit our zone a little too often this season .
2. Brad Richards – He has been , by far , our best player in so many games this far in the season . He looks like he finally feels at home here in Dallas .
3. Karlis Skrastins – He has done nothing but good things this season and is our only defenseman who has not taken a penalty this season . He plays smartly and out works most all of his opponents .
Oh, and before I forget , the league admitted that the call in the game against the Flames that resulted in the game winning goal for the Flames was a bad call . I know it is cold comfort to know that even the league thinks that the game should not have been won like that but for them to admit that it was wrong is at least a step in the right direction . We just all have to hope that the league will do better with their officiating crews in the future .
Ralph Strangis said it best when he said , ” Horrendous way to lose the game ” . I have to totally agree . In case you missed the game live or on a broadcast , the game went into overtime and the Flames (remember that the “F” is silent) scored as soon as they had a powerplay . The powerplay was brought on from a call of delay of game . Grossman tried to clear the puck with his skates on the blueline (the puck never crossed into Our zone) and he shot the puck and it appeared to have gone off a Flames player and into the stands . The refs called that delay of game . I still cannot figure out how . The puck was never even in Our zone and it went off of Our opponents’ stick . Oh well . No use in complaining about bad calls . They tend to stand .
We would have won if we had capitalized on any of Our powerplays . Unfortunately , we did not get any goals - not even from the lengthy five on three powerplay that we were awarded . We must score on the powerplay . If we had scored on any of the many that we had , there would never have been that last second game tying goal to send it to overtime .
All of Our players played well from the beginning to the end , we simply did not score enough . We were good with the puck and we were good without the puck .
Usually , I award MY STARS of the game but this time I will simply mention all the players who played outstanding . Skrastins , Neal , Eriksson , Richards , Wandell , Morrow , Lehtinen and Benn all stood out of the rest of the group .
In this game , we had minimal problems exiting Our own zone due to the fact that Our forwards would come back to help (well , that and Marty is always a great help in killing off Our opponent’s forecheck) .
We did not have much problem throwing the puck at the net but retrieving rebounds was an issue for most of the game . ” One and done ” does not usually mean a win at the end of the night .
Our only real problem was putting the puck into the net . Our players did get frustrated because they wanted to score more , but that allowed too many odd-man rushes against us . Thankfully , Marty answered almost all shots with a definitive “no” .
I must apologize for my lack of blogging for the last few games . I injured my shoulder recently and with the painkillers they gave me , all I could really do was drool on the keyboard . Nobody likes a soggy keyboard – especially not my wife .
On another note , I did manage to go out to watch Our Stars practice in Frisco today . I always enjoy going out to practices . I love meeting new people with “hockey sense” . I was very pleased to meet a nice lady (remember I do not use people’s names in my blogs unless I ask permission) today out there as well as Brent Severyn . He is a very cordial individual . I enjoyed his relaxed attitude and how he did not mind talking to just ordinary fans .
While I was out at the practice , I had Richards , Marty , Modano and Ott sign a jersey for an “out of town” friend . He should be happy . He now has the whole team’s signature on the sweater .
It is just a shame that Crawford has not met the lady I met today . She knows how to fix the powerplay issues that we seem to be suffering from .
As you know , Steve Ott was again suspended for a hit . The hit he was suspended for was just a normal hip check . Unfortunately , Artyukin just decided to jump when he saw Ott coming in on him . That was what really made him land on his neck and made it look like Ott tried to kill him . The reality of it was that Ott tried to make a hip check and instead of Artyukin taking the hip check and just crashing into Steve Ott , Artyukin decided to get cute and try to jump over him . Why ? It does not matter . The fact remains that Steve Ott has been suspended before so from now on , he will be treated like a criminal . It is truly shameful but unfortunately there is nothing that the average hockey fan like you or I can do about it .
On to the game against the Leafs ;
This game was best summed up by Razor when he said , “If this game was being played in the backyard , I would close the curtains .” I do not think I could have said it better myself . This was an ugly game .
We did not seem like we wanted to play when the puck first dropped . The Leafs were running us over . Many of our players decided that skating standing up was the way they wanted to “play” . If you skate while you are standing , your stick does not touch the ice .
I am still upset at the lack of effort put forth by most of our players . All to often , Marty was left to his own devices . He is a great goalie , but nobody can make every single save when your defensemen are just standing around in front of you . They make better doors than windows .
We may have won this game but I am obviously less than pleased about how we won . We played a team with the worst record in the entire NHL and we still had to go to an overtime period to win the game . That is despicable . We are better than that . We need to play like we are better than that because we are .
MY STARS of the game ;
1. Brad Richards – He was one of the few players who showed up to play from the start of the game and it showed on the scoreboard .
2. James Neal – He always shows up to play . I love how he always wants to shoot . Oddly , I think that getting pucks on net is what Crawford has been preaching since he arrived here in Dallas .
3. Marty Turco – While he was not spectacular and he may have allowed a few too many goals , he did well when he was hung out to dry . He made some tremendous saves when he was playing when few other players seemed to want to play . He kept us in the game when the rest of the team did not seem interested in being in the game at all .
There were a couple of other players like Robidas and Morrow who played the entire game but not many . Ribeiro may have earned the first star at the AAC but I do not feel like he played the entire game .
Everybody needs to play from the first drop of the puck and not play catch up for an entire game . If you recall , we tried to play catch up in the standings last season and we all remember how that went .
Funny how that seems to be connected , huh ? Yeah , I finally beat that oh so terrifying H1N1 garbage (after five days of suffering) and Our Stars win . It is just too much of a coincidence .
Before the game , I was talking about different players and my wife decided she loves to say “Tkachuk” and “Afinogenov” . For half the game she was chanting , ” Tkachuk , Tkachuk , Tkachuk ” and not because she liked the player , but because she said it made her sound like a train . Anyway ……..
We all knew that Modano and Lehtinen were going to be out for this game (they did not even make the trip) . Seeing that Niskanen was out was kind of upsetting , but not a shock . That was a vicious slew foot that Artyukin put on him . Even missing those three guys , Our team still did excellent .
The first period pretty much started out with Barch and King fighting . Barch certainly got better than he gave , but oddly King did not come back for the rest of the game (kind of makes you re-evaluate who really won the fight) . The Blues were spending a lot of time in their own zone right from the start . Robidas was called for holding the stick , but the resulting powerplay from the Blues was no real threat to us . A little later , Mike Ribeiro beat Ty Conklin but hit the post instead of the net . Sutherby and Winchester had a go , but despite the fact that Winchester threw more punches , very few landed . Late in the period , Loui Eriksson was called for a highstick . While the powerplay was scary , the Blues still could not score . Of course , Karlis Skrastins blocking two consecutive shots right in the faceguard probably helped to keep things scoreless . This period was very good hockey despite the enormous amount of turnovers by both teams . The odd-man rushes against us occurred far too often . Even with more than the occasional odd-man rush , we still defended well . When we did not defend well , Marty stood tall and refused to allow anything past him .
The second period started with the Blues still on the powerplay for very few seconds . The exceptionally brief powerplay had little to no effect on the free-wheeling hockey that followed . After Our Stars had had enough , Marty passed the puck to James Neal who took the line . He then passed it to Richards and continued his drive to the net . Richards saw Neal sneak to an open spot on the ice and he buried the puck quickly in the back of the net . Marty’s pass beat the three Blues forwards . That allowed Neal to get open . Shortly after that , Ott went in for a hip check on Colaiacovo . Colaiacovo jumped up for whatever reason and the hipcheck looked worse than it would have been . Ott did not mean for that fool to land on the back of his neck . Unfortunately , he did and that brought out everybody and they all wanted some of poor , innocent Steve Ott . Both Ott and Fistric sat for two minutes and Tkachuk sat for a double minor . Late in the first powerplay , Richards spotted Eriksson after he spun out a defender and faked out the others with a fake shot and Eriksson buried it . The rest of the period was pretty much a Conga line to the penalty boxes . The Blues were the ones who took the vast majority of the penalties . There was boarding , crosschecking , slashing and I am sure a few other penalties (both real and imagined) thrown in . There were so many that it was hard to figure out exactly what was going on . Either way , we won this period . I was pleased with our play . We did not give up anything that hurt us despite a few frightening moments .
The third period went smoothly along until Robidas was mauled in the corner . After the two billion penalties called in the second , the refs failed to call the crosscheck(s) that he received . They did not miss the weak hook that The Cap’n was penalized for . Marty pretty well killed off the entire powerplay by himself . He would catch the puck behind the net and casually toss it all the way down the ice . Almost as soon as the powerplay ended , Ott drove hard and fast into the Blues’ zone , passed it off to Brunnstrom who was also driving the net . He took his shot , was denied and was plowed by two Blues players . The Blues missed coverage on Tom Wandell who picked up the rebound and tossed it in rather easily . Immediately after the brief celebration (and checking to make sure Brunnstrom knew where he was) , Grossman took a shot that hit the pipe . A short time later , Tkachuk was called for crosschecking Wandell in the back and into the boards . The resulting powerplay looked more like a Blues powerplay and Marty had to make some huge saves . After the powerplay ended , Brian Sutherby proved that not every Stars player was done playing and stole the puck at center ice . He promptly put the puck past Ty Conklin . Cam Janssen got all bent out of shape and took a run at Jeff Woywitka . Janssen promptly took a four-minute personal timeout . Brunnstrom took a hooking call that negated half of the powerplay that we were not doing that much on anyway . With a little over four minutes left in the game , we all started standing around instead of skating . Then , with three minutes and fifty seconds left , Pietrangelo took a shot that Woywitka decided to play goalie on . Unfortunately , Marty would have had it in his glove had Woywitka not deflected it up and over Marty’s glove . In the final two minutes , Ott had a knee on knee hit with B.J. Crombeen . Crombeen took exception to it and both of them got five for fighting but Crombeen took the instigator .
This was over all a good game . The only thing that would have made it a great game would have been if we did not simply slack off with our defense in the final four minutes . Yes , we did keep them from scoring more than one , but it should have been a shutout . When we get standing and too comfortable , we can still lose the game even with four minutes left . It happened with the Kings , remember ?
What did go right was that we all played – and we all played smart . Nobody became so fouled up that they could not be helped out by their teammate . Everybody did their jobs .
We moved the puck well especially out of our own zone . The issues that we struggled with against the Kings were not present . We need to continue the puck support that we had in this game .
MY STARS of the game ;
1. Marty Turco – I know that he was named the first Star by the folks up there but , who can argue with his performance . The only mistake he made was ……. um….. um……. not clearing Woywitka out from in front of him ?
2. Loui Eriksson – He also earned the same Star of the game at the St. Louis arena but I am giving to him anyway . He earns this for the way he tracked the puck . He did so well that he reminded me a lot of my favorite player . The goal that he scored was just the icing on the cake .
3. Brad Richards – He literally made two of the goals possible . I know assists are not the same as goals , but he was the one who made them both possible . He saw the ice very well . I think he is finally back on his “A” game and I am glad .
Honourable mentions ;
James Neal – He always brings his “A” game . His goal was a result of that awesome shot he has .
Brenden Morrow – He never gave up playing the puck – even when he probably should have .
Brian Sutherby - Are you kidding ? That steal at center ice and then the blast into the net was great to watch . I loved it .
Alex Auld – He made a save on the bench . If he had not made that save , one of the training staff or equipment staff guys would have taken that puck right in his head . This is a first for me . I have never given any award to a player who did not skate in the game .
I know our record of 7-2-4 is not as good as a 9-2-0 record but , I would rather have OUR record and OUR players than that whiner Crosby . Ovechkin is better anyway but we will never be able to sign either so it does not really matter which is better .
I am very sorry I have missed blogging for you for the past two games . I have been diagnosed with H1N1 and a severe sinus infection . I will be out of circulation for at least a few days . I promise to return to blogging as soon as humanly possible .
Thank you for your patience ,
Adam
We started the game missing Lehtinen , Ott and Modano . Not exactly what I would call encouraging .
The first period started with Bergeron being called for a highstick on The Cap’n . The following powerplay looked decent but we could not score . Ribeiro took a highsticking call and our miserable penalty killing percentage picked right back up when a pass deflected off Robidas and Marty and into the net .
The second period started with Our Stars showing some life , but it faded quickly . Nick Grossman took a shot right in the face . The poor guy was pouring blood even before he made it to the bench . After he left the ice the Bruins , again , scored . This time it was right off another lost faceoff in our zone . A little later , The Cap’n and Ribs had a long shift in their own zone and Savard scored . Neal , Richards , Daley and Eriksson had our first extended stay in the Bruins’ zone with some excellent shots on goal . With a minute left in the second , the Bruins were called for tripping . On that half of the so called powerplay , we gave up three shots in tight on Marty .
The third period started out with a minute left on the powerplay that was badly botched up at the end of the second . The Bruins easily killed the remaining minute . Much later , the Bruins were called for holding . On the resulting powerplay , we had our second sustained attack of the entire game on the Bruins . With Toby Petersen on the point , Neal , Richards , Niskanen and Eriksson had some fabulous chances but Thomas kept them out . Aaron Gagnon had a great chance to score in the final seconds but just could not pull it off .
This was a very frustrating game to watch . I hate to watch Our Stars lose but this was just like being tortured .
At first I thought we were off to a slow start but , as the game progressed , I realized we were not going to start playing any time during this game . Most of our players were skating standing up when they were skating – and then a lot of that time they did not sem to want to get the puck or even get near it . Standing around seemed to be the theme for the game for us . It was almost like we were playing a road game and checking out all the other things to do in town instead of playing hockey .
We displayed a complete lack of interest in the puck . There was no puck pursuit . Lazy passes and turnovers plagued us . When there were loose pucks , for whatever reason , we were not the first ones to the puck even when we should have been . Very few players on our team seemed to want to touch the puck .
We lost in the faceoff circle (the final statistics ended up with us being fourty-two percent) far too often . I do not know how we managed to get the percentage up to fourty-two because it sure seemed like we lost three out of every four .
We were way out hit . The final statistics said hits were thirty-seven to thirty-one , but it sure did seem like we were being plowed far more often . At the end of the first we were being out hit twenty to nine . The hitting means that we never had our forecheck going or our backchecking rolling either .
Offensive pressure . We had only two one minute episodes of this in the entire sixty minute game . If we had an offensive opportunity , we were one shot and out . If the Bruins had an opportunity , its was one , two , three and maybe a few more then , much later we might be able to clear the puck . The Bruins were afforded plenty of time in our zone while often times we could not even get out to our own blueline . We only really tested Tim Thomas twice . It was no wonder we did not score against him .
We had trouble performing even the simplest exits from our own zone . One Bruins’ player was enough to cause all kinds of problems for our defensemen trying to make it to center ice . Often a forward had to come back to help beat out one single opposing player when we had three players attempting to exit the zone . Their forecheck killed us , but , that goes right back to the hitting .
We lost this game because there were very few Stars players interested in actually playing . We simply did not play all the way through the line up . We were steamrolled . I would not be so upset about this loss had it appeared that we actually wanted to play . It looked like most all of our players decided that it was going to be a hard game to play so they gave up .
MY STAR of the game ;
1. James Neal – He was playing in the first period when nobody else seemed interested in even getting started . He kept playing hard all the way through the game .
The other players only showed occasional sparks of life . Richards , Sutherby , Petersen , Barch , Robidas , Eriksson and The Cap’n were the few players who showed some life , but not all the time .
Marty did alright , but it was clear that he was not seeing the ice anywhere near the way he did against the Preds .
Mike Ribeiro on the other hand, he gets a red dot for his lack of performance and skating standing up the entire game (if you have children you will understand the red dot) .
Let us all hope that we do a whole lot better tonight against the Chicago Chickenhawks . I just hope that we at least come to play .
What a great gift !
In case you did not know (if you did not , you were one of the few on the planet) Razor Reaugh guaranteed a win against the Predators on opening night . That did not quite work out . I had tickets (thanks to my sister and her husband – I do not use names on my blog) to opening night , but then , thanks to Razor , I exchanged them for tickets for the second home game of the season against the Preds .
So I showed up with my sister to the second game , and we roamed around the AAC because it was her first time there and her first hockey game EVER . We happened to be walking past one of The Stars’ tables that they set up on the concourse when a man came up to my sister and I and asked if we wanted to play musical chairs during the first intermission . I was excited and my poor sister was scared to do it . I convinced her to play . We went up to our seats and had a great time watching Our Stars rack up three goals before we had to head down to get ready to play the game . We were taken underneath the stands and past a very nice V.I.P. room and into an equipment room where we put on very well used hockey pads and helmets . After we were dressed in well used hand me down hockey gear (that was way too small for a man who is six foot two) , we were escorted over to the Zamboni door where we arrived just in time to see the fourth goal of the period being scored (It was awesome to be on the same level as the players during the game). We went out to play musical chairs and my sister and I were the first to be put out of the game . It was really no big deal since all we were playing for was an EA NHL 2009-10 for the Wii – and I do not have a Wii – and don’t want one (ask why some other time). It was just great to be able to go where we did – especially since we were on the ice at the same time as Our Dallas Stars ! WOOT !!
The game itself was fantastic . Four goals in the first period , one goal in both of the second and third periods and no goals for Trashville . The Cap’n scored twice (and almost a third time) and Loui Eriksson scored twice as well . Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro had two assists each while James Neal had three assists . Brad Richards had a goal and two assists . Toby Petersen got a goal and Jere Lehtinen and Karlis Skrastins both had one assist each . Stephane Robidas ended the game at a +8 and Nick Grossman is leading the league with a +10 . Of course Marty Turco stopped twenty-nine of twenty-nine shots and posted his thirty-seventh career shutout . I never lost faith in him . I did say he was getting older for a hockey player , but the shutout proves that he still does have plenty of gas left in the tank .
Most importantly , we got the full two points and we killed off all four powerplays that the Preds had . Our penalty killing was getting pretty bad . I am very pleased that we repaired the problem . We really did a good job keeping the Preds out of our end whether it was on their powerplay or not . This is how we should play every night .
I normally pick MY STARS of the game but , this time , everybody played so well as a team that singling out the forwards , defensemen or Marty just would not be fair .
1. I award this to the entire team for playing like a team and for everybody doing their job correctly . This was truly a team win . I am very proud of Our Dallas Stars .
2. The second star , I give to the fans who chanted ”Marty , Marty” when he made great saves and when the game was ending .
3. I give this award to my wife for staying home with my daughters and letting my sister and I go out to watch the game .
The following morning after the game , I woke up , got my daughters ready for school , sent them on their way and then went out to watch Our Stars practice (this time in Farmer’s Branch-which is not my favorite facility). I had a great time . I met a couple of lovely ladies who were big Stars fans , one lady was from Canada and the other lady lives close by me . I also met a fellow who showed me his driver’s license to prove that his name included Brenden Morrow in it (his first name was different). He was not young enough to be named for The Cap’n , it was just a pretty cool coincidence . He said that he also wore number 45 when he was playing hockey and when The Cap’n first came to Dallas . Obviously , The Cap’n is his favorite player .
Players who did not show up to the practice were ; Jere Lehtinen , Brad Richards , Mike Modano and Steve Ott . Ott and Modano are still injured but no explanation was given why Richards and Lehtinen did not practice .
Before the practice started , I thanked every player for the excellent game the night before . I thanked Marty for his incredible play and I thanked Coach Crawford as well . Mr. Crawford was actually pretty funny . He said ,” Don’t thank me , I didn’t score any goals or block any shots .” We (the fans all around clamouring for autographs) still thanked him and told him we were happy he was here .
I know that this blog is not my normal “all about the game blog” but sometimes , I get so caught up in what has happened to me during a game and I get so much more excited when we blow out our opponents that my ADD and ADHD tendencies rise to the surface . Thank you for bearing with me .
Oh yeah , and if you have The Dish Network , switch . They have decided not to carry over twenty of Our Stars games that they have access to . Direct TV will be carrying those game . If you switch , you will miss the six games on the Versus channel , but if you do not , you miss over twenty from the jerks at Dish network who flat out lied to me saying that other providers would also be blacked out . That is NOT true . Our Stars website has all of the games listed that Dish – AND ONLY DISH - has decided not to carry . Most other providers are going to carry all of the FSN games . Good luck with your provider .
