Sneaking One In

 I may have suspended my blog , but I did manage to sneak this in – just do not tell my wife – she thinks I am watching ancient Christmas cartoons (SHHHHH!!!!!) . James Neal’s hat trick game had to be written about .

 Our Dallas Stars played a good game and it showed on the scoreboard . They played hard through the first two periods , but after that they kind of slacked off . I really cannot blame them for doing so , though . A seven goal lead is quite a substantial mountain to climb for any team and difficult to not try to nurse until the final horn sounds . Our team never slacked off as much as in the now infamous game against the Kings last season . Our Stars held things together enough that there was no real chance for the Leafs to make up for being in that deep of a hole .

 While Our Stars must be credited for playing well , the Leafs certainly did their part to help them win . Their gameplay was lack-luster (in the first two periods) at best . Their defense was non-existent and their offense followed suit . Marty was rarely tested in the first two periods . But , to the Leafs credit , they did save face by scoring instead of being  blown out and shutout .

 I thought this game was absolutely awesome . I wish that all of us Stars fans could see that more often .

 MY STARS of the game ;
 1. James Neal – His hat trick (minus the thrown hats) made him a no-brainer for this award . He played hard both with and without the puck and deserved hats to be thrown for him (I will try to give him one of mine at the next practice I go to) . I had hoped that Our Stars would have kept him from training camp , but it seems that keeping him active because of injuries is just as good . I would personally rather have The Cap’n back and Neal on the roster . Yes , I am the kind of guy who wants his cake and to eat it too .
 2. Krys Barch – He gets this award for making the play that earned him his goal . Barch harassed the defensemen , forced a turnover , rushed the net and then kept swinging at the rebounds until the puck finally went in . For doing all that in one play , I give him this award . Determination . All of our players need to have that all the time . His assist and his two fights were just the icing on the cake .
 3. Steve Ott – Even with one hand in a cast , he saved Ribs from getting beaten on . He also broke up several other of what would have been fights and he drew a penalty from refusing to fight . Beating players or not beating players , Ott still makes a huge difference on the ice .
 Honourable Mentions ;
  Your choice . Almost every player on the team earned a point except for Eriksson , Petersen , Sydor , Sutherby and Tobias Stephan who never made it on the ice . Even Marty Turco got an assist . Everybody else either earned a goal or earned at least one assist . Even if Sydor , Petersen , Eriksson and Sutherby did not get points out of this game , they did still play well .

 Also on a Tampa Bay note , Jeff Halpern scored a goal in his first game back from his knee being repaired from being completely destroyed . He was not supposed to return until late Januaryor early February .

~ by Adam on December 24, 2008.