Pbur's Adventures

Well, the NHL season is a little over a quarter of the way complete. So far, the Stars have been very inconsistent ( except for that nice 6 game winning streak last week ). They started the season very uneven and lost some real heartbreakers. The most brutal of which was the game against the LA Kings where the Stars were leading 4-0 with less than 10 minutes to play and lost 6-5 in overtime.

That loss lead to the firing of General Manager Doug Armstrong and put President Jim Lites elsewhere in the organization. New Co-GMs Brett Hull and Les Jackson and new President Jeff Cogen seem to have at least cleared the air. The Stars have looked better since then, going on the 6 game streak, and playing a little harder. Modano has finally decided to show up for the season and fight through some checks.

The new management has made a couple of nice moves in getting rid of Fedoruk ( someone we should have never signed ) and bringing up some of the kids that we fans have been hearing about forever and yet have never really been given a chance.

Erikson appears to be making something of his time this time since he’s getting top 6 forward minutes and producing a little bit.

Most of the fan angst I’ve read at this point is our need for a scoring winger. While I agree we need a sniper, I think we also need to be on the lookout for a top notch #1 center. Modano is not that #1 guy anymore. His role now needs to become what Joe Nieuwendyk’s was during the cup runs. A great #2 center, that when not facing the other team’s top checking line can do a lot of damage. Modano still has crazy skills, but he needs to go up against the second best defense.

I also don’t think our defense and goaltending has been the best this year. The defense is making a lot more mistakes, and sadly, it’s not the two rookies making the most of them. For some reason, Daley has regressed a great deal from last year. He’s the one playing like a rookie. Marty Turco hasn’t been playing all that well and Mike Smith is giving up juicy rebounds. They need to tighten things up around the net for sure.

I have no idea where this team might end up, but I’m hoping the current 2 game skid is due more to fatigue than anything ( 6 road games in 9 nights is brutal ) and that once they get a chance to catch their breath they’ll get back to some winning streaks.

As for the playoffs, I think we could finally break into the second round again, but it would be short lived. There are just too many great teams in the Western Conference. I’m just hoping the Stars surprise me.

Avalanche 4, Stars 3

At least this game didn’t remain the blowout it was becoming. I’m also glad that Morrow came back. That was a nasty spill he took. I’m guessing he broke his nose.

And I’m guessing it’s going to be another year of the Comeback Kids. I just wish the Stars would play with the urgency throughout the game as they do when they are down by a couple of goals in the third period.

For those that can’t tell, I’m going to try and blog about the season as it goes along. I’ve got a ticket to the Home Opener on Friday and I’m just sure the Stars can beat Boston….right?

Tomorrow the start of the 2007-2008 NHL Season and I’m pumped up for it. Well, I guess technically, the season started over the weekend in London, but that was almost like exhibition games. Tomorrow is the real start when all the teams in the league get going.

And that includes my beloved Dallas Stars. They had a heartbreaking first round loss to those pesky Vancouver Canucks, but I’m hoping for good things this year. Not many people are seeing the Stars have success based on the fact they had some terrible offense during the end of last year and didn’t make any significant offseason moves.

It got me thinking about the beginning of last year. Before the injury bug hit, the Stars offense was clicking and we were 11-2. Then Steve Ott got injured and we lost the heart of the energy line. Then Modano and Morrow went down and the offense never really recovered, even when they came back. The rhythm wasn’t there.

So I think that gives hope to this year’s team. Most everyone is healthy, except for Mike Ribeiro ( who was our top scorer ) but he should be back in about a week, and I’m thinking this might be the year for some of the younger guys to break out. I’m also hoping that maybe one day the coaches will allow a little more offensive creativity at the expense of defense and let Turco clean up any mistakes. As both Mike Heika and The Razor have said, “You only need to score more than your opponent, even if that means 6-5”.

I’m a little disappointed Chris Conner didn’t make the team to start the season since he was the highest scorer for the Stars in the pre-season. I’m betting he’s the first call up if there’s an injury to a forward.

So here’s the start of another hockey season! It will be great taking it all in! ( Did I mention I got Center Ice this year? That’s all the hockey games every night! )