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Jere Lehtinen

Will This Ship Go Down Without A Captain?

by Damien Franco on November 22, 2008

Wow, so imagine my surprise to see my email inbox full of Dallas Stars news all reporting the worse thing that could have happened this season. Brendan Morrow is out. For six freakin’ months?!

Okay, deep breath.

Here’s the press release.

FRISCO, Tex. - The Dallas Stars announced today that the left wing Brenden Morrow is out indefinitely with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will require surgery. He is expected to miss up to six months. The club also recalled right wing Landon Wilson from Grand Rapids (AHL).”We are obviously very disappointed to hear the news about Brenden’s knee,” said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “As our captain, he will obviously be missed, but we have every assurance that he can and will come back from this injury at 100 percent. There is a lot of hockey left to be played this season, and we are confident our team will rally together and keep pushing.”

Morrow, 29, has skated in all 18 of the Stars’ games to date, recording five goals and 10 assists for 15 points with 49 penalty minutes. He placed tied for second on the club in assists and points, second in penalty minutes and tied for fourth in goals.

The native of Carlyle, Sask., is coming off a 2007-08 season where he led the Stars in goals (32), power play goals (12), hits (260) and plus/minus (+23), and was second in points (74) and game-winning goals (7). Morrow added 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists) and 22 penalty minutes 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games last spring, as the Stars advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

Wilson, 33, has skated in 15 games with AHL Grand Rapids this season, earning eight goals and seven assists for 15 points with 37 penalty minutes. Among Griffins team leaders, he was tied for first in goals and tied for second in points.

The 6-3, 226-pound right wing has skated in 348 career NHL games with Colorado, Boston, Phoenix and Pittsburgh, collecting 111 points (50 goals, 61 assists) and 331 PIM. In 13 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, Wilson has earned a goal and an assist with 20 penalty minutes. His most prolific NHL season came in 2000-01 with Phoenix, when he collected 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in 70 games.

I can’t really imagine the entire impact that this will have on the team.

Let’s try to be optimistic here for a sec.

Here we go with some local fandom kool-aid.  We can still salvage this season!

The younger Stars that will have to come in and fill ice skates could blossom as this season may end up becoming a rebuilding year.

Here is some stuff from Mike Modano.

“You look at last season when Zubov was out, and people just stepped up,” Modano said. “Robidas stepped up, and the kids on defense really just played over their heads. I think we have to pull together as a team and look for something like that happen.”

And now, back to reality.

My biggest concerns come with the knowledge that some of our best and most consistent players are our oldest as well.

  • Mike Modano - 38
  • Sergei Zubov - 38
  • Daryl Sydor - 36
  • Jere Lehtinen - 35

These are some of the guys I want to win the cup with.  How much longer can we expect to see them around.  Another couple of years?  I can only hope.  I’d love to send Mike Modano and the rest of these guys to retirement with their names newly etched into the Stanley Cup.

The season is still young.  There are 64 games left so we aren’t without opportunity to turn this around.

I just hope that there is some wind left for these sails.

Onward ho!?

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Another New Star In Parrish?

by Damien Franco on November 4, 2008

My knee jerk reaction goes something like this:

Mark Parrish is a veteran scorer with a right handed shot and we need that.

His defensive side has much to be desired, but at a low, low price we can fill holes with him on the offense.

He’s played with Mike Modano before in All-Star games so at least there’s some chemistry already there.

He says he’s fit and hungry to play so that works for me.

I do feel that we needed to look more on the defensive side of things because scoring isn’t necessarily our biggest concern.

I’m interested to see which line he’ll be on.  I see him fitting well with Brad Richards more than on Mike Modano’s line, but he could do well on either.

I guess I’m still waiting to get Jere Lehtinen and Sergie Zubov back before a real assesment of the Dallas Stars can be made, but dealing with key injuries has to be a big concern for a team that was picked pre-season to be a Stanely Cup contender.  Maybe this is the kind of spark that this team needs.  We’ll see.

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Stars Fall Flat Right Out Of The Gate

by Damien Franco on October 20, 2008

It’s been really hard watching the past few games.  The Dallas Stars actually showed some signs of life in the ONE win we have so far.  Then, there was the shellacking we got from the St. Louis Blues. 

6-1 really?!  That was a tough game to stomach. 

So who’s at fault here?

While I don’t personally like singling out players (this is a team sport after all), I do want to address some concerns I have about a few individuals.

Brendan Morrow - The captain of the team has not been very “captainy” as of late.  He looks frustrated and his playing has been overly aggressive and sloppy.  He’s had a few shining moments here and there but I think his youth as a captain may be showing through a bit.  I’m sure he’ll get it together eventually, but as the captain of the team he has to do it sooner rather than later if we want to come out of October with a decent record.

Marty Turco - Not exactly sure what’s going on in the netminder’s head this season.  He looks like he’s a half second off and in today’s NHL a goalie needs to be a half second ahead!  Not everything is his fault of course, there is a lack of solid defense in front of him and many of the goals against have been “blue collar” and “second/third effort”.  A 4.70 goals against average won’t carry the team to the playoffs let alone the Stanley Cup.  Still, it’s very early in the season and Marty always seems to get it together when push comes to shove.

Mike Ribeiro - Mike seems to be trying too hard to make plays right now and it’s gotten him in trouble.  I love his play-making abilities and can certainly understand his need to get things rolling but now may be a time for getting back to basics.  Solid passes and back-checking are what has made this team a success in the past.  He’s got 4 assists so far but his -6 plus minus rating confirms that he’s holding on to the puck too long and ultimately giving it away to the other team.  I can recall several instances in the past few games where I’ve been yelling at the television for him to “pass the damn puck!”. 

On a good note - Mike Modano looks years younger out there lately.  He seems to be skating with more enthusiasm and a renewed speed.  Maybe the young guys are rubbing off on him or maybe he’s remembered that hockey is fun?!  Either way, it’s good to see the old Mo’ back, I just hope he’s able to sustain this energy throughout the season and into the playoffs.  He’s not the youngest player on the team and he’s shown signs of age in the past couple of seasons.

I’m ready for Sergei Zubov and Jere Lehtinen to return.  Their experience on the ice and in the locker room is badly needed right now.

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