by Damien Franco on October 30, 2008
Well, the guys looked much better tonight, and no this wasn’t all about a new goalie in Tobias Stephan working like a brick wall.
Everyone stepped up in all three zones and played with tenacity and hunger. This is how Dallas Stars hockey is supposed to look.
Performance nods go to some usual suspects in Brendan Morrow and Mike Ribeiro which is good, because you want your star players to show up every game.
Brad Richards looked especially good this game as well. He was really flying around the ice tonight and seemed to be involved in every play. Plus, he was really pulling the trigger tonight with a rather large number of shots on goal.
Welcome back Steve Ott; we missed you. Steve always makes the game more fun to watch and I love it when he scores a goal. I think he may have put a hit on every one of the Wild players on the ice tonight. I guess he was making up for lost time.
The Dallas Stars forwards out-worked and out-hustled the Minnesota Wild. They seemed to really give the Wild some trouble with their fore-check and some fantastic offensive zone turnovers led to great scoring chances and a couple of goals.
Dallas’ defense-men looked solid and in sync throughout the entire game. When the Wild did get manage to get a breakaway the back-checking forwards were there to break it up.
Tobias Stephan looked solid, at times, in his first game this season (only his second NHL start). He was noticeably nervous/shaky in the beginning with a few questionable passes and a misstep behind the net. His nerves did seem to get under control after a while and I don’t think anyone is going to fault him for either of the goals tonight. The first one was a blister of a slapshot that may have had the speed to break the sound barrier. The second? Still not sure exactly what happened with that fluky goal. So, not a bad seasonal debut for the young netminder.
By the way, I love teaming Steve Ott and Sean Avery on the same line with Brad Richards. Seriously?! Which opponent line is going to volunteer to go against that trio? “Gee coach, I think I’d like to play against two obscenely abrasive checking power forwards that consistently crash the net and try to check anything moving not in a Dallas Stars jersey. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to forget about the precision passing center with an accurate shot. Put me in coach, I’m ready to play.”
Welcome back Ott.
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.
