So what do the Stars have to look forward to? Well first and foremost there is stability in the management and front office department. Something that has always been a bit iffy in past years. The team said Thursday that retired NHL great Brett Hull and longtime executive Les Jackson have signed three-year contracts, removing the interim tag they’ve shared since Hicks made the unusual move in November. “This unique combination of talents gives us many advantages for our hockey club,” Hicks said in a statement. “Signing Les and Brett to these contracts provides stability for the future.” Ah yes, stability for the future…. one might be surprised what this does for a franchise. I can think of three teams who excelled to new levels once the front office issues and internal issues had been put to rest and allowed the players and coaches the comfort of stability. Both Buffalo and Ottawa tinkered on the brink of bankruptcy, which allowed for new owners to emerge and lend incredible stability to the team, which then turned into some pretty amazing on ice products. Buffalo appeared in two straight ECF series and Ottawa went to the Cup Finals last year. The third team was the Pittsburgh Penguins. Of course it helped to have all those draft picks, but something should be said about the stability the team received when business issues were settled with the city and the looming threat of financial misfortune and relocation ceased to hang over the head of the franchise. The kind of stability that Dallas has now with permanent GM’s in place and with full confidence of ownership will go a long way in their success for next season and future seasons to come.

Also in lieu of stability, The Dallas Morning News reported Saturday that Tippett has agreed to a three-year extension that the team will announce next week. The new contract will keep Tippett with the Stars through the 2010-11 season. Tippett has posted a 235-127-48 record as Stars coach, guiding the club to five straight postseason appearances and two Pacific Division titles. Tippet has been a terrific coach in Dallas and he is the right guy to lead this team to another Cup Title. Locking him up for three more years is another bright spot for this franchises future. Good coaches are tough to come by, and right now Dallas has one of the current best standing behind the bench.

Perhaps the brightest light in the Stars future is the roster situation. Next year all the big guns are expected back, that includes franchise hero Mike Modano, who some believed was considering retirement. “I probably will, yeah, do it all one more time and see really where things are at,” said Modano, who admitted the Stars’ playoff run did spark him a bit.  “The playoffs were really fun, obviously with the success and how deep we went. We surprised a lot of people, surprised ourselves. It got the bug back in a lot of guys that wanted to play.” Aside from Modano, the rest of the Stars main force will be back as well. This list includes Morrow, Ribeiro, Lehtinen, Richards, Zubov and Turco. They should have little problem signing their most important RFA’s which include Ericksson, Crombee and Daley. Of their UFA’s there are seven that standout but perhaps the Stars could simply move on past all of them and use the money elsewhere. These seven include Mattias Norstrom, Toby Petersen,  Niklas Hagman , Stu Barnes , Brad Winchester, Johan Holmqvist and Antti Miettinen.

For Norstom to return, he will need to take a pay cut, as his current salary does not reflect what his on ice value was this past season. There are rumors that he may end up leaving the NHL altogether and return to Sweden. Hagman may have priced his way out of Dallas’ future with his 27 goals this year. There is a good chance that other teams will be offering Hagman a significant increase in salary, something Dallas probably will not be able to match. Stu Barnes is getting up here in age, and his effectiveness has to be weighed when considering if the ice time should go to a younger player. If the GM’s decide Swiss netminder Tobias Stephan is ready to step in as back up goalie, than Johan Holmqvist will not be returning. 

 One last final bright spot for the Stars next year is the signing of Euro sensation Fabian Brunnstrom. On May 8, 2008, the Dallas Stars announced that Fabian Brunnstrom signed a two-year entry level contract with them through the 2009-10 NHL season. Brunnstrom was highly courted during the regular season and the Stars managed to win the services of this highly touted player. Brunnstrom is described as an offensively gifted forward with a great scoring touch. Brunnstrom is a speedy skater with soft hands and exceptional technical skills. He is said to combines speed and stickhandling in an impressive way. Has a great hockey sense is also physically strong and tough to knock off the puck.

With a re invigorated franchise hero, a core of top notch talent all returning, a crop of young players now with deep playoff experience, a world class goaltender, front office stability, the addition of a Euro superstar and a team that now has been given a sample of the sweet taste of success, the Stars will certainly be early favorites next season to be in the running for to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Before we begin again, I just wanted to let you all know that I received a follow up phone call from the Fat Lady. She apparently was not happy that her time off was taken away from her so she could fly to Dallas for an emergency singing session which was cancelled, then flown out to Philly and Detroit for two more cancelled performances. She was leaving the Pits airport this morning and flying back to Dallas for another possible engagement tonight. However, she thinks her final show in this round is destined to be in Detroit.

The big news however surrounding this rejuvenated Stars team comes from two huge wins which have put them in a position to even up the series tonight after going down 3-0 in what looked to be a sure defeat at the sweeping hands of the Red Wings. What we saw in the first three games of this series was a truly flawless performance by the Red Wings. They did everything they were supposed to do to win, and they did it with near perfection. Dallas on the other-hand looked sluggish and out of sync. The pep in their step was gone and all they could do was seem to watch the Wings skate by them, around them, and a lot of times right into them (just ask Mike Modano). Worst of all the Stars couldn’t could not get the scopes on their sticks adjusted and constantly missed the net when an opportunity for a shot presented itself. Marty Turco however continued to stand strong in net, and with the exception of game three, kept his team in the game probably far longer than they should have. He has been called many things over the years in regards to his performance in important games. However if he did not dismantle those labels from the first two rounds of these playoffs and the first three games of this series, there is no doubt now that he has dispelled himself of such names after these past two wins.

In game four, an elimination game which would bring the Stars season to a screeching hault , Turco played like a man possessed and stopped 33 of 34 shots peppered on him by the Wings. With each big save, with each defiant block of the puck trying to reach the net, the team in front of him seemed to be energized. Say what you want about healing injuries, game-plan, desperation …. those skaters in front of Turco were, no doubt to me, inspired by his determination to live another day. They fed off this determination and found themselves able to score three goals, more than any other game yet this series, to pull off a win they needed to stay alive. It was the leaders of this team that fed off of this and scored two huge third period goals, Modano at 5:35 and Morrow at 14:34, and rallied their team to victory in a final 3-1 score. However, even though the Stars had one, Turco and the rest of the team skated off the ice that night with many people thinking “Detroit will win it at home, this was the Stars last game this year.”

Game five was much of the same for Marty Turco, more brilliant saves and more determination to live another day. Like a field general holding the gate as hordes of enemies swarm about wave after wave, Turco held them at bay wave after wave, shot after shot. The enemy would not be denied their victory, they pressed and pressed all night. While Dallas looked rejuvenated and focused more than anytime in the series, they could only manage to muster 6 and 5 shots in the 2nd and 3rd periods. The Stars battled and battled, but it was Turco guarding that gate which allowed them to find victory. Early in the second, Turco himself took to the attack and launched a pass down to Joel Lundqvist who managed to slip one past Chris Osgood on the other end and put Dallas up by one goal. This was all Turco needed, just a one goal lead and the rest was up to him now. Turco made 38 saves off 39 shots that night, including a barrage of 21 shots in the third period. If it could ever be said that “one man did it all”, clearly this was Marty Turco in game five.

Game six is tonight in Dallas, and with a home crowd frenzied for what could lead to an upset of tremendous proportions, Marty Turco and the Dallas stars look to keep fighting to live another day. The last two battles were exhausting and the Red Wings seemed more determined than ever now that the East has chosen its warriors for the final battle. Will the Stars hang on? Will Turco be hero yet again? Will the veterans rise to the challenge and find ways to win? Will the “little guys” find a way to contribute like Daley in game five? Tonight at 8pm we will all soon find out.

Well what else is there to say really? As the photo caption says, the Fat Lady was in such a hurry to get to Dallas that she left her hat behind. Regardless if you thought the Red Wings would win this series, did anyone believe that they would possibly sweep?? The Fat Lady sure had no idea, and amidst her well deserved vacation which she believed she had ample time for, she got the emergency call on the Fat Lady phone, packed as quickly as she could, and is now on a plane to Dallas as we speak. The hat however is still home next to the sculpture of Cindy Crosby she was making. Fortunately I was able to get her on the phone for a quick interview before she was asked to turn her cell phone off for the flight. Here is a concise transcript of the call:

RR: Hello there! Should I call you …. Mrs. Lady? Or Fat? Or how do you prefer to be called in situations as this?

FL: Either is fine. Mrs. Lady reminds me of my mom. Oh, and Fat is ok, just don’t call me Fatty.

RR: Well, how bout we stick with Fat Lady?

FL: Sure, that works.

RR: So are you surprised about the emergency call you got to get to Dallas?

FL: Yes I was! I am a big hockey fan and love getting to go to all the series ending games. The drama, the excitement is terrific. After having to stay up for four OTs in Dallas last week, I was so exhausted I was barely able to sing. But one thing I did notice was that these Star boys had one hell of a determination. I saw something in their eyes that told me “Fat, you are not gonna be singing for these boys this year!” When I got the call that said they were down 3-0 and have been outplayed the entire three games…. I thought it was a joke! I said “Who is this?”

RR: Who was it?

FL: It was Alexei Yashin of course.

RR: Alexei Yashin?!?! Why was he the one calling?

FL: Well he is the one that always calls me now. Ever since he played his way out of the NHL, he has been looking for a part time job to keep busy while he collects all that money from the Islanders. Anyhow, when I asked who it was he said “Its me Alexei, Fat Lady. This is no joke we need you in Dallas right away, and possibly in Philly a couple days later.”

RR: What happened next?

FL: I didn’t believe him at first. I said “Who are you kidding? Who do you think I am Mike Milbury?” Eventually, after about 15 mins  he put his new associate on the phone and convinced me they were sincere.

RR: Who is his new associate?

FL: I have not met him yet, but I believe he said his name was John Ferguson.

RR: John Ferguson!?!

FL: Why do you keep yelling these names back at me? Are we gonna talk names all day or what? I gotta get on this plane. 

RR: Ok sorry. Well, you say you follow hockey, what do you think happened?

FL: Well normally I do, however I was taking a little break to work on my sculpting and relax. So when I was told about this I booted up my DVR (that’s a PVR for some of you folks in Canada) and watched the games. I record all the game you know.

RR: So after watching the games, what do you think?

FL: Well I think the ghost of playoffs past have come back to Dallas. This looks like the Dallas team that was playing the last few years, not the last rounds. Every year for some reason their offense stalls, and Turco gets peppered with shots and lets in too many. He gets blamed for it, but how can they win of the guys in front of him aren’t scoring??

RR: Very true. Are you a big Turco fan?

FL: Well I was in the dressing room warming up and eating pizza during the OTs in game six against the sharks. That poor boy was getting IV injection cause he was so tired. I tried feeding him some pizza but he really needed the IV.

RR: Do you think that could have something to do with why they are losing? Turco has all been spent??

FL: Now don’t you go blaming Marty for this mess! That boy is doing all he can do. If you want to point fingers point one at that Ribeiro guy, just watch out he dont swing his stick at you when you do. Point your finger at the defense on this team. Those Red Wings skate into the zone with such ease, no wonder they get so many shots on poor Marty. The defense is constantly chasing the puck. Chase, chase, chase, thats all they do other than let the Red Wings skate by them on their way across the blue line. Back the other way, the guys who get paid millions of dollars to put the puck in the back of the net cant even keep the puck on their stick before they turn it over, get knocked down or make terrible pass. Oh and those rare times when they do actually take a shot… those guys cant even hit the net! Poor Marty at the other end of the ice. Can you imagine what he is thinking?

RR: Well I bet he is thinking about a lot of things like “How come I cant stop a breakaway?”

FL: ……… (Silence)

RR: Fat Lady are you still there?

FL: I am done talking to you about Marty Turco.

RR: Ok I am sorry. Well tell me what you think the Red Wings have done right instead of what the Stars have done wrong.

FL: They have done everything right. Their passing has been crisp, they skate so fast, they have made the most of their power play time, they get shots on the net, but most importantly they are doing what no one expected them to do. They are playing aggressive.

RR: How do you mean aggressive?

FL: They are hitting and hitting and hitting. They are getting there butts planted right in front of poor Marty and making life hell for him. They are fighting for pucks in the corner, and they are pressing hard when they got the puck. It seems like they are constantly in control of the game from start to finish, and the Stars just holding on.

(I hear some muffled noises and another woman talking:

FL: I have to go now, the plane is boarding.

RR: One last thing Fat Lady, do you think you will be singing after game four.

FL: I hope not, but unless Dallas gets a priest to exorcise the damn ghost of playoffs past, Ill be doing a special late night performance at the AAC

Well there you have it. Dallas, take the Fat Lady’s advice and get yourself a priest and pray. It may be your only hope.

Or was it the tentacles of the NHL Refs? News just recently broke about events surrounding game one of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday. Apparently, the NHL head office had sent an urgent fax to the offices in Joe Louis Arena @6:41pm. The attendant who normally oversees communications with the NHL from the admin office was not at his post. His whereabouts are unclear, but some believe he was working the phones in another office to secure that anyone with an octopus be admitted into the game for the traditional toss.

The staffer did not return to the office until after the game concluded. He had returned to power down the equipment and turn the lights off. Upon doing so, he noticed the fax machine, used exclusively for NHL communications, had received a fax transmittal and paper was sitting on the tray. The cover page was addressed to the officiating crew and labeled as “confidential.” Fearing for his job he attempted to erase the record of the transmission from the fax memory as well as shred the documents. After attempting to cover his tracks, the attendent closed the lights and went home for the evening.

The next day the NHL, under orders from Gary Bettman, launched an official investigation into the incident. Although they had no evidence the fax was not received or perhaps intercepted, the action on the ice that night was all the proof they needed to at least suspect some kind of tampering. The attendant did all he could to cover his tracks, but it was not enough. Investigators on scene were able to retrieve the shredded document from the shredder bin and were able to tape it back together as evidence. Furthermore, office administration was brought in, and with secure access codes, were able to log into the information on the fax machine and retrieve deleted transaction information. The attendant has been removed from his position and possible legal proceedings may follow. In lieu of the intrigue surrounding the information on the faxed document, the NHL and officials from Joe Louis Arena and Detroit Red Wings remained tight lipped. However, upon locating the dismissed attendant at his home, news sources were able to learn the contents of the fax. According to the attendant, the fax simply read:

“To the Officiating Crew,

Just a reminder about tonight’s game. Its the Western Conference Finals, not a Wednesday night regular season game. Let the boys play. ”

As we now know, the Refs never got the message.

Game two is tonight, and after taking a serious beat down by the boys in Red, the Stars are hoping to rebound. All credit must be given to Detroit on a great win in game one. They dominated from the start of the game right up until the end. The entire Dallas team looked sluggish and out of sync, including net-minder Marty Turco, hero of game six against the Sharks last week. Detroit’s speed just seemed completely unmanageable for the Stars, and the Wings had no problem getting into the offensive zone and getting good chances all night. Plus, the Red Wings came out with a vengeance and were hitting everything in sight. I suspect the Stars were not expecting this, and they paid the price for it. No doubt that their already beaten and bruised bodies felt a lot worse on Friday morning.

But one game does a series not make. I am confident in two things. First I believe that the Stars will respond well to the wake up call they got on Friday. Looking back at their last four playoff games they are 1-3, and they either have to step it up now, or face a the reality that the Red Wings can make quick work of them. I believe Dave Tippett is a good coach, and will have these guys ready to play and refocused for this game. Aside from game six of the Sharks series, this is perhaps their biggest game this post season. If they go down 2-0 tonight and lose in the same fashion as they did Thursday, Dallas should be very worried. Even if they lose tonight, but keep the game close and compete well, they might be a bit more relieved and feel better about their prospects at home; but I would still consider a loss tonight to be very detrimental for their overall success in this series.

I am confident however that the Refs for tonight’s game are going to officiate the game better. I am not crying that the calls were bad or one sided. I am just saying that its the Western Conference Finals! You have got to let these guys play hockey five on five and let the best team win. Of course penalties must be called, but can we put away the whistle like we do in overtime games or late in the third? A little incidental tug at this point in the post season should not be called. So much of game one was special teams that it was almost unbearable to watch at times. As a hockey fan, power plays can be exciting when they are few and meaningful. But when its 5-4 seemingly the entire game, it doesnt feel like I am watching a real hockey game anymore. Let these guys play five on five and see where the chips fall when its all over.

Game Two - tonight in Detroit, 7pm

My pick - Dallas 2, Red Wings 1

The Dallas Stars and the Detroit RedWings will meet on May 8th to begin the Western Conference Finals and battle it out to advance to the sacred Stanley Cup Finals. Detroit and Dallas have met four times during the regular season and Detroit came away with three victories of the four. Detroit is the number one seed in the conference, Dallas the 5th seed. I can go on and talk about offensive rankings and powerplay rankings, road wins and shootout victories…. but it really just doesnt matter anymore.

The Redwings are the favorites in this series for the stats I mentioned above, but any hockey man who is a betting man knows to look elsewhere to gauge this series. For the sake of things, lets get it out of the way right now - I predict a Stars series win in 5 (or 6). Why you ask? Well I will tell you why - and so will others.

Ross Mckeon of Yahoo Sports (which I usually take lightly) has given us five good reasons in his most recent column. His first reason is Marty Turco, and if anyone watched Game 6 of the San Jose series, there is nothing more to be said about this fact. His second reasons is Dallas’ top line. As much as I like Dallas top forward line, I also like what Detroit brings to the table. I dont think Mr Mckeon should be trying to match firepower with the offense heavy Redwings. It is true however that the Stars have a very dynamic first scoring line. His third reason the lower amount of pressure on Dallas than Detroit. Hey Ross, try telling that to the near 20,000 fans that pack all of the Stars home games and stand through four periods of overtime hockey. Dallas has enormous pressure - I dont think this is a valid reason as to why they will win. Number five ( I know I skipped four, we will get back to that in a second!) is Mike Modano. I totally agree with Ross on this one. Say what you want about Mike Modano, he has had his good days and he has had his bad days (hotel trashing in Japan), but rarely has he looked this determined to see this thing through to the end. Losing the C was a bitter pill for Modano to swallow, but perhaps it took enough pressure off of him to get his game back to that other level we know he still has in him. I believe he will yet to play a major role in the Stars run to the Cup.

Reason four, is the one indicator that I am throwing all my marbles at; for me it really says it all. Coming into this series, Dallas has already beaten arguably the two best teams in the West. After the Ducks finished their cheating game and brought back their stars from retirement (wink wink nudge nudge, RETIREMENT) they had the best record in the NHL leading up to playoffs. Their former captain and best defenseman were coming off a well rested half season off, and they were steam rolling the competition. The Dallas Stars were pegged to be victim #1 for the soon to be repeat champs Anaheim Ducks. But the Stars got all their ducks lined up - and opened fire Dick Cheney style. The Ducks were stunned and never able to overcome the game Dallas brought with them to the playoffs.

Next round, bring in the team du jour. The popular pick to win it all this year by many pundits was the San Jose Sharks. And how could they not?? Jumbo Joe and Jonathan Cheechoo. Newly acquired wonderboy Soupy Brian Campbell. Lets not forget Nabokov backstopping the net. Oh, and there was also that legendary hockey guy … ummmm whats his name… oh yeah Jeremy Roenick, who already showed his one ice wizardry with a game 7 heroics in the first round. But the Stars met these wild sharks and played as though their first line consisted of Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss; and the back of Turco’s jersey read Orca. And just like the movie, the marathon battle ended with a bang that put the Sharks down for good.

For the RedWings, the route to the WCF was more of a parade than the war march most teams have to endure. First they played the Hamilton Predators, who no one expected to even make the playoffs this year after the fire-sale of talent in the offseason and the loss of yet more talent earlier last year when they traded for Forsberg. Somehow however, the Predators managed to win enough games to get themselves into the playoffs with the 8th seed. Seriously though, can anyone outside of the hometowns of the Canadian players on this team even raddle off 10 names of guys on this team without looking at the roster and going ”wow that guy is still in the league?” (that means you Radek Bonk and Brandon Bochenski).   Maybe this is my East Coast bias talking but seriously, did anyone believe the Preds were a serious contender for the cup? Surpringly enough however, the RedWings had a bit of trouble handling the good ol boys from Nashville. After a minor goalie controversy that saw legendary goalie Dom “its not my groin is the area between my legs” Hasek, get the permanent yank in place of the legendary “living in the shadows of other legends” Chris Osgood, did the Redwings muster enough to turn things around and walk away victors in six games from a series they should have won in four.

Next up came the Colorado Avalanche, and as if I haven’t wasted enough of your time already, I will refrain from the “avalanche of insults” on the prospects of this team also being a legit cup contender. Seriously, did anyone out there really believe that a team being backstopped by Jose Theodore was going to win anything? Or how about winning with a one footed Forsberg who is more fragile these days than Samuel Jackson in Unbreakable? Yes yes, I know they beat the Wild, but that series was going to be a 50/50 series anyhow. Those teams have consumated quite a rivalry this season, and when two teams play each other in that mindset, really anything can happen. I liken it to when the 2-8 Redskins play the 10-0 Giants in NY and win 40-6. It doesnt make a lot of sense, but it happens all the time. So it made sense that the Redwings should maul the Avalanche, and this they did in right good fashion ending the series in four games with an 8-2 blowout on the road.

When I look at how Dallas got to this point and the level of talent and determination they had to defeat versus the route that the Redwings tiptoed through to get here, its an obvious call. Dallas has shown they can beat the best and do it with hard work, great goaltending and the heroics of individual champions. The Redwings have shown what they did all year, they thrive off bottom feeders. I think the will be surprised when they come up against a Dallas Stars team that is battle hardened, scarred and bruised - and just how different this team plays than their former opponents. To the Legendary Detroit Redwings - I say BRING THEM ON!    

Well it took them through the night, and into what would be the 8th game of the series to finally put it away, but the Dallas Stars are going to the Western Conference Finals with a 2-1 4OT victory against the San Jose Sharks!

Dallas had their chances during the entire OT, but San Jose seemed poised to win. Their chances were better, they were getting deeper in the zone, and they were clearing their own zone much quicker and more efficient than the Stars were able to do. As I watched the entire overtime periods on the edge of my seat, I just had a feeling that San Jose was going to win; especially after “the save” that Nabokov made on Richards. If you didn’t see it, it was the first OT and Richards was to the left of Nabokov and got the puck on his stick while Nabokov was still almost all the way over to the right of the net. Richards wound up and smashed the puck home for the win! Errr, well that was how it was supposed to go. Somehow, Nabokov got back and gloved that puck out of mid air and never let it cross the line. It was truly an amazing safe.

San Jose had their chances, and they came much more often too. Although Dallas will celebrate their Captain Morrow for the final game winning goal, it was Turco who won this game for them. When the Stars seemed like they just wanted to give up and had the Sharks running rampant in their zone, it was Turco who made the crucial save time and time again! It is a new era for the Dallas Stars and it is a new era for the Dallas Stars blog here at MVN. We know a lot of you big D fans have missed regular updates here, but we are working to make MVN the premier hockey blog community.

I will be filling in for the remainder of the playoffs and through the off season until we find a regular Stars contributor. But rest assured, myself and MVN will following the Stars closely through these exciting times and beyond. On Tuesday I will have a Western Conference Finals preview between the Stars and the Wings - a series which is guaranteed to be explosive from the first horn to the last. Oh, and for you fans of other team -  there is still plenty of room on the bandwagon for you! So jump on , take a seat and go nuts for Modano, Turco, Richards, Morrow, Zubov and co. This ride isn’t going to be over anytime soon :)

No really, you didn’t. I didn’t even see it and I was the guy that wrote a semi-clever parody of “The Night Before Christmas” called ‘Twas Opening Night where I didn’t even dare predict where they’d finish in the west other than just expect a playoff placing at the end.

But at the moment, your Dallas Stars are second overall in the National Hockey League standings.

Hell, we may as well say it’s first overall because even though the Detroit Red Wings are technically first they have been head and shoulders above the rest of the league that we shouldn’t even count them anymore. It’s much like the PGA that way… There is Tiger Woods who you know will win, and then everyone else gets to fight for second.

Yes, yes I know Dallas has plenty of games in hand on the rest of the league. After Monday night, the Ottawa Senators had four games in hand. San Jose has five games in hand. If - for arguments sake - they counted those games as wins then Ottawa is five points ahead of Dallas in the league and San Jose is four points ahead of the Stars in the Pacific.

But we don’t count those games as automatic wins of course and in the meantime the Dallas Stars with a quarter of a season left to play are second overall.

No, you didn’t see this coming. No one did. Certainly not the goofball so-called experts that thought the Stars would miss the playoffs (Scott Burnside of ESPN, are ya paying attention? I’m thinking not).

Has it even felt like a 2nd overall in the league type season? Fire the GM.. Bring in a new team president.. They started off the first 20 or so games with a .500 record and tons of doubt. Yet here we are… And they got there with long absences from team stalwarts like Lehtinen, Zubov and Boucher which maybe makes this run even more impressive.

So with all this in mind the new poll - you just had to know this post had a point somehow - asks a simple question.. Where do you see the Stars finishing after the last 22 games? Do they stay in second place overall? Do they overtake the Red Wings (maybe a little unthinkable, but did you also think the Red Wings would lose to the bottom-feeding Kings and Maple Leafs back-to-back like they did last week?) for first overall? Do they stumble a bit but clinch the Pacific? Do they lose the Pacific lead but still qualify for the playoffs….

Or do they *whispering* fall apart completely and miss the playoffs?

Stay tuned for the final race to the playoffs!!

Dallas clearly outplayed Phoenix throughout the entire game on Monday night, but up until there was 8:15 left in the third period, Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was outplaying the Dallas shooters. Thankfully for the Stars Steve Ott and Mike Modano figured out how to beat the Coyote goalie late in the third period and that rally helped the Stars win that seventh in a row with a 2-1 over the Coyotes.

Steve Ott scored on what essentially was a very broken play, hammering the puck in the slot and although Bryzgalov got a chunk of the puck with his shoulder, the puck still had enough steam to trickle into the net.

The second goal scored with a little over three minutes left in the game was done so during a five on three powerplay for Dallas after Steve Reinprecht took a holding penalty in the offensive zone (a penalty Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky didn’t seem to like, and truth be told it may have been a bit soft call, but when the free hand is off the stick and grasping an opposing player it’s going to be called) and then Zbynek Michalek (try saying that name three times fast) taking a delay of game penalty seconds later as he lifted the puck from behind his net and right over the glass.

How often have we seen that this season by the way? A somewhat questionable holding or hooking call goes against a team and then moments later they get handcuffed even more by a delay of game penalty.

Anyway Mike Modano - after a magnificent bit of work to keep the puck in the offensive zone after the Coyotes tried to ring the puck around the boards - got the puck in the slot and from almost the same spot as Steve Ott blasted the puck past a maze of players and past Bryzgalov for the game winner.

Interestingly enough Versus -who was carrying the game nationally - had coach Gretz mic’ed up and yet they didn’t play back any of what he was screaming after Modano scored on that five on three powerplay. Wonder why huh?

The Coyotes after that finally showed some serious jump to tie the game back up and were aided by pulling the goalie in the final minute but a few key blocks, some great forechecking by Steve Ott and then one final save by Marty Turco on a point shot blast with seconds left secured the win.

Turco for the record wasn’t tested very often or with lethal scoring chances against, but 19 saves on 20 shots is still a solid effort and the only puck that beat Marty was off the stick of former Star Niko Kapanen on a Coyotes powerplay - again on a broken play after Ed Jovanovski’s blocked shot bounced right to Niko on the left side of the net. Turco simply lost the puck in the maze of black Stars unis and couldn’t react in time to stop the puck.

The Stars deserve full credit for pressing on despite the fact they were getting repeatedly stopped by Bryzgalov. After a fairly even first period where the shots were ten to nine for Dallas, the last forty minutes saw Dallas outshoot their opponent 34 to 11.

Mike Heika in his DMN blog reported the Stars had unleashed 81 shots towards the net in total. 44 on goal, 20 that missed the net and 17 that were blocked. Compared that to the Coyotes 32 pucks towards Turco (20 on goal, seven that missed and five that were blocked).

Again, just like the Canucks game from a week ago… Just keep throwing pucks on goal, get shots on net and good things are bound to happen.

Steve Ott deservedly so picked up the first star of the game - I’m not sure if he’s ever been a game’s first star but if he keeps playing like he has over the last couple of weeks he’s bound to pick up more first star selections. He forechecked well all game and he had some very solid chances offensively.

Ott’s linemate Mike Modano also had a solid game and like I mentioned the ‘keep’ he had in the five on three was a thing of beauty that I don’t know many other players in the league could do.

The top line didn’t account for any of the points in the game - can’t really count Jere’s assist as it wasn’t with his linemates Morrow and Ribeiro and instead was on the powerplay - but still looked quite dangerous all night and you can tell the Coyotes spent quite an effort trying to keep them in check.

Overall a great team effort tonight that showed off the Stars depth. Hagman looked great on the penalty kill of course… Jussi Jokinen was great on faceoffs… The entire defensive unit was strong and limited the second chances that Phoenix had on goal… Stephane Robidas had an amazing five shots on goal - most of them on the six powerplays the Stars had - and has looked great as a quasi-Zubov replacement on the PP unit… Every member of the Stars lineup had a shot on goal.

And of course it didn’t hurt the Stars that the Coyotes were without their captain and Marty Turco’s nemesis Shane Doan. The Coyotes for sure missed him tonight.

Chances are the Stars may see him Thursday night when the two teams meet up again in Phoenix for the back end of the home-and-home set. The Stars will go for a franchise record eight in a row and extend the lead in the Pacific division that currently stands at six points as of tonight.

Don’t expect Wayne Gretzky to come to the game with any Valentines day cards… If only Versus had the guts to air what he was saying late in the game.

It’s amazing at times it doesn’t happen more in such a fast, high contact sport like hockey.. We should all count our blessings in that regard.

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Injury news on the Stars front..

Turco is ok and will get the Stars Monday night against the Coyotes.

During the Stars pre-game show before the Blues contest we saw that Phillipe Boucher is skating again. He could still be a while away though.

Not many details on Zubov right now, but if I had to guess I don’t know if I would expect to see him until late in the month if not March.

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More trade rumors.. Today I caught wind from a source that the Stars may be looking into Canadiens right winger Michael Ryder who is having a very off season in Montreal. He is a former multiple 30-goal scorer and could be a good pick up depending on who the Stars have to give in return. Considering though that the Habs are just as much in a race for a top seed in the East as the Stars are in the west, I don’t know if this trade happens even with the Habs having shopped Ryder around all season.

A little more that two more weeks of this craziness before we can get past the trade deadline and focus on the playoff run.

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Speaking of playoff run.. The Stars absolutely need a good run this year or risk the prospect of losing fans even more. I see where the Stars official site has yet again posted some clever propaganda to pump fans up and get them to believe.

I hate to say it, but Stars fans will believe it when they see it.

That said, I get asked every so often in e-mails if I feel the Stars as they are now can make a run to the cup. I for one feel if they get past the first round, then it’s quite possible they can make a run. Now I know that sounds like a very stupid answer.. Of course they gotta win the first round to get anywhere, but what I mean is if they can get over that mental block that is the first round win that and get into the second, then I think they have the talent to match up with any other western team to beat them in future rounds.

And yes that includes Detroit.

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Speaking of Detroit.. Huge game against them Sunday afternoon on national network TV for all of North America to see. It’s actually kind of refreshing to see the Stars have two national TV appearances this week… lets just hope the Stars don’t choke it away.

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Last night I was hoping for a Nashville win… San Jose of course beat them 4-3.

Stoopid Predators.

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December 9th - The last time I did one of these ‘random thoughts’ blogs, I outlined a few key Stars blogs that I frequent.

I since have found two more.

The Shootout - which is obviously a clever play on the little skills comp that the Stars excel at. Jen (the writer obviously) not only has great coverage but also does the odd live game day blog - much better than I ever did.

And in what has to be a case of real bad timing on my part there is Caitlin’s Hockey Coma which is actually on hiatus until mid-March. Still worth bookmarking and waiting for the return though as she also has a great blog that is very amusing.

As always you can find links to all Stars blogs on the ‘friends’ section of this blog.

As great as the Stars offense and powerplay was tonight in their 6-2 win over the St. Louis Blues, I think we can give an assist in the game to the flu that seemed to really hold St. Louis back and drain them of their energy. They certainly didn’t skate with the typical speed they displayed in other games against the Stars this season. Keith Tkachuk even left the game in the third due to the illness and many others were said to be affected by it. Add that to the fact this is an offensively challenged team and languishing near the bottom of the west conference and you had a perfect storm set up for Stars fans to enjoy.

It was a battle of backups as Hannu Toivonen got the start for Blues against Mike Smith who was coming off the shutout against the Wild. Smith looked very solid from the start and didn’t give up anything until midway through the second period. The same can’t be said for Hannu who looked very off and in all four goals he allowed played the shots quite poorly.

Brenden Morrow bounced one off his chest on the powerplay to start things.. Hannu was anticipating the puck to across the ice to a waiting Antti Miettinen on the other side, but the angle he was playing at was poor and allowed the captain to get his 24th of the season.

Jussi Jokinen zipped one past him five hole at the start of the second period. Granted Hannu had to have been screened a bit as Jussi made a nice side shift move on Eric Brewer to create a little room for him to shoot, but it was quite easily a stoppable puck that wasn’t.

Mike Ribeiro about three minutes later unleashed a bomb of a one-timer while on the powerplay… But again Hannu wasn’t completely square to the puck and allowed Ribs to get one in on him high on the short side - a cardinal sin for most goalies. As for Ribs it was great to see him pick up a goal finally in his three point night. I honestly think 80 points is very reachable for him.

Antti Miettinen’s first of two on the night seven minutes after the Ribeiro goal ended Hannu’s night. Manny Legace had been expecting to have a night off but came in from the twelve minute mark on in the second to mop up things, though word is he too was also under the weather. (I could send a sympathy card to the Blues.. I know the feeling all too well after these last couple of weeks.)

Jere Lehtinen added a third powerplay goal on the night in the third and Antti scored his second and career high 12th of the season to wrap things up in the third.

Speaking of Antti.. I may have to take back that “trade him while he’s hot” thought I had a while ago. I still do wonder if some of his play is a result of who he’s with.. but still why knock that? He, Morrow and Ribeiro have played so well together. No one thought that much less of Mikael Renberg when he was racking up points with Eric Lindros and John LeClair as part of the old ‘legion of doom’ line so maybe what Antti is doing isn’t so bad really.

All of this offense came tonight while being somehow out-shot in the game. St. Louis did come back a little in the third and tried to make a game of it, but the defense didn’t give up much in the way of solid scoring chances and Mike Smith made sure no pucks other than the two that got past him in the second were by him in the third.

Special teams obviously had a great night going 3 for 4 on the powerplay and 4 for 4 with the penalty kill.. The Stars number one ranked PK unit was up against the Blues number thirty ranked PP unit, so I think anything less than a perfect night would have been thought of as a failure.

These are the kinds of games Dallas needs to make sure they win… As I type now San Jose is currently tied 2-2 with Nashville in the second period (Go Preds! Wow.. did I just say that?? I may need to take a shower now…) but the Stars can’t depend on other teams to take the Sharks out to hold onto first in the division, so wins against lesser sub-.500 teams are huge.

Dallas by the way gets two more shots at San Jose.. Once there and once in Dallas both late in the season. Imagine how huge those games may be!

Meanwhile Dallas gets to look at the Phoenix Coyotes at home on Monday night (with a 6pm local start… yuck!) and tie the franchise record with a 7th win in a row (the second time the Stars have had a look at that record this season). It’s the start of a home-and-home set versus the ‘Yotes.