Personally, I really like the tradition of the NYE games, and the stars have had some great ones. I have some good memories of attending a few.
Perhaps the NHL will start some more. I'll include links here for some of the thoughts others have had about the outdoor game tomorrow. Personally, I'm looking forward to it, but the jury will remain out for a bit about the success.
I say anything to have poeple talking hockey. I don't know that the height of bowl season, the start of the NFL playoffs, and a time when every major sport save NASCAR is happening. Oops, Baseball too. :o)
Anyway, I'll watch, and I hope it proves worthy and injury free.
Heika
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/mheika/stories/123007dnspoheika.1cc1aab.html
Rule Changes:
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=348076&page=NewsPage&service=page
NHL.com list of stories
http://www.nhl.com/winterclassic/index.html
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
2 points is 2 points
Right before the game, I thought we would come out and put up a quick four or five, like many other teams were doing last night. Ten minutes in, I thought I was right. By the end of the night, I was just happy for two points on an off night filled with spurts of greatness. Or was it a great night filled with spurts of badness. A month from now, it's just a "W."
Stayed up the extra hour to see the Ducks fall. They have to come right back and play Vancouver tonight. If they continue to fill up the box as they've been doing, they will slow.
Stayed up the extra hour to see the Ducks fall. They have to come right back and play Vancouver tonight. If they continue to fill up the box as they've been doing, they will slow.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Divisional Race
Personally, once the calendar shows December, it’s never too early to watch the scoreboard some.
St. Louis comes to town riding a streak of two games scoreless. Last night though, it was a hard fought game in St. Louis against San Jose. San Jose continues to hang around in the second divisional spot and push the Stars to stay hot.
The real threat that I see though comes from Anaheim. Winners of their last four and points in all five since the return of Scott Niedermayer, which included a three against the Sharks, the Ducks are confident and on a roll. Say what you like about Neidermayer’s absence and return, it seems to be working for them.
All three teams have more than forty games to play, but the race is on!
As for tonight, Smith in net I’m guessing. Legace played last night in St. Louis, so almost certainly Toivonen for the Blues. We should match up well and hopefully continue Wednesday’s offensive output. And yes, I’ll be cheering for Nashville & Calgary to help us out a little bit.
One quote from the DMN notes on the match up:
St. Louis comes to town riding a streak of two games scoreless. Last night though, it was a hard fought game in St. Louis against San Jose. San Jose continues to hang around in the second divisional spot and push the Stars to stay hot.
The real threat that I see though comes from Anaheim. Winners of their last four and points in all five since the return of Scott Niedermayer, which included a three against the Sharks, the Ducks are confident and on a roll. Say what you like about Neidermayer’s absence and return, it seems to be working for them.
All three teams have more than forty games to play, but the race is on!
As for tonight, Smith in net I’m guessing. Legace played last night in St. Louis, so almost certainly Toivonen for the Blues. We should match up well and hopefully continue Wednesday’s offensive output. And yes, I’ll be cheering for Nashville & Calgary to help us out a little bit.
One quote from the DMN notes on the match up:
Mike Smith should get the start in goal for the Dallas Stars. Look for his special "Grinch" holiday mask.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Coaching Staff Extended
Hot off the press on the home page:
Great news for the organization, and, in my opinion, a continued good move by the new GM combo to let the youth and personalities of the team show through. Even if nothing else, this will allow the coaches to finish out the year with confidence.
DALLAS STARS EXTEND DAVE TIPPETT’S CONTRACT THROUGH 2008-2009
Associate Coach Rick Wilson and Assistant Coach Mark Lamb Also Retained Through ’08-09
FRISCO, Tex. – The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has extended the contract for Head Coach Dave Tippett through the 2008-09 season. Tippett’s contract was set to expire on June 30, 2008. In addition, the Stars announced that Associate Coach Rick Wilson and Assistant Coach Mark Lamb have also signed extensions through the 2008-09 season. Each of the current contracts of the Stars’ associate/assistant coach were due to expire on June 30, 2008. Current Assistant Coach Ulf Dahlen was offered a contract extension, but has decided to wait until the summer to assess next season.
Tippett, 46, is in his fifth season with the hockey club and boasts an overall record of 212-109-45 during his tenure as head coach of the Dallas Stars – the best record among active NHL coaches. He was named the 19th head coach in Stars franchise history on May 21, 2002. On Nov. 21, 2007 vs. Anaheim, Tippett became the third-fastest to reach 200 wins among all-time NHL coaches in just his 349th game coached.
“We’re very pleased to extend Dave’s contract for another season,” said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “Dave has done an outstanding job since the day he started here in Dallas and we expect that to continue. We are also happy to announce the
extensions of the contracts to Rick and Mark. All the coaches have worked extremely hard together and their continuity bodes well for our hockey club.”
Great news for the organization, and, in my opinion, a continued good move by the new GM combo to let the youth and personalities of the team show through. Even if nothing else, this will allow the coaches to finish out the year with confidence.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Stars 8, Wild 3
Great game to watch as a fan. Before the game, I was all praise for Turco, and about ten minutes in he had me concerned. Sometimes you have to win a shoot out though, and this team keeps winning.
In the post game, Tippett indicated that Turco was nearly pulled and they “chatted” after the first. I wouldn’t have been unfair to sit him down, but how about Minnesota leaving Harding in all night. Make the change for momentum if nothing else. I know they play again tonight, but you have to stop the bleeding at some point.
Unfortunately, it’s great fodder for all the Marty Bashers. I’m sure Turco will bail out the team some night soon, so only fair they help him from time to time too. This game makes the rest of the season series with Minnesota a bit more interesting too.
One great bit of insight from Blaze – Ribero is not on the ballet for the All Star Voting. This is awful, because many of us, me included, just vote by click. I believe that voting only goes through next Wednesday. Stars fans – get busy!!!
Vote here: http://fanballoting.nhl.com/
In the post game, Tippett indicated that Turco was nearly pulled and they “chatted” after the first. I wouldn’t have been unfair to sit him down, but how about Minnesota leaving Harding in all night. Make the change for momentum if nothing else. I know they play again tonight, but you have to stop the bleeding at some point.
Unfortunately, it’s great fodder for all the Marty Bashers. I’m sure Turco will bail out the team some night soon, so only fair they help him from time to time too. This game makes the rest of the season series with Minnesota a bit more interesting too.
One great bit of insight from Blaze – Ribero is not on the ballet for the All Star Voting. This is awful, because many of us, me included, just vote by click. I believe that voting only goes through next Wednesday. Stars fans – get busy!!!
Vote here: http://fanballoting.nhl.com/
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Intro Post
For starters, a little about me…
A resident of Dallas from 1993 – 2004, I held either a partial or full season ticket for the Stars from 1998 up to the lock out. Since then, I’ve lived in areas with a greatly reduced hockey presence – central Illinois and most recently, central Virginia. So this will hopefully fill the void of hockey conversation I’ve found around the office and in the community.
Both in Dallas and since, I follow the Stars and the league through the cable package, websites, and news papers.
In 2002 I contributed occasionally to sportspages.com. Essentially, it was a multi-user blog, before blogs were popular. I’ve checked today, and I am guessing that the site is no longer running. Too bad, there were some very good contributors. Obviously, I didn’t stick with it, so I guess I can’t complain.
More recently, I’ve found myself becoming hooked to a hand full of Stars & NHL blogs, and doing a somewhat decent job of keeping one up for my family. Hey-why not give this a try, huh? If nothing else, there’ll be record of how wrong I am on some predictions! :o) And maybe Blaze will get involved too! (I’m never above shameless begging!)
This will be a test of sorts to see if I’m more dedicated this time around. I must admit, that I more than likely won’t have the time to make daily contributions, but I hope to create a forum for discussion, banter, and keeping handy all those links I love and think others will too.
I’m sure I’ll mix in some more of what’s going on in the sports world in general, so I guess it’s only fair to indicate that I am also a Bears fan and casual Cubs fan. As you can guess, I count on the Stars to provide the playoff experience among my “top three.”
Yes, the current banner picture is one that I took. I’ve managed about one game a year since moving, and this was last March in St. Louis. A losing affair for the Stars, but a memorable “guys weekend” none the less.
Moving on…
Hockey is currently on a two day holiday recess, which is great for the athletes, their family, and such, but provides us little in the news to discuss. Today’s Dallas Morning News featured a great look at the second year captain Brendan Morrow, and his coming into his own this year. That is one of my daily reads along with the blog maintained by Mike Heika. Great, up to the minute, news there.
This month also marks one year since the tragic loss of Laura Gainey, daughter of Bob Gainey who will forever be a key part of Stars history. CBC ran a special titled “Overboard” chronicling the events, and their website includes an interview with him.
NHL.com brings us a feature about goalie masks. Nothing really new here, but I always enjoy checking them all out. It will also be neat to follow the conversion of a football stadium to hockey. A bit gimmicky, but if it brings viewers away from bowl games on New Year’s Day, good for hockey.
While linked along the side as well, Razor is always fun is he gets credit for leading me to the Overboard story as well.
All of that said, Merry Christmas to all, the NHL returns Wednesday with the Stars on top of the pacific, second in the west, and at home against Minnesota, which always makes for interesting TV. Sometimes I even wear my Northstars Teeshirt!
A resident of Dallas from 1993 – 2004, I held either a partial or full season ticket for the Stars from 1998 up to the lock out. Since then, I’ve lived in areas with a greatly reduced hockey presence – central Illinois and most recently, central Virginia. So this will hopefully fill the void of hockey conversation I’ve found around the office and in the community.
Both in Dallas and since, I follow the Stars and the league through the cable package, websites, and news papers.
In 2002 I contributed occasionally to sportspages.com. Essentially, it was a multi-user blog, before blogs were popular. I’ve checked today, and I am guessing that the site is no longer running. Too bad, there were some very good contributors. Obviously, I didn’t stick with it, so I guess I can’t complain.
More recently, I’ve found myself becoming hooked to a hand full of Stars & NHL blogs, and doing a somewhat decent job of keeping one up for my family. Hey-why not give this a try, huh? If nothing else, there’ll be record of how wrong I am on some predictions! :o) And maybe Blaze will get involved too! (I’m never above shameless begging!)
This will be a test of sorts to see if I’m more dedicated this time around. I must admit, that I more than likely won’t have the time to make daily contributions, but I hope to create a forum for discussion, banter, and keeping handy all those links I love and think others will too.
I’m sure I’ll mix in some more of what’s going on in the sports world in general, so I guess it’s only fair to indicate that I am also a Bears fan and casual Cubs fan. As you can guess, I count on the Stars to provide the playoff experience among my “top three.”
Yes, the current banner picture is one that I took. I’ve managed about one game a year since moving, and this was last March in St. Louis. A losing affair for the Stars, but a memorable “guys weekend” none the less.
Moving on…
Hockey is currently on a two day holiday recess, which is great for the athletes, their family, and such, but provides us little in the news to discuss. Today’s Dallas Morning News featured a great look at the second year captain Brendan Morrow, and his coming into his own this year. That is one of my daily reads along with the blog maintained by Mike Heika. Great, up to the minute, news there.
This month also marks one year since the tragic loss of Laura Gainey, daughter of Bob Gainey who will forever be a key part of Stars history. CBC ran a special titled “Overboard” chronicling the events, and their website includes an interview with him.
NHL.com brings us a feature about goalie masks. Nothing really new here, but I always enjoy checking them all out. It will also be neat to follow the conversion of a football stadium to hockey. A bit gimmicky, but if it brings viewers away from bowl games on New Year’s Day, good for hockey.
While linked along the side as well, Razor is always fun is he gets credit for leading me to the Overboard story as well.
All of that said, Merry Christmas to all, the NHL returns Wednesday with the Stars on top of the pacific, second in the west, and at home against Minnesota, which always makes for interesting TV. Sometimes I even wear my Northstars Teeshirt!
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