Reply With QuoteI agree. I think Klingberg is going to have a great yearOriginally Posted by Instant Karma
Re: Dallas Stars
I think it's the defense first and foremost.
First, Klingberg seems like the real deal. If we can punish opponents for trying to destroy him we'll be fine.
Second, it's not just that Oduya is better than Dalley (which he is), it's that moving Daley out is addition by subtraction in and of itself.
As far as the goal situation is concerned, I don't have faith in Kari as a #1. I just don't think he's mentally tough. He does not steal must-win games. However, when you're eliminated or all-but-eliminated, he'll run out there and look like a star (pun intended).
It may be a 1A/1B situation for now, but I expect Niemi to dominate starts over the long run.
Just my $0.02
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Re: Dallas Stars
I agree. I think Klingberg is going to have a great year
Re: Dallas Stars
Just be warned that I picked up Janmark yesterday, so his numbers are almost certain to take a nosedive now.
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Re: Dallas Stars
That was certainly ugly. Sloppy play with the puck, away from the puck, both Finns looking like swiss cheese. Yeesh!!!
Credit to Florida for being the sharper team in all aspects, but the Stars gave that away every bit as much as the Panthers took it. You cannot turn the puck over like that against any team and expect to win.
Ah well, can't win 'em all and they can't all be masterpieces.
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Re: Dallas Stars
Ya, that wasn't a great game for them. At least Benn had a good night for meThat was certainly ugly. Sloppy play with the puck, away from the puck, both Finns looking like swiss cheese. Yeesh!!!
Credit to Florida for being the sharper team in all aspects, but the Stars gave that away every bit as much as the Panthers took it. You cannot turn the puck over like that against any team and expect to win.
Ah well, can't win 'em all and they can't all be masterpieces.
Re: Dallas Stars
Good win last night. I'll admit the "oh crap, here we go again" thoughts crept in. But this isn't last season's Stars. This team is learning to regroup and pushback when they're down. Sure they failed in that against the Avs and Panthers, but there will be nights like that. They still have to work on bottling that magic when their on the road and bring it home with them on a consistent basis. They showed it in the second and third periods though. If they can just play with the balance of safe and risky they had in the first 7 games and get solid goaltending this is a team that can go deep in the playoffs.
The Ginger Ninja did it again. Ruff put Eakin back with Benn and Seguin in the second period and that got the momentum going back the Stars way. Heika reported the lines from today's skate....
Benn-Eakin-Seguin
Sharp-Spezza-Nichushkin
Roussel-Fiddler-Sceviour
Janmark-Faksa-Hemsky
With last night's results in mind it looks like Eakin may get another run with Benn and Seguin. Hard to deny their chemistry, and as Eakin continues to improve maybe he does have the stuff to hang with them. The problem for Eakin though is he's a swiss army knife, so it's likely his lot is to move around the lineup. And Ruff has called him his 'fixer'. Whatever wins games though.
From watching Nich I think his biggest issue right now is he's trying too hard to be the good teammate. He's looking too much at distributing the puck and not enough at shooting it. It's okay to be a bit selfish at times, especially with his skills. Once he figures that out watch out. Now that he's been back on Spezza's RW his game is looking more and more comfortable. Yeah he still makes some bad decisions and can get himself out of place on D, but he's learning and improving. And he did essentially lose an entire year of development so some of those issues aren't surprising.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Re: Dallas Stars
Glad to see Nich moving up. Hopefully he takes advantage!
Points-only, Full Keeper Dynasty League
Active roster (no starts, just total points): 12 FW, 6 D, 1 Goalie
Forwards: Kucherov, Barkov, Teravainen, Seguin, Hoffman, Lindholm, Gusev, Horvat, Meier, Perron, Schwartz, Johansen, Pavelski, Buchnevich, Hischier, Granlund, Bracco
Defense: Josi, Dahlin, Letang, Gostisbehere, Ekman-Larsson, Petry, Slavin, Keith, Matheson
Goal: Lehner, Holtby, Varlamov
Farm: Soderstrom, York, Woo, Tracey, Dorofeyev
Re: Dallas Stars
He's getting there. Even though he didn't pick up a point, last night was possibly his best game yet this season. It's also notable because Ruff put him back over on Spezza's LW, where he struggled mightily in the first two games. It's cliche, but the analogy of Nich being like a freight train is still apt.
- You gotta think this is starting to look an awful lot like Niemi's crease, if it isn't already. He's made the key saves when the Stars needed them and held them close enough to allow the offense to launch these comebacks. Niemi tracks pucks through traffic better than Kari, seems to follow the flow of the puck/play rather than fight against it like Kari, and lastly, he's tougher mentally.
- For the one or two people out there who may have just crawled out from under their rocks, Jamie Benn is good....very, very good. Phantasmagorically good. And watching Klingberg work those moves to open shooting lanes is among the sublime pleasures of hockey fandom.
- Love the mental toughness that this team has found. Down 2 or 3 goals entering the third period, no sweat. Last season these last two games would have had a much different outcome. They've found something as a team and individually and it should give opponents plenty to worry about.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Re: Dallas Stars
My Crackpot-Theory-of-the-Day is that last year's team did not have a whole lot of confidence in whoever they were playing in front of in goal. I believe that affects how they play at both ends.
Not to mention that Oduya+Sharp >>> Daley+Garbutt
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Re: Dallas Stars
It's not a crackpot theory, and I think you'd find a lot supporters. Heika even said as much in a column a couple weeks ago.
Daley is the epitome of addition by subtraction. Garbutt was a useful energy forward, when he could pull his head out of his ass and not take stupid penalties. And it's not like he racked up a ton of PIM, it's just that they were always boneheaded, often a cheap shot, and at the worst possible time. And all on top of a goalie who often had the deer-in-the-headlights thing going on.
You nailed it too, Oduya and Sharp have been major additions. The leadership, mentoring, and knowledge of how to win are needed with so many kids coming up. Spezza has gotten settled in now and has been working with Val and Janmark along with upping his own game over last season. Niemi has been another good signing. Yeah he's not elite but he is much better than Kari right now.
One overlooked kid is Faksa. He's is going to go down as a disappointment relative to his draft position, 13th overall, but then again I don't think he draft class is going to go down as anything spectular. He looks like he's going to be good in his likely role replacing Fiddler once he's done. That's where Faksa's career trajectory seems to be pointing. He's been as advertised out of Cedar Park. He's good defensively, has some limited offensive potential, and credit to him he seems to be embracing his role and not pouting about grinding away in the bottom six. I don't know, but I kind of hope that he can start eating up some of Jamie's PK time. Not that the captain isn't a good penalty killer but why risk arguably your best weapon when you have somebody else capable of filling that role.
I understand the lead by example part of it, I just can't help spitballing the idea. Fresher legs on Jamie equals bigger nightmares for opposing netminders. There again, whatever wins games. If that means the captain is among the team leaders in SHTOI so be it.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Re: Dallas Stars
Benn hasn't been good…he's been unbelievable. He has actually scored more points than all of my keepers combine and I have Crosby lol. Who would have thought that would happen
Re: Dallas Stars
Why, oh why did we want out of the Pacific Division? Oh yeah, the late starts for road games. Feh. That's what No-Doze is for.
It's getting harder and harder not to get too giddy. Another game where the Stars fought and ground out a win. 5-1 at home so far, but they failed miserably in their one and only Central Division game so far. That test has yet to be taken so that is where the sobering element comes in. They have to learn to lock games up when they get the upper-hand when they get in the division. Too many tough teams to be able to rely on these comebacks. Still plenty of positives to take away.
- If only the Stars can get over the turnover bug that has bitten them most often at home. Going back to last season it's an ongoing theme. When they learn to play the safe game at home they do on the road this is going to be, in Razor's words, a juggernaut. If you watch them in the AAC it's like they try too hard to put on a show for the fans. That leads to risky play and turnovers. Turnovers led directly to at least 2 of the 3 goals by the Sharks and a boaload of quality chances in odd-man rushes. And it happened in each of the four games in this home stand. Once they learn to play that balanced game they play away from home this team is going to be a really tough draw every single night. With the strides they've made since last season with their defensive play, there's no reason to believe they can't figure this out too.
- Sharp is making up for lost time. Four goals in the last three games. And it wasn't like he wasn't getting great chances before, he hit more pipes than the entire Plumbers Union Local. That leads too....
- Five goals for and the top line only accounted for one. Got to love it when the secondary scoring steps up like that. But that's always there with the Stars this season. All the lines are generating quality chances pretty much every night.
- As Strader pointed out Ruff and Nill are going to have some seriously tough choices to make soon with Moen, Eaves, and McKanzie due back soon. Oh yeah, and let's not forget Ritchie's return in about a month or so. Good problem to have though. Likely Faksa heads back to Cedar Park along with McKenzie or Sceviour. Another likely scenario would be for one or both of Nemeth and Oleksiak to go back down and finally log some ice time. They've been the victims of Jokipakka and Jordie Benn's play so far. Huh, who thought we would ever be able to say so-and-so can't crack the top 6 on D because Jordie Benn is playing too good. But there it is. Once Ruff quit trying to force him up the lineup into the second pairing he's been fine. Limit his time, don't make him shoulder too much load and responsibility, and he's fine. It's up to Nemeth and Oleksiak to force the issue when they get the chance, but at the same time it's hard to do when you aren't getting ice time to get into a rhythm.
- Faksa is making a strong case to stay with the big club with his play on defense. Came close to netting his first ever goal with a flurry of chances and rebounds after he took the penalty. Like that sense that he owed his teammates for a bad penalty and did it without pushing too hard. Since he doesn't have to clear waivers to go back down he's the prime candidate, but he is serving notice that he's got a future with this team if he can keep this up.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Re: Dallas Stars
Ya, finally Sharp is starting to score some goals
Re: Dallas Stars
Antti Niemi vs Toronto: 5-1-0/1.67/.937. Kari Lehtonen: 3-8-2/2.98/.893...I wonder who's starting in net tonight?
Alright moving on from Captain Obvious. Bit of shakeup with lines in the morning skate....
Benn-Seguin-Sharp
Faksa-Spezza-Hemsky
Janmark-Eakin-Nichushkin
Roussel-Fiddler-Sceviour
The Stars called up Devin Shore yesterday. He's along to give Dallas a 13th forward for the road trip as Moen, Eaves, and McKenzie didn't make the trip while still working back from their injuries. He earned the opportunity by posting 8 goals and 11 points in the first 9 games for Texas. Not much chance he draws a start barring another injury(perish the thought), but still a cool bonus for him.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Re: Dallas Stars
Hopefully you're being facetious, but just in case...Why, oh why did we want out of the Pacific Division? Oh yeah, the late starts for road games. Feh. That's what No-Doze is for.
...
... I'll remind you that Bob Gainey maneuvered the Stars into the Pacific after the move to Dallas because it was the weakest division (at that time), so he believed that the Stars would develop into a contender there much more quickly. (And he was right, they did.)
However, you know the saying about "God laughs at the man who plans"? Eventually Anaheim, LA, and San Jose all got good while Dallas has a huge drop-off in talent, and now you're stuck with all these games that even the fans won't watch because a) they're over at 12:30 (or later), and b) the Stars end up losing a good number of them.
So the moral of this story if there is one, is that you're always going to be better off in the long term being in the division where you geographically belong, because those good teams aren't always going to be better than you and those bad teams won't always be worse.
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