Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Can't think of a better way to sum up that game than this....
A-freakin-men.Trey Hill @squarerootof9
Well, that was flat out disrespectful to Jere.
There really isn't much to recap. The Stars came out looking flat, dazed, lost, and got their collective asses handed to them. The defense which showed signs of coming around, in spite of some rocky patches here and there, completely imploded.
How in the world does Justin Schultz make it all the way to Kari's lap without a single Stars player noticing? Not the first time they've let defensemen cheat down, charge the net, or have wide open looks from the point.
In the first Daryl Reaugh made an astute observation. The guys just seemed to come out and say to themselves "Kari's back, we can ease up". After that when things got out of hand they just kind of excepted it until Jagr's shutout ender, then they got the fire. If they had come out with that kind of effort from the opening puck drop the end result would have at least been respectable if not another win.
Not much to say really after this. Hopefully this kind of effort is a one-time thing and we won't see it again.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Mike Heika has a good column up today on the Stars penalty woes. Here's a snippet....
And the full article.....However, they lead the league in times short-handed per game at 4.66, and that speaks to discipline. Among their transgressions, they are first in the NHL in hooking calls (20), first in high sticks (12), tied for second in boarding (8), fourth in interference (17) and fourth in roughing (14). That’s a lot of work in 21 games.
http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/2013...thursday.html/
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Dallas guys - need your input.
I've just about given up on Green. I'm debating whether I should drop him for Goligoski. How's Goligoski looked this season? Is he getting quality ice time? Do you see him having a strong 2nd half to the season?
Goli was really rough to start the season, and earned himself a healthy scratch back in early February. Since then he's looked better, and has managed to claw his way back to the second pairing, after spending a good stretch as a part of the bottom pairing.
He's been logging right around 20-21 minutes a night, and he's been getting plenty of PP time too. Last night he spent most of the PPTOI as the lone D on PP1. In the last five games he's had 3 minutes+ PPTOI in all but one, and that game they only had one powerplay, and he got 1:25 TOI on that one.
The Stars have a lot invested so Goli will be given every possible chance to produce. He does have seven points in the last ten games and three of those have come on the powerplay. So he's trending in the right direction and is primed to put together a decent second half.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Jamie Benn will have a hearing tomorrow over the cross-checking incident last night with Ryan Jones. He's not expected to be facing a suspension, but possibly a hefty fine instead.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
To update, I did drop Jagr from my roster, not Pomminville. Jagr will likely go on a tear now...dropped him due to his age and last yr his PPG production went down, down, down as the season wore on plus Pmville has more games this month than Jagr. Pmvl has only 12 in April so will probably replace him April 1 if he keeps going at this horrible pace. Did replace Jagr on my 25 man roster with Zetterberg so it's not like I dropped him for some smuck.
For Stars fans hope Jagr does well. I don't mind if he does as long as Pmvil and Zberg do a little better.
I saw the Benn thing. Jeez...go score goals man and leave that BS to a goon.
From Mark Stepneski's practice notes article....
http://starsinsideedge.com/2013/03/0...line-juggling/
Eriksson - Benn - Jagr
Roussel - Roy - Cole
Morrow - Eakin - Smith
Nystrom - Fiddler - Garbutt
Dillon - Robidas
Benn - Daley
Goligoski - Oleksiak
The shakeup on the top line was in response to their being minus players each of the last three. Morrow, minus-5 over that span, took one for the team here. Even though Jamie was the worst of the three at minus-8, there's no way he gets bumped down, and Jagr at minus-4 wasn't going anywhere either. So Eriksson moves back up with his old linemate, freeing up a spot for Cole to move up.
Roussel continues to see time in the top-six while Whitney works his way back. He's made the most of his opportunity, but will almost certainly settle back into a third or fourth line role when Ray comes off the IR.
Morrow's move down to the third line does put a damper on trying to build up trade value should GM Joe decide to move him. Kind of surprised to see Goli back on the third pairing. Yes he is a defensive liability, but his game has never been about defense. He was never going to be a shutdown D, or even a good two-way. He's an offensive defenseman, first, last, and always. The thing to watch while he's there is does he continue to see the level of PPTOI that he has lately. If so that takes some of the sting out for his fantasy owners.
As the article mentioned, Gulutzan said the changes are meant to shake things up and that if they don't work more changes are on the way. They just need to figure out what changed last week. They had built some momentum with decent, even good efforts, prior to last week. But boy did the wheels came off. Thursday night was the hockey equivalent of the scene in The Blues Brothers where the Bluesmobile completely falls apart.
Maybe last week's scores reflect the discipline issues and mental breakdowns that led to all the penalties. Maybe there's more then that in play. Whatever the reason this may not be the last of the changes in the near future.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Come on Eriksson and Benn. Four games this week and have done pretty much nothing with it. Benn is minus-NINE. the only good thing he did was get 17 PIM
With the long layoff between games there hasn't been much news from the Stars the last couple of days. But things should be picking up again with them heading out for LA and their first clash with the defending champs tomorrow night.
One small bit of news was the recall of Francis Wathier from the Texas Stars. He's likely just a depth addition for the upcoming road trip.
Here's Mark Stepneski's recap of today's morning skate....
http://starsinsideedge.com/2013/03/0...actice-update/
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
No changes to Stars lineup for tonight's game in LA...
Eriksson - Benn - Jagr
Roussel - Roy - Cole
Morrow - Eakin - Smith
Nystrom - Fiddler - Garbutt
Dillon - Robidas
Benn - Daley
Goligoski - Oleksiak
Larsen is back, but will be a healthy scratch it appears.
The Stars are saying Ray Whitney may be back as early as Tuesday against the Preds. He hasn't gotten the green light officially, but there is cautious optimism that he will be back soon. That game against Nashville also kicks off a four game home stand, and a stretch of eight games in 14 days.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....