As a Dallas Stars fan for many years and an Eddie Belfour fan for my whole life, I have nothing but contempt for the Red Wings. My contempt for them caused me to hate Derian Hatcher and Brett Hull, two of the most important pieces of the ‘99 Cup run. I could write prose on just my pure hatred for the Red Wings, but you have to respect them. They aren’t dirty, by hockey standards, they aren’t too pretty, they just play the game the right way, and they are very good at it. 3 Cups in the last 12 years should tell you all you need to know. They have been the best team in the NHL from the beginning to the end this year. If that does not sound ominous enough, historically they own the Stars. The Stars have never beaten the Red Wings in a playoff series. All of that means nothing because hockey, more than any other sport, a seven game series any team can beat anybody. Marty Turco is 2-10-5 for his career against the Red Wings… (wow).
This Stars team is different, Marty Turco is different. This Stars team can play with speed or with physicality. This Stars team plays with all the fire and heart of their captain. However, this Stars team has not played a team like Detroit in these playoffs. They are a true puck possession team, and in previous seasons we could not counteract that. Now we have three lines that can fore check and score, and 6 defensemen that can all skate and move the puck. Hell they have 8 defensemen who can do that. So here is the breakdown.
Offense: Red Wings, hands down they had one guy score more than an entire team last series (Franzen had 9 goals while the Avalanche had 8 ) and he is not on their first line. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are two of the top 10 players in all the league, in my opinion they are both top 5. They are the headliners of a team that scored the third most goals per game in the regular season.
Defense: Even, the First four of the Red Wings is marginally better than the Stars but at 6 deep it is even. Detroit allowed the fewest goals in the regular season and the Stars were sixth, but the Stars were without Zubov and Boucher for significant time this season. For Detroit Nick Lidstrum is widely regarded as the best defensemen in the NHL, and I won’t argue. Brian Rafalski is solid, and you better keep your head up when Niklas Kronwall is on the ice, he’s a headhunter.
Special Teams: They are very alike in how they do things, they have guys who can play pretty and dust the puck off (Ribeiro Modano Zubov, and Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrum) and the grit guys in front of the net (Holmstrom for the Red Wings and Morrow for the Stars) .
Goaltending: Stars, Turco has been just spectacular so far in these playoffs. However, his history against the Red Wings scare me. Osgood is good but has not really been tested in these playoffs. Unfortunately the way the Red Wings play negates one of Marty’s strengths, his puck play.
I am picking the Stars in seven because I believe in Morrow and Turco. No other reason, the Red Wings have the better team 5 on 5 on paper but the Stars have the better goalie and this Red Wings team has never won Lord Stanley’s Cup. The growth that the Stars have gone through in the playoffs, and the chemistry the Stars have right now make me think this series will come down to one game, in Detroit.
Stars lost tonight in a game that looked simply like the Sharks wanted it more, I do not really see this as a reason to be worried. I am in no way saying the Stars did not want to win the game, they wanted to win it but they had played three games in four nights and won the first two. Both teams came in to the game tired so the extra energy went on the side of the team with their backs to the wall. With all their pride carrying them, their coaches job on the line, and some of them their careers in San Jose, they came out faster and hungrier than the Stars. These are evenly matched teams and the bounces went the way of the team that earned them tonight.
Some thoughts, Turco was outstanding again, especially in the third period. He made some big time saves early in that period to give the Stars a chance but after 6 big time saves, he let one in. Still I have no complaints about Turco. I felt we did not test Nabokov nearly enough, he looked really shaky in San Jose and we only got 18 shots against him. As the Sturminator likes to say, “they dominated field position” however the reason why they did this was in the faceoff circle. It really seemed like the Sharks won all the big faceoffs tonight. The numbers were about even but when the Sharks needed to sustain pressure they won a lot of the big draws, while we did not especially on the powerplay. It seemed like they won a lot of the draws on both their penalty kill and ours. That might have been where the presence of Stu Barnes would have been mostly missed. Maybe he could have won a few draws on the penalty kill. Hell he would have been the one on the ice instead of Toby Peterson on that last penalty kill where the Sharks took the decisive lead. With all of that I still felt the real difference was the fact that they stayed out of the penalty box and we did not in the third period.
Secondly, I love Sergei and I will always bow down to his greatness but he was not good at all tonight, and I do not mean because he made that one mistake, I am ok with that mistake from Zubie. Hes like Flozelle Adams, you know Flozelle is going to false start one play a game but you accept that because he keeps Romo’s jersey clean at a pro bowl level. I felt Zubie was just slow tonight, he got beat alot on just flat out speed. Thats what worries me, he got beat in his first game back too, he took a hooking penalty in the first period of game 2 because he was slow and a guy flew right by him. However, if Tippet(who needs to bring back the mustache) plays him another 25 to 30 minutes on Friday I won’t complain. I will only critique how he plays because I trust Zubie to be on the ice. I want him on the ice.
On a positive note, I thought Niskanen has put together two back to back solid performances. He has not made any glaring errors in my account and he saved a goal on a wrap around in game 3 and he made the outlet pass that sprung Hagman that earned him his penalty shot.
I think the Stars will win game 5 because it will be close, the Stars will be as hungry as the Sharks and it will come down to the goaltenders. If it comes down to that I take Marty any day.
Wow, thats all I can say after watching a team that in past years had to have everything go right for them in the playoffs to get results. They would always have excuses on why they could not come back on the road in the third period. Then they would blame the goaltender. This game is definitely a game that the Stars in the past 5 years would have lost.
The Sharks were dominating and as great as Turco was they took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Michalek. And the Stars, who had already accomplished their mission by winning game one could have just played the same way, hoped for a bounce to maybe give them a chance but just be happy with a split. But no, thirty seconds into the final stanza Brad Richards creates a steal and takes advantage of it by depositing a puck over the blocker of Evgeni Nabokov. Richards dominated the third period with three other assists and showed us all why he won the Conn Smythe trophy back in 2004.
One other thing to look at for those of us who think this series is going to be easy, the Sharks were actually a pretty average at home, as most teams are, but they were one of only two teams that won more games on the road than at home. The other was Phoenix but they did not win many at home. That worries me, plus so does the fact that the games are back to back, we need to win game 3 because a loss in game three and we have to play them the very next night. I do not know how big a factor that will be because its playoff hockey the momentum swings all the time. Plus, it really seems like this team welcomes adversity that is why we dominate the third period in these playoffs.
I say lets get greedy, let our three centers dominate and win game three, step on their throats.
I am, for now, going to attempt to keep my thoughts on this series and how this roster should be able to play with the Hornets but is not. The Hornets look like they are by far the better team, and they very well may be but the way they have been playing and the way we have been playing. The blame can go to many people, but only two are players that are counted on night in and night out. Those are Jason Kidd and Josh Howard, those two are killing this team more Josh than Kidd. I am sorry but Josh Howard is 28 years old and has been in the playoffs every year of his career, this is not new for him, but now that we depend on him hes shown himself for what he is, weak. Hes just weak minded and you can see it in his face he does not want the ball and every shot he takes looks like its gonna miss and he is no longer one of our good defenders, he has not been since his second year in the league. We never put Josh on their best perimeter scorer anymore. Doesn’t anyone else wonder why Kobe, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Lebron James, Baron Davis, and all of the other 6-3 to 6-8 perimeter scorers in this league always have huge nights against us? Not just hit their average I mean things like Kobe score 65 in three quarters, or Baron Davis looks like Oscar Robertson, its because Josh Howard is on them, and hes not a good defender and hes supposed to be. So he kills us on offense and defense. I think he has the ability, but He just looks like hes not focused all the time. No matter what it is 25 percent shooting for the series is pitiful. Hes not even scoring early so Dirk and Terry have to carry the team the whole game. They don’t even guard him anymore.
Now Jason Kidd, I’m not going to lie, I don’t think Jason Kidd is any good anymore and I was against the trade from the beginning. Hell I was against Kidd for Harris straight up, its because come the fourth quarter hes worthless. He is a fast break conductor and can pass, but he can not beat anyone off the dribble anymore and he can only defend bigger slower guys. So its like playing 4 on 5 basketball when hes out there on offense. Of course when we have Damp and Josh out there the way they are playing its 2 on 5, and people are surprised when we get blown out. Even in the game we won I felt Jason Kidd did very little to help the team. And I don’t care about triple doubles, at all. How many triple doubles does Tim Duncan have? How bout Tony Parker? How bout Manu? Kobe? He only had them when they weren’t winning titles. To me a team that has a guy that has to get consistent triple doubles, not on a night where things are just clicking, is not a good team. It depends on one guy to do to much. And another thing I don’t care how many rebounds my POINT GUARD gets. Run the offense and make shots you chump.
My god will someone help Dirk? Hes the best player, by far, in Dallas Mavericks history and we are wasting him.
Grading a draft the next day is extremely difficult. I do not know how these guys will translate to the next level, but then again neither do the Cowboys. So all I will do is give my opinion on who was the better player in college who I think has the tools that normally translate to the NFL.
I will just go in order. The first pick was the only problem but I felt it was a big problem. Like I said before the draft, I do not feel Felix Jones is a first round talent. Only because from whatever I read he is a change of pace back, In other words he is a good player, he may help this team a lot, but to me his skill set is not a first round value. From everything I read, and from Jerry Jones’ mouth, Felix Jones is not going to be a back capable of being the guy you count on, however he is a superb change of pace, explosive back. If he can be a guy who if Marion Barber gets hurt can carry the load. He may he just has not shown it. Normally change of pace backs are not first round picks. And if the cowboys thought Jones was more than that I would agree with the pick but Jerry Jones said that Marion Barber allows the Cowboys to draft a change of pace back. He said Mendenhall was a guy who could carry the load for a whole game but they did not need that type of back because of Barber. Well if you do not need the carry the load, starter type of back, then you wait until it is of value to draft him. I really see only a small difference between Steve Slaton, Jamaal Charles, or Felix Jones. The other guys were available in the third round. However if the Cowboys do feel that Jones can carry the load if heaven forbid we lose Barber, his agent is Drew Rosenhaus, then I am OK with the pick for now until we see him hit at the NFL level. The guy we should have picked was Mendenhall or Mike Jenkins(who the Cowboys did get later). Mendenhall is bigger, carried the load for Illinois last year and ran a faster 40 time than Jones did. I also think the drafting of another running back later shows what the Cowboys see as Jones’ role. If Barber leaves or goes down we got insurance for Jones because hes not a first and second down back.
here is a video of Mendenhall
Here is a video of Felix Jones
I see Felix Jones as a second round pick with only a possibility of being a good running back in this league. I see Mendenhall as a big, fast, punishing running back who has all the tools of an every down back who may take a few trips to Hawaii in this league.
The Jenkins pick I thought was stellar and they should have traded up because from all accounts the Texans traded to 26 to take their cornerback they needed. Now they have to endure Jacques Reeves, LOL. Meanwhile I expect Jenkins to start this season while Pacman is working back into football shape(Remember he has not played or trained with a team in a year and a half by the time he is reinstated). That is assuming he is reinstated by training camp. Either way the secondary looks to have shifted from a weakness to a strength. Good work there Jerry.
I like the pick of Bennett but I do not like the trade that facilitated the need of a tight end. The trade of last years second round pick plus our starting MLB from last year all for a fourth round pick seemed perplexing. I guess Bill Parcells had pictures of Jerry nailing some Coed on the SMU campus.
The rest of the picks no one really knows how they will turn out until we see them on the field.
All in all it looks like a decent draft except one glaring omission, thats two years in a row now the Cowboys talked about taking a receiver and neither trading for one or taking one on draft day. I love Glenn and T.O. Owens but we need something else they are 34 and 35 respectively and one already has injury issues. We need a younger wide receiver and you need to draft them early because receivers rarely make impacts in their rookie years.
The Cowboys are sitting in a great position this draft to provide depth for this team that went 13-3 last season. However this team despite the record does have holes. These are the positions the cowboys need to focus on. Corner back, Inside linebacker, Wide receiver, Running back, Offensive Tackle, TIght End, and Safety (in that order).
With the two first round picks the cowboys have there are very few players that will be there that I deem worthy of either of those two picks. The guys that would be a dream if they are still available: Rashard Mendenhall(I don’t care about Run DMC hes the best RB in this draft), Keith Rivers, Leodis Mcelvin, Antonio Rogers-Cromartie, Limas Sweed, Jonathan Stewart. If any of those guys are there they must be taken. Other guys worthy are Aquib Talib, Mike Jenkins( only cuz of character, because otherwise hes a stud), Gosder Cherilus, Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly. If we get one of those guys I will not be upset. Other than that trade out and get value and more picks. One of those guys will be there at 22 trade out of 28 though. You can get more value later.
At running back. Do not take Felix Jones in the first round hes not worth it. A guy who if we have to reach for I will be OK but I would love to see if he falls to the second round is Chris Johnson from ECU ( i know pick the fastest guy in the draft) I watched him play a few times and hes just reggie bush-type electric. We have our power guy, we should take Johnson. A later round pick might be Jamal Charles or Steve Slaton who had a injury filled junior year but was first round material his freshman and sophomore years.
Chris Johnson
At receiver I am just worried about taking anyone but sweed in the first round I just do not feel anyone else is worth it. Receiver is like RB you can get one later. I would love to see us take Dexter Jackson from App State.( I know second fastest guy in the draft, sue me) Hes Dexter Jackson without the injuries or the money you’d have to pay him.
Dexter Jackson. Just look at the explosiveness he shows against Michigan. Also watch how much Michigan sucks.
I would like us to take a Middle Linebacker in the early rounds because Zach Thomas is old, Carpenter is a bust and Dan Conner will probably be there and he just seems to be around the ball whenever he plays, he does not have the explosiveness but then again neither does Bradie James and that seems to work out.
Look for a Tight end to be drafted by us because we traded fasano away to the dolphins.
I would like to see us take a chance on Erik Wicks the safety from West Virginia because hes a possible sixth or seventh round pick because he does not have the ideal speed. but whenever I watched him play, which was a lot because West Virginia was playing the national game on Thursday nights, all he did was make big plays, hes always around the ball he just seems like a quality player. Not a starter for a couple years but a keith davis type but with more talent.
All of this changes if we can trade for Roy WIlliams with one of our first round picks. If we can, DO IT NOW. Trade 22 if you have to.
This is playoff hockey, you rarely see teams win road games like the Stars did against the Ducks in round one, games are won by very close margins. In all evenly matched series the winning teams normally have their goalie steal a road game, at least one, and Marty picked a good time to steal it. Game one was about Marty, he kept the Stars in the game the whole night and the Stars took their chances. Marty still could be better but he stole this game. Marty seems to have established himself as something we do not need to worry about anymore. Hes gonna have some good games he will let in the occasional softie but I am no longer afraid having Turco as my goalie. To be honest that changed after the series against the Canucks, three shutouts in seven games should earn him the benefit of the doubt. Hes not Eddie, but then again Eddie’s name is on the cup no how drunk he is in Sweden right now.
Now a word for the man who I center my prediction of this series around. I don’t care what sport it is, how old he is Brenden Morrow can be my captain any time. He does all the things you want in a captain and more. Hes the first one in the corners to fight to get the puck back, he does not take stupid penalties, he is the first one down to block shots, he give up his body for the team, he plays at 100 percent no matter the score, and if you mess with one of our guys you have to answer to him, and he makes you pay. Oh and there’s this other small thing, he leads the team in goals. And he’s the guy who scores the big goals. He takes the pressure off of Modano and all the other big guns because they can look to him and whatever the team needs Morrow gets it for you.
Watching all the great captains of the NHL, and other sports, you have to put Brenden Morrow up there with Iginla, Mark Messier, Jason Varitek and well Jesus.
That will be the difference in this series, a hockey term for heart basically. That is what it comes down to this time of year, outside of the two main obvious points. Those being special teams and goaltending. In no uncertain terms the sharks are the most physically talented team, top to bottom, in the NHL. Not the best but the most talented, the team with the most potential. Just look at their line up tonight. They’re first two lines are all big, they are all extremely fast, they are physical, and they all have a scoring touch. The Thornton line and the Marleau line, those two are just filled with talent. But the stars have three lines with talent though the Stars can not match the size of the sharks, they couldn’t match the size of the Ducks either.
The Sharks are much like the Ducks, insofar as they play the game physically and attempt to intimidate. However they are not stupid like the Ducks, the Sharks do not normally take stupid penalties. The Sharks’ main weakness lies inside their chest and their heads.(Like the mavericks) They often do not do the little things that wins in the post season, that is why they keep losing in the second round every year.
So lets go down the line and break down the series.
Defense: The stars have this with or without Zubov in my opinion. The sharks defense is not as strong as the stars top to bottom, Campbell is a good offensive player, Vlasic is very young and not as calm as our rookies, as far as the rest they are much like the rest of the team, full of potential but have not put it together yet.
Offense: Sharks, even though the stars have three scoring lines, the bottom two lines are not proven scoring threats in the long run. The sharks have two big time lines who can score at any moment. Pavelski, Marleau, and Clowe have been dominant in the post season. And who ever they put with Thornton, Cheechoo( a fifty goal scorer a couple years ago) and Michalek (insane tools but has not put it together yet) will be given all types of opportunities because Thornton is the best forward in the western conference.
Special Teams: Stars, its close but the stars have a great powerplay going right now, and if they get back zubov both the powerplay and the penalty kill get better.
Goaltending: Stars, Nabokov has the best glove hand in the league in my opinion but much like Marty will give up the soft goal on occasion. I give Marty the nod because he is the best puck playing goalie in the league and it will neutralize the dump and chase game the sharks would like to play
Its time to admit the Mavericks are a fundamentally flawed team. We know they are flawed mentally, though not in the places the media likes to point, but I mean as a roster on paper. This team does not compliment each other well even though they have their fair share of talent. We have one player who can create his own shot but is not that great at creating shots for others. We have a center who is all rebounding and, occasionally defense, a point guard who can pass, but who can not shoot or attack the basket anymore, and we have a shooting guard who is old and hurt. And finally we have a small forward who can score early when no one is playing defense, can’t dribble, has no left hand, can not create his own shot, can not rebound, and is not a defensive stopper. Our first guy off the bench is a gunner with no conscience, which I love, but has not seemed to be the same player lately, and is a defensive liability. These pieces when put with other parts are very good but they just do not seem to fit well together anymore. If Kidd was younger and could still penetrate and attack the basket, if we surrounded him with shooters who could defend and attack the basket, we would be the Hornets. For Josh Howard to be an all-star in this league he needs to be on a team that does not depend on him as an option to run the offense through, he is a shorter Shawn Marion with a prettier, but not better, jump shot. Josh gets his points on attacking the basket, short runners, and the occasional made jump shot. He does not fit well when the offense is run through him in isolation situations he can not dribble with his left hand. Dampier is who he is, a backup center at this point in his career. And Dirk is an all-star no matter who you surround him with but he is a top ten player in this league when you have someone else who is also an all-star on the floor with him. Some one who you also have to game plan around. When the defense is allowed to have two men watch him all the time whether he does or does not have the ball you are putting him in a situation he can handle but not in his best situation.
As for tonight I do not believe the Mavericks will win both games in Dallas, they will win one or two and go back and lose to the Hornets in five. Unfortunately the Hornets are more athletic and faster at every position. They have 5 of the best 6 players on the floor. Paul is the best, Dirk is second, and otherwise there is not another Maverick who could make the starting five on the Hornets right now.
The best Line-up I feel that could stay with the Hornets is a team with Damp Dirk and Bass all in the game where Bass can work down low while Dirk can play on the wings where he is most effective, on defense Bass guards West and Dirk guards Peja so Dirk is not as involved in the pick and roll. Josh, Terry, Stack, and Kidd make up the other two spots taking into account who is playing the best and what half it is( Josh only likes to play in the first half). That line-up is the best chance we have to defend and attack them. I don’t know if we will see it because Anthony Catfish( Avery) does not read the Musings.
Check back for a stars preview post at half time and a mavs blurp as well.
Speed, speed, and more speed normally how you would describe the opponents of the Dallas Stars in the last 5 or 6 seasons. The Stars have always been conservative, defensive and overly dependent on their goaltender. Tonight, against the cup champs, the Stars look like the red army from the 1980 Olympics. There is speed everywhere on this team even Turco is fast. We will get back to that later, but for the game tonight.
In my last post I talked about special teams and goaltending as the key to playoff success and it was no different tonight. Turco made timely saves and did not give up any softies. This game was not won in the net however it was won right in front of it. The Dallas Stars powerplay was dangerous again tonight with two more powerplay goals. But that did not win the game, the game was won at the beginning of the third period. After Morrow took a dumb penalty at the end of the second period, Modano gets called for a questionable trip, then Richards gets another trip. Six straight minutes of powerplay time for the Ducks. Six minutes for the cup champs having five guys on the ice while we have four. The Stars do what they do, the best penalty kill in the league was awesome, the Ducks were held scoreless. As it happens so often when the officials give a team a lot of power plays they are looking to at least give the other team one to even things up. Sure enough the Stars got a power play right after all their good work on the penalty kill.
The momentum had switched as so often does in the NHL often times the goal follows the change in momentum instead of being the change of momentum itself. The momentum was changed by the penalty kill and it was turned into a goal by Modano who unleashed his bazooka of a slap shot from the blue line, putting it shelf on the glove side on a screened Giguere who had already gone down to take down the higher percentage of the net. That momentum was turned into another goal 55 seconds later by Brad Richards but it was a play made by Joel Lundquist who took a hit from Mathieu Schnieder and made a pass to turn it into a 2 on 1 for Loui Erikson and Brad Richards and they made it count. The power play has to continue to produce and the penalty kill has to be good for us to keep winning.
Now for the make up of the team, last year I was saying this team was old slow and depended on Modano too much. I complained all we drafted were defense men and two way forwards not scorers. Well this year that worked out because Boucher and Zubov missed lots of time and we got to see all these draft picks play. They have been impressive, more than impressive considering their age. Now all of them are playing with a veteran, Nisky with Boucher, Grossman with Norstrom, and Daley, whose establised as a solid NHLer eventhough he is just 24, with Robidas. Grossman and Nisky have been immense we are rolling all three sets of defensemen and are not afraid to play the kids. All of the young guys are fast and now the defense is fast as well as physical which is a change from previous seasons outside of Zubie. The forwards can be best described in this fashion, Mike Modano is our third line center. Mike Modano, the all time US-born scorer, is our third line center, he is our defensive stopper, a side to his game he is not given enough credit for. This team now has speed all over the place, and guys scoring goals that are more than just crashing the net. Erikson for example who I believe will be a 40 goal scorer in this league one day is big fast and has great hands. Evidence is his goal in game one he takes a place skates to the slot and roofs a beautiful shot off the elbow of the posts. Hagman has speed, Richards and Modano are just mustard( to borrow an english football term) Erikson has it, and Ribeiro can absolutely fly. Ribeiro is the key to everything though, he puts everyone in there place. He is the point producer and everyone else knows it, and he delivers. That Morrow, Ribeiro, Lehtinen line is dominant. Hopefully this continues, go Stars, go Turco, go Playoff beards.
