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The Dallas Stars take to the ice (Photo by pointnshoot/Flickr)
So you’re a Dallas Stars fan this morning and you find yourself scratching your head…???
Your dilemma? Probably the same as G.M. Joe Nieuwendyk’s today, and that is evaluating his troops.
So as we donne our General Manager’s sombrero, here are some of the issues arising out of last night’s 6-5 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
After falling behind 3-0 a little more than halfway through the first period, thanks to Steven Reinprecht’s natural hattrick, the Stars battled back. And in fact, that wasn’t their only deficit of the night. They also climbed out of a 4-2 hole eventually tying the game at 4, only to fall behind again in third period before knotting it one final time.
Resilience, great character and a never give up attitude can be gleaned from such an effort as even in this “new & improved” NHL, 3 goal comebacks aren’t to be taken lightly. Coach Crawford admitted afterwards, “we showed a lot of character and persistence the way we fought back from a 3-0 deficit.”
You want more good news…the team got another point last night, making that the 11th time in their first 13 games of the season that they came away with at least a point. Heck, they even climbed a spot in the conference standings, going from 6th to 5th.
Then why is it you don’t seem to be smiling?
Maybe it’s because the Panthers, one of the league’s perrenial doormats, had not won in 4 tries entering last night’s game? And had won only twice in their first ten(2-7-1) games of the season.
But perhaps it’s the way back up goaltender Alex Auld acquitted himself? Playing for Marty Turco, who was suffering flu-like symptoms, the former Panther wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring. Does this mean Turco once again will have to play the bulk of the games if the team is to have any success? In an Olympic year with the condensed schedule and Dallas’ already geographically challenged location in relation to the rest of the NHL, that could prove quite taxing on the veteran keeper come playoff time. That’s assuming of course, the Stars bounce back from last year’s funk and return to “the dance.”
As for the Stars defense? For the second consecutive night, there was loose play and running around in their own zone, prompting Crawford to say, “to be a good team, we’ve got to be a lot tighter.”
So on this day, as a Stars fan, G.M., or somewhere in bewtween, you are probably asking yourself, are the Stars a good team?
I guess that depends on your point of “spin?”
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We hope you enjoyed this post. As always, leaving a comment below is both appreciated and encouraged. Thanks!
The Stars ARE a good team. Not a great team yet but they are working on it. No team can be a great team without a great netminder and we do NOT have that. I am disappointed in Auld and thought he might go back to playing the way he did when he was in Vancouver but I guess that’s too much to hope for. At least he is better than what we had to endure last year but that isn’t very comforting at this point. And, we all know that the only thing consistent about Marty is his inconsistency. He is an “elite” goalie in his own mind but not on the ice. Until we have a goalie that CAN take us to the playoffs, we are just stuck. Marty might win just enough to get us there but, with the exception of season before last, he just doesn’t have it in him and we will be out in the first round. He just can’t do it and how many different seasons are we going to have to hear, and just shake our heads, how this year will be different? He talks a good game but he doesn’t follow through. At least two of the goals the Leafs got should NOT have gotten through Marty but I sometimes think he takes little naps out there or day dreams and loses track of what he is paid the big $$$$ to do. Yes, the defense needs to be “tweaked” but, as Razor loves to say, “The goalie is our last line of defense.” If that’s the case then we are in trouble.