So I’m doing something a little different here.  I’ve talked to a Red Wings fan (GASPSHOCKHORROR) and we’ve both written up little ditties about why our teams will win.  Only one of us can end up correct on that.  Only time will tell!  So, I present to you,

Why the Stars will win:

Despite how frightened most people I know are of this series (and me, too, I’ll admit it freely), I really think the Stars have a shot.  You can look at the regular season record against the Wings all you want, but this is a different beast.  You want reasons?  Oh, I’ll GIVE you reasons.

The acquisition of Brad Richards at the trade deadline didn’t look so awesome in the month of March.  And then, suddenly, the playoffs hit and BOOM!  Dallas had three capable scoring lines, centered by Mike Ribeiro, Mike Modano, and Brad Richards.  Not to say that the Stars had no depth in scoring beforehand, but having a guy like Brad Richards, who exhibits some patience with the puck and makes smart passes, certainly helps.  Winger Brenden Morrow has been nothing short of a William Wallace-esque leader in the two series that have passed, always able to give a little bit more to get his team into it.  No one will soon forget that quadruple-overtime game and the goal Brenden scored to win it.  Some lesser known names have stepped up as well - Stu Barnes has suffered concussion-like symptoms since that big hit in a game against San Jose, but Toby Petersen, the fourth-line center, stepped up and picked up his minutes in that magical game six.  Antti Miettinen was the one to score the Stars’ first goal in game six, Loui Eriksson has six points in the playoffs, and Joel Lundqvist has four.  If these guys can keep playing at this level, I have no doubt that they can push through Detroit’s defense, good as it is.

The Dallas defense has been pretty awesome since Sergei Zubov got back to 100% (although he’ll argue that he’s only at 99% - possibly still upset with himself about those two intercepted passes?).  I will fully admit that Detroit’s defense is absolutely incredible, and Dallas’s might not match up.  Sure, we have Zubov back, but we do still have three rookies back there (Nicklas Grossman, Mark Fistric, and Matt Niskanen).  There are, though, two guys who have been incredible.  Stèphane Robidas took a puck to the face and came back to the game after suffering a broken nose (insert your own joke there about poor Robi and his poor nose).  Mattias Norstrom surprised the hell out of me with his five points (two goals, three assists) and fairly awesome play.  Philippe Boucher suffered an unfortunate injury in the Anaheim series, but he is apparently skating again, which has to mean he’s close.  Right?  RIGHT?!?  One could say that the Dallas blueline will be outmatched, like, hardcore.  Then again, you could have said that about the Ducks as well, who have an experienced and talented blueline.  The Stars seemed to handle that okay.

And, of course, goaltending.  You know what?  I don’t even want to talk about it too much.  Everyone is making a big deal out of Marty Turco’s record at the Joe, but this has been the season of shaking monkeys off backs.  I’m fairly certain Marty can shake this monkey off, too.  Sure, he has a 2-10-5 lifetime record against the Wings.  Sure, he’s never won in Detroit.  But you know what?  Right now he’s boasting a 1.73 GAA and a .929 save percentage.  Those aren’t numbers I’d want to mess with, even if I am Chris Osgood with a 1.52 GAA and .937 save percentage.  Marty seems to have a fire in him right now, a certain determination, and that will fuel him through this series.

The Stars have asked me to believe, and I have.  I will continue to, despite how scared and nervous I might get.  The Stars have faith in themselves.  People are comparing this 07-08 team to the ‘99 team that won the Stanley Cup.  This team will have to fight hard, undoubtedly.  Will they?  I have no doubt in my mind.  Will their fans believe in them?  I think so - I certainly will.  Every member of the Stars organization believes that this team has what it takes, and I do too.

Behind the jump, find out why Steph believes that the Red Wings will win. 

Guess what?

The Stars are opening Victory Park to the fans to watch all games on the big screens outside the AAC.   Fans are invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs, per The Almighty And Glorious Lord Of The Sweater Vest, Mike Heika.

I can tell you that Cat, Jen & I will be there on Saturday, May 10th at the AAC, and I figured — hey, there’s a lot of you out there who live in Dallas who we know via the magic that is blogging.

Basically, if you’d like to meet up, it would be a real pleasure to have a lot of the like-minded fans around; I’m going to try and work out details if, you know, anyone wants to come hang out with us.

If you’d like to meet up, please drop me (Caitlin) an e-mail at hockeycoma@gmail.com.   It would be nice to see you there!

This is so awesome. I love the fact that I get to write this right now. I don’t think many people expected the Stars to pull off even a first round victory, after the March they had. Instead, the Stars dispatched of the Ducks in six games. And then they drew the Sharks, another Pacific division rival, and almost swept them. Sure, it may have taken a pretty monumental four overtime game to do it, but man, playoff OT hockey is SO AWESOME.

It’s often said that the Pacific is the toughest division in hockey. I would tend to agree, if only for the presence of the Stars, Ducks, and Sharks (no offense to the Coyotes - you know I love Bryz; or the Kings - CKim knows that I’ve got a fondness for Anze Kopitar that can’t be explained). The Stars, Ducks, and Sharks lately have constantly battled for top dog in the Pacific, and the fact that the Stars came out of this one is pretty awesome.

Marty Turco and Brenden Morrow, STARS of round two. Marty Turco continues to make amazing saves and stand on his head to keep his team in it, and Brenden is always there to make that play when you need it. He’s truly an inspirational captain, I must say. I mean, I don’t know what’s said in the locker room. Everything I’ve heard tells me that Brenden is the kind of captain that leads by example, which makes sense, as he is the guy who gives 3147801347089513% every night. Even Dave Tippett said, “And then I think about Brenden Morrow and I go ‘Wow, I’m going to ask for 5 or 10-percent more from this guy? That’s a lot!’”

Next up, the Detroit Red Wings. Although I’m quite nervous about this series, I’m also extremely excited. The Red Wings are an incredibly skilled team, and the Stars have always seemed to have a little bit of trouble at Joe Louis Arena. Will they be able to pull of the same thing they did in the first two rounds with two consecutive victories away from home? The Red Wings are facing a different Stars team than they were earlier in the season. This Stars team is brimming with confidence, skill, talent, inspiration, everything.

The Stars ask me to believe. I will.

crossposted to Hockey’s Ladies of Greatness

I really should be updating this more often, considering how the Stars are doing, but I’m, um, quite lazy, really.

First of all, let me just say that I am loving this. The Cowboys got beat by the Giants last season, the Mavericks just got knocked out of the first round earlier tonight, but the Stars are going strong. And I do mean strong. They’ve had their weak spots, it’s true, but everything seems to be coming together in the right way and it’s totally awesome.

The most important piece of news I can pass on to you is that Russian has returned. I purchased a pack of Russian blend cigarettes and have been smoking them in honor of one Mr. Sergei Zubov. He hardly looks like he’s been out for three months. That man is amazing. He must have some form of cyborg technology that allows him to play so well. He is Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. The Stars have rotated seven defencemen since his return in Game Two, and it seems to be working out for them. Russian played almost 26 minutes tonight, so props to him.

The Stars are looking so, so good right now. It’s not that the Sharks look bad, it’s just that the Stars look better.

By the way, you can check me out on the latest episode of the I’m Not A Puck Bunny podcast. I’m also on episode 10, and will hopefully get to go back soon. I’ve taken Finny down, and it looks like Steph and I might be duking it out soon.

I’ve had a couple of days to calm down (and believe me, I needed it), so I can coherently speak about the Anaheim/Dallas series now.

First of all, BOO-YAH!

Secondly, there were some outstanding performances in this series. Stephane Robidas, of course, who has always been incredible, but he has really stepped it up with the veteran leadership. Mattias Norstrom totally surprised me by basically ruling. The rookies were impressive, particularly Mark Fistric with his 53170891357 blocked shots, and bailing Turco out when he left his net to bump into…Someone, I think it was Selanne. Brenden Morrow is the heart of this team, and is a great captain who leads by example. Loui Eriksson and Joel Lundqvist, our sweet Swedes (congrats on the baby, Joel!), were great. Stu Barnes, Steve Ott, everyone. Every single person on this team clearly wanted it, and they got it done.

So with San Jose winning game seven (way to step it up, Calgary, thanks a lot), that’s our second round opponent. Battle of California, we meet again. Honestly, I felt confident about either possible matchups - Avalanche or Sharks - but I’m mostly hoping the Avs can knock the Red Wings out. I feel quite good about the Stars right now, and I think this San Jose/Dallas matchup will be interesting - it’ll be fun to see if the last game of the season will spill over. I wouldn’t mind seeing Otter go after Thornton again.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

All right, guys, game four is tonight.  I’ll be in attendance, and I’m hoping that the Stars will give me more reason to cheer than they did on Tuesday night.  Granted, Tuesday night was actually fairly excellent in the third period.  The guys came out strong, scored two goals (well, Brenden scored two goals), and gave the 18,585 people in attendance a good reason to scream.  I’m hoping that the momentum from the third period will carry on into tonight’s game - the last thing I want is to be tied 2-2 in the series and going to Anaheim for game five.  Obviously the Stars have performed well in Anaheim in the series, winning both road games.

I’m in my computer applications class, and he’s making us do something called work?  I’m unfamiliar with this concept.  At any rate, I’ll update after the game, if I’m not ready to kill myself and/or fall asleep.  I’ve gotten very little sleep these past few days, so I would very much like to actually try and sleep before my 8am class tomorrow.

I just wanted to pop in and say “YES!  GO STARS!”

I love that the Stars from February seem to be back.

I love that the Ducks are totally dumbfounded.

I love that I’m watching Minnesota and Colorado in overtime right now on Versus, and they keep talking about the Stars and how awesome they are.

I love that Marty Turco rules so hard.

I love that the Untypical Girls will be present at tomorrow night’s game.  I do not love that I have school to get in the way of my obsessive playoff hockey viewing, but that’s all right I suppose.

I love every single one of our players.  Every one.

I love hockey.

P.S. As I was about to hit “publish”, Minnesota scored.  I really, really love hockey.

There’s a lot of questions for the game tonight.

Will the Ducks be as penalty ridden as the other night? Will they come out stronger than they did the last game? Will Niklas Hagman kill someone this evening? Will Stu Barnes make retarded decisions like picking fights with Chris Pronger again?

I guess we’ll find out, starting at 9:00 p.m. LiveBlog starts at 8:30.

In other news, some teams won some playoff games, but the only one I’m talking to you about is the Pens. I know everyone’s sick of the Crosby Hype Machine and the made up Crosby/Ovechkin rivalry. But once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a certain Russian who played for the Pens…

Ignore the fact that he won a Cup with the Rangers. The Rangers blow, and I’m not giving them any credit here. This may have been just an excuse to post a picture of Russian in a Pens uniform…but go Pittsburgh, that’s all I’m saying.

Oh yeah, and if you haven’t ordered your WWGRD wristband, the Pensblog’s got ‘em back up for sale.

Pre-Game

Earl Sleek at Battle of California has pointed out that the Ducks are like the Ducks of the Mighty Ducks 2, who go to the Junior World Title Class Whatever Olympics and are killed by Iceland, but rally from behind to beat those evil Icelanders. The Stars, of course, are the inevitable mean, European dudes. Now, Mr. Sleek, I hope you’re enjoying the view from Row B and we’re keeping an eye out for you on TV, but I do have to say that in The Mighty Ducks 3, Gordon Bombay’s replacement coach at the swanky prep school, the moral and righteous man who taught the Ducks some great life lessons, was a Minnesota North Star player. I don’t know what to say about that, other than - hmm.

There’s no actual pre-game tonight, because I forgot this is being aired on KDFI, so I’m watching a depressing 30 minutes of “Decision House” before the game. God, this show is so terrible and sad.

1st Period

Wow, Ralph has a total pimp suit on so he wins the tie battle, hands down.

It is taking ten years and eight days to start this game, I swear. In other news, a fake Russian won the game for the Habs tonight. Woooo!

19:49: WOW, does this feed ever blow. It looks like they’re sending through a colandar, then sending that through a cheese grater. Oh well, at least it saves me from having to see Todd Bertuzzi’s face in sharp, nice clarity.

18:16: The Stars are looking fairly solid as they hammer Giguere, but then again, the Ducks are looking stronger than they did the other night. Selanne and Boucher? Still totally hate each other.

16:26: Look, guys, there’s Brad “Second Star” May! Isn’t he just such a remarkable player?

16:03: Ott just tried to decapitate someone. Okay, Otter, enthusiasm is encouraged, but let’s keep from killing someone, please. That’s Hagman’s job, really.

Just a friendly reminder from your neighborhood Russian-loving Stars fan that I’ll be liveblogging the game tonight starting at 8:30 p.m. CST here. Do me a favor and drop back by, will ya?

6:45 pm: Another quick reminder. If you have tickets to home games 3 & 4 here in Dallas for the Stars/Ducks playoff series, the Stars are aiming for a blackout in the stands. Wear your black home jersey, black shirt, black…whatever to the game. Don’t have one? Show up to the gate early - the Stars will be handing out black playoff shirts to the first 15,000 fans.

Also, I’m watching Detroit/Nashville and they just mentioned Russian on the broadcast. Somehow, that feels dirty and wrong.

If you’re interested in checking out an opposition view, I can’t direct you quickly enough to Battle of California. Earl Sleek is the Ducks blogger in residence over there who is by far the best Anaheim blogger I’ve read. Earl also writes for NHL Fanhouse and wrote a pretty fair-minded analysis of the Stars/Ducks matchup the other day. For everyone else in the Pacific Divison, BoC is a great place for a daily read.

Back soon; I’m off to eat dinner and do real-life things before the game.

Pre-Game

It strikes me upon reflection that not all of our readers know the great and wonderful tale that is Russian and Happy Meals — as pointed out by Kirsten, who came in halfway through this glorious saga. So I’ve taken the liberty of summing up the Niskanen/Zubov defensive relationship for you, right here, before the game.

Way back when, at the beginning of this season, the Stars were planning to bring up a defenseman from our AHL affiliate permanently. The stars aligned well (pardon the pun) for Niskanen, who had never really played in the AHL and was straight out of college.

Somehow, little Happy Meals landed himself a defensive partner in one Sergei Zubov, who as WE ALL KNOW, is criminally ignored by the mainstream media (until this season), deserves a Norris (and they give it Lidstrom every year), and is generally all around one of the Stars’ best players. Let’s put it this way: before even thinking about resigning Mike Modano, the Stars were determined to get Zubov’s contract nailed down. Top priority.

So, Russian and Happy Meals began to solidly play on the blueline together. You would see these funny little moments where they were joking and laughing together on the bench. Now, we all know how we view Russian. Crotchety, cranky, a solitary fellow who enjoys a quiet game of chess against his pet alligator, Iskristiy, and a nice chilled bottle of vodka. Russian has no time for things like cameras, or press, and is terrified of people. He wants to play hockey. He wants to win. He likes team. End of story.

(Seriously, the man’s quotes are all the same, “That award’s nice but I just do it because I like to win, and I like my team and I love to play hockey.” Stick the quote in a blender and you’ve got every Sergei Zubov quote almost ever.)

Happy Meals, on the other hand, we knew NOTHING about.

So we speculated. An average conversation between Russian and Happy Meals would go like this:

Russian: You need to back into the defensive zone quicker.

Happy Meals: I’m trying, man, it’s just..

Russian: You are trying my patience, that’s what you are trying! Lenin help me, I will throw you into the Volga!

Happy Meals: *pause* …What’s the Volga?