Official 2007-08 Dallas Stars Season Thread

[GuerillaBlack]

I'm sorry to say, but I think the Stars have met their maker. Hopefully they prove me wrong on Monday night.

[Burn this City]

Detroit held serve...no big shocker. Just hope the Stars can do the same.

[wesbrynt]

flaco is too depressed for words??? This is looking like the end of the road for the stars however I must say that I am extremly proud to be a fan of this team. They turned it around when me and many others were ready to throw in the towel, break the team up and start over. Way to go guys, thank you for a wonderful season. Lets take one from these bastard redwing commies!

[LonghornDub]

Doesn't look like Ribs will be suspended. He and Osgood have both been fined:

League reportedly fines Ribeiro, Osgood for Game 2 altercation; Ott fined too

Updated: May 11, 2008, 7:44 PM ET

It looks like Mike Ribeiro and Chris Osgood can breathe a sigh of relief.

The NHL decided on Sunday not to suspend the Stars center or the Red Wings goalie for their Game 2 altercation on Saturday, according to TSN. Instead Ribeiro and Osgood were fined an undisclosed amount by the league.

In the closing seconds of the Western Conference final game, a contest Detroit won 2-1, Osgood used the handle of his stick to poke Ribeiro, who responded from behind the net with a two-handed stick slash across the goalie's chest.

"He actually tries to do it. It's not like he accidentally hit me," Ribeiro said, defending himself Sunday after not being around for postgame interviews. "He kind of was bent down, raised up and clipped me in the face."

Ribeiro said he was only retaliating.

"If he doesn't do that, I don't think I react, I have no reason to do what I did," Riberio said.

Osgood obviously disagreed, saying, "By no means was I trying to hit him in the face with my stick."

The Stars' frustration started to show with just five seconds remaining in the game when Steve Ott received a minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct for punching Detroit's Kris Draper.

Ott was also fined by the league, according to TSN.

Game 3 is set for Monday night, when the best-of-seven series shifts to Dallas with the Red Wings holding a 2-0 lead.

Osgood said the fracas will be forgotten. But it's hard to imagine that he is completely correct in his assessment.

"Just a little altercation that's over with now," Osgood said Sunday.

What can't be debated is that Dallas is already in a deep hole in its first conference final appearance since 2000. The Stars returned home with 2-0 series leads in each of the first two rounds of this year's playoffs, but wasn't able to duplicate that success against the top-seeded Red Wings.

Detroit will be going for a 3-0 series lead and its ninth straight win, which would be the franchise record for a single postseason. It would also be the longest in the NHL since Montreal won 11 in a row on way to winning the 1993 Stanley Cup.

"You're not going to rattle us. We've got too much experience for that," Detroit's Darren McCarty said.

While the stage appears set for things to get even more feisty when the series resumes, Mike Modano believes the Stars can't be focused on what happened at the end of Game 2.

"That's probably the most you're going to see of it [Saturday] night, hopefully," Modano said. "They're not a very physical team by any means, but they do play the game. ... And for us to try to get into some street fight ain't going to work. You have to play the game of hockey and right now, they're doing it better than us."

The Red Wings did so in Game 2 without Johan Franzen, who was scratched from the lineup because of concussion-like symptoms. He's had recurring headaches since early in the previous series, and will miss Game 3 as well.

"It caught me by surprise," coach Mike Babcock said. "We'd love to have him. he's a good player. But we've got a good team and we can go on with or without him."

Dallas Drake twisted his knee late in the third period of Game 2, but came back to skate another shift for the Red Wings.

Stars forward Jere Lehtinen left Game 2 with a leg injury, which coach Dave Tippett said was not sustained on the play when he was hit by teammate Brenden Morrow. The coach described Lehtinen's injury as "just soft-tissue stuff" and said the team would see how he feels at the Monday morning skate.

After three power-play goals in the 4-1 series opener, Detroit had only one in Game 2.

"We took a step forward in getting ourselves back into the competitive issues of the series last game, but it will still have to go up another step," Tippett said. "I thought we had much better jump. Our legs looked like they were back to normal a little bit. Now we need some more execution."

Dallas is back home for the first time since its four-overtime, nearly 5½-hour series-clinching victory over San Jose that ended in the early morning hours last Monday.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Flacolaco]

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/arch...-and-girl.html

The Morrows had their babies today, a boy (Brady) and a girl (Mallory).

I'm very happy for Brenden and his wife. I've met him and he's just the nicest athlete you'd ever want to talk to.

Congrats to Mom and babies.

[92bDad]

Congrats to the Morrow's!!!

Congrats to the NHL for only fining the players involved!!! Had this been the NBA, the wrong guy would have been suspended...

Now it's onto game 3...tonight!!!

For as rough as the first two games have been...the Stars still have the opportunity. They have to hold serve tonight. One game at a time.

I will be glued to the Big Screen...then at the Arena on Wednesday!!!

[Flacolaco]

Scratches tonight;

Stu Barnes
Jere Lehtinen
Philip Boucher


Can you beat the red wings by rolling with Chris Conner and Toby Petersen?

Ugh.

[alby]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Scratches tonight;

Stu Barnes
Jere Lehtinen
Philip Boucher


Can you beat the red wings by rolling with Chris Conner and Toby Petersen?

Ugh.

Damn =\

[92bDad]

One more scratch and Flaco will get the call to play!!! Then we know we can WIN!!!

[Flacolaco]

I'm bringing my skates tonight!

[ames7]

Sigh.

[mnmpeanut]

we hit the post, it stays out. they hit the post, it goes in.

yep, they're just so much better than us.

[vmac]

Originally Posted by mnmpeanut

we hit the post, it stays out. they hit the post, it goes in.

yep, they're just so much better than us.

We hit the post 8 times, it stays out. They hit the post ONLY ONCE, it goes in!!

I'm sick of these lucky bounces. We should've won the last game easily and should have 3 goals in this game already.

But the more I watch hockey, the more I understand the set plays and concepts. I love this sport.

[roadrunner]

The Stars have been much more competitive in this game than the last 2. I havent cheked the faceoff numbers, but it seems like they are winning quite a few more faceoffs which is leading to more puck possession. Too bad Murphy seems to be haunting the Stars when they get scoring opportunities. They should have, at least, a couple of more goals. That wide open net whiff by Morrow really underscored their missed opportunities so far this game.

On a side note, is it me or is the announcer saying Lehtinen (game scratch) in his play by play?

[ShaggyDirk]

DO IT~~~

[alby]

that goal we gave up during the middle of a line change might be the nail...

[ShaggyDirk]

Originally Posted by alby

that goal we gave up during the middle of a line change might be the nail...

it sucked the air out of that arena, for sure.

[ames7]

The end. Well. It's been a good year. I hope we don't get swept at least.

[ShaggyDirk]

It's sad when 4 on 5 isn't even fair.

[ShaggyDirk]

Ok, Stars. It's ok that your getting your ass kicked my a superior team...but try and at least hit the guy you are trying to hit. The wall is taking a beating tonight.

[Flacolaco]

Conner, Petersen, Winchester, Niskanen and Norstrum.

Is there a worse 5 man combination on the bench than that?

I think Avery must've been giving Tippet instructions.

That's the awesome line that couldn't change right and gave up that break away.

What a crappy drive home.

C'est la vie

[Dirkadirkastan]

Uh... every 33 years?

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by Dirkadirkastan

Uh... every 33 years?

laugh out loud.

I'm so bummed.

I really thought they'd at least win tonight, but they look defeated, confused, and tired.

So confused.

[jthig32]

The Versus guys do a horrible job of describing the line setups. Was Modano being double shifted as a winger with Ribeiro and Morrow the whole night?

I know partical changes happen, but it seemed like he was out there quite a bit with those two.

[92bDad]

Ouch that hurt...I really thought the Stars would find a way to win tonight and thus give us hope to push the series.

Now I have to enjoy tomorrow as I will be in the Arena...hoping beyond hope that they push it to a 5th game.

I have to say, WOW in regards to the Red Wings...there is no team in the NHL that I hate more and probably respect more than the Red Wings.

[Flacolaco]

Originally Posted by jthig32

The Versus guys do a horrible job of describing the line setups. Was Modano being double shifted as a winger with Ribeiro and Morrow the whole night?

I know partical changes happen, but it seemed like he was out there quite a bit with those two.

Yes. And it was pretty obvious that they had not been practicing together. They had a good spark, but everything was just a hair off and they couldn't quite connect.

Ott also played with Ribs and Morrow, though sparingly, and Modano and Ott were with Hagman every once in a while too.

The lines were a mess, but Tipp resolutely threw that 4th line over the boards and then Detroit would change on the fly (they do that better than anyone else as well, of course) to get a good matchup against them.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Yes. And it was pretty obvious that they had not been practicing together. They had a good spark, but everything was just a hair off and they couldn't quite connect.

Well they did provide a goal by just wearing down the Wings in their own zone. Man they were in there a long time.

[Flacolaco]

I do have one good thing to say about the game last night: the music.

The Stars had Bowling for Soup in the plaza out in front of the arena, and they were rocking that place out before the game. The singer is pretty annoying, but it was cool. I like to see good Denton boys succeeding.

Then, in the first intermission they had Vaden Todd Lewis (of Toadies and Burden Brothers fame) play "Beautiful Night" with an acoustic guitar from the Stars bench, and then the rest of Toadies came out on the bench and played "I come from the water." That was pretty cool.

[ames7]

You know what I thought about the Stars last night? They're not quite ready. I mean, we never expected to make it this far even, they've taken a huge step forward. It's like before the 99 Cup year, there were a few years building up to it. They're really good, they've broken through what was holding them back. And they've got a really good core & a lot of young guys who look ready to step up these next few years. But they're not quite there yet. Not quite ready to vanquish Detroit. And I'm okay w/that. At least they're heading in the right direction.

I would still really appreciate it if they didn't get swept though.

[alby]

I love Mo, but he had some really bad turnovers in the middle of that second period. Granted their goal wasn't off his turnover, but the goal was due after a few mishandlings we had at center ice.

I stopped watching right after their 4th goal so I don't know what happened after that.

[Re-Dirk-ulous]

Stick a fork in Dallas

[mnmpeanut]

Originally Posted by ames7

You know what I thought about the Stars last night? They're not quite ready. I mean, we never expected to make it this far even, they've taken a huge step forward. It's like before the 99 Cup year, there were a few years building up to it. They're really good, they've broken through what was holding them back. And they've got a really good core & a lot of young guys who look ready to step up these next few years. But they're not quite there yet. Not quite ready to vanquish Detroit. And I'm okay w/that. At least they're heading in the right direction.

I would still really appreciate it if they didn't get swept though.

i had a similar thought last night. it reminded me of '97 and especially '98. i remember being so frustrated because the stars would have to work and work and work to get every goal, while the red wings (and the oilers the year before) would take advantage of every miscue.

the stars grind and grind, and either score or just miss scoring. then the wings get one odd man rush, one turnover at neutral ice, one bad pass, and the puck is behind marty. the last two games (not so much in the 3rd last night), i felt the stars outworked and outhustled the wings, only to lose both.

and i won't blame marty for the losses, but he had to be at least as good as he was against the ducks and sharks, and he hasn't been close. we needed him to steal at least two games for the stars to have a chance, and he's been average at best.

[Flacolaco]

Found this at the BaD radio forum...

[Dirkadirkastan]

*** Depth of the hole: After 17 April 1975, the likelihood of both Pennsylvania NHL teams reaching the Stanley Cup Semifinals was extremely high, as the Philadelphia Flyers led Toronto 3-games-nil in WhoWins™ series 292, and the Pittsburgh Penguins led the Islanders 3-games-nil in series 295. Indeed, Philadelphia would oust Toronto in four straight games to complete the thirty-third sweep of an NHL best-of-7 series. But Pittsburgh was doing more than merely sweeping the Islanders -- the Penguins were annihilatingthe Islanders. WhoWins™ defines an NHL "annihilation" as a best-of-7 series sweep in which the losing team never, ever (not even for one single second) holds a lead. Through 180 minutes (three games) of series 295, the Islanders had never led, the games had been tied for 26 minutes 41 seconds, and Pittsburgh had held leads for 153 minutes 19 seconds (85.18%) of the series. As Pittsburgh sought the eighth annihilation and thirty-fourth sweep in best-of-7 series NHL playoff history, its 85.18% of time spent leading a best-of-7 series en route to an annihilation was the third-highest such percentage in NHL history at the time, behind only the 95.15% of the St. Louis Blues in the 1969 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals (series 204 -- see the story of that eventual annihilation on this web site) and the 90.12% of the Montreal Canadiens in its 1960 NHL Finals round vs. Toronto (series 133 -- an annihilation completed by Montreal to cap a fifth-straight Stanley Cup victory). What's worse than finding your team down 3-games-to-none in a best-of-7 series? Watching the other team lead each game, for almost all of the three games. And if that 85.18% is a value of a "misery index" for the team suffering the annihilation, then the 1975 Islanders and their fans were the third-most miserable entity in NHL history up to that point. Note that the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, though down three games to Detroit, were not en route to suffering an annihilation in series 42, while the 1975 New York Islanders in series 295 clearly were.

*** Extra Comeback-completion difficulty: The Pittsburgh Penguins would realize neither an annihilation nor a sweep vs. the Islanders, as New York would win games four, five, and six of WhoWins™ series 295, thus setting the stage for the Greatest Comeback Ever in a best-of-7 MLB, NBA, or NHL series. But unlike the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, the 1975 New York Islanders would play its deciding seventh game on road ice. What did that mean? From 1939 through 1974, NHL teams playing seventh games on road ice were 11-16, for a 40.74% winning percentage. Yet again, historical probabilities favored the home-ice Pittsburgh Penguins. Of course, on that fateful night of 26 April 1975, with 5:18 remaining in regulation, the Islanders tallied the only goal of that seventh game, denying Pittsburgh the series victory (to complement their lost annihilation and blown sweep), and completing the Greatest Comeback Ever in a best-of-7 MLB, NBA, or NHL playoff series. And (as if this Comeback needed a footnote), during the last four games of series 295, the Islanders had held leads for 126 minutes 54 seconds, the games had been tied for 113 minutes 6 seconds, and . . . most ironically in a savory way for the Islanders and their fans . . . Pittsburgh had held leads for not so much as a single second. It is as if -- from the opening face-off of Game 4 through the final horn of Game 7 -- the Islanders defeated, swept, and annihilated their opponent in series 295. It is appropriate that the team achieving the Greatest Comeback Ever faced not only a sweep but also annihilation after three games . . . and responded with not only a sweep but also an annihilation of its own -- culminating, on road ice, in the first-ever best-of-7 series for the franchise -- in games four through seven to win the series.

Link

[alby]

Do you guys realize Chelios has been playing since 1981? wtf?

[Rick41]

Originally Posted by alby

Do you guys realize Chelios has been playing since 1981? wtf?

Chelios is ancient.


He was a 9 year vet when i was born. Now thats a WTF?

[Flacolaco]

Well...I guess Morrow is going to play tonight. I think he's hurt pretty bad in his shoulder, but I don't think he cares right now. It's going to impact his ability to hit people, which is really the only reason to play the game tonight.

[ames7]

Well, the day of reckoning is here. I can't watch this. I don't want to let watching the elimination cloud my happiness over this season.

Would still be nice to win one though.

[untitled]

Looks like we're going back to Detroit - this series ain't over yet!!!

[Windmill360]

great oooglie booglies! this game is fun.