The Dallas Stars’ season is really heating up and getting to the business end as they start a stretch of 16 games in 30 days when they take on the Coyotes tomorrow night in Texas.

Under the control of Glen Gulutzan in his first season of NHL coaching, the Stars currently sit just 2 points outside a playoff birth in 9^th place. It has been a season of inconsistency for the Stars, as they have destroyed the Stanley Cup holders in one game and then lost to the rock bottom Islanders in another. Gaining consistency throughout the final third of the season will be absolutely crucial.

Another key factor is going to be the health of the team. Throughout the season, the Stars have been hit with several huge injury blows that have affected the team in different ways. The likes of Jamie Benn, Mike Ribeiro, Brenden Morrow, Stephane Robidas, Sheldon Souray and Kari Lehtonen have all missed several games through injury. Captain Brenden Morrow currently sits on IR with an upper-body injury.

The Stars’  lone all-star representative Jamie Benn has been in sublime form since returning after having his appendix removed. Dallas have looked good of late going forward with the puck but I have to give the defense a bit of credit. They are starting to improve their positional play as well as creating some good chances with the puck with the likes of Souray, Robidas, Daley and Goligoski being very consistent performers.

Divisional rivals Phoenix travel to the American Airlines to take on the Stars, with 2 points separating the teams. It is set to be a crucial match up as both teams look to push on and stay in the playoff hunt.

My 3 keys to the game for the Stars are;

1)      Kari Lehtonen – If the big Finnish goaltender is on form he is one of the best in the league. When he plays well, the Stars are a very tough team to beat, especially on home ice.

2)      The Stars 3^rd line – When the 3^rd line provide goals, the whole team seems to be given a boost and thrive going forward. These 3 guys know how to recycle the puck and play in the right areas of the pad.

3)      Intensity – After the all-star break for the Stars, they showed great speed and physicality in their game through 60 minutes of hockey. After a few days rest going into the game, it is crucial for the Stars to replicate the high intensity.

Since the all-star break it has been a mixed bag for the Stars so far. They headed straight out West to take on a surging Ducks side looking to make a late push into the playoff picture. The Stars recorded a mightily impressive 6-2 victory with goals coming from Jamie Benn, Michael Ryder, Vernon Fiddler, Eric Nystrom, Stephane Robidas and Sheldon Souray it what was a great offensive performance.

The Stars then took on the Sharks the next evening and they yet again struggled when playing back-to-back nights. They fell 5-2 to the Sharks who will most probably top the Pacific division at the end of the regular season. Jamie Benn and Steve Ott grabbed the 2 goals for the Stars as rookie goaltender Richard Bachman was in net for the Stars.

Tonight Dallas face the Minnesota Wild at the American Airlines Center in what is a crucial encounter as just 3 points separate the teams who hover around the playoff spots. The Wild surprisingly topped the NHL around Christmas time but have since struggled and now find themselves in 8^th place. The Stars defense will have to be sharp to contain several threats that the Wild pose going forward with the puck. Dany Heatley, who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks in the off-season, tops the Wild in points scoring with 17 goals and 38 points.

Niklas Backstrom will be in goal for the Wild tonight looking to have a big game as his team have several injury blows ahead of the game. Pierre-Marc Bouchard(concussion), Mikko Koivu (upper body), Guillaume Latendresse(concussion), Jarod Palmer (concussion) and Clayton Stoner (lower body) are all out tonight.

The Stars go into tonight’s game having not lost to the Wild at the AAC since 2003. I think it will be an awesome encounter between 2 decent sides in the Western conference. Puck drop is at 7pm.

Jamie Benn’s appendectomy came just at the wrong time for the young Canadian, as it lead to his first all-star appearance being in doubt. However, Jamie had a very speedy and successful recovery and is now in Ottawa ahead of the all-star weekend, with the draft just taking place. The skills competition takes place tomorrow and the game itself takes place on Sunday, with Jamie Benn of the Stars featuring in both

Jamie Benn is the only player to represent the Stars at the event in Ottawa having caught the eye of a lot of people over the course of the season. He currently has 42 points this season, second on the Stars roster behind Loui Eriksson who has racked up 44. The Stars had several other all-star candidates in my view, with Loui Eriksson, Kari Lehtonen and potentially Sheldon Souray all having a decent shot at a spot on the roster.

The all-star break comes at a perfect time for the Stars as it gives them time to rest both physically and mentally. Mike Ribeiro returned from a knee injury to help the Stars beat the Ducks 1-0 on Tuesday, and the few days off should help his knee heal fully. Brendan Morrow was recently assigned to IR with a neck injury, and the break will give him an opportunity to get healthy for the crucial games to come.

After the all-star break is when the regular season really starts to hot up and teams make their pushes for playoff spots. The Stars currently sit 10th in the Western Conference and 3 points away from a playoff berth. If the Stars can gain a full and refreshed roster after the all-star break, I feel they have a very good chance of going on a decent winning streak and gaining a spot in the 2012 post season.

The Stars are next in action on Wednesday when travel out West to play the Ducks in a crucial divisional match up. Dallas face a tough February schedule which could determine the outcome of their season.

It was announced yesterday that Alex Golisgoski has signed a 4 year $18.4 million contract, keeping him in Dallas until the end of the 2015-16 campaign. Goligoski has been one of Dallas’ standout defenseman this season and is a crucial ingredient in a decent defensive unit that the Stars have formed

Goligoski arrived in Texas after departing the Pittsburgh Penguins at the back end of last season. The Pens received James Neal and Matt Niskanen as part of the deal. James Neal showed a lot of promise as a Star but struggled to be a big points scorer alongside Jamie Benn and Brad Richards and was subsequently traded. A lot of the Stars fan base felt that the trade was a stupid one, but I firmly felt that Alex was just the man that the Stars had missed since Sergei Zubov left Dallas.

In 36 games this year, Goligoski has 5 goals and 15 points and has played a pivotal role in Dallas powerplay. Speaking about the new deal, Alex said, “I am relieved the process is over. It’s really exciting, four years I’m going to play in a place I love, we’ve got a good group of guys here and from the second I got here, I felt really comfortable and liked it a lot. It’s a little peace of mind and one less thing to think about during hockey season, which for me, is emotionally kind of draining.”

It really is a great move from the Stars and Nieuwendyk to secure his future. The American, aged 26, is currently in the prime of his career and should be for the majority of his contracted years. He is currently averaging 22:34 minutes of ice time a game, which is the most of any Stars player, emphasising how big he is to the Stars as a team.

Since joining the Stars and living in Dallas, Alex has expressed how much he enjoys playing at the American Airlines Center and how he has met some great friends and team mates. Alex is very popular in the dressing room and several of his team mates spoke positively about him when asked about his deal.

Goaltender Kari Lehtonen said, “He’s one of the best, tt’s always a solid game that he usually plays. He’s a good skater and most of all, a good decision-maker. He puts the puck in the right places and that helps everybody.” Fellow defenseman Mark Fistric said, “He definitely complements my game really well the way he plays he’s an elite defenseman and it’s great to play with a guy like that, where you can go in the corners, make your battles, win them, and then get the puck to him and he does the rest. He’s a great guy and he deserves it.”

Two young and upcoming defenseman for the Stars, Adam Pardy and Philip Larsen, have both said that Goligoski is a great man to have around the place and has impacted them both positively with their hockey. The Goligoski contract deal has been something to smile about for Stars fans as their team continues to struggle without the services of Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro. The Stars take on their divisional rivals the Anaheim Ducks at the AAC tonight with puck drop being at 7.30pm.

The Tampa Bay Lightning (18-23-4) travel to the American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Stars (24-19-2) tonight in Texas. It is a crucial game for the Stars as they continue to hover around the playoff places, but continue to struggle stringing any substantial number of wins together. Taking 2 points from the game tonight is critical for Dallas as they take on a struggling Lightning side.

All-Star Jamie Benn and veteran centre Mike Ribeiro both continue to be out through injury and the testing times for the Stars continue without 2 potent weapons with the puck. Speaking about the current injury situation today, captain Brendan Morrow said; “We’ve just got to keep sticking with it, we have a depleted line-up with our two big centermen out, but this is the way we’re going to have to play, just scratch and claw for 60 minutes and hope for breaks”.

Both teams come into the game with woeful powerplay records, as the Stars are 14.1% and the Lightning are 13.7%. The Stars should look to be getting a lot more of their goals on the powerplay now, to try and counteract the loss of Benn and Ribeiro in 5 on 5 hockey.

The Lightning have been very poor so far and have definitely been tagged as the underachievers. When I watched them reach the conference finals last season, I tipped them to be the Stanley Cup winners for the 2011/12 campaign. They looked an awesome outfit, with some huge talent on their roster. However, with a lack of consistency from the goaltending unit, the Bolts have conceded a massive 159 goals this season, the most in the NHL.

The Stars will be pleased to have full strength defensive pairings for tonight’s game as they will try and contain the threat of Steven Stamkos, the young Canadian centre, who has a huge 31 goals and 51 points this season. He is a sublime talent and plays alongside several other dangerous players with the puck such as Martin St.Louis and Vincent Lacavalier.

Both teams have several injuries going into tonights game. The Stars are without Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro as mentioned earlier, and Philip Larsen (head) and Tomas Vincour (knee) are also both out. The Lightning have a long list of injuries, consisting of Mattias Ohlund (knee), Victor Hedman (concussion), Adam Hall(upper body), Ryan Shannon (lower body), Dana Tyrell (lower body), Marc-Andrew Bergeron (upper body, day-to-day) and JT Wyman (upper body, day-to-day).

It should be an entertaining encounter, with puck drop being at 7.30pm at the AAC.

Stars veteran centre Mike Ribeiro was placed on IR today after missing 3 games with a knee injury sustained in a game against the Oilers. Despite Glen Gulutzan saying Mike wanted to put a cast on and play through the pain, concern has grown and it has now been announced that he won’t be back before the All-Star break at the end of this month. Ribeiros injury has come at a very bad time as he had just started playing his best hockey of the season after a very slow start.

With Ribeiro injured, it came as very bad news when Jamie Benn was sent to hospital to have a hernia operation. Benn is seen as Dallas’ best forward and he will definitely be sorely missed for the 2 weeks that he will be out for. The young Canadian, who will be a 2012 All-Star, currently tops the Stars in scoring with 13 goals and 42 points. Benn is partnered with Loui Eriksson and Michael Ryder to form the Stars’ first line, which has to be one of the best in the NHL.

So, with 2 big injuries what now for the Stars? Left Winger Francis Wathier has been the only forward to be called into the team. According to Mike Heika of the Dallas morning news, the lines for tonight’s game are as follows:

Morrow – Wandell – Eriksson
Nystrom – Fiddler – Ryder
Ott – Burish – Dvorak
Wathier – Dowell – Petersen

Grossman – Daley
Souray – Robidas
Fistric – Goligoski

This point of the season is where the heat starts to turn up a bit. Putting together a good winning streak can stand you in great stead going into the back end of the season and solidifying a playoff spot. For me, the Stars season is make or break right now. If they can win 50% of their games without Benn and Ribeiro, that will be a very good record. However, if they can’t function without them and fall into a losing streak, their playoff hopes could vanish very quickly.

The Stars face a tough test tonight as they travel to St Louis to take on a high-flying Blues team. Tonight’s performance will provide a good indication of what is to come for Dallas without the services of Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro.

The Dallas Stars (23-16-1) will take on the Anaheim Ducks (12-22-6) at the Honda Center later tonight. The two teams have met twice already this season with the Stars taking the 2 points on both occasions, and they have to be favourites for tonight’s encounter.

The Stars are looking for their third straight victory tonight as they currently sit just a point outside of the playoff places in the Western Conference. The next two games for the Stars are the Ducks and the Kings, 2 big Pacific divisional battles.

It is exciting times at the moment in Dallas as the Stars are playing some great hockey going forward. Jamie Benn, the hugely talented youngster, gained first star honours by the NHL for his awesome performances last week. Loui Eriksson, Michael Ryder and Mike Ribeiro are all starting to hit some great form and along with Jamie Benn, the Stars are creating some very potent weapons.

Kari Lehtonen will probably be in net tonight for the Stars and he seems to give the whole team a boost when he is playing. Dallas will be pleased by the news that veteran defender Sheldon Souray will be back playing tonight after a lower body injury has been keeping him out for a while. Souray has been a consistently good defenseman this season and he will partner young American Adam Pardy tonight.

The Stars opponents, the Anaheim Ducks, have had an abysmal season so far by their high standards. With huge amounts of talent on their roster, it just hasn’t seemed to have clicked for them this season. After a slow start, the Ducks relieved Randy Carlyle of his duties and brought in Bruce Boudreau just a few days later, but the ex-Caps coach hasn’t enjoyed any success since.

The Ducks netminding issues continue as 2011 all-star Jonas Hiller is questionable tonight with a lower body injury and backup Dan Ellis picked up a groin injury in practice and will not be available. Hiller has really struggled this season with a save percentage of .899 and if the Ducks are forced to play their third choice goalie the night, the balance of the game definitely sways into Dallas favour.

The Stars and Ducks games are normally very physical and frantic between two great divisional rivals. If the Ducks want to take anything from the season they need to desperately grab a win and so do the Stars who are lingering in the playoff picture.

Jamie Benn was remarkably drafted 129th overall back in the 2007 entry draft and he is now seen as arguably one of the best centres in the NHL. The young Canadian bulked up a bit in the recent off-season and is now a huge physical presence on the ice to compliment his awesome puck possession skills.

In his first two seasons in the big leagues, Benn scored 45 and 52 points respectively and showed a huge amount of potential at such a young age. With Brad Richards leaving the big D at the end of last season, somebody had to step up and take control with such a pivotal part of the team missing. Benn is doing the job well, currently having 39 points with 28 assists and 11 goals, which is good enough to lead the Stars in points.

Despite Benn’s great talent going forward with the puck, it is also his work without it that has caught my eye this season. He has showed great physicality to hustle hard and win the puck back for his team in critical areas on the ice. He has been the key man for the Stars this season, and if he stays fit and firing with fellow line-mates Ryder and Eriksson, the Stars will definitely be eyeing a playoff spot.

This season has been the season that other teams have noticed the massive threat that Jamie Benn poses on the puck. So, does he deserve a spot in the all-star game in Ottawa later this month? Most definitely. He has dealt very well with the departure of Richards, who is one of the best puck passers in the league. Richards definitely helped make Benn the player he is and Jamie has thrived since Brad left, and we should be seeing them both in Ottawa.

Along with Jamie Benn, which other Stars players could potentially be making the trip to Canada? Loui Eriksson went to the all-star game last year and could be selected again this year after deservedly grabbing attention from the league. Trevor Daley has had a great season for the Stars in my opinion, both in offense and defense, but I feel he will struggle to get the headlines that he deserves. Kari Lehtonen, the Finish goaltender will also see himself as a possibility with 15 wins under his belt and a save percentage of .921.

It will certainly be interesting to see which players go to Ottawa to represent the Western Conference from Dallas.

The Dallas Stars welcomed their great rivals the Detroit Red Wings to the American Airlines Center in what turned out to be a thrilling 9 goal game in a Western Conference battle last night. Both sides had played some great hockey throughout the season going into the game and it was set up to be a fast and physical game.

The first period turned out to be a great one in terms of offense as the Stars and Red Wings recorded 15 and 14 shots respectively. The Stars went about their work early forcing several good saves from American Jimmy Howard, but it was Detroit who broke the deadlock through Valtteri Filppula who received a pass from Henrik Zetterberg to slot past Kari Lehtonen with 8 minutes gone. The Wings grabbed another goal with 3 minutes to go in the first as the puck his Jiri Hudler’s skate from Zetterberg’s shot to grab his tenth of the year and increase the lead to 2. It was crucial that the Stars didn’t go 3 goals down and they hit straight back just a minute later through a Loui Eriksson wrist shot with the Benn brothers grabbing both assists. An awesome period of hockey ended with a 3-1 lead for the Red Wings.

After a great first period the fans continued to be entertained as the second frame provided 4 goals. It was critical for the Stars to stay in the game and the awesome Jamie Benn did just that with a minute played by slotting one past Howard to make it a 3-2 game. The Wings got their fourth goal of the game as they showed some sublime puck movement to allow Jiri Hudler to grab his second of the night and fire the puck behind Lehtonen. The great hockey going forward continued as Detroit regained their 2 goal lead through 23 year old Canadian Cory Emmerton who surprised Lehtonen and squeezed the puck into the net with 4 minutes gone.

The good-sized crowd were glued to the game as shots, saves and hits were occurring at regular intervals. Michael Ryder, who was acquired from the Bruins in the off-season, has been a critical part of the Stars team this season and he netted his 16th of the year to cut the lead to back to one approaching the halfway stage in the second. The period wasn’t done for goals though as Detroit scored their 5th goal through a Johan Franzen slapshot which should have been dealt with by Lehtonen. The 2 sides went to the locker rooms with the score at 5-3 in favour of the Red Wings after 2 periods.

It was a quiet third period in terms of goals but Michael Ryder netted his second for the Stars after robbing the puck and impressively slotting the puck upstairs, setting up a tense final 5 minutes. Dallas pulled Lehtonen with just over a minute to play to get the extra man but they couldn’t tie it up and Detroit took the 2 points from the thrilling encounter.

Despite conceding 5, there were several positives for the Stars to take away including some great offensive hockey and exquisite saves from Lehtonen who has recently returned from an injury after missing 12 games. Dallas will look to bounce back on the road as they take on the Nashville Predators tomorrow night.

So the bush league & fragile Mavericks just lost to the championship caliber Spurs in game 6 of Round One in the NBA play-offs. Are we suprised?

nope.

Once again the Pop managed ‘long of tooth yet short of losing spirit’ Spurs bested the hapless Mavericks, despite an underwhelming regular season record against the Mavs.

As it turns out his resting of Duncan, 6th manning Parker et. al. seems to be effective for the post season. I look for them to advance beyond the next rounds and challenge the Lakers (jumping ahead yes) for the right to represent the West.

Mark my words

Are we surprised?

Nope.

No, not at all. Pop and the trio of Duncan, Ginobli & Parker know what it takes to win. They look formidable, but it may just be that the paper thin Mavericks were also on the court, making things look easy: stop Dirk and let the starters sit & watch & drink Gatorade as Hill and the rest of the bench eat minutes handling things.

This series raises BIG QUESTIONS about the Mavericks going into 2011.  Let’s hope Mark Cuban understands that and deals with it.

Since the NBA has drawn its veil on the city, we look to the Rangers to fulfill us. Yet this is an organization built upon failure. This year, the bullpen failed once again early in the season and spewed a win opportunity for the best outing to date from former ace hurler Scott Feldman.

This year Feldman is struggling mightily, but like all teams, you hedge your bets, accounting for slow starts and cold bats from key individuals, expecting the team to cover as needed. But the Rangers have no bullpen to speak of, and the 7th through 9th innings are a crap shoot at best. In spite of that, we also question the organizational decision:

I’m going to ask here once more – why did you get rid of K Millwood, A Jones, & M Byrd?

Again, are we surprised?

Nope.

The team is managed by admitted self medicating manager Washington who came into the fold primarily due to his long tenure as bench/field coach & club-house presence. Yet we see no real results on the field as time and time again the team loses due to blown bull pen opportunities and anemic hitting.

Granted Washington had some measurable level of success last season, but the team collapsed in the final three weeks. And he can only deal with the hand he is dealt. But losing is contagious, despite of what the team felt coming out of Suprise.

Then there are the forever ‘next year’ NHL Dallas Stars. They seem to preach ‘Always Next Year’.

Where are you Brett Hull?

Can we get a decent hockey team on the ice to carry on the last championship tradition? Correct my memory, but the last championship seen in this town was delivered by the lower tier Stars.

And I am not criticizing the Stars by saying they are low tier, but they are not the Cowboys, Mavericks, Rangers.

So there you have it. These are my thoughts this evening…

I am damn embarrassed to live in the number #4 sports market in AMERICA and deal with all these losing franchises. Not only is it demoralizing, it is bad marketing.

I remember growing up in St Louis (NFL Cardinal country) and looking forward to when the hapless Cardinals played the Cowboys.

They always beat St Louis, and in my backyard, I emulated Too Tall, Staubach, Dorsett, Pearson, Walls, Richardson, White…every play was critical in my nine year old mind.

Today, look at New England, New York, Philadelphia, hell even Pittsburgh. It’s the same thing.

They win.

Little Pop Warner boys talk about them I am sure.

And I know via twitter that folks living in these cities are pretty happy with not just their teams, but in life in general. Its an indirect economic thing.  There is a sense of community that is accompanied with winning organizations, which is tied in with business.  I don’t want to get all Carl Segan like, but in this country winning is pretty much everything:

Winning = community pride.

Losing = other things.

Let’s continue…

The only good thing going on in Dallas is Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. Yes, Jerry Jones, the oft controversial and at times erratic owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

Jerry, in his own way, is tending to the flame of at least trying to win.

He isn’t perfect, but he knows that. To wit: For whatever reason he traded away draft picks galore to acquire wide receiver Roy Williams from Detroit. As it turned out, last season that failed. But he addressed this blunder at in this year’s draft, moving up to take Oklahoma State Cowboy WR Dez Bryant. Nice indirect admission of failure Jerry. We’ve come to expect that of you.

We still question the release of Flozell Adams and not drafting an offensive tackle . Yet in the eight years that I have lived here, I realized, as convoluted as it may seem, Jerry has a plan. It may not always be well suited to the current incarnation of the Cowboys, or one we understand, but at least he has a track record of fiddling here, tweaking there, adjusting this & that and marketing the franchise.

For that we are at times too much both critical and forgiving in our attitudes. But in light of the way I feel tonight, no more. I’m TIRED of living in a city of this size without a sports Champion.

So let me put some people on alert. It’s time to make corrections.

Mr. Cuban:

Blow it up. We like Dirk, but we are tired of anemic play-off performances, regular season be damned. If the right situation presents itself, trade Dirk. We don’t care anymore. Blow it up.

Mr. Nolan Ryan:

Blow It up. We had high hopes this season, but they have failed to materialize thus far. I for one have no desire to even go to a Ranger game this season. Why? Well, I am tired of the same old- same old.

I suspect your hands may be tied due to the inaptitude of Daniels & Hicks, but do what needs to be done. If you have to, leave the organization and preserve your integrity. Blow It Up.

Mr. Hicks.

Secede all involvement with any sports organization in Dallas/Fort Worth; pursue your ownership in soccer abroad if you must.

Since you are broke, you need to relinquish all professional team involvement here in Dallas and sell to locally interested parties. The sooner you do the better. Blow your investment up and let some passionate people invest in the organization. The sooner the better.