All looking good.

Bad news comes though in the form of Steve Ott’s two game suspension which has been officially announced today for an agonizing low check on Carlo Colaiacovo of the Los Angeles Kings.

As a result of this, Ott is now considered to be a repeat offender under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement following a previous one game suspension in February this year and dips out of a $36,585.36 pay total.

There is indeed a very fine line that is walked by any instigator on any roster in any league and Steve Ott is only a few more suspensions away from being mentioned in the same sentence as “that man”. You know… him.

Stars fans love to see the grit, the determination and the 200% effort he gives his team night in, night out. If you take away that fire that makes him the clutch player he can be, you no doubt lose something very necessary in Ott’s composition.

He has the ability to bring so much more to this team and really needs to reel himself in a little.

I doubt coach Crawford will expect any less of Steve than to show that unwavering stance against any opposition but when he is ultimately throwing points away by being in the box or missing games through suspensions, he is causing more harm than good.

It would have been better if he could’ve learned his lesson from the February suspension but now, even more so. He is as good as a marked man as far as the league is concerned and he simply has to show the strength of character needed to step away from the wrecking ball reputation he has given himself and focus on the type of play that had him step to the plate last season when half the roster were out with various ailments.

This leads to me to thinking that a guy like Ott plays so much better when the chips are down. Perhaps it takes a serious situation like last season for true grit to show through.

Perhaps…

Perhaps Steve Ott just bleeds Dallas Stars colors and wants to literally throw everything he’s got into holding his team up. Either way, he will be watched by fans, Stars staff, team mates, opposition and the league, each in their own ways and each will expecting different things from the Otter. I personally would expect him to rebound from this significantly and enmesh himself in Stars folklore for years to come. He just IS that kind of player. Trouble is; he doesn’t know it yet.

NOTES:
Mike Modano worked in the practice earlier this morning and yesterday but still has no expected time for being match ready.
Jere Lehtinen practiced a little this morning as well and again - has no expected time to be match fit.
Brad Richards didn’t practice Monday in order to rest his groin but he is not a serious doubt for the next game - a home visit of Toronto.

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There are concerns amongst the Dallas faithful around who will actually make this trip and looking at the strength down the middle we are currently limited to it’s not hard to see why.

Brad Richards (groin) and Mike Modano (ribs - STILL!) are serious absentees for Dallas on this trip. Their respective status’ have led to call ups for several youngsters from our AHL affiliate; the Texas Stars who have all been desperately unlucky in having no time to bed in to the team and make their marks on their adopted lines.

Perttu Lindgren - Called up from Texas for the 4-1 home reverse against Los Angeles as a replacement for Brad Richards. In the LA game, he had 8 minutes 33 of ice time, had no shots and finished an even 0 on the +/- scale.

Francis Wathier - Called up from Texas for the Anaheim game tonight in place of Lindgren and ultimately Modano. This will be Wathier’s NHL season debut.

Tom Wandell - Called up from Texas for the 4-3 road win against Chicago as a replacement for Mike Modano. In this game he had 12 minutes 37 of ice time and registered 1 shot and 4 penalty minutes.

Aaron Gagnon - Called up from Texas for the 3-0 home loss against Boston as a replacement for Steve Ott. In this game he had 9 minutes, 6 seconds of ice time and not a whole lot else.

Each of the above three have only featured in one game each and this merry-go-round of players coming and going between the AHL and NHL is quite strange for a team used to having so much strength in depth.

For those not keeping count; here’s the injury toll so far:
Brad Richards.
Mike Modano.
Steve Ott.
Jere Lehtinen.

Echoes of last seasons decimation indeed.

These should be somewhat nervous times for Dallas Stars fans but in all honesty; I think we’re a long way off needing to panic just yet.

We still have formidable leadership in Brenden Morrow. We’re due to have the Ott-er back for the Anaheim game tonight and Richards should only be a day or two behind him.

Where Mo and Lehtinen are concerned; it doesn’t look pretty.

Modano in particular was looking good for a comeback on the last road trip but has aggravated the rib he injured in the season opener against Nashville which has set him on Injured Reserve. Likewise Lehtinen who was initially day to day but is now on IR for the foreseeable.

So; three game road trip. Plenty to prove. Plenty of development for the youngsters coming up. Plenty of reputations with a need to come to the fore (are you listening Mr Ribeiro?). I’m looking forward - as ever - to it.

Rather than the personnel who make the trip though; I’m looking more for the effort that will be put in. Very soft performances at home against Boston and the Kings were disappointing to say the least and there needs to be such a marked effort in at least two of the forthcoming three games. Marty Turco really needs some help from the guys in front of him and take command of his crease BIG TIME! He is the goaltender. For all intents and purposes, he plays the most important position on the ice.

There have been several times this season at both even strength and at a man down when our own players have been blocking his line of sight on really soft goals. It’s these soft goals that knock the stuffing out of a goalies’ confidence. This simply has to improve.

In soccer, there is a legendary Danish goalkeeper called Peter Schmeichel who was absolutely dominant in his area. He barked at the defense if they were blocking his line of sight. He was constantly watching the unmarked man. He was up and in the face of the opposing team whenever any of them dared enter his “lair” as he referred to it. Turco needs a bit more of the same aggression. Be in their face. Get a glove to a puck and wave it in the nose of the shooter.

Otherwise, the defense is playing relatively well so far. If we can rub out or minimize the soft goals, we will be absolutely fine; leading American born goal scorer or not.

Good luck guys!

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Firstly; it’s OK to win at home.
Much has been made of the 6-0 score vs the Predators and it has to be said; it was good to get such a resounding score on the board. Everything seemed to click into place against Nashville this time around and we came out of the gate with a huge point to prove, going on to score 4 of the 6 in the first period.

Secondly; Don’t be afraid of the big-boys.
The game against the Boston Bruins has left a few Dallas fans scratching their heads. Dropping a 3-0 clanger against them was a little hard to take after such a complete performance against Nashville just two nights before. In truth though; Boston hustled, chased and beat us to every 50-50 puck there was. They deserved the win.

My previous post mentioned I’d be happy with 2 points across both games and I guess it shouldn’t be so much of a hardship losing to one of the best regular season teams of last season but I’m finding this Boston result is really sticking in my throat.

When the puck was in possession, we seemed to be looking for the perfect pass rather than taking a chance on a shot. Tim Thomas, as good a goalie as he is, was often floundering in his crease and rather than take a pot-shot knowing that, we were looking for the open man.

I now appear to be going back on my previous mantra in needing to be more accurate on the shot but for goodness’ sake; at least take a shot!

Against Boston in fact was the only game so far this season we didn’t outshoot the opposition; simply because we were looking to pass.

Still; it is what it is. Two points from two games will do for now. They’ll have to. We’re at Chicago next tonight against an arguably even better side. On their own turf. I would still expect to outshoot the Hawks. There will no doubt be more penalties (the last two games, Dallas have only been a man down 5 times altogether) but I would love to get the win against one of last seasons big successes and finally make a statement of intent to the rest of the league and especially those who believe on pain of death that the Stars will continue to fade out this season.

Good luck boys!

NOTES:
- Several Stars had point streaks end with the whitewashing against Boston. Brad Richards’ five-game streak, during which he collected nine points (three goals, six assists) was snapped, while Mike Ribeiro and rookie Jamie Benn had four-game streaks end.

- Defenseman Matt Niskanen led the club in ice time, logging 25:23.

- Stephane Robidas delivered a game-high six hits.

- Rookie center Aaron Gagnon made his NHL debut after getting recalled earlier in the day from the AHL Texas Stars. In 9:06 of ice time, he played solidly, going 5-3 in the face-off circle and firing a shot from the slot just wide as the final buzzer sounded.

- After missing all of training camp, pre-season and the first three regular season outings with a hip/groin injury, veteran winger Jere Lehtinen sat out with abdominal soreness. He is listed as day-to-day.

- Center Steve Ott, who was officially placed on Injured Reserve to free up a roster slot for Gagnon, missed his second straight game with an oblique injury. Veteran center Mike Modano also sat out, for the fifth consecutive contest, with a rib injury suffered on opening night.

- Despite the loss, the Stars are now 8-4-3 in their last 15 meetings against the Bruins, including a 6-3-2 mark at home.

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You can tell there’s a “but” can’t you?

BUT there are two really serious causes for concern for the Dallas camp for the home games against Nashville and Boston.

1: Penalty killing.

The Stars will be traveling home later today and will most likely not be in practice until Tuesday (October 13th). This gives us less than 24 hours to up the performance in a major part of todays game.

2: Shootouts.

If you include the home opener against Nashville, Dallas have been involved in three shootout decider’s this season - two of them on this road trip - and lost all of them.

Perhaps the irony of the early season is - in the face of a bucket load of adversity from fans and reporters alike - Marty Turco has been relatively consistent and against Vancouver especially he managed to pull off some unbelievable saves to keep it close.

The shot differential is still a telling statistic so far as well.
Against Vancouver: 35-25 (SO).
Against Calgary: 30-23 (W).
Against Edmonton: 34-24 (SO).

We do seem to be getting a few more goals from them but we are simply still not finding the net with great accuracy.

All in all though I am happy with 4 points from 6 out of this trip and I am pretty confident of the win against Nashville. Another against the Bruins would be fantastic and really give us a springboard to the next 10 or so games but in all honesty, I can’t help but feel that may be a bridge too far at the moment. I’ll settle for 2 out of 4 points from the next two tilts.

NOTES:
LW Steve Ott injured an oblique muscle in the first period against Vancouver and is currently day to day.

RW Jere Lehtinen made his season debut against Vancouver and was good for 11:32 of ice time in which he notched four shots on goal. Toby Petersen was the healthy scratch that made way.

C Mike Modano sat out his third straight game against the Canucks with a rib injury and remains day to day.

Despite a 1-0-3 record so far this season, Dallas have actually outscored their opponents 9-4 when playing at even strength - goes to show how important penalty killing is in the modern game.

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We got a point I guess.

Disappointment though comes in reading the shot differential:
Dallas: 40.
Nashville: 27.

Two schools of thought here.

1) Dallas didn’t take their chances. Having a 5% shooting accuracy just isn’t good enough. It was obviously great to see such a massive number of shots being taken and the new attack-first thing seems to be going OK for a team for whom the concept is entirely alien however, some of these shots need to be sunk if we’re going to avoid last seasons headaches. By the way credit where it’s due; Jamie Benn played really well and took his two goals brilliantly. Way to go kid.

2) Ellis played a blinder. Again credit where it’s due, Dan Ellis was making saves standing on his head after seeing his defense leak shots from all over their own zone. From a Stars point of view though - and with all due respect to Ellis - if we can’t solve Ellis in 40 shots for a convincing win, what chance do we give ourselves against the defense and goaltending of the Flames and Kipprusoff? Or the Devils and Brodeur? Hats off to you though Dan. Excellent statement to open your season.

Final verdict: Realise that less very often means more in the long run. As an example, the Rangers @ Ottawa on October 3rd saw them shoot 6 times less than the Stars with 34 and light the lamp 5 times. That’s the kind of accuracy we need. It is true that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take but it’s also very rare any NHL standard goalie will miss chances that present themselves like a beach ball. Accuracy and deceit in the shot required.

We’re on the road now for the next three games and come up against Edmonton (Tuesday), Calgary (Friday) and Vancouver (Sunday) in our own little whirlwind tour of Canada. If we can come home with four points from the next six, you’ll be able to see me smiling.

NOTES: Mike Modano left the game against Nashville (third period) feeling his midsection. He returned for the shootout but his telling speed was nowhere to be seen and is currently in question for the coming Canada road trip.

Jere Lehtinen remains doubtful for the road trip opener against the Oilers with a groin strain but will be on the trip and hope to make the Flames game.

Brad Richards sat out practice on October 4th (also with a groin issue) but there are no concerns over him making the Oilers game on Tuesday.

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Joe’s first major move was to release Dave Tippett from his coaching duties (now with the Phoenix Coyotes) and bring in the attack-minded Marc Crawford.

This is something entirely new to the Stars who have always previously relied heavily on depth scoring, a rock solid defense and sure handed goal-tending.

The blueprint to this foundation hasn’t gone entirely according to plan if you hold a lot of stock in pre-season scores and performances but the regular NHL season is an entirely different beast. The roster has now been finalized, players know their roles.

A lot has been made of the play of the guy who spent last season impersonating Marty Turco between the pipes for Dallas and I daresay he will bounce back this season; especially with the addition of Alex Auld. A little in house competition for positions is always healthy and can only be a benefit to the team.

More significant than any of the many Dallas flaws from last season though was the number of long term injuries. Check this list out:
Brad Richards.
Sergei Zubov (so long Zubie).
Jere Lehtinen.
Toby Petersen.
Perhaps Petersen aside; each one of those guys would find a niche in any NHL side. We have them back for 09-10 which is perhaps as significant as any off-season moves we could have made.
Even when these guys were all active though; we lacked that “something”. We lacked leadership. We lacked the will to win. We lacked the impetus to pick ourselves up after going a goal down. We lacked fight. We lacked energy. We lacked grit.

Cue Brenden Morrow; Captain Marvel MkII.

I can never throw enough superlatives at Brenden for the work he does for this squad. He his the beating heart; the engine room of this otherwise mediocre bunch of hockey players. He makes the Stars.

It shouldn’t be that way of course. It should be down to each and every one of them to stand up and be counted. The fact is though; Morrow simply does it all.

As a die-hard Stars fan, I am hoping for better things. Much better. Given the fact that it is also Mike Modano’s last season (probably) and that we also need to make a statement after last seasons frustration, anything less than the play-offs would be a huge let down for the team. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not expecting a dramatic overhaul like Turco facing off and Jamie Benn in goal (although; would be funny wouldn’t it?). Just a good, solid, consistent method of play.

I am relishing tonights match up with Nashville. I’m intrigued to see how this attack-first Dallas team do against any opponent and very much see it as the first stepping stone in what is sure to be a sound season for the boys.

All the luck in the world to you tonight Dallas. Here’s to keeping the faith.

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