Sticking the Fork in the Stars…

Posted on March 25th, 2009 8:06am by Bob Sturm
Filed under Dallas Stars, Sturm

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
Ill never look into your eyes…again

And there is your dagger. Mathematically, it would appear that the Stars season is still within their grasp, but having not missed a shift this season, I am here to tell you that I am fresh out of “Believe”.

Against the Canucks, the Power Play lacked power. The Penalty Kill lacked kill.

Yes, the injuries have been absurd (300 man games lost and counting). But, I have to tell you that it would be somewhat missing the boat to suggest that ALL of the problems are a result of the injuries.

I honestly feel that the future is still extremely bright for this team, but this season appears to be a lost cause. They need their full compliment to be a team with ambitions that they can achieve, and right now, the guys who are gone are dearly missed, and the guys who are present are so exhausted that they are not as productive as they were 60 days ago.

Unlike the Mavericks, who are what they are, this Stars team can tweak here and there this summer and be right back in the mix in the Western Conference. Their best players; Morrow, Richards, Ribeiro, Ott, Eriksson, and Neal are all very young and able. They need another goaltender to share the load with Turco and they need a #1 or #2 defenseman (or both) to make the blueline make more sense. But, beyond that, they just need the great reset button to wipe away this silly season that has been.

They have decisions to make with the old guard.  Modano will be back, I am not so sure about Sydor.  Lehtinen and Zubov are free agents with little leverage in the league due to their health, and therefore will be offered deals that are far more in the Stars favor – but it will be up to the players to see if they want to hang around for another year at a bargain price.

I believe it is over, but in the big picture, the Stars are in a fine position still.   The future is bright.  Oh, and they actually have their #1 draft pick for the first time since 2006 (thanks to the Ladislov Nagy and the Mattias Norstrom trades), which appears it will be a pretty solid pick assuming they miss the playoffs.

I don’t think that is a very big leap to make anymore.

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13 Comments to “Sticking the Fork in the Stars…”
  • Hypo-Luxa @ March 25th, 2009 at 8:23 am

    Oh the humanity!

    And I agree. I officially gave up on the ‘Believe’ one game earlier, but yeah these guys are toast. One key injury too many

  • Chris @ March 25th, 2009 at 8:52 am

    I would lean to Zubov retiring… What is the word on his recovery after surgery?

  • gbm @ March 25th, 2009 at 9:20 am

    tell you what, this makes me pumped for next year … we have some emerging young players, and the amount of vets returning from injury will be staggering … next year the key is to stay healthy …

  • Ram1 @ March 25th, 2009 at 9:28 am

    This team has been running on fumes for weeks. Turco can only do so much, the start of his season is questionable though. Nevertheless next year looks promising and I can only hope for a healthy cuprun in 09-10. But this has been a failed year and there is no more hope.

  • Brandon B @ March 25th, 2009 at 9:53 am

    The injuries have actually been a blessing in disguise. True, they have sabotaged this season, but heading forward, the Stars are in fine standing. IMO, some NHL teams including the Stars are very hesitant to go with young talent over aging, washed-up talent. I’m sure they have reasons, but does anyone really believe Sutherby would have been given a chance to become solid role player for this team if there hadn’t been so many injuries? Does anyone really believe Neal would have been given the opportunity he had this season without all of the injuries? While Ott doesn’t fit into the young player category, would he have been given a chance to shine without all of the injuries? At times, he put up decent numbers in the minors, but was never given an opportunity to play an offensive role until the Stars were beset with the injury bug.

    Now going forward, hopefully the front office and coaching staff will maybe be a little more apt to call up young players. They can let JAGs Morrison and Begin find their happiness elsewhere. Hopefully players like Wandell and Benn will be given opportunities to play with the big club. What’s not to like about speed and youth over mediocre veteran play?

  • Brandon B @ March 25th, 2009 at 10:00 am

    Also, I disagree with Sturm over the need for a #2 defenseman. I think the Stars d corp is actually fine the way it stands today. Grossman and Fistric will continue to get better and possibly become a first rate shut down pairing next year along the lines of Hatcher and Matvichuk. While long in the tooth, Sydor has another year left. I believe Niskanen is the weakest link. IMO, the Stars should trade him for an offensive prospect and use their salary cap relief from Zubov, Lehtinen, and Sydor to sign Bouwmeester (provided he can pass Hicks’ asinine psychological test – it didn’t take a psychologist to see that Avery had issues before the season). Sydor’s veteran leadership is important to this team as evidenced by the turn around on defense after his acquisition. That wasn’t the sole reason, but it was a very important factor. Wouldn’t these pairings look good?

    Bouwmeester – Robidas
    Grossman – Fistric
    Sydor – Daley

  • Maximilian @ March 25th, 2009 at 10:45 am

    Brandon, Niskanen is easily our best young D man, in terms of 2 way play. No way are we trading him. Daley is the weakest one, and I still wouldn’t trade him. Bouwmeester isn’t going to come here. Let Sydor go, and offer Zubov a 1 year deal. Hopefully he’ll take it, and show some of that ageless wonder he had this entire decade before the last 2 seasons, and continue to develop Niskanen, who was a +22 last year pairing with Zubov. Our PP was awful without him manning the point. His patience and skillful passing was missed. Oh, and he could also hit the net every once in awhile with a good shot, unlike Robidas.

    Zubov – Niskanen
    Daley – Robidas
    Grossman – Fistric

    With Vishnevsky waiting in the wings for his shot.

  • Tim Perkins @ March 25th, 2009 at 10:54 am

    I’m concerned about Turco. And I’m not sure his disappointing year can all be blamed on fatigue. I’m not well-versed in proper goalie technique, but all year he has allowed soft goals. If everything else on the team improves next year but Turco remains leaky, the Stars have a big problem.

  • Gravypan @ March 25th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    Well, the good thing about Turco is he’s entering the final year of his contract. Barring the kind of injury problems this club faced this season, Dallas should be right back in the mix next season. And the good thing about Turco is he’ll be entering a contract season. Which means he’ll either:

    A) Rise up to the challenge and put up one of the best seasons of his career.

    B) Would have a contract that would be easily tradeable.

    I honestly think a lot of Turco’s struggles was due to him trying to do too much at times this year. His struggles to start the season were on him.

    But I think as the injuries started to pile up, he tried to do too much and wound up hurting the team rather helping them.

  • the fly @ March 25th, 2009 at 3:36 pm

    bob, you have a great blog. i was wishing they’d make it in so i could see my wings in person once again…. so be it, the hockey gods have spoken……

    GO WINGS

  • tom @ March 25th, 2009 at 4:16 pm

    Bob..Please tell me the Mavs will get someone who can actually score..not just skate around..I hate the losing..but..I hate this boring team worse..
    I know there were a lot of injuries..but..relying on Marty..night after night..I felt I was watching Grounds Hogs Day..

  • Brandon B @ March 25th, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    Maximilian, we will have to agree to disagree. Niskanen is the 2nd best offensive defenseman behind Daley. He is the worst defensive defenseman the Stars have. He might have been a +22 last year, but so far this year he is a -12 which is dead stinkin’ last for the Stars this year. Discounting Zubov’s stats, Sydor is the next worst at -2. I don’t put a whole lot of credence in +/-, but it is a handy stat when comparing players on the same team. The fact is that Niskanen is small, slow, and just not that good in his own zone.

    Zubov was good on the PP? There was a time when he was, but that time passed a couple years ago. Why was the PP pitiful before he got injured, greatly improved while he was injured, and pitiful when he returned from injury? Why did the Stars pull him from the PP after he returned?

    One last thing. Why wouldn’t Bouwmeester come to the Stars? Are you his agent? Are you Bouwmeester himself? A few years back, you probably also said the same thing about Brett Hull and Bill Guerin.

  • David @ March 25th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    The reason why we can’t get Bouwmeester is because he wants to play in his home region which I believe is Edmonton. I wish we can get him, but I just don’t see it happening.