Rants, Raves, & Other Thoughts - DAL vs. BOS

Well, today was a bad day for me from the start, and overall, the Stars game did little to help things, but I figured what the heck, I'll still do this.

The Rants

Stars PP: Sure doesn't look like that unit that struck fear into the opposition last year. I have a feeling that once they get the PP working, a lot more things will fall into place, but right now, it's awful. They sure miss a lot of empty nets.

Stars forwards down low: This is an extension of the above. The Stars can create a lot of traffic, but ultimately, they end up missing gaping nets or throwing the puck away into traffic. Very frustrating to see when one goal ties the game. This goes for you Mr. 'I got the 3rd star when I didn't deserve it.'

Stars Coaching: I wasn't a fan of Hitch, but Tippett's doing some things that are making me scratch my head right now. Dressing 7 D? Continuing to use Turgeon at LW?

The Raves

Antti Miettinen- The kid gets moved up to the top unit and didn't look out of place playing there. Created a lot of chances, worked hard, and flashed some skill. Definitely a keeper.

Officiating- I thought the refs did a good job of calling what should have been called tonight. A little praise for the zebras.

Boston D- They blocked a lot of the Stars more dangerous chances and defended well on the scrambles in front of the net.

Brian Rolston- Speed, good D, and good hands. I think that Rolston is probably the best second line center in the league behind Joe Sakic. Plus, he got my fantasy team 2G tonight. :p

Other Thoughts

I want to see Scott Young play the point on the PP. I think throwing him out there will cure some of the reluctance to shoot up top.

Faceoffs continue to be a problem. Get Carbonneau out of the office and teaching these guys how to win some.

Very boring a plodding game for the most part. I expected a lot more tempo and offensive chances.

Downey might have helped strictly as a tempo maker tonight.

My 3 Stars of the Game
1. Brian Rolston, BOS
2. Andrew Raycroft, BOS
3. Antti Miettinen, DAL

My 3 NOT Stars of the Game
1. Steve Ott, DAL (Keep your edges sharp, Steve!)
2. Michal Grosek, BOS
3. John Erskine, DAL

Very nice thoughts- you guys deserved the win for sure, but it's nice to see Boston get on the winning side of a goalie performance for once.

You may recall that a rookie Marty Turco did the same thing to us in earning his first NHL shutout in '01-'02. He got the surprise start over Belfour when Eddie stormed out after a spat with Hitch, and Turco totally slammed the door on our vaunted Boston offense, which incidentally included Bill Guerin. How ironic...

Anyhow- I enjoyed your analysis and fwiw- think you guys will have an excellent season. You have a very talented team- and it was definitely in evidence last night as the Stars pretty much shut the B's offense down in the last 40 minutes.

Sometimes, you eat the bear- sometimes he eats you.

I agree with all your points and wow...Dallas has some scary O but...

Brian Rolston is no way a good 2nd line center. He is not good 3rd center too. He has some unbelievable chemistry with Axelsson..they simply don't play well without each other! Rolston is a good player and decent scorer but he is no at center.

The reason wht Rollie did look so good because our top line was invisible
(and I don't understand why?)

I was on the edge of my chair and couldn't pay attention to many Stars players but Modano was unbelievable as always...Guerin..well he is good, tough , fast but he probably continues frustrate his fans by low accuracy of his shots. I like Kapanen kid and Erskine.

I agree with all your points and wow...Dallas has some scary O but...

The reason wht Rollie did look so good because our top line was invisible
(and I don't understand why?)



I think the Bruins first line looked invisible due to the play of the Morrow-Arnott-Barnes line.

Tip challenged Arnott to not only use his size better, but to play a more 2-way game. Arnott has responded. He lost about 10 pounds in the offseason and is noticably faster. he has been pretty darn good so far this season.