Late Picks…Who Cares!

I am sure that I wasn’t the only Stars fan complaining when I found out that our First, Second and Third round picks were all traded away. Then after seeing that our 2008 First Round was also traded away you start wondering if we will ever have some top young talent again.

But don’t worry as there are some grat players today that all got picked up in the 3rd round or  worse. Here are some -

During the 1987 draft one of the most bizzare players was picked up 166th overall, Theo Fleury. In 1992 the likes of Matthew Barnaby (88th) and  Anson Cater (220th) were all real late picks. But the real diamond that came out of that draft was the goalie that helped his team to win the 2004 Stanley Cup, Nikolai Khabibulin was picked up a shocking 204th overall. Closer to the present in 1997 Ladislav Nagy was picked up 177th. The next two drafts we saw the core of the Detroit Red Wings, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk get picked up 210th overall and 171st.

How has the Stars scouting been well we saw Marty Turco get picked up 121st and then Jere Lehtinen 88th.

The point of all these stats is to simply say sure we have no picks under 50th overall, heck none under 60th. But as seen from the past we still can get our core of players simply from a little luck and some great scouting.

Top 3 Star Prospects

With the Entry Draft taking place in around 1 month, let’s look at the Top 3 prospects who are in the Stars system and who most likely will be wearing green and gold in a year or two.

1. James Neal – LW #52 – Drafted 2nd round (33rd overall)2005                           

This kid from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan set carrer high’s this year in the OHL. James also had an impressive 16 points in just 13 games in the 2005 OHL playoffs and with the Stars low scoring hopefully he will be the missing ingredient for the Stars offensive unit.

Height: 6′2    Weight: 180 lbs.      Shoots: Left

2. Matt Niskanen – D – Drafted 1st Round (28th overall) 2005

The Stars first round pick of 2005 is raising eyebrows all over Minnesota. Matt was also a member of the 2005 USA’s WJHC team that was a heavy favorite to win the tournament. Look for Matt to possibily go to Iowa or come to Dallas if there is an injury on the blue line during the 07/08 season.

Height: 6′0   Weight: 194lbs.      Shoots: Right

3. Nicklas Grossman – D – Drafted 2nd Round (56th overall) 2004 

Nicklas is ready to come into the NHL due to his tough nature. Mike Heika wrote about him ”…he draws comparisons to Mattias Norstrom.” There is no better place for him then with the very team that has Mattais. Niklas Has a great combination of projectable size and poise from the back end, which will help with such a defense team.

Height: 6′3    Weight: 206 lbs.      Shoots: Left

After all of the youngsters from Iowa stepped up this year for the Dallas Stars and after the Iowa Stars had there Calder Cup run, it should be interesting just to see how many great players are in the Stars system.

3 People You Didn’t Know Were Stars Fan!

We see many celebraties going to sporting events these days, yet at the AAC you never see 3 of there most hardcore fans. Let me tell you about them.

 The first one is Bowser. At PowerPlayGoal.com it made mention to him being a Stars fan and he obviously is just look at what he wears. Other then the ugly Red-Wing color hair he is all Gold and Green, the two of colors of the greatest sports franchise. When asked why we never see him at games he replys, “Although I watch every game, I can not go to the AAC due to the fact at any moment Mario may come and try to steal Peach from me”.

Another Stars fan I bet you didn’t know about was the incredible Hulk. The man is all green for a reason. This guy is never seen at games for one reason. After going to a game against the Avs in the 2006 playoffs he got so mad at how bad his team was losing that he freaked out on everyone near him and nearly caused the death of 14 Dallas Star fans. Because of this he believes it is in everyones intrest to not be seen there.

The final fan is none other then a guy from Star Wars, Yoda! This man was a big fan of the team, actually he was more a fan of the North Stars (he did die in Episode VI). But I was told he was usually seen using his light-sabre as a hockey stick and pretending to be the likes of Neal Broten and Bill Goldsworthy.

So while some teams may boast of having a a celebraty cheering for them, all Dallas Stars fan can boast of Yoda,Hulk and Bowser all being a fan of there team.

Who Will Cover NHL 08?

The video game series Madden has reportedly named Vince Young as the “cover boy” of Madden 08. With the EA Sports NHL series going to name there cover boy soon, it is about time we look at who is most likely to be the face of NHL 08.

Let’s start with the most likely player, Sidney Crosby. After scoring 120 points this season and after Ovechkin was put on the cover last year, you know that Crosby will want to add another acheivement to his ever growing resume. But if he doesn’t get on this year he most likely will in a few years time.

The next player will probably be someone form the Sabers and there is alot of players to choose from, but most likely Briere or Ryan Miller. It will really depend on how they do in the playoffs, and if they do good you can count them in as top candidates.

The next 3 players are all Ducks. Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer due to them leading Anaheim past the Wild (trust me on this one). But the player that I can really picture being on the cover is Teemu Selanne. After having his insane season with the Winnipeg Jets ( R.I.P) it only went downhill from there. But this guy has come back and is oneI feel will most likely be on the cover of the game.

As for a Stars player, I am sorry but I can not see this happening this year. But of course there is always the remembrance of Marty Turco being on the cover of NHL 2K6.

So as many crazy hockey gamer fans get ready for the realease of this game in September, there is only one thing I will be waiting for, the day when Daryl “Razor” Reauge is once again an anouncer for the NHL series.

For DSH – Korbyn Lofgren

Season Recap

It is hard to believe the season is already over! It seems like we were just getting ready for the Stars to take on the Colorado Avalanche in the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But instead we are here one year later and it’s time to look on the Regular Season that was.

We started off an a amazing start of 11-2-0 and the Dallas Stars were one of the best in the NHL. Then came some injuries that really set us back including Mike Modano, Brennan Morrow, Steve Ott, Eric Lindros, and much more giving us a final total of 289 man-game losses! When these injuries hit all of a sudden the Stars were playing .500 hockey and quickly falling out of the playoff picture. We ended up with a record of 29-18-1 at the All-Star Break.

But after that cold streak the Stars were back. Boucher and Riberio were instrumental in helping the Stars get over the injury bug. When players did start to come back, like Mike Modano, we were back in the hunt for another divisonal title. Along with the hunt for divisonal title, Mike Modano was in the hunt for 500 and 503. He hit 500 goals against the lowly Philadelphia Flyers on March 13th and then to a booing, yes booing crowd at Trashville got his 502nd and 503rd goals to pass Joe Mullen for the most by an American Born player.

The Stars ended the season just 3 points back of Anaheim for the divsion, quite amazing considering they were down by as much as 18 PTS. They finished the seaosn going 21-7-6 after the all-star break and a final record of 50-25-7. The 2006/07 Dallas Stars will now look to write a great ending to this season, and ending that just might include beating the Vancouver Canucks in the first round!

Other Season Facts -

GFPG – 2.75

GAPG – 2.40

-The Stars finished 2nd in the William M. Jennings race. The Wild let in 191 goals while the Stars 197.

-Stars finished with 50 wins for just the third time in franchise history

-107 points is good for the 5th best point total in Stars history

-Tootoo is a retard

For DSH – Korbyn Lofgren

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

October may be known for it’s World Series Baseball, and March isknow for it’s NCAA Basketball. But from April to June there is only one thing it’s known for, the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And thanks to the ‘New NHL’ it is becoming more exciting and alot harder just to get in.

Consider this, in the East right now there is only 2-3 games left, yet there is 4 teams seperated from 6th to 9th by a mere 3 points. Out of those 4 only 2 will get to the big dance. Also the possibility of Hockey’s two best markets, Toronto (ughh) and Montreal not even being there. In the West the race for positions is just as bad. The Top 7 teams are seperated by 10 points, and with one win a team could jump from 5th to 7th!

When the NHL returned they wanted a league that would create rivialries and have 30 teams at the begining of the years who feel that they have a chance to go all the way. And with the Oilers and Hurricanes going form the Stanley Cup final to not even making the playoffs, this shows that one year your team can be good (ex. Philly 101 pts last year) and then utterly horrible the next (ex. Philly 54 pts this year). Yet at the start of the 2007/08 season once again Flyer fans will feel they will be playoff contenders with a new goaltender.

For the first time in my short life I am going to say “Gary Bettman you have helped out this league!” Well he atleast has made it more competitive. No longer do we see the Red Wings reloading right at the tread deadline or the Leafs making the playoffs just because of there huge sallary. Instead we see an expansion team like the Thrashers leading there divison and a 19 Year Old running away with the Art Ross trophy.

So as we get closer to the most wonderful time of the year, it’s good to know that fans of 16 teams will all feel they have a chance at hockey supremacy this April while the other 14 they will probably just get there shot next year.

For DSH -Korbyn Lofgren

Guerin and Arnott

This past summer we saw Bill Guerin and Jason Arnott pack up there bags and move away from Dallas. Those two were crowd favorites, especially Guerin who got a Standing ovation at the All-Star Game in January. So do we miss these two? I am going to look back at the season they have had and find out if maybe we should have kept them.

 Jason Arnott -  He is leading Trashville with 26 goals and has put up 52 points in 62 games. Arnott is a +19 and is a key part of a team that is likely to finish on top of the Western Confrence Standings. Arnott is also just 4 points away from 700 points, a milestone that i’m sure he would have wanted to get in the city that he spent 4 years in. Still no matter what this guy accompishes I will still never forgive him for scoring that goal in Game 6 of the 2000 Stanley Cup finals.

Bill Guerin – After spending most of the season with the Blues he was off to another team. Once agin Bill found himself in the Pacific divsion this time though wearing a Sharks jersey. Guerin has an impressive 35 goals this year, the most on the high scoring Sharks. That total is also good for 2nd best in his carrer. It sure would be nice to have Guerin back on the team with his leadership skills and his goal scoring skills but in the end just couldn’t afford him. Of the two, he is the one I miss the most.

 It doesn’t matter though at the end of the day how much we want these players back because it seems in the new NHL being under the sallary cap is more important then having two Star players.

For DSH – Korbyn Lofgren

Divison Title Still Possible

At the moment we would be playing the Vancouver Canucks in the first round. But there is also a chance of  the Dallas Stars taking on the Ducks, Predators or the Red Wings. Those three teams all are serious cup contenders, but there is one way that the Stars could not play these teams in the opening  round and that is by winning the Pacific divison.

The Stars did have the divison lead early in the season after starting 11-2-0 but after falling into injury touble, before we knew it we were in 3rd place. However there still is a chance for us for us to get our 8th divisonal title in 10 years. This is how.

First of all if we want any hope of catching up to Anaheim we have to start by defeating them IN REGULATION on March 23rd and on April 6th. This will be a excellent way to gain 4 points on them and make this race alot closer.

Another reason we may be able to catch the Ducks is because our Captain is back! With him in the lineup and with Mike Modano on his hot streak it will make Dallas an even more dreaded opponent. To top it off, of the 10 games remaining 6  of them are against the 4 worst teams in the Western Confrence.

So if the Stars could get just win 4 of those 6 games and then win all of the Ducks games along with getting one win in the other 2 games we will be at 105 points. This total may just be enough to pass Anaheim to get the divison.

Whether the Stars do get the title or not, it sure is nice to be around Playoff time as we will watch 16 teams fight for the most famous trophys in all sports.

For DSH – Korbyn Lofgren

Mike’s 500th and the Playoff Races

Have we ever been treated to some good stuff in the last few weeks. On the ice Dallas Star legend Mike Modano got his 500th carrer goal and was just the Second American to ever achieve that feat. Also on the Ice the Stars now have a three game winning streak and are keeping up with the Sharks and Wild in a extreamly tight playoff race. But about the playoff race, do we really want to finsh 5th? We have lots of trouble getting out of the first round and it sure would not help facing a strong Detroit Red Wings team that has 97 points or a Predators team that is favored to go all the way. It would be a lot easier to take on the Canucks after all we did finish 2-1-1 against them this year. Of course it would be a slow series if we did get past them and get some Playoff confidence this team may be able to go all the way.

Of course one huge way to gain momentum is by having such a historic night as Tuesday night. Dallas didn’t through in the towel after being tied to Flyers but instead scored under 4 minutes later and then Modano took over cleaning up the garbage to get his 500th. Congratulation Mike…But I have some worries about the team without Mike in the lineup. We are 11-10-2 without him this season but with him are a impresive 30-13-3!! He is the lifeline for this team, and I sure hope he isn’t consider retirement because we need him for another cup run.

 For DSH – Korbyn Lofgren

Hello Dallas Star Fans! my name is Korbyn Lofgren and am the owner of DSH.

Recently I noticed that one way to keep the reader as informed as possible is to have a Blog.

The DSH Blog along with DSH will be an excellent source for the Dallas Star Fan that wants all the inside info on his/her favorite team.  Looking toward the future, some HUGE Stars fans will be writing for DSH including Jay “the Wall” Leask and Scott “Scooter” Brueggemann from DallasStarsPodcast. Also we will have a few others writing for us on occasions. 

 So don’t forget to regularly check up on the DSHBlog at www.dshblog.wordpress.com. it will also be accesible from the DSH Home page.