[big steaming pile] writes another idiotic column - and not about TCU

[steelfrog]

 
 
On pause for now actually. I got active duty orders from the National Guard (i'm a 2LT) and am currently loving life (not) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. 
 

Really!? Well, steel and kinder routinely come up to the Wichita Mountains NWR for rock climbing etc. Ft Sill soldiers join us every now and then. If you can get a day off we are going to be doing a tough one April 25. You are welcome to join!

 

[The Artist Formerly Known as PhormerPhrog]

 
That's the dumbest thing I've read all day. Look deeper, we brought in brand new Stars (pun absolutely intended) like Seguin or Spezza, a new GM, a new owner, and a new coach 2 years ago. Hell they even changed the logo and adjusted the colors. This team is on the rise. 
 
 
On pause for now actually. I got active duty orders from the National Guard (i'm a 2LT) and am currently loving life (not) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. 
 
 
Go to a game. And this city was loving it when they made playoff runs, with the wins that are coming, a lot of bandwagoners will jump back on. 

lolz...dude, you are what you are. You can make all kinds of excuses but wins and losses don't lie. I'm a Pens fan. Crosby and Malkin are two of the most dynamic players in the league but even they have underachieved and not matter how much potential I think they have the reality is that they've choked down the stretch and they are deserving of a 7th seed. Results don't lie. But hey, they have new (throwback) alternate unis so maybe they are the best team in the league.

 

[illini_frog]

lolz...dude, you are what you are. You can make all kinds of excuses but wins and losses don't lie. I'm a Pens fan. Crosby and Malkin are two of the most dynamic players in the league but even they have underachieved and not matter how much potential I think they have the reality is that they've choked down the stretch and they are deserving of a 7th seed. Results don't lie. But hey, they have new (throwback) alternate unis so maybe they are the best team in the league.

 
Saving this post for 2-3 years from now. Maybe even next year if Kari can get his head straight. 

 

[salamander]

Didn't the Stars have just as many or more points this season as they did last year? This team is competitive...those 90s Mavs teams were awful.

 

[OmniscienceFrog]

 
Kari will be fine. The Stars were playing with Oleksiak/Jokipakka/Klingberg/, even Nemeth for a portion. No other team featured that many rookie defensemen. He was worse this year for sure, but there was no fixing the learning curve in front of him, and failure defense from veterans like Daley.

Lehtonen has played his last game as a Star.  And thank god for that!  Defense was bad, but not that bad.

 

[OmniscienceFrog]

The Stars face a litany of problems.  Injuries have been an issue this year.  They might be a playoff team without them.  The Stars really need to address issues from the back to the forwards.  Kari is one of the quickest goalies in the NHL, but his body position is terrible.  He doesn't play angles which kills him.  Enroth plays great angles, but gives up juicy rebounds.  I could score on some of the ones he gives up which says a lot.  The D needs to learn to play within themselves and not let people build a house in front of the crease.  I am thinking that might be in need of a complete overhaul.  I might look to add a few forwards especially a big power forward and a defensive one, but overall that is fine.  The Stars have scored the second most goals in the NHL this season and they still have a negative differential.  That is a telling stat.

Lehtonen doesn't give up dozens of juicy rebounds himself?

 

[Purp]

Congratulations to Jamie Benn for winning the Art Ross trophy for the league's leading scorer. The 90's Mavs didn't have any legitimate super stars and this Stars team has a couple young ones right now and a couple burgeoning super stars on top of them.

This franchise is in a very good place right now even if they did miss the playoffs. If you fix the defense and goal tending problems then I think you fix the 3rd period problem. I'm not worried about the home power play bc there is too much talent for that to not improve.

In other words, Jim Nill has one position (goalie) to address in the offseason and Lindy has one position (defense) to develop/improve in the offseason. I won't be surprised if the Stars win their division next year.

The 90's Mavs were never that close to being a playoff team until Cuban bought them, let alone being a top team in the league.

 

[PurplFrawg]

Lehtonen doesn't give up dozens of juicy rebounds himself?

he sure doesn't hit for average...

 

[illini_frog]

Congratulations to Jamie Benn for winning the Art Ross trophy for the league's leading scorer. The 90's Mavs didn't have any legitimate super stars and this Stars team has a couple young ones right now and a couple burgeoning super stars on top of them.

This franchise is in a very good place right now even if they did miss the playoffs. If you fix the defense and goal tending problems then I think you fix the 3rd period problem. I'm not worried about the home power play bc there is too much talent for that to not improve.

In other words, Jim Nill has one position (goalie) to address in the offseason and Lindy has one position (defense) to develop/improve in the offseason. I won't be surprised if the Stars win their division next year.

The 90's Mavs were never that close to being a playoff team until Cuban bought them, let alone being a top team in the league.

 
You don't think Nill should sign a top tier DMan? 
 
 
And yeah, Stars this season had one more win and one more point than last year, but miss playoffs this year. Western Conference, especially Central Division, is a juggernaut. 

 

[Purp]

 
You don't think Nill should sign a top tier DMan? 
 
 
And yeah, Stars this season had one more win and one more point than last year, but miss playoffs this year. Western Conference, especially Central Division, is a juggernaut. 

I wouldn't be disappointed with a top end defenseman, but I don't think it's necessary to be a top 10 team in the league next year. The young D really improved a lot as the season wore on and I think Klingberg and Nemeth could be two of the top defensemen in the league in another year or two. The bearded Benn is solid and Goligoski and Daley are above average. I think a top end Dman and an above average goalie would make the Stars one of the top teams in the league, but I think goalie is a higher priority than D.

 

[illini_frog]

I still think we get a top DMan (and probably trade Daley to make room for him) and give Kari one more year to prove himself behind a solid defense. A lot of people say that Ed Belfour even struggled before getting a good defense in front of him, and I think we owe it to Kari (especially since we owe Kari so much $$$) to give him one more year behind a solid defense. 
 
1. Resign Enroth
2. Sign top D-Man
3. Continue to develop youth
 
4. Success. 

 

[The Artist Formerly Known as PhormerPhrog]

I don't know how you can call someone averaging 2.68 points per 60 that.

Whoa...where did this stat come from? Obviously a typo. Those are Gretzky and Lemieux numbers. Benn and Seguin scratch just over 2.0 combined.

 

[Purp]

Whoa...where did this stat come from? Obviously a typo. Those are Gretzky and Lemieux numbers. Benn and Seguin scratch just over 2.0 combined.

And Jagr. Before he decided to play into his 60s Jagr was a 2ppg guy as well. I don't think Gretzky finished that high either, actually.

 

[Purp]

I still think we get a top DMan (and probably trade Daley to make room for him) and give Kari one more year to prove himself behind a solid defense. A lot of people say that Ed Belfour even struggled before getting a good defense in front of him, and I think we owe it to Kari (especially since we owe Kari so much $$$) to give him one more year behind a solid defense. 
 
1. Resign Enroth
2. Sign top D-Man
3. Continue to develop youth
 
4. Success. 

I'll be happy to be wrong on Kari, but he's too inconsistent for me to believe in him, even with a better D. He let in too many soft goals in this year and got beat bc he was out of position a lot. You can't blame the D for a lot of his struggles this year. That's why I'm writing him off.

The bottom line, though, is that this team is one or two free agent signings away from being one of the best teams in hockey.

 

[illini_frog]

I just don't think we can afford to not give Kari at least one more year. If we didn't have such a big contract on him then maybe we could explore other goalie options, but I think for the money we put into him we owe him at least one more year behind a good defense to prove himself. And if he's a dumpster fire there's always Enroth, who has looked very solid lately. Hell maybe even Enroth can win the job and we'll just have an expensive back-up goalie. 

 

[Purp]

I just don't think we can afford to not give Kari at least one more year. If we didn't have such a big contract on him then maybe we could explore other goalie options, but I think for the money we put into him we owe him at least one more year behind a good defense to prove himself. And if he's a dumpster fire there's always Enroth, who has looked very solid lately. Hell maybe even Enroth can win the job and we'll just have an expensive back-up goalie. 

I think Gagliardi would eat Kari's contract if Nill told him he needed a new goalie.  The moment he bought the team he immediately emphasized that he would not be afraid to spend money for the right pieces.  And as I said before, my preference would be goalie over top end defensman if we could only afford one.  I trust the organization to do whatever is best so I'm really not worried about it, but I'm ready to put the Kari era behind us.

 

[The Artist Formerly Known as PhormerPhrog]

And Jagr. Before he decided to play into his 60s Jagr was a 2ppg guy as well. I don't think Gretzky finished that high either, actually.

Gretz was a mid 2 guy for a five year run in the early 80s. Mario did it a few times too...If I remember right it was the year before their first cup, the year after their 2nd and again after one of his comebacks when he only played about 60 games and ran away with the Art Ross. I don't ever recall Jagr being a 2 guy. He rod Mario ' s coat tails for a few years but once he left for good Jagr turned into a dawg.

 

[Purp]

Gretz was a mid 2 guy for a five year run in the early 80s. Mario did it a few times too...If I remember right it was the year before their first cup, the year after their 2nd and again after one of his comebacks when he only played about 60 games and ran away with the Art Ross. I don't ever recall Jagr being a 2 guy. He rod Mario ' s coat tails for a few years but once he left for good Jagr turned into a dawg.

Mario was a career 2 guy until his last few seasons.  For my money he's the best ever.

 

[The Artist Formerly Known as PhormerPhrog]

Mario was a career 2 guy until his last few seasons.  For my money he's the best ever.

Mine too. He was so big. So strong. Amazingly quick hands. He played with hardly any talent for the first 5 years or so.

 

[Purp]

Mine too. He was so big. So strong. Amazingly quick hands. He played with hardly any talent for the first 5 years or so.

My favorite thing about him is how he made being the best hockey player on the planet look so effortless. Sorta like how Junior made baseball look like Go Fish Against 1st graders. It didn't just look easy for him, it looked beautiful too. Modano had that same flair in his game, but he wasn't close to the same level of Mario and that says a LOT.