The proverbial Krys Barch fight photo I have no idea how good or bad the Dallas Stars are. I've seen a couple of games. They look fine. Other games they get run out of the building.
Are they the team that made it to the Western Conference Finals two years ago (with primarily the same cast) or missed the playoffs by a long shot a year ago (with primarily the same cast).
At times, I wish they were either really bad or really good especially in hockey, a game I really don't understand or know how to fully evaluate.
The folks at Yahoo! Sports have them at No. 22 in their power rankings. They're last in the Pacific Division and they've gone 4-6 in their last 10. In their last three, before last night's 2-1 win at home over Anaheim, they'd lost all three being outscored 12-3.
I think this is what they are. A team that will probably get close to 90 points with a winning record and wind up 10th in a deep Western Conference. They're not very good and I tend to think that they are very talented and I don't know where the gap is. The goaltending is not great, but is that a statement on Kari Lehtonen or the defensemen.
I've tended to think the blue line was the problem. Isn't there at this point enough there to make a difference.
In the end, the Stars are being bitten by the same bug that killed the Rangers for four years: Tom Hicks. I don't think he's running things any more, but money isn't being spent. Goals aren't being scored. The coach is bitching about lines being on the ice too long.
Things aren't good in the Stars camp.
