Monthly Archives: January 2013

Tonight is not the night

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(www.interaksyon.com)

Dirk Nowitzki did not score 30 points and the Mavericks did not look good in a 113-107 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs were without Tim Duncan, but it didn’t matter. The Mavs refused to guard the 3-point line and San Antonio was willing to take them all night. The Spurs made nine 3-point shots.

The rest of the Spurs’ offense came from easy buckets off the pick and roll. Tony Parker showed once again that Dallas has no defensively adequate point guards. He scored 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting, but was more effective as a passer with 10 assists. DeJuan Blair had 22 points. Yes, DeJuan Blair.

As for my call for Dirk to have a big night. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Dirk looked a bit better, with more spring in his step on a 6 for 14 shooting night. Most disappointing was that Dirk finished the first half with only two buckets. After the break, he came out and hit his first jumper of the 3rd quarter. Then the largest man on the court became invisible. He took one more shot in the quarter as the Spurs went on an epic run that essentially won the game. Most point guards understand that when the other team goes on a run, you need to get your superstar the ball in his favorite spot to get a bucket and turn the tide. That, apparently, is asking too much of the bunch the Mavs put out. Dirk was frozen out until late in the 3rd quarter.

The only real bright spot is that Rodrique Beaubois remembered that he can play basketball for a night. He scored 19 points on 6 of 8 shooting.

This game wasn’t as close as the final score. The Mavericks played very poorly. The guards have no idea how to play with Dirk. So much so that even if he gets all the way healthy, and his shooting percentage improves, he probably won’t reach his level of normal productivity. He isn’t getting the shots he got with Kidd, and he isn’t demanding them either. Instead, Jay Crowder takes 3′s early in the shot clock. Elton Brand gets endless looks at the short corner. Darren Collison drives recklessly into traffic and too often turns the ball over. The franchise that has been known for smart basketball, now has a team with some less-than-smart basketball players. It’s getting better, but it’s still bad. The only question left, was Charles Barkley just a year early on burying Dirk?

Tonight’s the night

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(www.faniq.com)

Two things we know about the Big German: he has been less than conditioned this season, and he responds to a good insult.

Dirk has had a hard time getting going in the 15 games since his return from preseason knee surgery. One of the NBA’s preeminent scorers is averaging only 13.9 points per game. He has been taking less shots, making a lower percentage of those shots, and getting to the free throw line less than any time since his rookie season. The four-day layoff may not be much help to any of the other streaking Mavericks, but it should do wonders for Dirk. His legs have been missing all season, and I fully expect to see the best version of Nowitzki tonight.

Last year, when Dirk found himself in a similar early season struggle, it was a barb from Charles Barkley that seemed to get Nowitzki going. He found his form directly after Sir Charles claimed that father time never loses when discussing Dirk’s poor play. We saw another example of Dirk turning insult to motivation when he scored 50 on Tim Thomas after Thomas thought it smart to blow Dirk a kiss. Apparently Germans don’t appreciate emasculating humor. This season, Dirk misses his first all-star game in 10 years, and even for the humble Nowitzki, the pain of that will ding his ego.

These two factors combine to tell me Dirk Nowitzki will break the 30 point barrier for the first time this season tonight against the Spurs. At the end of the season, we’ll look back at this game as the game where Dirk turned it around, and the rest of the NBA took notice. 

Oh, and Tim Duncan being absent doesn’t hurt.

 

Extending a Hand?

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(www.masslive.com)

Could the D-League’s Texas Legends’ signing of Delonte West be a signal that Rick Carlise is ready to allow him back on the Mavericks? One would have to think so. Carlise was less than forthcoming on ESPN 103.3 fm with Randy Galloway this afternoon, saying that the Legends make moves indepentant of the Mavs so it really means nothing.

While I understand that the Legends need to sell tickets, I also understand that the Mavs’ general manager is the owner of the Legends, and that somehow West was talked out of signing a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies to join the Legends. That doesn’t seem like the move one would make without at least a glimmer of hope he could rejoin his old team.

The Mavs don’t have a viable backup point guard. They haven’t since Derek Fisher took the “I don’t have time to be .500″ plane out of Dallas. Collison is ok, but hasn’t been able to lock down the closer role from Mike James, who, let’s face it, at 37 isn’t half the player Delonte West is.

If the Mavs take this decision solely from a basketball perspective, Delonte will be with the big club in under a week. They are most likely trying to gauge where his head is though after preseason antics that got him cut from Dallas in the first place. I expect that it will take at least two weeks, but West will be a Mav again.

It just makes too much sense. Dirk loves him, Cuban loves him, he wants to be here. It also doesn’t hurt that he would immediately be the only Maverick capable of guarding the point guard position.

Barring any bi-polar incident, Delonte West should be a Maverick again.

Stars Schooled by Blackhawks, 3-2 (OT)

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Though at times it looked that Kari Lehtonen was going to put the team on his back and lead the Stars to a victory, the Stars were simply outclassed by the Chicago Blackhawks. The Stars looked slow, sloppy and even stupid, committing 4 penalties in their offensive zone.

Once again, the Stars defense gave up 40 shots, which just will not cut it. The Stars are extremely fortunate Lehtonen is as locked in as he is. He had another outstanding game with some jaw-droppers among his 38 saves.

Loui Eriksson gave the Stars the lead when he recieved the puck at the blue line, deked past a Hawks defenseman and shot the puck through Crawford’s 5-hole. The goal was shorthanded and came with 1.4 before the period expired. Dallas’ second goal came when Cody Eakin collected a turnover and fed Ray Whitney, who calmly flipped the puck over Crawford and into the top of the net.

The Stars gifted the Blackhawks a goal when Patrick Sharp’s centering shot deflected off of Trevor Daley’s stick and went in. At the 14:17 mark of the third period, Jonathan Toews leveled the score with a wrister on a power play. 1:41 into overtime, a wide open Marian Hossa scored on the power play, blasting a pass from Patrick Kane into Lehtonen’s net.All three Blackhawks goals were on the power play, and the Stars spent 18% of the first 60 minutes on the penalty kill, which is just unacceptable.

The good news is that the Stars got a point out of a game in which they were clearly outplayed. There are certainly a lot of lessons to be learned from a game like this, and the Stars’ young players should heed them.

The even better news that came from this game is that the Stars finally signed Jaime Benn to a 5 year, $5.25 million dollar deal – a good value for the Stars for a player of Benn’s caliber. We’ll have more analysis of the deal in a future post.

This is a game that the Stars must learn from. Offensive help is on the way, but if the defense doesn’t shape up and the Stars stay in the penalty box, it could be a long season.

Callahan vs. Garrett

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Vernon Bryant/Dallasnews.com

A quick look at Bill Callahan’s career as an NFL play caller shows a very impressive resume. Rather than compare Callahan’s stats as an offensive coordinator with Garrett’s using yards as the barometer, we will simply look at scoring offense.  This is the area where Garrett, whose offense in yards has been very productive, has struggled.

When Callahan took the Oakland Raiders’ offensive coordinator job in 1998, the improvement was not immediate. The Raiders finished that season 22nd in scoring offense at 18 points per game. 1999 was a great turnaround as Oakland finished 8th at 24.4 points per game. 2000 was even better: 3rd at an astonishing 29.9 ppg. In 2001 they fell back to Earth with only 24.9 ppg, but still finished 4th in scoring offense. 2002 was a bounce-back year, as the Raiders were 2nd in scoring offense at 28.1 ppg. He was the head coach of the Raider team that went to the Super Bowl. In 2003, the team quit on him and Oakland only scored 16.9 ppg. That is 4 of 6 seasons in the top ten in the league, and 3 times in the top 5.

Garrett was handed the keys to the Dallas offense in 2008 when Tony Sparano left to allow him to run the entire show. Since then, they have finished 18th, 14th, 7th,15th, and 15th in scoring offense. The highest points per game average was 24.6 in 2010. Callahan’s best was 5.3 higher in 2000, and his second highest was 3.5 points higher in 2002. Garrett’s average points per game over the past 5 years is 23.28. Callahan’s average was 23.7 with the 2003 season included in which both the Raiders players and possibly Callahan himself didn’t have much interest in being successful. Without that season, Callahan’s average jumps to 25.06 ppg. In average league position, Garrett’s Cowboys rank 13.8th in the league, Callahan’s raiders 10.8.

On paper, Callahan calling plays should improve the Cowboys weakness on offense, scoring efficiency. If Callahan can be more consistent with the Cowboys, they could improve dramatically. If that happens, and Garrett improves as a game manager, Dallas could be facing a much brighter future.

The Rangers’ powder is dry, are these their targets?

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Photo Illustration

Ever since the phrase “keeping the powder dry” entered the lexicon of D/FW sports fans, it’s gained a negative connotation. It’s understandable. After their championship, the Mavericks decided to let go of key players and become Dirk Nowitzki and the Expiring Contracts, in hope that a big free acquisition would join them. The beginning of Travis’ post  on Monday explains how well that approach has gone so far.

However, there is a team in D/FW that is sitting on a stockpile of powder much bigger, and much drier than the Mavericks. They’ve got their powder in Round Rock, Frisco, Myrtle Beach, Spokane and Hickory.

The Ammunition:
You’re likely familiar with Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt, the two top prospects in the Rangers’ system. Both players’ paths to MLB seem to be blocked; Profar’s impeded by Kinsler and Elvis, and Olt’s by Adrian Beltre. Profar seems untouchable, as one of the top prospects in baseball (if not the top prospect), but it seems Olt is oft-discussed in trade scenarios.

Then, you’ve got two pitching prospects, the left handed Martin Perez and righty Cody Buckel. Besides the top shortstop prospect in the game, the Rangers have two other shortstops who would be attractive in a trade package: Luis Sardinas and Leury Garcia.  In a system with Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar, these two prospects look pretty expendable.

The Rangers also have a few power hitting outfielders in the system. Guys like Jairo Beras, Nomar Mazara, and Ronald Guzman are really raw, but have a lot of power potential.

If you’re interested in learning more about the players in the Rangers’ system, check out MLB.com’s review here.

The Possible Targets:
The Rangers have all the pieces to move – now it’s just up to asset allocation. There are three targets in particular I think the Rangers should have in their sights in the next year.

Justin Upton: The Rangers have been rumored to be in on Upton the entire offseason. Ken Rosenthal reported yesterday that the Rangers offered Arizona a package of Olt, either Perez or Buckel, Garcia and one other prospect. The deal has reached an impasse, with Arizona asking for more, and the Rangers refusing to budge.  Don’t be surprised to hear that talks between the two teams have started again as the season draws nearer.

That the Rangers are unwilling to add to the proposed deal tells you that while they really like Upton, they’re not in love with him. Upton has had some really good seasons. In 2009, he was a 3.8 WAR (wins above replacement) player, and a 5.7 WAR player in 2011. He’s still only 25 years old (a year younger than Olt), and won’t be a free agent until 2016. There are some red flags – following both of those great statistical years, he was disappointingly average: 1.4 WAR in 2010 and 2.1 in 2012. Also, Upton has been on the trading block a few times before – why is Arizona, a team that is looking to win now, so eager to get rid of him?

These concerns are what is likely keeping the Rangers from adding more to their already healthy offering for Upton. If they’re going to trade big pieces of their farm system, they’re looking to get a huge return for their major league club.

David Price: Getting Price in Texas would definitely qualify as a huge return, but it would require a huge package of prospects going to Tampa Bay. Judging by how Price’s $10 million dollar salary was set up, it seems as though his club will be ready to deal him in 2013. What would it take for the Rangers to land the pitcher that has earned the Rays 13.2 wins above a replacement-level pitcher the past three years? It would hurt – a lot.

According to Ken Rosenthal, a trade for Price would likely require Elvis Andrus, plus Perez and Cody Buckel. I don’t think the Rangers would hesitate to make that trade, which is precisely why it wouldn’t happen – the Rays wouldn’t get enough value. Elvis becomes a free agent in two years, and his agent is Scott Boras. Tampa Bay won’t want to extend Elvis to a huge contract. No, if this deal is done, it will likely include Profar (a player who Tampa Bay can control until 2019) and one of Perez or Buckel. The Rays have no need for Olt since he’d be blocked by Evan Longoria at third base. It’s probably Profar or nothing if the Rangers are going to trade for Price.

If that’s the price for Price, a legit ace, would the Rangers pay it? Do the Rangers need an ace in an already solid rotation? Do they need an ace more than they need a power bat in the middle of their lineup? These questions will be answered in the first half of this season, and the what the Rangers do – or don’t do – at the trade deadline will tell us the front office’s evaluation of the club.

Giancarlo Stanton: Stanton is one of the premier power hitters in baseball. A staggering 29% of his fly balls leave the yard. He’s only been in MLB for three years (amassing 13 WAR in that time) and he’s hit 93 home runs. All this in a home ballpark that suppresses home runs from right handers. He doesn’t have any persistent injury problems and he’s 23 years old, under control until 2017. He’s a dream player in the flesh.

The Rangers are one of the few organizations that has the pieces to get him. In order to convince Miami to unload Stanton, it would likely cost Profar, Olt, Perez and another top pitching prospect. Basically, the top-end of the farm. Would it hurt? Oh yes. Would it make the Rangers a threat to win the World Series for the next 4 years? Yes. The Rangers’ rotation is set for the next 3-4 years with live arms, backed by the best defensive infield in baseball (as long as Elvis’ contract is extended). Add Stanton’s production to an already quality lineup, and you’ve got the makings of a monster team once again.

Adding Stanton and extending Elvis’ contract would be very expensive, but that’s the price of playing ball these days. Hopefully the Rangers’ ownership would open their pockets and the money raised by the ever-increasing price of tickets and parking at Rangers games would be put to good use.

So, there you have it. All we can do now is wait to see which target is in the Rangers’ sights if and when the dry powder is finally put to use. It’ll be interesting to see if the Rangers bet on the potential of their prospects, or trade that potential for proven professionals.

Would Jordan Have Juiced?

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(Upper Deck)

A player, in the prime of a Hall of Fame career, gets tired of being overshadowed by lesser players. He seeks out the advice of a personal trainer from outside his sport, then personally hires him without the consent of his team. The player adds 21 pounds by lifting heavier weights more often than any of his competitors. Who is this athlete? Barry Bonds? No, Michael Jordan.

By now, we all know the rumor of Barry Bonds eating with Ken Griffey Jr. and exclaiming that because of the public ignoring his fantastic season (which included joining the 400 home run/400 stolen base club) due to Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, he was going to start using steroids. But in truth, the above story is the story of Michael Jordan, after being defeated in the 1991 season by the “Bad Boy” Pistons. Tired of being pushed around, he made small mention in the paper about needing to add strength. Tim Grover went to the Bulls’ office to answer the call.

Jordan started his weight-lifting plan by putting a time limit of thirty days on it, but he never stopped for the rest of his career. Grover was hired exclusively by Jordan, and refused to work for players Jordan didn’t approve of. Workouts with Grover led to Jordan being able to shoulder press more than his body weight overhead six times. Greg Anderson would be proud.

I am not claiming that Michael Jordan was a steroid user. I think he was the greatest athlete of all time and completely clean. I believe that all his gains were natural. What I am saying, on the heels of Lance Armstrong’s admission and the baseball writers’ refusal to vote for Bonds and Roger Clemens, is that he would have.

Imagine if in 1993 Jordan was defeated in the Finals by Charles Barkley, who then admitted to Jordan that he was juicing. Or imagine if Patrick Ewing talked the Knicks into widespread use to defeat the Bulls in the conference finals. Better still, imagine if after Jordan’s comeback, Gary Peyton and Shawn Kemp defeated the Bulls with the help of a needle.

Would the greatest competitor of all time take the high road and allow himself to be beaten year after year? This is a guy whose owner, while trying to talk him into sitting out the end of a season after rehabbing a broken ankle, asked Michael, “would you take aspirin to cure a headache if you knew 1 of the 10 aspirin was poisoned?” Jordan’s response?

“How bad is the headache?”

Logically, he would have found the best drugs, worked twice as hard, incorporated the use of PEDs into the famed breakfast club and got back on top.

In the end, we won’t ever know if Michael Jordan would have used steroids. His sport was not infested with them in the 90′s when other sports were. That might be the only thing separating him from the terrible fate now suffered by Bonds, Clemens and Armstrong.

I’ll leave with a couple quotes, the first two from Tim Grover in a Stack.com interview about Jordan, and the last three from Jordan himself.

“He always felt someone else was going to outwork him, so he wanted to outwork them first.”

“He is the most competitive individual I’ve ever met. His competitive nature is the same, whether he was playing in the NBA Finals or in a pick-up game… He took no prisoners. He wanted to win every single thing. It didn’t matter who he was going against. He went out there to win and destroy.”

“If you are trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks, everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

“Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again.”

“But my drive to win is so great…I just step over that line. It’s very embarrassing.. one of the things you totally regret. So you look at yourself in the mirror and say “that was stupid.”

If you take an unbiased look at Michael, you’ll find the attitude, the will to win, his relentless drive for perfection. The foregoing responsibilities to wives and children. The dogged pushing of teammates, sometimes past their breaking points. Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, and Michael Jordan are similar animals. Lucky for Michael, steroids never took hold in basketball. And lucky for us, we have one hero left.

Tim Grover quotes from Stack.com “Michael Jordan:Mind of a Champion”

Michael Jordan quotes from www.michaeljordanquotes.org

 

Several Stars Impress in 2-1 Win

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The Stars’ first two games have given their fans a lot to think about. A thrilling 4-3 victory on opening night had them on Cloud 9, but then a 0-1 loss had the fans second-guessing their elation. Tonight’s 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings should have them feeling a bit better.

A big question coming into tonight’s game was whether or not the Stars could get any offensive production outside the first line. That question was answered early in the first period when the second line of Ryder, Eakin and Whitney netted a goal. Eakin, who took Wandell’s spot in the second line, gained possession of a loose puck and shuttled it to Ryder, who took it across the ice and whipped a no-look shot past Jimmy Howard.

Eakin was extremely impressive tonight, winning loose pucks, pestering opposing players and facilitating the offense. Eakin picked up his second point of the night when he got the second assist on Ryder’s second goal of the night.

Those two goals got past Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard, but he was a stone wall for Detroit tonight. The Stars had many good chances, including 17 in the second period, but thanks to a number of ridiculous saves, Detroit was able to stay within striking distance for much of the game.

Kari Lehtonen was equal to the task. Kari was fantastic, even as the Dallas defense broke down in front of him. Dallas allowed Detroit 16 chances in the third period, while only mustering 5 of their own. A puck finally got by Kari with 3 seconds left, but it was too late for Detroit by then. The Stars are lucky that Lehtonen seems to be in midseason form despite the long lockout.

Also impressive tonight was Trevor Daley, who was charging the opposition’s net all night. He was standing next to the goal when Ryder’s goal when in, and he created a shorthanded chance for Loui Eriksson by speeding into open space and stretching the defense. The Stars need an agressive defenseman, and I think Daley can fill that role, albiet in an a-typical way for a defenseman. The Stars can encourage this behavior from Daley by giving him neutral zone draw opportunities (as opposed to defensive zone draws), and there were signs that they were doing that tonight.

Jordie Benn and Brenden Dillion looked improved tonight and will only benefit from the increased on ice time they’re seeing. Still though, the Stars’ defense gave up 40 shots again, which is a number I’m sure Glen Gulutzan will be looking to reduce.

Considering the Red Wings were coming off a back-to-back and are struggling mightily defensively, it might be easy to dismiss this win a bit.  But there were definite signs of improvement, it was a win on the road, and a win without their best player, Jamie Benn. There is still a lot of work to be done, but there are some encouraging signs as well.

Shallow Loyalty

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(AP Photo)

The Dallas Mavericks are playing a dangerous game with the “keep the powder dry” plan. Cap space sounds like a good idea, but if free agents are not willing to come to the Mavs, it makes no difference in wins and losses.

Why would free agents not want to come to Dallas? The Mavs have recent success, a superstar in place, and a top-level head coach. They also have a first class organization, with a private plane, custom-made sideline chairs, and famously the best towels in the NBA. The night life isn’t what it is in Miami, New York, or L.A. but it’s not exactly Milwaukee either.

So with all those positives, why are the Mavericks not more attractive to free agents?  Well the first answer is easy, the Mavs lone superstar is aging, and possibly already not the player he once was. Above and beyond that though, is the fact that Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have shown no loyalty to their own players in the Cuban era of the Mavs. Young free agents see an older Dirk, and think, “when this guy goes, what reason will Dallas have to be loyal to me?”

Steve Nash and Tyson Chandler are the obvious examples of this trend, but we will explore a timeline of players who the Mavs probably owed a new contract to, but choose to go a different direction.

Nick Van Exel: Traded Aug 18th 2003 after scoring 12.5 ppg and being the heart and soul of the Mavs playoff run. Clutch player and the Mavs’ first tough guy.

Raja Bell: Not resigned in 2003 after scoring 3.1 ppg and showing ability as a defensive stopper. Scored 11.2 ppg in the next season with Utah and became known as an elite defensive player.

Antwan Jamison: Jamison scored 14.8 ppg and grabbed 6.3 rebounds while playing only 29 mins a game. Jamison was not only wronged in being traded to Washington, but in being asked to take a bench role behind volume shooter Antoine Walker.

Steve Nash: The most famous example of Mavs disloyalty, Nash was let go in the prime of his career after scoring 15.5 ppg and having 9.5 assists per game. Nelson and Cuban worried about paying Nash after he was unable to guard Tony Parker in the playoffs.

Michael Finley: Finley was amnestied after a down season, scoring only 15.7 ppg, the lowest in his Mavs career. Nelson probably got this right as Finley was never the same, but Finley was the first big deal of the Cuban era, and Dallas wanted out early.

JJ Barea: 9.5 ppg, 3.9 apg and turning around two playoff series (including the Finals) wasn’t enough to get JJ a new deal with Dallas.

Caron Butler: Yes, Butler was hurt for the Mavs’ Finals run, but he was averaging 15 ppg and 4 rebounds a game before his injury. The Mavs looked almost unbeatable with him in the lineup. Still, he was not resigned – even at a reduced number.

Tyson Chandler: The perfect complement to Dirk, Chandler was not seriously considered by the Mavs despite his emotional leadership and a Defensive Player of the Year type performance.

DeShawn Stevenson: Stevenson was not great in the Mavs’ Finals winning season, but he took on tough guards, and hit big shots to take pressure off Dirk and Jason Terry. Unlike his other champion teammates, he was not signed to a big deal, and he was not even offered a deal from Cuban and Nelson.

Jason Terry: The Mavs let Terry walk, despite his long, successful partnership with Dirk, two Finals appearances, and averaging 15.1 ppg in his final season.  Terry signed a deal with Boston for the mid-level exception. He deserves to have his jersey number retired here, and he deserved to be treated better by the organization.

History tells the story. Cuban and Nelson have been praised continuously for remaking the team several times around Dirk and maintaining Dallas as a contender. But the message to free agents is clear: “Come to Dallas, play well or even win a championship – but if you deserve a new deal, there’s a good chance the Mavs won’t give it to you.”

 

 

Stars Look Lackluster in Loss to Wild

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The Stars were shutout on the second night of a back-to-back by the Minnesota Wild, 0-1. Back-to-backs were the Stars’ weakness last season, and at first blush it seems that it could be a problem again this season. The Stars looked fatigued at times, mentally absent at others, and were totally stymied by Minnesota’s defense.

Only the Jagr-Roy-Eriksson line seemed to generate any offense, and even then it didn’t amount to much. Minnesota was content to clog the lanes and block shot after shot (26 blocked in total). Wild goaltender Josh Harding was named the 1st Star of the Game, but honestly didn’t have much to do until the end of the game when the Stars made a short-handed bid to tie the game.

Harding wasn’t even the best goalie in the game – neutral observers would award that title to the Stars’ rookie netminder Cristoper Nilstorp. The lanky Swede looked very composed yet active, using every bit of his 6’3″, 191 lb body to cut off angles to the net.  The lone goal of the night came off of a Zach Parise blast that Nilstorp likely couldn’t see through the 3 bodies ahead of him. A few more performances like tonight, and Richard Bachman might have a hard time winning back the backup job – or the Stars might have a nice piece to trade at the deadline.

It would only seem natural for Stars fans to be frustrated after another back-to-back loss. “Here we go again,” they might be saying. I’d preach a little more patience in this instance though. This was the first back-to-back game after one week of training camp, and a team with many new faces that are still trying to learn how to play together. At the very least, the Stars kept the game close, which is an improvement over last year’s squad in the second game of back-to-backs. Let’s reserve our judgment just a bit, and enjoy the fact that hockey is back.