The Stars just did not want it!

KingDL1 · April 18, 2004

Just one bitching session to get the frustration out of me.

I feel the the Stars as a whole did not play up to there ability, they for the most part during these past few playoff games and even during the regular season played without heart. Not to say they did not have very bright spots, they did Bill Guerin,

Steve Ott, and a couple others.

Modano should not be team Captain, I like Guerin for team captain he plays hard and wants to win!

Modano plays when he wants and coasts when he wants, he has ton of talent but I think he has lost that winning desire, and as team captain that makes one sad leadership example!

And to loose 5-1 at the end of only 5 total games is sorry, hell its more than sorry it is a really bad joke!

I found this linked back on CBS Sports after I started writing.

Posted on Sun, Apr. 18, 2004
Stars owe Hicks, fans an apology -- and a refund
By Randy Galloway
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DENVER - In the aftermath of the Stars mailing in their postseason goodbye here Saturday afternoon, nobody on Tom Hicks' bloated hockey payroll wanted to call this Game 5 finale what it obviously was.
Heartless, again.
Gutless also certainly applies. As does not caring enough to even give a competitive effort.
Losing this series to the dominant Colorado Avalanche would carry certain ramifications regardless of circumstances.
But the 5-1 disgrace Saturday, which wrapped up the series in five games for the Avs, left an ugly stain on a once-proud franchise.
Five NHL seasons ago, the Stars owned the Stanley Cup. But the hearts and souls of that club, guys like Hatcher, Keane, Guy, Sydor, Joe New, Eddie, Jamie, etc., they would have burned the sweater in protest rather than be associated with this shuck-and-jive act

Edited April 18, 2004 by KingDL1

jgb0607 · April 18, 2004

That about sums it up...... I'm still too digusted to add much more.

I hope the AVs or someone beat Detroit and am delighted that the Devils also got eighty-sixed already.

When does football start?

NTEagle08 · April 18, 2004

yep, look for a huge house cleaning job by the Dallas Stars over this offseason. This is probably the last year that you will see the Stars as one of the top clubs in the West during the regular season. I am sure that if there is a season next year you will see alot of the young guys like Daley, Miettinen, and others play alot of next year.

April 18, 2004

Hicks did the same thing with the Rangers and it's working out pretty good. I don't expect them to keep up their current pace, but they are playing very well with a lot of young guys on the field.

Rudy · April 19, 2004

I agree it was a sorry display, but I dont agree with the assement. Very few of the Stars showed any desire during the playoffs. I didnt get to watch many of the games, but I was able to listen to a couple and watch a couple. I don't think Guerin did a good job. Did he even score any? You can't place the blame on Modano, ALL of them were slacking.

Matvichuk, Turco, Modano, Guerin stand out as slacking. True, just about everyone was slacking, but they are your team leaders, they need to be called out.

I agree with Modano being team captain. Apparently he had some big personal problems this year. Based on his past record, I won't pull the plug on him yet. Gurein's play has deteriorated. Not sure why, but I wont turn on him yet. Arnott, has some great talent, but has been injury prone since coming to Dallas. He will have an extended period to get healthy, I want to give him one more chance before trading. Whatever the outcome, Trading Newy and Jamie for Arnott and McKay(who left after that season) has to be one of the worst moves in Stars history. I will always wish for a do over there.

Turgeon, never have liked how he turned out here. Trade him. Someone needs to light a fire under Zubov's ass. Genius with the puck and an incredible shot, but needs to spend some time alone and remember why he plays this game. Boucher has been a daimond in the rough. I don't like Armstrong, but I have to give him credit on that move. Bure was a steal, we have to resign him and give him a chance to gel with the rest of the team. Ott will be a stud, keep an eye on him. Morrow continues to amaze me. The guy can play and go toe to toe with the best of them, plus his wife is gorgeous

They never recovered from the loss of Sydor (Zubov's partner) and Hatcher (Matty's partner) Daryl was highly underrated and the gap showed. Hatcher, even though pucks had a knack for finding a way to riccochet and bounce off him and toward the goal, was a physical presence. The Stars have an abundance of GOOD young goalies, and they will probably be able to move one of them for a good young prospect.

On the bright side, the Stars have some good young talent. but like NT Eagle 08 said, next years team will be vastly different. The Stars have 10 players under contract for $44 Million. That leaves 13 players to sign for $6 Million. There will some major changes next year.

For now, lets enjoy the rest of the greatest sports tournament there is.

Gakusei · April 19, 2004

I think the Stars came out flat in the series, but the Avalanche are also an extremely good team that could go all the way. Their puck handling is great, and the way they set up for goals is very organized and methodical. Finally, if it were almost any other team, the Stars' scoring wouldn't be so low, but Aebischer is a monster. I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up one of the greats.

Unfortunately I think Turco showed that he was a one season wonder. He missed so many easy stops this year that his GAA moved from ~1.8 to over 3. Granted the defense this year has been horrid, but you still have to make the stops. I wish we still had Eddie the Eagle.

MeanGreenNation · April 19, 2004

I'm so sad! For a team that got it together big time at the end of the season has to go out in shame. It really sucks!! It seems everybody here pretty much covred how I feel as well. Just a sad sad ending to the season.

NTEagle08 · April 19, 2004

It's hard to think about this, but I think Marty Turco was put out of his game w/ that suspension and the killed whatever momentum the Stars had going into the playoffs. They were playing at the top of their game and then bam, 4 straight loses with Tugnutt in net.

I really think that Turco can be a good goaltender in the playoffs, but he needs his defensemen and forwards to play something called defense which wasn't played a whole lot in this series. Alot the Dmen would just allow Avs players to skate on in and take shots from a close range on Turco. If Turco stop the initial shot, he still had the rebound laying out because there were no defensemen to get the puck out of there.

You are going to see a turn in things as I said, from a older to younger team, only problem is that the Stars minor league and development system has been one of the worst in the NHL. All these trade deadline deals have finally caught up w/ them, seeing as how they have very few prospects and older guys who are moving out of the franchise that they acquired in those trades. Their draft record has been really atrocious as well, I remember a few years ago they had 2 first round draft picks, and traded both to get one in the lower part of the 1st round. And it doesn't get easier since the Stars are losing the Grizzles as their AHL affiliate and will be splitting a affiliation w/ Minnesota in Houston, in which they will only be able to put 1 goalie and 6-8 skaters on the roster.

Gakusei · April 19, 2004

I really think that Turco can be a good goaltender in the playoffs, but he needs his defensemen and forwards to play something called defense which wasn't played a whole lot in this series.

I agree that more defense needs to be played, but he still needs to make the stops. The game before last, there were 9 shots on Turco in the 3rd period and the 2 OT's, and he let one in. There were 28 shots on the other end and Aebischer stopped them all.

From watching the games all season (I missed maybe 5), it was very easy to tell that Turco isn't playing anything like what he did last year. I dunno what his problem was this year, but he better fix it or else Dallas is going to be rid of two overpaid goalies, not just one, imo.

Rudy · April 19, 2004

I don't think that Turco is a one hit wonder. I think a number of things contributed to his performance this year. His holdout took away from preperation time. As I said earlier, the defense is still suffering from the loss of Sydor and Hatcher.

For the momentum killer and the end of the season, it was a combination of things. The Turco penalty was stupid, but he is young, things like that will happen. Hopefully he learned his lesson. Tugnutt played a pretty good 4 games, but if you watched the games, you may have noticed that it was at that time that the skaters started slacking in their own zone. Im not not excusing anyone, just saying that there is plenty of blame to go around, but it probably all started with Turco's penalty.

I fogot to mention one other dman, John Erskin. If he can get healthy, WATCH OUT! He is a very big body and from what I heard, a good puck handler. He is a free agent, however, since he has not been playing much, hopefully there won't be many other teams bidding for his services, which will mean he will be more likely to resign.