Recipe for Success

What will actually happen: any improvement from last year will be superb, even if its just keeping up with players in the neutral zone. Offense

Like much of last summer, we were all drooling at how great the Stars lineup was. But most of that fell through, and everyone went from being scared stiff of them to laughing their rear ends off when they came to town. Note the losing record against the Ducks and the 6-0 whipping they handed us. But now that we have an offensive minded coach, the possibilities are endless, the only problem that will make Tippett stumble is who to put whom with whom.

At first it looks easy, but no, it’s somewhat complicated. But alas, we stop ourselves from going insane and let Tippett figure that one out. But basically, from what I have figured and read, the lines should go something like this:

Modano – Arnott – Guerin

Turgeon- Lehtinen- Young

Morrow- Muller- Malhotra

DiMaio- Downey- Pellerin

Jon Sim may also be added into the mix, along with Steve Gainey. Dahlen will possibly be playing on either the 3rd or 4th line or be a scratch.

I know you are probably saying to yourself “No you have to put him with him on that line or you are really stupid!” But why don’t we wait until the 1st month of the season is over, then maybe the lines will be set, but don’t worry about it now, too much stress. Tippett will mix and match during all 6 preseason games, and he will go with the trio with the best chemistry.

Speaking of chemistry, this is what the offense needs the most out of anything to survive. If they get that, they might have something going much like the Wings did last year. Thing is, all this offense is worthless if the goaltending isn’t there.

Goalies!

Letting Belfour go was something that had to happen this summer, but should have happened sooner. After 2 successful seasons as the back up, Marty Turco seems well prepared to step up to the starting position. His only stigma is that he’s a little streaky. This isn’t a big problem and it can be changed. But in those unfortunate incidences where Turco is not up to par, veteran goalie Ron Tugnutt is there to save the day. Tugnutt knows his responsibilities and why he is really here and this is perfectly fine with him. Unlike Mr.Belfour, who simply cannot and will not put up with being a backup. Oh well, Toronto fans, have fun! Hopefully he turns out to be a better deal than Lumme.

Special Teams

These weren’t that special for the Stars last season. They were more like eating your aunt’s special meat dish: shear pain and torture. Yet they did shine once in a blue moon, but mostly it was never there. Since Tippett was the Kings power play specialist, this should help this challenged team. Figuring out the power play and penalty kill units is much like figuring out the lines: let Tippett do it and save yourself the time and energy.

Hypothetically speaking, should the defense, offense, PP, and PK vastly improve, the Stars will make it to at least the 2nd round of the playoffs and possibly further.

But realistically, everything should improve and they will be in the playoffs and they will not have a losing record against the Ducks. No more predictions though, let’s get training camp started and watch the Stars rise and prove themselves worthy once again.

by:Diana Guess


23 Responses to Recipe for Success

  1. titans says:

    If it wasn’t for Turco in net Dallas would be the best team in the league!

  2. titans says:

    Hehehee

    One night a husband walks out of the bathroom naked, climbs into bed, and starts putting the moves on his wife.

    “Sorry honey,” she says “I have a headache.”

    “Perfect,” he says. “I just powdered my penis with asprin. You want it orally or as a suppository?”

    Heeheeeheeee

  3. mikster says:

    a baby wakes up at night, stands up from his little bed, looks at his parents and says “Gee…and they get mad at me when i suck my thumb”.

  4. mikster says:

    After looking at the lines up front, this team does have depth. But, no way would Dahlen be scratched. The only reason why he went to Dallas (reports say) is that his wife is not secure enough about New York City. That sucks now doesn’t it eh? God bless NYC. I love thta cuty more than i ever did now.

    I think i’d only have one concern with the Stars. Defense. Their defensemen are good, no doubt about it, but i fear Tippet’s system. WIll it be too offensive? The Stars had Hitch’s system where it involved scoring provided by back-checking. Tippet might go offense provided by skating through the neutral zone and breaking through the blue line wall.

    I thikn Turco is a good goalie, good skills. I like his attitude too and his attitude will put a good feeling for the defensemen. But, he was only a back up, he is 27 years old, and all i want him to prove is if he can play 65 games. Also, how well can he do in the playoffs? But, forget about Turco….everyone’s talking about Turco and Diana does mention a big name goalie, Tugnutt. He is one of my favorite goalies. I’d pick him in a flash over Dafoe. Tugnutt can take 40 shots a night, can Turco? Tugnutt can handle a bad defense. Tugnutt can do very well in the playoffs too.

    This is not a “boring team” to watch anymore. This is an exciting team with speed, new head coach, new players, new goalies and a new start.

    The offene should be explosive, the defense though…..i have my doubts on.

  5. titans says:

    Not bad!

  6. edmontonrules says:

    I would like to know what the Stars have for defence that boston doesn’t. Cause if what I read at nhlpa.com and nhl.com is right Guerin was not in the + in the +/- catagory. Everybody thinks he will be a savior. kinda like Eric Lindros. Hmmmmmm….. I won’t say that they will have a bad year. But I think that for 9 million they got killed.

  7. morrow10 says:

    Turco has a 2.01 GAA over the past two yrs. He has won near twice as many games as he lost, and took over the job of eddie the psycho, who now makes like 10 times what turco does. Turco is a steal and with big Dallas’s D core, he will thrive. Who would take over for turco in net, anyways? surely not Tugnutt? Man if you put Tuggy over Turco you are CRAZY!!!

  8. Aves21 says:

    What do you call a smart blonde? A golden retriever.

    Two blondes stand on separate ends of a river. One yells “How do I get to the other side?” The other one yells “You are on the other side.”

    Why do blondes hate having babies? Because it hurts when they boil their nipples.

  9. Rushing says:

    Let’s not forget how Modano and Lehtinen and a few others are just as Defensive as they are Offensive. Modano(IMO) gives Forsberg a run around for the best all around player. Mo is a very defensive player.

  10. NYR88Express says:

    A couple is pregnant and they have sex lots of times during the wife’s pregnancy…when the baby is born and given to the dad, the baby starts knocking on the dad’s head and goes “How do YOU like that?”

  11. mikster says:

    It’s about the system though. I am sure Modano and Lehtinen would do well, but Guerin and Young are also on the line up, not that good defensively.

  12. Rushing says:

    People can be taught though. You do recall Hull don’t ya? When he came to the Stars he by no means was not a Defensive player. Hitch***** taught him how to be a defensive player. Perhaps, with the help of Modano as well, Rick Wilson (who has been with Defense for quite a while) can help some others.

  13. bones says:

    Lehtinen is not a center, he’s a natural rw

    Malhotra is a center

    DiMaio RW

    Downey RW

    Pellerin LW

    I don’t know where you got your info but I think it’s gonna look more like this.

    Modano – Arnott – Guerin

    Lehtinen-Turgeon- Young

    Morrow- Malhotra/Muller -Dahlen

    Pellerin-Muller/Ott- Downey/Dimaio

  14. bones says:

    If I could have the team for a week though, I’de like to see this:

    Turgeon-Modano-Young

    Dahlen-Arnott-Guerin

    Morrow-Muller-Lehtenin

    Ott-Malhotra-Downey

  15. bones says:

    Turco’s gonna do just fine. With this team it’s ok if he let’s 4 goals go by him. hehehehehe! And that’s rare for Turco.

  16. bones says:

    From what I’ve heard Tippett say he wants defense playing defense. The only change he said he wants to make is puck control, which would be nice. As long as he doesn’t try putting Sydor on the wing (like some other coach in dallas) I think the D will be just fine.

  17. bones says:

    Guerin wasn’t brought in to be a savior for Dallas. They really don’t need a savior with a 90 point season. They needed someone who could keep up with and take the focus off Modano which was long overdue. Just like Young was brought in to work his magic with Turgeon. You can wine about how they spent money, but the facts are there. Guerin helps this team get much better. Wouldn’t you pay to get someone who could keep up with your best player? This is the best job in free agency I have ever seen in hockey, let alone Dallas, every line is stronger, and they left the core of the team is intact. Brilliance.

  18. Heinzee57 says:

    Listen Genius,

    It is obvious by your name you have an axe to grind with Billy G.

    Bill Guerin is at the top of his game and he will vastly improve the Dallas Stars. He brings to the table leadership, grit and 81 goals over the last two years.

    And in case you didn’t know, he gets 7.5 for each of the first 2 years of his contract, making Modano the highest paid player on the team.

    Bill Guerin alone will open the ice for Modano or vice versa.

    Go bash Poti or Weight if you’re bored.

    57

  19. rrudd says:

    perfect. the only change i’d make is that i bet sim gets 4th line LW duty.

    i think pellerin will be the odd man out in dallas. cut? traded? scratched? i don’t know. but with the signing of dahlen, they’re running low on positions that their kids have a chance to fill.

    gainey will probably get a shot at that LW at some point in the season. dahlen or morrow could fill in on any wing on the top three lines if someone gets hurt, then gainey would likely get his shot.

  20. rrudd says:

    now THAT would be interesting.

    turgeon’s done wing before, but he really excels at center camping out behind the net. either way. modano would be good with anyone, and would make turgeon and young even better (who did they have on their LW in st. louis? modano would be an improvement over whoever it was)

    the dahlen-arnott-guerin line would be nasty nasty nasty. dahlen would fetch all the pucks, arnott would abuse your defensemen, and guerin would knock it home.

    morrow-muller-lehtinen might be the best third line in the league. morrow had a mediocre year last year, and these three still all scored in the double digits. i think morrow and lehtinen would play real well together, plus, you’d finally be getting lehtinen back on his natural side.

    my only change here would be to put ott at center and malhotra at wing. unless malhotra really insisted on center. i know he’d rather play center, and both of them have played LW before, so maybe your way is better. that is a young, tough fourth line. keep them together for a while, and they’ll make a nice third line, and potentially with a different RW, a real nice 2nd line someday.

    you’re a genius.

  21. jlarge says:

    Lehtinen – Modano – Guerin

    Morrow – Turgeon – Young

    Muller – Arnott – Dahlen

    Sim/Pellerin – Malhotra/Ott – Downey/Dimaio

    This is the way I think the season will start, depending on chemistry.

    Your for sures are going to be:

    Modano – Guerin

    Lehtinen is not a center, he’s a natural RW, but he plays a lot of LW, and plays well on the Modano line. Yeah, I know who doesn’t

    Turgeon – Young

    Morrow is the best natural LW, and will have a chance to play on the top two lines.

    Arnott will move among the top three lines. Unlike last years top three centers, Arnott can make a serious change of pace compared to Modano and Turgeon.

    Followed up by Malhotra/Ott who are both aggressive centers. I do think Muller will play center some, but I think Malhotra/Ott will have a chance to prove their worth.

    The bottom two lines, will shift wingers, to see what chemistry, and experience they can get together.

    Jake

  22. bones says:

    Thanks man. I think this would be a killer lineup.

  23. DTheEagleT says:

    Young is a 2 way forward. Where is the would did you hear he can’t play D?

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