I'm not freaking out. I'm pissed. I'm so pissed I almost don't know where to start with this.
Mike Heika is the Dallas Morning News' main hockey writer and he is the main writer for the DMN's Stars blog as well. I read the blog post Heika wrote today. Needless to say, I'm extraordinarily disappointed -- in every player, in every coach, in the entire organization.
You can find the original post at the link above, but I'm going to post excerpts here for the sake of brevity.
Tippett ran the players at the end of practice today, and they were truly gassed when they left the ice. Stephane Robidas was sitting on the ice slumped over at the end, and Niklas Hagman lost his Easter breakfast.
Wow. Robidas and Hagman. Now there's two players who do not deserve a bag skate in the slightest, in my opinion. Both Robi and Hagman give and give and give, every shift. I don't know how much more you can ask from those two. And as far as I'm concerned, the hard practice these guys got was far too late.
...Tippett emphasized that the players were much stronger in the first half of the drills than at the end. He said players have to be able to compete intensely throughout the game...
It's good to know Dave Tippett and I have been seeing the same games. My only problem is that the Stars have been playing like this all year. A lot of times it felt like the guys seemed to think it was okay to ride it to a shootout, because Jokinen and Zubov would be their saviors. I have seen this team literally give up in the third period. I hate it when they just quit. Have some pride in yourself and in your team and in your fans. Don't just shut it off because you know you can't win.
Heika also says they've brought up B.J. Crombeen from Iowa. I like Crombeen, but according to Heika, they're going to bench Antti Miettinen for this.
Look, no one's play has been fantastic of late. And even if Miettinen deserves a benching (which I don't think he does) I'm frankly sick and tired of watching Miettinen constantly take the healthy scratch. I watched Eriksson royally screw us from pre-season until about mid-December with hardly a healthy scratch while Miettinen watched games from the pressbox. I'm glad to take abuse on the fact that I am a big Miettinen fan, but you can't say psychologically the guy hasn't weathered the proverbial storm, with fans calling him "Metal-Hands" and consistently making him the butt of jokes. So what if the guy's not going to be a 30 goal scorer? He checks well. He has consistently performed well on the Morrow/Ribeiro line. The guy helps set up goals. He helps the damn team and his PIM is low. I don't get why Miettinen gets benched when there's other guys out there who have deserved a good benching or seven and have never gotten it.
Team psychologist Scot McFadden is in town and has talked to a lot of players. The players themselves have talked to each other on numerous occasions. The coaches have both coddled and yelled.
So, what isn't working here, then? They blew a game they had practically in the bag in a whopping minute and a half against the Kings and they've been going through all this? Look, I feel bad for Sergei Zubov. The guy's been injured and now it seems like half of Stars fans are desperately relying on the guy to come back and save us all.
It's not right. The Stars have to learn how to function without Sergei Zubov. He's 37, which is not old, but for a hockey player it's not young, either. Zubov's in the twilight of his career here, which means you have to learn to get along without him. While we've been lucky to have a remarkable February without him, March has just been crap. We've had young defensemen who rise to the occasion, but our veteran defensemen aren't faring very well themselves (Boucher excluded).
....you force the coaches to make tough decisions on Norstrom and Daley when all of the D-men are healthy. And, then you wait for the results and evaluate.
For god's sake, scratch Norstrom. He's gotten better, as Jen has pointed out to me, but I think he's never gelled well with the team nor has he played to the level of the other d-guys on the Stars.
I have never understood the massive hate-on for Daley that a lot of people have had. I like Daley. I think Daley does a capable job but he has a lot to learn. I don't think Daley's the best defenseman we've got but I sure as hell don't think he's the worst either. Scratching him for a couple of games, however, couldn't hurt...I don't think.
I don't care how much money Norstrom is costing the Stars. He costs you less at this point from the pressbox than he does on the ice, because it might actually be helpful for him to be sitting up high than in the damn PENALTY BOX.
It's frustrating to watch that process as a fan (especially with this group's history), but it seems the only practical answer right now.
You bet it's frustrating. Not only is it frustrating, it's maddening and disappointing. This team has a remarkable level of talent. Many guys are having record years this year. Yet we still can't get the job done. We're looking at maybe not even clinching a playoff spot, let alone worrying over whether or not we'll have another first round exit from the playoffs again.
What's frustrating as a fan is to watch a team that's entirely capable give up over and over and over again. You can sit there and watch all the air go out of them and watch them just hand a game over to someone. I'm sick of hearing excuses and spin about all this. Actions speak louder than words, and a rough bag skate is one of them, but I like how we conduct this skate now. Look, I'm not a hockey coach, and I'm not a GM, but I am a fan who gives a considerable amount of money towards this organization who is sick of watching crap like this.
I could understand more if they were a team that was trying to rebuild or get better. To watch a team just waste themselves away is not only frustrating, it pisses me off. In my opinion, watching players just give up like they, to squander what they have worked so hard for, shows such utter disregard for the franchise and for the fans.
I wish I could tell you exactly how much money I have pumped into the Stars this season. I have bought tickets -- I've attended well over twenty games this season and not just in the cheap, upper deck seats either. I've bought jerseys. I've bought shirts. I've bought stuff for hockey loving family and friends. In short, I have put many of my hard earned dollars into this organization. For THIS.
What makes me even sadder is watching the players who don't deserve this losing streak, who work their hearts out -- Zubov, Hagman, Lehtinen, Morrow, Boucher and Robidas -- and end up like this.
Jen got me a brand, spanking new Mittens jersey for my birthday (it really does say "Mittens" on the name plate, even) and I wear it with a lot of pride - for Miettinen, for the team, for everything I like about hockey. I love my Mittens jersey and I still love the Stars. I'm just tired of feeling like for some in this organization, merely phoning it in is somehow acceptable.
It's never acceptable.
6 comments:
Preach on Sister, Preach on!!!
girl, i feel ya. i have been to over 20 games this season as well. bought stuff and endured the *** raping at the concession stands to watch them give up in the final minutes on SEVERAL occassions. its really depressing. tippett should have been giving them puking practices a long time ago. i think i said earlier on another post (maybe somewhere else) that tippett needed to ground them and take away their video games because they were acting like a bunch of spoiled brats.
bought stuff and endured the *** raping at the concession stands to watch them give up in the final minutes on SEVERAL occassions. its really depressing.
See, my problem with all this is that if they just looked like they were trying, and not like they had resigned themselves to fate, I wouldn't be upset.
I just hate watching them give up and say, "Oh well, whatever." It drives me BANANAS.
I don't like paying money to see something like that go down.
If it makes you feel any better, Zubov gets a whole page in the hockey book that I got for Chirstmas (and am finally getting the chance to read).
Kirsten, that DOES make me feel better! Thank you!
"I could understand more if they were a team that was trying to rebuild or get better. To watch a team just waste themselves away is not only frustrating, it pisses me off. In my opinion, watching players just give up like they, to squander what they have worked so hard for, shows such utter disregard for the franchise and for the fans."
This little bit right here sums up the entire season in one simple paragraph .
I could not possibly agree with your thoughts in this blog more . As I read it , I was nodding my head "yes" unconciously the whole time . Great blog and very well written !
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