The statistics you quote basically show a team in the mushy middle. They don't suck (like I often yell at the TV 😔) but they aren't good right now. The "why" seems obvious, 28th in the league on the PP. Forgetting all the advanced stats and that crap, the frustrating thing is that the coaches are staying with the same players despite the failure. Why? They are great at shaking up the 5x5 lines to get a spark but why the refusal to shake up the PP? This staff should not be fired but please, please, please try to juggle the PP lines. All of them, including #4.
Ok, their d play is exceptional. Except at clearing the zone WITH possession…they stop more rushes due to their giveaways.
I see a team playing without passion…. without mental or physical strength.
They are soft!
They can’t come from behind… at all? Ever?
Even guys with size are playing soft -Robo’s little brother plays a tougher game! Hinze is one of the larger players on the ice, Stanky makes more impact hits. I want to watch junkyard dogs, not guys who are emotionless.
They do not defend their teammates… see Bourques uncalled boarding. Nothing…
Hintz was all noise no effect after Miro was boarded. Did NY pay? Nope.
Last night, Bichsell had his head rubbed into the ice. F-g nothing, even from the kid? Have they neutered him? He’s been a shadow of his physical play/attitude the past few games. Is it being coached out of him by coaches who prefer stick play vs body play? (I think they saw a stat that says “d who check lose puck possession 49.998% of the time”).
I see opponents twinkle-toeing thru Stars in open ice instead of being knocked on their ass.
Soft teams with no fire, do not ordinarily make the playoffs… with their excellent d, these Stars may. But unless they find a cannon for the PP, and bring in someone who resembles and plays with the passion of early Benn, get the golf clubs ready.
Love the “internal voice in the room” comment. We could see Pavelski’s struggles on the ice, but he seems to have been more of a leader off the ice. This team feels like the before Pavelski leadership.
The sky isn't necessarily falling yet. The Stars do need to start scoring goals again and winning games.
The advanced numbers are very kind to this team, they are top 6 or better in pretty much everything that matters. Are they getting unlucky or are there things they can do better? I think it's a combination of both.
I do believe they miss Seguin terribly. This is a reminder to people that he is still an excellent hockey player.
Does it make sense to trade for Erik Karlsson with his cap hit this year and next year? He could run the PP and solidify a top 4 without having to rely on yet another rookie in the lineup. It’s the next year that has me iffy (and what is the cost PIT is looking for).
Thank you for your coverage, Sean. Now, with Marchment out for likely a month, they are missing probably their top 2 scoring threats from just a few weeks ago before Seggy went out. It feels like they have been a .500 team since Tyler went out, and are desperately looking for offense. I'm honestly not sure where it's going to come from.
On another note, do you have any insight as to what is going on at your former employer, The Athletic, in terms of Stars coverage? I've emailed them and got no response. It feels like they have eliminated the beat writer for the Stars, and there are hardly any stories any more. And it was so good when you covered the team, and then Saad.
Economically, for $80 bucks a year, given the entirety of the product, it is fantastic as I follow my other teams in baseball and football, but it sure seems like since the NY Times purchased the Athletic, they have cut staff and reduced coverage, for many teams in different sports. Is that spot on? I've gone back to adding the Dallas Morning News and Lia Assimakopoulous to finding anything that's timely on the coverage of the team. Thanks.
Great stuff, as always, Sean. I'm not sure though that I agree with you that firing Steve Spott would be a recipe for disaster. Steve Spott is a disaster.
the Steve Spott discourse goes a bit farther than it needs to be because people only focus on the power play. Firing Spott, who is effectively DeBoer's second-in-command and his calming force, would be really bad for team morale and the coaching staff and that group as a whole.
Thanks for the response, Sean. But watching DeBoer at his pressers and on the bench, it seems to me he doesn’t seem to need a calming force as much as he needs someone to fire this team up.
The statistics you quote basically show a team in the mushy middle. They don't suck (like I often yell at the TV 😔) but they aren't good right now. The "why" seems obvious, 28th in the league on the PP. Forgetting all the advanced stats and that crap, the frustrating thing is that the coaches are staying with the same players despite the failure. Why? They are great at shaking up the 5x5 lines to get a spark but why the refusal to shake up the PP? This staff should not be fired but please, please, please try to juggle the PP lines. All of them, including #4.
Ok, their d play is exceptional. Except at clearing the zone WITH possession…they stop more rushes due to their giveaways.
I see a team playing without passion…. without mental or physical strength.
They are soft!
They can’t come from behind… at all? Ever?
Even guys with size are playing soft -Robo’s little brother plays a tougher game! Hinze is one of the larger players on the ice, Stanky makes more impact hits. I want to watch junkyard dogs, not guys who are emotionless.
They do not defend their teammates… see Bourques uncalled boarding. Nothing…
Hintz was all noise no effect after Miro was boarded. Did NY pay? Nope.
Last night, Bichsell had his head rubbed into the ice. F-g nothing, even from the kid? Have they neutered him? He’s been a shadow of his physical play/attitude the past few games. Is it being coached out of him by coaches who prefer stick play vs body play? (I think they saw a stat that says “d who check lose puck possession 49.998% of the time”).
I see opponents twinkle-toeing thru Stars in open ice instead of being knocked on their ass.
Soft teams with no fire, do not ordinarily make the playoffs… with their excellent d, these Stars may. But unless they find a cannon for the PP, and bring in someone who resembles and plays with the passion of early Benn, get the golf clubs ready.
Great insight and thanks for the breakdown for us struggling Stars fans!
Love the “internal voice in the room” comment. We could see Pavelski’s struggles on the ice, but he seems to have been more of a leader off the ice. This team feels like the before Pavelski leadership.
The sky isn't necessarily falling yet. The Stars do need to start scoring goals again and winning games.
The advanced numbers are very kind to this team, they are top 6 or better in pretty much everything that matters. Are they getting unlucky or are there things they can do better? I think it's a combination of both.
I do believe they miss Seguin terribly. This is a reminder to people that he is still an excellent hockey player.
Does it make sense to trade for Erik Karlsson with his cap hit this year and next year? He could run the PP and solidify a top 4 without having to rely on yet another rookie in the lineup. It’s the next year that has me iffy (and what is the cost PIT is looking for).
Thank you for your coverage, Sean. Now, with Marchment out for likely a month, they are missing probably their top 2 scoring threats from just a few weeks ago before Seggy went out. It feels like they have been a .500 team since Tyler went out, and are desperately looking for offense. I'm honestly not sure where it's going to come from.
On another note, do you have any insight as to what is going on at your former employer, The Athletic, in terms of Stars coverage? I've emailed them and got no response. It feels like they have eliminated the beat writer for the Stars, and there are hardly any stories any more. And it was so good when you covered the team, and then Saad.
Economically, for $80 bucks a year, given the entirety of the product, it is fantastic as I follow my other teams in baseball and football, but it sure seems like since the NY Times purchased the Athletic, they have cut staff and reduced coverage, for many teams in different sports. Is that spot on? I've gone back to adding the Dallas Morning News and Lia Assimakopoulous to finding anything that's timely on the coverage of the team. Thanks.
Robert Tiffin does great in depth recaps after each game at starsthoughts.com.
Thank you for the suggestion, Jeff!
Great stuff, as always, Sean. I'm not sure though that I agree with you that firing Steve Spott would be a recipe for disaster. Steve Spott is a disaster.
the Steve Spott discourse goes a bit farther than it needs to be because people only focus on the power play. Firing Spott, who is effectively DeBoer's second-in-command and his calming force, would be really bad for team morale and the coaching staff and that group as a whole.
Thanks for the response, Sean. But watching DeBoer at his pressers and on the bench, it seems to me he doesn’t seem to need a calming force as much as he needs someone to fire this team up.