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GoldAppleCorps

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Everything posted by GoldAppleCorps

  1. Love Razor and Booger, but once these Victory+ broadcasts end, it's gonna take me a month to get the "Phenom-en-Otteerrrrr!" interstitials outta my head.
  2. Since Austin has apparently decriminalized possession of THC vape pens under 4 ounces, deferred adjudication should be on the table unless this is like his 5th time doing this. The charge is "possession" of drugs, not "ownership". If you're driving and it's in your car, you're "possessing" it. If it's in your shirt pocket, you damned sure are. Glad the cops found it and took it, since bringing it into a secure facility (the sallyport at the jail) is a separate charge altogether. Really, while I wouldn't advise a sober person to be quite so permissive about talking with the cops during a stop, there's not a lot he could have said or done that would have changed minds. The arrest record seems to indicate he was reasonably compliant (a mercy with such a huge dude). He made what could have been an ugly mistake, and seemed to own up. Take the deferred, take the classes, do the community service, and take the pee tests for a couple of years. That might put you square with the County, but Kyle Flood is gonna be a bit more hard-nosed.
  3. Ah yes. The NHL is desperately trying to advance a team from Dallas with zero name recognition. MacKinnon, Makar, and now Landeskog don't present nearly as compelling a story. I like whinging about officiating as much as anyone, more so than most actually, but howzabout not skating with your stick at nipple height? For a big, strong skater, Manson sure went down easy when Daddy bumped him. Also, you're not allowed to touch MacKinnon - everyone loves to ooh and aah over his speed! My favorite is his drop passes where he skates forward to the net and just happens to shield away every defender coming to play the puck. Don't go 0-fer your power plays. It makes the other team hit harder and more often. Look, Dallas got some decent puck luck last night. They weren't 4 goals better than the Avs, but that's how the scoring reads. It still only counts as 1 win, and the Stars are going to have to earn the last one - hopefully in Colorado.
  4. He took a few games to ascertain the vibe in the NHL. Feels like he's embracing the role of 'bastard'. Derian Hatcher is one of my all time favorites. Been waiting for his heir.
  5. Important to still skate the puck. If we just clear the zone and wait, 29 and 6 are too fast. They can put up 3 against a lazy team in 5 minutes. Having the puck 200 feet away from your net is the best defense.
  6. Look, the Western Conference, and in particular the Central Division, is just a war zone. The Jets are Cup favorites on talent, but they've been blasted by the Blues. Vegas is nose to nose with the Wild. This was never going to be easy. Dallas has 2-1 home ice. Gotta be ready and get game 5.
  7. I think I counted 5 cross ice passes by the Avs in our defensive zone. That's pucks that made it all the way across the width of the rink without us getting in the way. Not giving up, but it'll take something truly stupid to get 3 unanswered in one period. Let's start with 1.
  8. The Avs are trying to use Nathan MacKinnon as a 90's era Michael Jordan. He gets the puck up high, and everyone else boxes out an opponent to let him drive and shoot or dish. This isn't a legal hockey play, but it's so pretty that no one calls it. A top notch penalty kill lets the Stars play like they do. Mason Marchment's game is the epitome of that. He plays to the edge of physical contact even though he's not big enough to be at all intimidating. He hacks at pucks, throws opponents around, and just generally tries to disrupt play. He breaks up the continuity a team like Colorado cherishes. Of course, the refs know he does this, so sometimes eyes are a little stricter on him. Not saying the double-minor was a bad call (I'm saying the goal scoring interference was blatant and inexcusably bad), but it's what you're going to get when a guy like Mush does the dirty work within the bounds of sportsmanship (see: Avery, Sean). I wish we were playing game 4 tonight. The Avs have gotta be mentally drained (playoff hockey is harder on your will than your body - and it's really hard on the body). The extra day of rest betwixt now and Saturday is to their advantage.
  9. Our mission is to steal at least 1 of these two road games to get back home ice. Colorado is a bona fide Cup contender, which is all you get in the Central division. Playoff hockey is a game of guts. We'll see who stays focused in the last 20 minutes.
  10. Frankly, I was waiting for the Stars to give up the next goal early in the 3rd so I could go to bed. I still gotta make it to the office in the morning. I was really resigned to more of what I'd seen for the last 2 weeks. Believe me when I say you wouldn't think it was the same team. The Stars had a stash of those Mario-Kart type star boosts that they started firing through. They just started wrecking shop, but in a controlled chaos way. The Avs held on by their fingernails and couldn't match the boost. Dallas was unlucky not to pot 3 more goals. We'll see if that was an exception or the end of a slump. We'll also need to focus on breakaways in practice. The Stars are generating a ton, and getting nothing for their efforts.
  11. I can't disagree with anything you said, especially considering the time frame in which you said it. Our entire power play was skating across the Colorado blue line, then standing there like "now what?". The Avs would gladly nab the puck and fire it on down. It seemed the entire team was cruising at 90% speed, playing not to make a mistake, thinking while skating, and consequently being 2nd best to every contested puck. The first 35 minutes of the game were almost entirely spent with the Stars cobbling defensive efforts to prevent the Avs All-Stars from destroying them. Starting with around 12:00 left in the 3rd period, Dallas seemed to abandon all that and just start flying around the rink. If a white sweater got in the way, it got trucked. Otherwise, the puck was there for the taking, so they took it. Without their goalie standing on his head, Colorado would have given up 3 in the 3rd. Possibly the Avs thought they could nurse a 1-goal lead through a desperate 3rd period, despite that being an insane game plan. The Stars simply went into rampage mode, and kept it up for a period and a half, until the got the game winner. To temper expectation, that's 30 minutes worth of playoff speed hockey, after 8 straight games of confused, brain-fog level play. We'll have to wait until Wednesday to see if that was the end of a slump, or just an inspired moment.
  12. Whatever switch got flipped with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd, remember where that one is. That's the team that plays to win.
  13. I'm telling myself that the Stanley Cup playoffs are an endurance marathon. You have to have enough gas in the tank to grind through them. These last few games were throwaway games, so we threw them away. I don't like going into the playoffs on a losing streak. I also don't like trying to suddenly slam it into gear when the games start counting again. Here's hoping.
  14. So if I had to be any sort of optimist, it would be that the Stars didn't suffer any of those inexplicable multi-game losing streaks this season until obviously this current crapfest. They didn't lose more than two games, in any fashion, in a row. Over 82 games, it was bound to happen, so I guess it's good to check that box. Detroit and Nashville are both de-motivated to win their games. All they can do is goof up their lottery prospects at this point. Sure, Dallas needs to prioritize rest, but getting off the 0'fer is important. What's the salary cap situation look like? During the playoffs, it doesn't apply (yep, anyone on your roster under contract can play), but we couldn't bring a player back from injury (like Seguin) for the last two if it put us over the limit. We'd have to send someone down.
  15. First shutout in almost 80 games. Hellebuyck is having a great season, but he didn't need to be dominant. The Stars managed maybe 4 or 5 valid scoring chances all game. None of those caused him to break stride. Dallas has a lot of talent out with injuries that are expected back, but frankly, they've been winning and playing spectacular hockey for months without that talent. They're not playing disastrously bad, but the passes that go just behind a player, a moment of indecision about when to attack or defend, or a brief misunderstanding about who's got who add up to a team that isn't measuring up the desperation that the playoff hungry clubs are leveraging. WPG played sold on defense, attacked when they could, and waited for the Stars to get out of position. Like a confident contender would. Any realistic shot of winning the Central is gone now. If the Stars either earn one point, or the Avs lose one point, over the remaining 3 games, Dallas hosts the first round. Long suffering Rangers fans will remember the "Seven games up with seven to play" disaster, so nothing's assured. Really, I need the Stars to play their full roster over the next 3, and just focus on playing their position. They weren't overachieving during their win streak. Remembering who they are will go a long way.
  16. Everybody's got something to say when they're wearing a red jersey.
  17. Can't think of much to comment. On one hand, it was one of those things that makes us fans. We were just on the wrong side of it. We gave up a point and a regulation win that we really needed. On the other hand, every player should spend the day asking himself what he could have done differently. The team played an intense game, and then just had their mental fortitude collapse. The first goal was one of those crazy things that happen in hockey. The last was an easy pass into the net against a bunch of shell-shocked statues. Once again, another game where the refs were eagle-eyed in OT if you're wearing a Stars sweater. Once again, I'd like to gripe, but I lost that right on the last 60 seconds of regulation. I do expect us to wallop the Jets. It just won't change anything any more.
  18. Didn't get to see much of Saturday's game. Turned it on just in time to see the pratfall and game winner for the Pens. Sunday's game always worried me. Back-to-back against a team fighting for playoff life. While I still think the officiating was confusing, Dallas can't go 0 for 4 with a man advantage against the Wild. I lose all right to complain when the Stars don't take advantage. The PPs continued the same problem that the rest of the game had - inability to execute fundamentals. Tape-to-skate passes that got fumbled. Entering the offensive zone looking to pass or keep, so you do neither. Losing puck battles on the wall even with numbers. A lot of bad luck and regression to hockey means for some of the fortunate bounces the Stars enjoyed this season, but all too frequently just a lack of focusness. Coming out of these two games with only 1 point is maddening. If I try to see a tosheroon in this mud, I'd point to the psychological struggle of a 7 game win streak. Carrying that pace into the playoffs shouldn't make any difference objectively, but we're all familiar with "should they lose before the playoffs" type mentality. Anyway, the goal is still in reach, although the Stars have to have WPG help to get there. Getting back on track at home for the next 3 games is imperative. Stabilize the line up, get familiar, and play the game.
  19. It's a lot to ask, but the Stars mathematically control their own destiny on that front at the moment. With a game in-hand, the Stars would be level on points with Winnipeg if they both won out - except they can't both win out. Dallas plays Winnipeg next week. That would prevent WPG from tying Dallas on regulation wins. Predicting the Stars to end the season on a 14 game win streak is a lot. Of course, I don't expect the Jets to win out either. I'm just positing that, at the moment, the Stars control their fate for the division championship.
  20. If we end up tied on points (the obvious first determinant), then there's practically no way that the Stars would have fewer regulation wins at this point. As I see it, I'm concerned obviously with the head-to-head game against WPG. At the same time, leaking points to MIN on the travel game of a back to back would be tough. The Wild will likely be playing for seeding by that point.
  21. When the season gets down to the end like this, weird stuff can happen. Eliminated teams bring up prospects eager to impress. Sometimes they dazzle, some days the tactics fizzle. Winnipeg's path is by no means assured. Of course, neither is the Stars'. While it'll take something truly awful to fall below the Avs, there's a big difference between a 1st round vs the Blues/Wild or Colorado.
  22. The first disallowed goal was a league initiated review. It wasn't a coach's challenge. The puck can deflect off a skate into the net, but you can't attempt to play it off your skate into the net. The phrase that gets mentioned is "obvious kicking motion". I don't think the Calgary player meant to do it, but it's clear that his leg goes from behind him to in front of him - extending forward from his body. The puck goes under the goalie pads as a direct result of being deflected from the skate extended forward. The league judged that this was a kicking motion. The second disallowed goal was a coach's challenge for goaltender interference. Goaltender interference is a really vaguely defined thing, and a failed challenge would result in a Calgary power play. The Stars review guys are very good at making these calls. Here, they had a couple of points in their favor. First, the Calgary player's leg and skate was fully inside the blue painted area that defines the goalie crease. While it's not the be-all-end-all, if you contact the keeper inside that paint when you don't have the puck in your personal possession, you're likely interfering. Second, that contact prevented DeSmith from moving to his right to play the shot. The Stars had a good argument to overturn the goal, and the league agreed. This game was a practical "must have" for Calgary, and they played like it. They were the more energetic, aggressive team. Hockey is ugly when you do all that, and sure-thing goals are swatted down by a sliding DeSmith, and Harley playing keepy-uppy with the puck. The Stars followed that sequence with a drive, a slick side pass, and a double rebound goal to go to 4-2. Calgary thrashed themselves at the net, but the Stars are a contender who have seen it before.
  23. I won't make predictions, but for all of his obvious dominance in the regular season, Connor Hellebuyck has to prove he can win in the playoffs.
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