Thank Your Lucky Stars

I’m not going to sit here and proclaim that after one victory, the Dallas Stars are back in the series with the Detroit Red Wings, but the Stars’ “stars” finally showed up.

I’d like to introduce Detroit fans to a few of the Dallas players that they had not seen in the first three games of this series.

Red Wings, I’d like you to meet my good friends Mike Modano, Brendan Morrow and Marty Turco – glad you could join us fellas!

I believe that prior to Game #4, Dalls Observer scribe Richie Witt said it best:

Admit it. The Stars are out of ideas, out of gas and out of the series.

Morrow hasn’t been a factor, Modano’s been a ghost, defenseman Matt Niskanen has coughed up a couple of costly gaffes and, most damaging, Turco has been average. When the Stars have needed him to stand on his head, he’s again fallen on his face against Detroit.

I’m certainly glad that Dallas decided to make an effort to win one game, otherwise my prediction that this series would go seven games would have looked foolish. At least if the Wings finish the Stars off in five games, I won’t have quite as much egg to wipe from my face.

Marty Turco has to be perfect for the Dallas Stars to have a chance at beating the Detroit Red Wings, that is no secret. However, Dallas is behind the 8-ball and it may be a case of too little too late for the fledgling Texas team.

Noteworthy News

• Team Switzerland forward Paul DiPietro, a former member of the Montreal Canadiens, has five points thus far at the 2008 World Championships.

• If you are looking for some great new hockey gear this summer, check out the best hockey stick reviews and hockey skate reviews on the internet.

• Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Braydon Coburn could be cleared to play Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Thursday after a puck nearly hit his eye on Sunday.

• Sami Lepisto’s goal at 3:59 of overtime led Finland to a 3-2 victory over the United States in the world hockey quarterfinals. IN other news, Derek Roy exploded for three goals and added an assist to propel Canada past Norway 8-2 in the quarterfinals. Canada will face Sweden in the semifinals Friday in Quebec City.

• Scott Mellanby, who played more than 1,400 games with five NHL teams, has been hired as a consultant to rookie Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis.

• One win away from their first Stanley Cup final berth in 16 years, the Pittsburgh Penguins are far removed from Michel Therrien’s famous tirade just two and a half seasons ago. For those of you unfamiliar with Therrien’s remarks, let me refresh your memory:

“It’s a pathetic performance,” Therrien said in a post-game clip that ran all over North American television for days and weeks. “Half of the team doesn’t care. That defensive squad — I am really starting to believe their goal is to be the worst defensive squad in the league. They are doing such a great job to be the worst defensive squad in the league. They turn the puck over. They have no vision. They are soft. I have never seen a bunch of defencemen as soft as this…We should take 50 per cent of their salaries because they play only 50 per cent of the time.”

On that note…enjoy Game #4!

Dallas Versus Detroit Preview

2008 Western Conference Final

It all starts tonight as the Stars and Red Wings face off for the Western Conference Championship. The

Stars have taken the long road playing two 6-games series’, while the Red Wings have cruised to the conference final seemingly without effort. Both teams, however have something to prove.

Breaking Down Dallas

The Dallas Stars, in particular Marty Turco, have been known to have a tremendous regular season only to pull a swift disappearing act in the playoffs. The Red Wings were at this same point last year, but fell to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions.

Brendan Morrow has been impressive thus far, providing both grit and talent on a consistent basis for the Stars. Sergei Zubov, since coming back from a foot injury, has shown flashes of the offensive prowess that made him the Ranger’s leading scorer back in 1994 when they won the cup. Yes, that’s right…Zubov led the Rangers in scoring, besting the likes of Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Tony Amonte and even Alexei Kovalev!

Marty Turco has been nothing short of stellar to this point in the playoffs. He may finally have shaken that playoff monkey off of his back, but Detroit will be a huge test fro Turco. One has to wonder if Detroit has a huge mental advantage over the Stars and Turco before this series even begins. You see, Marty Turco has never won a game against Detroit in Joe Louis Arena! Yep, never. In fact, he is only 2 wins against Detroit all together and we know he’ll need to double that statistic if the Stars are to move on to the Stanley Cup Final.

Turco’s performance will dictate the outcome of this series for the Dallas Stars.

Is Detroit The Real Big “D”?

This Detroit team is one that has such a balanced attack that it stifles even the most season

ed of coaches when it comes to matching lines. The Red Wings can come from all angles with offense, and have been the beneficiary of an unlikely hero in Johan Franzan who leads all playoff scorers with 11 goals this post season, two more than Philadelphia’s R.J Umberger.

Osgood, who has finally garnered the respect of Mr. Babcock, has unseeded the elderly Dom Hasek in the Detroit goal. As much as Turco is the key for Dallas’ chances in this series, Osgood has to continue to be on point for the Wings. Osgood is a perfect 6-0 in this year’s post season, but he will need help from Kronwall, Lidstrom, and the crafty veteran Chelios to keep the Stars’ offensive attack under wraps. Stifling the Stars’ explosive power play, which is second overall among playoff teams, will be crucial to gaining control of the series.

If Detroit can continue to receive balanced scoring and Osgood is able to make some key saves in penalty kill situations, look for Detroit to pull out a win in this series.

Who Is Going To The Cup Final?

Predictions have never been our strong suit at NHL Digest, but this series should go the distance. Sometimes these things are just too close to call. It all comes down to confidence and momentum so this is the prediction:

The team that wins Game 1 will win this series in 7 Games.