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Go Stars

May 25, 2008 / Paul posted in Hockey Talk / No Comments

Yes, I know they lost, but they were able to give the Red Wings a run for their money. Dallas lost for three reasons. They did not finish off the San Jose Sharks fast enough. The four overtime periods in game six wore our guys down for the first game against Detroit. The Stars simply were not able to score on the powerplay and could not beat the Red Wings’ exceptional defense.

So now I’m actually pulling for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. I want them to sweep the Pittsburgh Penguins, because it will show that the Stars were that much better for putting up some decent resistance. Thus far the Penguins are failing miserably by losing both games in Detroit with shutouts. Game one was four to zero and game two was three to zero. If the Wings can sweep the Penguins, it will make it look like the deciding series was between Dallas and Detroit.

The sweep will also signal a change that NHL needs to make regarding cross Conference games during the season. The Eastern Conference teams don’t see much of the Western and the Eastern teams don’t travel as much as the Western. Both Conferences need to be evenly matched to have an exciting Stanley Cup final series. That doesn’t seem to be the case this year.

Mother’s Day

May 10, 2008 / Paul posted in Family and Friends, Hockey Talk / No Comments

For Mother’s Day I bought my mom a robotic vacuum cleaner called a Roomba. She had talked about them before and I never saw one, but decided to take a chance and order one from the Internet. When I first looked for one, I was put off by how expensive they were, but Alexis found a great deal on one. We took it over on Saturday and she was very impressed. After only a couple of hours of charging, anticipation got the best of everyone and we turned it on. It didn’t make it half way to the wall before it complained about being full. To no one’s surprise it was full of pet hair from the dog and the cat.

On the topic of Stanley Cup playoffs, it seems the Dallas Stars are struggling against the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn’t a big surprise to me. I know the Wings are a good team and they usually seem to be, similar to the Yankees in baseball. Dallas generally has to fight tooth and nail for their victories. They had the opportunity to sweep the San Jose Sharks in the last playoff round, but failed to do so. Instead they took the best of seven series to a sixth game, where they finally won in a game that lasted five hours. The Wings swept the Colorado Avalanche in their second round and were very rested in the first game against the Stars. The first game Dallas lost and lost badly. In the second game, the Stars looked like they were in it to win and played well. They lost because they couldn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities and couldn’t generate more chances. In order for them to win on Monday night, they need to take the fight to the Wings, get in front of the goalie, shoot more, and score when the Wings are off balance.

Stars Advance To Round Two

April 19, 2008 / Paul posted in Hockey Talk, Politics / No Comments

The Dallas Stars are on to round two after beating the Ducks four to one tonight. The first half of the game didn’t look good for the Stars. They seemed to be doing everything right, but weren’t reaping the benefits. In the final period, Dallas’ powerplay finally cashed in. The crowd erupted, momentum shifted, and a minute later a second goal was scored. The team Dallas plays in the next round has yet to be determined. Detroit and Colorado have advanced to the second round, but San Jose and Calgary are going to a game seven.

Non-hockey related: I’ve been keeping up with news related to the giant $750 million U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which is now ready and only six months late. They now have all of the fire alarms and saftey equipment in working order. The following link provides a very complete collection of photographs that put the size of this project in perspective: Eyeballing the US Embassy Baghdad. If you missed my other posts you can see them here (Baghdad US Embassy? More Like Resort) and here (Mounting Incompetence).

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