Well the Stars get another chance at a victory this afternoon. Either that, or it will just be another 2.5 hours of humiliation.
According to Heika’s blog, the Stars had a pretty rough practice yesterday. He said Tippett was upset, but I don’t know how he could tell because Tippett looks the same no matter if the Stars are winning or losing. It looks like Brenden and Ribsy will be split up for this game. I know they haven’t played that well so far this season, but I really think it’s stupid to split them up. Tippett says he’s willing to give Marty a chance and let him play out of it, so he should let Brenden and Ribsy do the same. In all likelihood, they will end up back together in just a few games. Might as well let them work out their issues now.
It looks like we still won’t be getting Lehtinen back for the game. He skated some in practice, but he left early, so he most likely won’t be playing tonight. I do want to see him back, but I don’t think he’ll be as much of a miracle worker as most people seem to think. After all, he can’t play on all four lines, and he can’t suit up for Marty.
Otter skated in practice yesterday, and he’s listed as a game-time decision for this afternoon. From the lines Heika listed, it looked like either Neal or Petersen would be the healthy scratch if he comes back in. I think that’s another dumb move because both of them have been playing well (relatively speaking) the past few games. I’d really like to see them scratch Avery because the only time I’ve noticed him on the ice is when he’s made mistakes. He was pretty much invisible for the game on Thursday except when he WATCHED the Blues just pass the puck around him. They could bench him, and then Avery could sit up in the pressbox with his best buddy Brett Hull.
I really hope Marty plays better today. I know he will get over it because he goes through periods of play like this every season, but he needs to get over this one fast. I wouldn’t mind if they started Stephan and gave Marty a break. In the past, it seemed like the best way to help get Marty over these slumps was to let Smitty start a few games and then let Marty come back after that. We’ll see.
I have been terrible with my picks to score this season, but I’ll keep chugging along. Eventually I have to get one right. I think Brenden is going to score tonight. He needs to keep his (sexy) butt out of the penalty box and start pulling this team on his shoulders like he did for so much of last season. We’re not going to play better until our captain plays better, and today seems like a good day to start.
Sarah and I will be putting our outfits together during the game today and finishing up a few more signs for next weekend. I’ll post pictures as soon as we get them 
GO STARS!
End of 2nd period, (I am in physical pain).
Yeah, the second period was TERRIBLE. They finally looked like they woke up in the third, but it wasn’t enough… Hopefully they can carry that third period into their next game.
Amy
The first part of the third was splendid. The last few minutes, the wheels came off again.
But the beginning of the 3rd gave me some hope. If they can just keep their heads together, we have one heck of a hockey team.