Hope you enjoy the pun in the title Pics of the not-so-new Jamie Benn jersey will be coming eventually, probably from the next game I go to.

Begin stream of consciousness from the last month or so…

School has completely taken over my life (and I imagine vet school has taken over Sarah’s), so my limited free time has been spent actually watching hockey or spending time with friends. Proud to report that I have a new hockey convert. I took one of my friends to the Baby Stars vs. Rampage game a few weeks ago, and he had a great time. The $1 beers probably didn’t hurt his impressions. I’ll be taking him and another friend (also a hockey virgin) to the Baby Stars vs. Rampage game this weekend. They are both looking forward to it

I’ve been kind of disappointed with the Stars so far this season. I know they’re doing relatively well with points, but I just don’t see the effort or talent that I expect to see from the Stars. The effort hasn’t been happening every night with the top guys, the effort and talent are lacking throughout the defense corps (with the exception of our top pair and Skrastins), and Marty is either lacking effort or talent. I would say effort, but now I’m starting to think that his play has taken a permanent downturn. I think Crawford is a better coach than Tippett because I actually see his mouth moving during the game as he talks to players. I’m sure this was surprising to players who have played all or most of their career under Tippett. Tippett seems to be doing pretty well in Phoenix, but I think Phoenix is a team that can really benefit from having a coach who is good with plays, teaching the game, etc. The Stars needed someone to kick them into gear, and Tippett failed miserably at that.

I hated seeing Niklas Hagman in a Toronto jersey at the end of October in Dallas. I actually teared up a couple times they showed him skating around. I’m sure it will be equally as bad to see Smitty and Jeffy at the Nov. 28th game. I’m glad these guys went to the East where we don’t see them as often.

Ken Hitchcock coached his 1000th game last night against Detroit, and the Red Wings dominated 9-1. It’s sad that his 1st and 1000th games were bad losses to Detroit, but good that he’s had so many good wins in the middle. I still miss him in Dallas, and always look forward to seeing the Blue Jackets come to town. It’s good to see Hitch again, and seeing Rick Nash is something every hockey fan should experience.

The Stars play San Jose late tonight (9:30 pm start), and I’m looking forward to watching the game since I’ve been going all week for school. The Stars should try starting their games at 9:30 – maybe more fans would show up before the 2nd period. I know that’s been a long-standing problem in Dallas, but it’s pretty pathetic that the Stars attendance in the first period looks incredibly similar to the arenas of Phoenix and Colorado (averaging <10,000 a night).

We have a lot of Stars games planned in the next 2 months. The Nov. 21st game is on my boyfriend’s birthday, so we will be going to hopefully see the Stars kick some Devil butt. Then the whole gang is going for the Nov. 28th game against Tampa. Look for new signs and the split-up Sign Girls at the pregame skate. Next will be Columbus on Dec. 23rd. Sarah and I have an amazing hockey vacation planned in late December, and we’ll be going to the Dec. 29th, 31st, and Jan 2nd games. Talk about a nice break from school! I’m going to get spoiled by all of this hockey!

Stream of consciousness ends here… (meaning I have to actually do some work)

Amy

Heika reports that the Stars have called up Perttu Lindgren from Austin today to fill a spot with the absences of Modano, Hull, and Lehtinen (will he play another game?)

This is SUPER exciting for me because the Finns are my favorites, and it’s been lonely with only Lehtinen. Plus, Lehts has been injured so there have been nights where the Stars have skated no Finns! It’s a tragedy, indeed.

I’m kinda peeved they didn’t do this before the Boston game because I would have loved to see him. And I hope some of our guys will be back soon so Lindgren will be with Austin when I go see them at the end of the month

I told him that Finns were the best and he said "Oh.... cool." Maybe he didn't realize I was talking about him?

Amy

Hi all,

So far I’m really enjoying the first 5 minutes of the Stars/Trashville game. Maybe this one won’t lead to a shootout loss for the Stars.

I just wanted to give a heads up that I’ll be at the game Friday night against the Bruins. Sarah is busy with school and can’t make it down to Dallas in time so it’ll just be 1 of 2 Sign Girls. My mom will be an honorary Sign Girl and help with the signs during the pregame skate. If you see me walking around, feel free to say hi. I’d love to see more of the people who read the blog

I don't think you'll miss me walking around...

I won’t be wearing the white jersey though because I plan on getting a JAMIE BENN JERSEY as soon as the pregame skate is over! I hope to be the first one to get a Jamie Benn jersey… so if you’ve seen one walking around, don’t let me know about it!

I’m gonna go watch the game, my Brenden has scored again! I can’t describe how nice it is to see his smiling face on the ice this season.

Amy

The Sign Girls have officially launched a new aspect of our blog: THE SHOP!

Now you can show the world just how spiffy you think we are! There’s only a few products as of now, but there soon will be many more, so check the shop frequently for new items and designs!

Spiffy Sign Girls apparel awaits you!

Sarah

Our dear Swede, Loui Eriksson, has been inked for a contract until 2015-2016! His deal, worth $25.5 million dollars, extends his contract that was set to expire at the end of this season. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could have dealt with losing our Loui-fish this year after the amazing job he did last season. He is only going to get better!

*LOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!*

How about a resounding “LOUUUUUUUU” to celebrate this day, eh? I’m liking your decisions thus far, Joey! Keep it up!

Here’s the official story

Sarah

Yes, he really is our hero!

Our favorite underappreciated warrior of the blueline is getting some love from the new regime! Stephane Robidas has been signed to a contract extension that will have him as a Star through 2013-2014, a deal worth $13.2 million.

Here’s the official story

Good for you, Robi!

Sarah

The 2009-10 starts tonight It has been way too long of an offseason for all of the teams I like, so here’s to hoping that this one is an improvement.

I picked the Stars to win the Cup this year, but I made that prediction 3 seasons ago so we’ll see how well it holds. What is more perfect than Mikey’s (most likely) last year and the years being “09″ and “10″?

Will be watching the TSN variety of games online (Montreal vs. Toronto and Calgary vs. Vancouver) and the Versus games on TV. I’m looking forward to a fun night of 6 hours of hockey

Amy

I'm sure this scowling will be great for the young guys

TSN is reporting that Dave Tippett is next in line to coach the Hamilton/Phoenix/Saskatoon Coyotes. I was never a fan of Tippett and I think this is a pretty terrible hire and shows that the management really has NO interest in bettering the Coyotes. I sure hope the young guys who need lots of guidance get it from one of the assistant coaches since Tippett’s coaching style resembles a mute mime scowling because he lost his banana.

Amy

Sorry it’s taken so long to update in Amyland. School has been pretty busy, and I’ve spent most of my time reading about hockey on other sites instead of writing in my own blog. Anyway, here’s to hoping for a little more regular posting as the season begins.

I went to the first day of training camp two Sundays ago. It was great to see hockey! I also ran into Myra and family from Laughs 2 Loud and had a good time talking to them for a little bit. The Stars were practicing at the normal practice rink and the new Dr. Pepper rink upstairs. If you haven’t been to Frisco this season, I highly recommend that you go when you can catch something in the new arena. I stayed in the new arena for most of the practice because that’s where Brenden and Jamie Benn were. The new rink really nice and has a good Stars-y feel. I didn’t get too many good pictures at practice because I was sitting right behind the bench. There will be some after the jump (mostly Brenden and Jamie’s backs lol).

I went back to Dallas last weekend for the Saturday practice. I managed to catch several of the players coming in for the later practice, and got some good pictures and autographs. I watched the game guys practice for about 30 minutes and perfected my Jamie Benn radar. He hasn’t even played one regular season game and I can already pick him out of everyone on the ice. After practice, I waited around for a while and saw several of the guys leaving for the game in St. Louis. Seeing hockey players is always great, but seeing hockey players in suits is even better! I managed to completely forget to ask Richie to sign my jersey because he came out with Jamie Benn and I got a little distracted… I actually talked to Jamie though and told him I’d be the first person to get one of his jerseys. I like to think I was good luck because he scored twice in the game later that night

It is so great to see the guys skating again. I was really hoping to see Besko again the second time I went, but he had already been sent down. I would have loved a picture with him.

Most of all, it’s great to see Brenden out on the ice smiling and having a good time. I missed that last year.

Without further ado, here are some pictures (after the jump). There are just a couple now because WordPress is so unfriendly with uploading things and I have econ to work on.

Brenden acting like the captain on the other side of the rink

Me with Jamie Benn. Best moment of the day by far!

Ralphie stopped by and I had to get another picture with him. He remembered us and our sign

Always love a picture with Otter

That’s it for now!

Amy

Even though he only played in Dallas a few seasons, he'll always be a Star to me.

TSN is reporting that Phillipe Boucher has announced his retirement today. Although Boo was only with the Stars for a few short seasons, I really enjoyed watching him the years he was in Dallas.

I saw two very memorable Boucher moments in person, and one of them was great while the other was actually pretty terrifying.

I saw him score his only career hat trick (I think this was his only one, but let me know if I’m wrong!) against the L.A. Kings on one of my family’s “day after Thanksgiving” hockey holidays. This was in the 2006-07 season where Boucher set a personal career record in goals and a Dallas Stars team record in goals. He was also on the starting lineup for the 2007 All-Star game that was played in Dallas. He did this all while he had to deal with tremendous personal problems off the ice.

In the 2003-04 season, we also saw Boucher take a slapshot to the eye in a game against New Jersey. Ironically, this was also on the day after Thanksgiving. Boo certainly was the man of the hour for most of those games. Seeing a player get seriously injured on the ice is something that never leaves your mind, even though no one ever wants to experience it. Luckily, Boo was able to recover from that and came back wearing a visor full-time (his wife made him).

Boo had a wicked slapshot from the point and a huge heart that showed in every shift he was on the ice. His problem was that he often had trouble staying healthy, and as a result, he lost several seasons due to long-term injuries that kept him out of the regular season and the playoffs.

Boucher retires as a Stanley Cup Champion, and I am happy for him (even if it was with the Pens). He definitely gets a Two Sign Girl Salute! Hopefully he will retire back to Dallas, and maybe we will see him around the Stars someday.

Amy