First off, if at all possible, stay the hell away from the photo gallery. It`s a mess, and it`s currently riddled with malware. I`d currently disabled, but please do not access it... I have no idea what you might run into if you do.

On a good note, It`s finally given me a reason to trash the gallery software we`ve been using. Coppermine Photo Gallery used to be great, and quite cutting edge, but it has since fallen into the hands of lazy devs and it`s getting rather archaic... so it`s upgrade time.

Also, you may have noticed some odd posts on the blogs. It would seem a spambot found its way into the server and was posting SEO garbage... the problem has since been solved.

That`s all for now... watch this space for more updates.

As few as three days ago, Stars fans were talking about the possibility of a sweep. Brooms were brought to game 4 and fans were ready. The Sharks rallied in the third to win the game and silence those cries.... Fast forward to game 5... The Dallas Stars are up 2-0 heading into the third period regardless of a controversial no-goal call on Brendan Morrow. Shortly into the third, Dallas is disallowed yet another goal, this one not controversial at all... Minutes later the San Jose sharks have the game tied, off of two Dallas defensive errors... OT came and another stars mental error sealed the game.

The Stars still lead this series, but by a slim 3-2 margin heading home. Can they do it again? Clinch a series at home? Well, they better, because MARK MY WORDS, if this goes to a game 7, we'll all be watching the Wings beat up on the Sharks as opposed to the Stars.

One of the great thing about sports are Alternate Logos. They are a break from the ordinary and are most times are fan favorites. Today, I am going to look at the Best Alternate Logos in the NHL.

Just a note that I defined a alternate logo as either a logo from a third jersey or a shoulder logo.

5. Leafs interwined TML - As much as it pains me to say this being a proud Leaf-Hater, I still really liked the Logo. This does not mean that I am showing any passion towards the Leafs in anyway...IT DOESN'T!

4. Thrasher Head - Very glad to see they used this head in the 2008 All-Star Logo

 3. Nashville's Fossil Head - It is one of the most talked about alternates in all sports because of its gawdyness (is that even a word?)

2. Oilers Oil Drop -  This one

ringtones ac dcfree 100 ringtones realaccrington infoadams georgia herringtonalltel ringtones motoq24 clock ringtone2g ringtonesjazz that all ringtone Mapfriad 9000.00 casinocity ameristar mo casino-kansascasino 07016 428ameristart and omaha casinoarizona maricopa akchincasinoameristar hotel casino city kansasabout and casino gamblingcasino american guid3 Map

First off, it's become evident that things are slowing down here at DSF. I no longer have the time to keep the site up to date. If you feel you could contribute some time to writing here feeel free to comment.

Not much to say, Happy to see the team pull out a big win against Anaheim tonight. Proves that they are capable of much more than we say against Phoenix on Saturday.

Blogged with Flock

One of my traditions is finding out every September about what the so called “experts” think about the up coming hockey year and what they rate the Stars.

This years batch of yearbooks have made people having to hold me back from sharp objects and shoe strings. For example The Hockey News is saying the Stars will finish 11th in the Western Confrence, that same yearbook graded the Stars a C-.And then theScore Forecaster put the Stars at 9th in the Western Confrence.

These rankings are a joke! Because year after year the Stars have proved themselves to be quite worthy of a playoff spot. After all in the past 2 years they have had a grand total of 103 wins and 219 points.

Then what is the deal with the talk about them not making the playoffs? The same core of players are still there, they had only one major loss (Sydor). Plus how can you write off any team that has such a strong goaltending as the Dallas Stars? Marty Turco and Mike Smith are the best 1-2 punch in the league. Also who could forget about the shootout? We will easily get an extra 7-10 points this year from the winning shootouts, these points will for sure make us a shoe in for the playoffs.

In conclusion I almost forgot to tell you about my other favorite tradition. Picking up these yearbooks in April and looking at what kind of idiots these experts look like after picking the Stars to finish so low.

-Just a Reminder that my ‘expert’ picks for the 07/08 season will be shown on this blog in about 1 week-

July 27, 2007

Lammers led warm-ups after the skate around and then the coach told the players to partner up. While the skaters worked, Moog worked with the Goalies, who passed the puck to each other in a triangle. Later they worked on coming out of their nets to play the puck and then sending it back up ice.

In their pairs they worked on puck control while trying to shake off their partner. Later they worked in the same pairs but battled more along the boards, taking turns with one another on who started with the puck. The Neal brothers partnered together and they were the most fun to watch. Their battles were the most intense, with James winning most of them. At one point James punched Michael in the face, he did not look too pleased. Michael was also on the end of a bone crushing hit from his brother, that left him face down on the ice. The Sacchetti and Sertich pair was also fun to watch, they are both good at protecting the puck so it was hilarious watching them try to steal the puck from each other.

The next drill had six skaters in a circle with one of the pairs in the middle. They again would battle for the puck and those along the ring would help keep the puck in the circle. After that the skaters worked on controlling the puck through a series of cones before shooting the puck at the Goalies. Van Lare had a nice goal and Gagnon bore a hole through Blanchard. The coaches then added sticks to some of the cones and the skaters had to move the puck either under or over the stick as they weaved through them. Sacchetti had a really nice goal against Kraus. Crombeen put in a pretty one glove-side high. Sertich put a solid wrister past Bachman that brought accolades from the coaches. Bachman continued to have a strong glove hand and Niskanen hit a hard one off the post. McIntyre had a nice top shelf goal, and Crombeen put in a pretty backhander.

The next drill had all of the D at center ice. On opposite ends of the ice the D would cycle with a forward partner and make the first pass up ice to them, the D would then position themselves to defend against an on coming forward. Niskanen did really well keeping Snow from the front of the net and Dupont defended well against Van Lare. Ludwig made some nice moves and kept the speedy Crombeen from reaching his target. Neal is such a force and he was too much for Niskanen to deal with, he did defend well against Gazdic.

The next part of the drill had a forward stay in the corner after their drive to the net and when the next forward came in and got a shot off, they would grab a puck and make their own drive to the net. The defender who skated in the zone after dealing with the first forward would then turn their attention on the forward in the corner. Sacchetti looked good in this drill and Szczechura got past Dupont, went around the back of the net and potted a sweet wrap around goal. Bachman should have cut Szczechura off; he gave him too much room. Ludwig tried to defend against Sacchetti but was unable to do so successfully. Clune out skated Nickerson, which is not difficult to do, and drilled the puck home. Vishnevskiy and then Niskanen defended well against Snow.

Fistric led stretches before they zammed the ice, and Clune led them afterwards. They then separated them black from the white and worked on receiving passes from the coaches. Sceviour put in a nice rebound goal and Benn put in a pretty one just over the top of Kraus’s pad.

The next drill had the D back in the middle; it was the same as the other drill except that the guy in the corner met up with the other forward after he got his shot off. Crombeen beat Niskanen to the front of the net. Sacchetti looked good against Ludwig, but not so good against Niskanen, who played him well. Szczechura showed a lot of speed during this drill and put in a few wristers. Fistric could not match Crombeen’s speed, he did attempt to dive towards him, but missed, lol. Sacchetti got a bloody nose at some point, but he sucked it up and kept playing. Smith again had trouble out deking himself and lost control of the puck. However, on his next turn he handled the puck well and put in a pretty goal. Lammers looked impressive during this drill. McIntyre shot a pretty goal right above the goalies pads.

The next drill they worked in pairs against one D. Fistric couldn’t handle James Neal, who got past him for a pretty goal. Vishnevskiy defended really well against the pair of Michael Neal and Szczechura. (James Neal threw a puck over the glass to this cute little kid in a Stars jersey.)

They then started to just play around on the ice, some working alone some in pairs and the majority split in two groups that gathered around the goal mouth. One guy would shoot and would keep shooting until he missed and then they would rotate and the next guy would start. Nickerson, strangely enough, put in 5 in a row.

Vishnevskiy and Crombeen were the last to leave the ice again, tipping in pucks for about 5 minutes.

Afternoon session (I took very little notes, because I was talking to a few people)

They started early for some reason, and they were again working on passing drills. Hull was out on the ice with them and was giving them tips and lots of encouragement.

During one drill they would make large sweeping circles around the rink and then would take a shot. Sceviour had two really nice goals in this drill. Lammers got a goal on his second effort. The drill was modified slightly and during the circle they would pass the puck to each other before driving towards the net. James Neal had a nice rebound goal, Lammers and Sceviour roofed theirs and then an extra Goalie showed up. I am petty sure that it was the Tornados goalie.

At this point each skater went to the blue line received a pass and took two shots. Ludwig got a good job from Hull when he put in a nice goal. Ludwig had his best day today, scoring several goals. Crombeen hit Kraus in the face with his wrister and then later had a nice slap shot goal from the slot. Sacchetti and Soryal both potted goals. While Blanchard robbed James Neal of a would be goal; however he could not stop a shot by Lammers. Benn put in another top shelf goal, while James Neal’s two goals got past Blanchard. Ludwig again had several nice goals and Vishnevskiy had one go in and another ring off the pipe. Niskanen and Sacchetti had weak goals, which showed a five hole weakness on Kraus.

Blanchard was coming out and playing his angles well but it didn’t stop Fistric from getting one past him. Roman showed some great puck handling but couldn’t get past Blanchard’s pads. Kraus has gotten stronger each day and absolutely robbed Vishnevskiy with his glove, that save brought cheers from fans and players alike. He then let in a goal against Neal, but came back strong with nice saves on Nickerson and Gazdic.

And the end of practice they were just playing around again, Hull and some of the coaches included. Hull put in every shot he took and brought cheers from the prospects. James Neal again gave away pucks to the kids.

At the end of practice Ludwig, Smith, Vishnevskiy and Sacchetti stayed on the ice for quite a while shooting pucks at the net. Smith was putting in trick shots.

July 25, 2007

The theme of the day, again was offense, and it appears that it will be the focus for the whole week. There were quite a few drills based on controlling and protecting the puck in tight as well as when traveling the length of the ice. Fistric lead the first warm-ups after the skate around. They started off today with passing drills in groups of three with one guy rotating back and forth between the other two who were passing him the pucks. Some of the groups working together were, (67-40-50), (47-25-32), (5-46-48), (52-55-33), (18-45-51), (17-54-28), (58-37-39), (42-38-44).

While the skaters practiced, Moog worked with the three goalies. He would skate behind the net and pass up to one goalie that would then shoot on whomever was in net. They worked both sides and all three looked good, but who wouldn’t if you knew from which side the puck was coming.

The next drill, the Goalies moved back into their nets and the skaters, starting at center ice would skate toward the net, then made a 180 back the way they came, through three cones set up in a triangle, where they were supposed to do a stop turn in the middle of the cones. They would then continue on past a coach, who was trying to strip the puck from them and then up the ice through some more cones before releasing a shot at the goalie. Niskanen, J. Neal and Vishnevskiy looked the best in this drill. Nickerson looked better controlling the puck in this drill than he did in the all of the drills from yesterday. Doyle looked pretty good during this drill as well, it was the first time I had really noticed him.

At one point during the drill the coaches stopped the skaters and corrected many who were not doing a stop turn in the cones and were instead just spinning, they also changed the end of the drill where they had to maneuver through three cones before taking a shot on goal.

Dupont struggled a bit with the stop turn in tight but made a great move to get past the coach by sending the puck through the his legs.

Crombeen continues to improve each day; I really enjoy watching him skate, he is so fast. He has a lot of energy and controlled the puck well in this drill. Clune is another one that gets stronger each day.

Sacchetti had a good day today, these drills seemed to play to his strengths. He handled the corners well, much like the three I mentioned earlier, and for a kid so young he impressed me with his ability to control the puck.

Gazdic and Ludwig did not look good during this drill. Vishnevskiy had a nice goal, glove side high. Gagnon looked smooth in this drill and moved well between the three cones before releasing a pretty wrister. Benn also continued to look good and towards the end of the drill put in another top shelf goal.

Niskanen is a magician out there, the puck just seems to stay with him no matter what, his skating in every situation looks sharp and he does everything at top speed.

About 30 minutes into the practice, Craig Ludwig showed up on the bench and stayed for a while.

The next puck protection drill set the players up against each other one on one. It also gave the defensmen a chance to work on positioning while defending. (That is how is started, but later they switched roles)

They split the group in two and worked on different sides of the ice. They only let them go for about 15-20 seconds, but it showed a lot in a little time. Crombeen and Fistric were first and Fistric did a great job of keeping him from getting a shot off but Crombeen was able to control the puck the whole time. Nickerson was able to get the puck from Sertich, but with the height difference, Marty just went under Matt’s arm and got it back.

Clune was able to get around Vishnevskiy, but Ivan did a good job of getting back in position to block Clune’s shot. Mcknight did well protecting the puck and was able to get away from Niskanen. Snow made a pretty goal when he got by Lammers. Smith was no match physically against Nickerson and got pushed around badly. Niskanen did well at controlling the puck but Sertich was able to come in and steal it. Later Matt went up against Vishnevskiy and had a really hard time containing him. However, at the very end he was able to get the puck away. Sacchetti was able to beat his guy and put in a nice goal, he really is good at puck control. James Neal tripped Fistric badly and when they went at it again, Fistric out dangled Neal and put in a pretty backhander. Smith used his speed later to get a shot on goal and Benn was excellent at protecting the puck. I really felt like Fistric was the best during this drill.

The next drill set two players against one defender. Smith looked great again; he just has some jets and is hard to catch, if only he was able to slow down in time to take a shot it would be better.

James Neal made a highlight reel goal when he used Fistric as a screen and deposited the puck in between Fistric’s and the Goalies legs. Gagnon and McKnight worked well together, making nice clean passes to each other and in the process made Nickerson look silly. Lammers had a nice block during this drill and Crombeen and James Neal worked great together. They have a natural chemistry together and made several no look passes on their shift. Unfortunately for them Fistric was in the way, he positions himself really well, I could see him being hard to deal with on a 5 on 3. Later Gagnon fed Fistric a pass that he flipped in goal past Nickerson and Bachman.

Niskanen had a lot of trouble with James Neal and Szczechura deked Blanchard into a knot. It was a pretty goal. Vishnevskiy was working against James Neal and Crombeen later and had a difficult time containing the pair, his goalie bailed him out twice.

The next drill grouped 4 guys together at the goal mouth; black against white. The coach would fire the puck at the goalie and in teams of two they would try to score on the rebound. If they couldn’t score they would battle for the puck until one of the teams were able. Here is where Sacchetti really excelled today. His ability to control the puck was outstanding. He held onto the puck all over the zone and then crossed behind the net and around to the front drawing his defender with him, he was able to get a cross crease pass to Szczechura who then put the puck in the net. Vishnevskiy and Niskanen were working together as they have done a lot this week. And during this drill they created several nice scoring chances but all were stopped by Blanchard who was putting on a show.

Lammers, McIntyre & Michael Neal all did a great job battling along the boards and protecting the puck. McIntyre while battling was able to move the puck out of danger and passed it right on to the tape of his partner.

There were several guys that wiped out their prey; Dupont obliterated some guy along the boards while Micheal Neal took out Van Lare more than a few times during their shift.

After the Ice was zammed, Nickerson led the warm-up. Starting at center ice, the skaters had to get control of a puck that was flipped up in the air by a coach. After catching/controlling it they then had to make drive toward the net. I noticed Justin Soryal for the first time during this drill. He controlled the puck well, and put in a pretty goal. Gagnon had some nice moves and drilled in a goal. Vishnevskiy fell during the drill but kept the puck on his stick and controlled it well, even while getting up. James Neal looked sharp, I love how he drives toward the net. Snow had another pretty goal.

I really enjoy watching Austin Smith skate. He isn’t fluid, in fact his skating can be likened to a English Bull Dog running at top speed, while it isn’t pretty it gets him from point a to b and is fun to watch from the stands. At one point when he had that speed under control he was able to fake out Bachman and put in a sweet backhander. Sertich was able to get a goal past Kraus but I don’t know if that is saying much because Kraus was getting beat high by guys during the whole drill. McIntyre showed some good speed in this drill but was beat by the glove of Bachman, I know I keep saying it, but he is just really good with that glove.

The next drill was a fun for the Goalies, a nice 3 on 0 session. Bachman was putting on a show, but Benn roofed one past him. Van Lare and Mcknight had goals again Kraus. Vishnevskiy and Smith worked well together and each put in rebound goals. Blanchard stoned Vishnevskiy more than a few times, but was having trouble in tight. Dupont had a really nice goal, his wrister is accurate and tricky while his slap shot needs more power.

At the end of practice, Sertich, Vishnevskiy, Crombeen and Lammers stayed out and played keep away from the guy in the middle. I always find it interesting which guys stay out on the ice after practice is over. They stayed out for about ten more minutes just having fun and putting on a show with some hard passes. Vishnevskiy was a beast in the middle.