All Guts, None of the Glory

I knew I’d cry the day Stephane Robidas was no longer a Star. To me, Robi is a perfect hockey player. So few players have set such a leading example of what a hockey player is or embodied the toughness that Robi did in his years here. And yet his efforts have gone largely unnoticed. 

That’s just who Stephane Robidas is.

An all guts, no glory player who led by example and would always take one for the team but never asked for recognition or even a simple thank you. 

With his rather small size, at first glance he doesn’t look to be much. But did he ever bring it. Robidas’s contributions came largely in the form of physical sacrifices. Shot blocking? He’s on it. Puck to the face? Just another day at the office. He never shied away from hitting players twice his size if it meant helping his team win a game. 

The selfish part of me wanted Robidas to stay forever and retire as a Dallas Star, but Jim Nill did him right by letting him go to a contender. He deserves a shot at the Cup. No one deserves it more than Robi.  He’s seriously the best.

As if you needed more reason to love this classy, perfect human being:

I would have preferred he not go to a team the Stars could potentially play in the first round (fingers crossed that we hold on!), but honestly it doesn’t even matter that much. If Anaheim wins the Stanley Cup, I will have the biggest smile on my face because one of my all-time favorites will finally get the glory he deserves. 

I’ll miss the hell out of you, Robi. Thanks for 12 years.

True Grit

The Stars-Ducks game last night was the only game in the league, and it was seriously entertaining. When NHL Network analyst, Jamie McLennan, said that the Stars and Ducks “don’t have much of a history,” and I was like

 

The Ducks are the closest thing we have to a rivalry, so I don’t know what McLennan was getting at with that statement. Stars-Ducks games almost always bring hostility, and last night’s matchup was no different.

The first period was particularly gritty. We saw:

• Brad Staubitz being a dick on two separate occasions, both of which led to Stars goals. That spear, though, was an especially dickish thing to do. Since it happened early enough in the game, it was basically a one-game suspension, so he got what he deserved.
• Corey Perry and Stephane Robidas jawing at each other and ultimately fighting. I didn’t realize it at the time, but their scuffle stemmed from Robi knocking Perry into the boards and injuring him last season. And Perry is also a douche, so I’m sure that had something to do with it as well.
• Sheldon Souray and Jamie Benn going at it. Souray seemed angry during the game, leading me to believe that he harbors some extreme resentment toward the Stars for not re-signing him. Anaheim is doing so well that he really shouldn’t be that angry, but I could feel the resentment from him.

Overall, this was a huge win for the Stars. Finally, they’ve beaten a real opponent. This wasn’t a hapless Avs team; nope, it was the Pacific division leaders. They played a great game last night, and it’s starting to seem like Glen Gulutzan actually knows what he’s doing.

Just some other game notes:

• Jamie Benn’s goal was sick. His shot is severely underrated by the rest of the league, even though he showed it off at the All-Star Game a year ago. It’s like the Loui Eriksson of shots.
• Loui Eriksson looked so relieved when he scored that goal (a sick one at that). He’s seemed off at times, and I know he knows it. Scoring that goal should give him a good boost of confidence.
• Kari Lehtonen continues to be stellar. God, where would we be without him?
• Trevor freakin’ Daley. Ugh, he had SUCH a good game. He scored the opening goal, he made key defensive plays (ex. the amazing play on Palmieri), and he was just overall amazing.

My Three Stars of the Game:

1. Trevor Daley
2. Jamie Benn
3. Brad Staubitz

 

 

 

10/3/09 Shootout Loss to Preds

First of all, I want to congratualte Stephane Robidas on such a finely delivered hit on J.P. Dumont.  Trashville, that was payback for the Tootoo hit three years ago. 😛

Anyway, game review time, I thought the Stars looked slow through the first and most of the second period.  The first James Neal goal gave them momentum that they really needed.  And it was a pretty awesome goal.  I mean, Nealer was practically falling when he scored it. 🙂

They probably would have won if not for Dan Ellis’ (unfortunately) spectacular goaltending.  They played a solid game towards the end, and if they always play that way, this will be a good season.  I think I like Marc Crawford’s system.

Charlie Huddy= Our New Defense Coach

You’ve probably heard by now that Charlie Huddy is our newest bench acquisition. 

My first question is this, How the heck do you say his name?

Is it, like “Hoodie”?  Or is it more like, “Hootie?”  Or is it something completely different?

Well, whatever.  Here’s what SI’s Alan Muir had to say about it:

The news that Charlie Huddy had signed on with the Stars as an assistant coach didn’t exactly generate 20-point headlines outside of Dallas. Still, this stands to be one of the most impactful bench acquisitions of the offseason — and might end up being more important to the club than the hiring of head coach Marc Crawford.

I thought that was a nice thing to say- but then something else that infuriates me:

With All-Star (yeah, I double-checked) Stephane Robidas as the group’s only legitimate veteran, the struggling Stars are counting on rapid development from Matt Niskanen, Nicklas Grossman, Mark Fistric and Ivan Vishnevski, the former first rounder who should benefit the most from the repatriation of former Star Sergei Zubov.

With that one (very lengthy) sentence, he managed to make fun of Robidas and misspell Mini-Zubie’s name.  First of all, Stephane Robidas rocks.  He’s more of an All-Star than most of the regulars.  Robi rocks everyone’s socks off.  Secondly, it’s Vishnevskiy with a y at the end.  It just goes to show you how people don’t care about the Stars.  They’ll be eating their words soon. 

Oh, and by the way, it was a blurb in a Jeremy Roenick article.  Look.

Brad Richards is Only the 4th Highest Paid Player Now and Other Notes

-According to Pierre LeBrun, Hossa will get $7.9 million until 2015-16, and you know what that means?

Brad Richards with his $7.8 million a year is only the fourth highest player in the NHL now!  Yay!  Now my favorite Star won’t have to take so much heat for being paid so much now, because, honestly, I don’t think Hossa is worth that kind of money.  He’s a good player, yes, but he doesn’t strike me as a difference-maker. Besides, who hasn’t seen the tragic comedy that’s Marian Hossa’s recent career? ‘Nuff said.

-The Wild lost an injury-prone player to get…another injury-prone player. So what was the point of that?  Unless Martin Havlat and Marian Gaborik learn to stay healthy, Minnesota and New York both lose.

-Our very own Brenden Morrow and Stephane Robidas were invited to Team Canada’s training camp!  I’m very happy for both guys, and hopefully they make the team.

Brenden Morrow rocks. 🙂