Well, anyone who still checks this page will not be the least bit surprised that it is anger that pushes me to write again. Not joy, not passion, not ego, not even literary lust inspires me to dust off the ole keyboard and hack in a long procrastinated installment of Hockey Talk. Not Sid-The-Kid's 17 game point streak, not Tim Thomas' GAA, not even the John Scott vs. Kevin Westgarth fight compels me to re-emerge in the blogosphere. It is nothing but anger, anger at something we usually take for granted in our game... Officiating. Monday night with just over a minute to play, Karlis Skrastins of the Dallas Stars (wait, this isn't biased... seriously) got called for holding a Blue Jacket trying to get by him on the wing. While his hand did come off his stick, even a die-hard Columbus fan would tell you it wasn't a hold. While Karlis was serving his two minutes for solid defense, Rick Nash ties the game, which his team subsequently won in the shootout, ending the six game winning streak Dallas had been on since their drubbing in Toronto a couple weeks back. That is okay though, it is a long season and calls usually even out. It was just a few weeks ago that the Stars escaped with a win against Washington after a phantom goalie interference call erased a late game-tying goal to preserve the win. However, tonight officiating reached a new low. Nearly as low as Calgary not winning the Stanley Cup against the Lighting in Game 6. Tonight against the 'Hawks, Referee Dean Morton decided that Dallas was going to lose. Not only did he miss several blatant calls on Chicago players, but he insisted on calling at least three bogus calls on Stars players, including 2 late game lollipop calls on Stephane Robidas, which essentially stopped all hope of a comeback attempt that seemed destined to tie the game. In fact, he was so lopsided that powerplays ended up in favor of Chicago six to one, and the only call against the Blackhawks was a too many men call that was so obvious it couldn't be ignored (all six skaters were defending in the zone). I know officiating has been a topic of much debate in the GM meetings to date, and I know there is a learning curve to be expected with new rules and new refs, but the inferior quality of officiating this year (much more than any other that I can recall) is detracting from the fairness (and enjoyment!) of our beloved game. Remember the late 90's??? Yeah, it feels like eons ago, but they used to let guys play the game. The "New NHL" has been not only a smear campaign against good defensive hockey and a marketing ploy to attract the casual fan, but it has undermined the integrity of the on-ice product and made a mockery of the rule book!

Yeah, SopCZECH's back...

After just three games, it is easy to see that the Dallas Stars are an entirely different animal than last year. New coach Mark Crawford has implemented an up-tempo skating game which requires the team to operate more as a five man unit, rather than a collection of individuals occupying assigned spaces and lanes on the ice which was the system Dave Tippett used. Where Tippett was about waiting for opposition miskates to pounce on, Crawford is about making those scoring chances with your legs. The agressive system seems to benefit players like Trevor Daley on the blueline, who has phenominal skating ability. He now has the freedom to jump into the rush, and the confidence that one of the forwards will stay high and cover him. The system also benefits gung-ho forecheckers like Krys Barch, James Neal, and Steve Ott. Those guys will flourish this season with all kinds of opportunities.

Taking a player of Sergei Zubov's caliber out of your lineup creates a hole that cannot be filled by one man alone. Additions of Karlis Skrastins and Jeff Woywitka are good ones, and they both offer the team a bit of grit that has been missing since Hatcher and Matvichuk ran wild back there. Another year of experience and a new coach will also help the three young kids on the blueline. Niskanen, Fistric, and Grossman will be counted on a lot more this season, and will end up playing top minutes. Look for Niskanen's offensive numbers to go up with increased time on the powerplay.

Up front the Stars are very deep. Richards, Ribeiro, and Modano down the middle is a lot to contend with for any team. It poses a matchup nightmare, and now that the Stars appear to have a couple wingers capable of scoring goals (James Neal and Loui Eriksson), they might be able to take some pressure off the back end with more consistent scoring. A healthy Jere Lehtinen will improve the teams special teams drastically when he comes back. Watch also the emergence of Jamie Benn, and Tom Wandell. Neither was expected to make the roster out of training camp, but were nice surprises. Wandell in particular was brilliant in the Calgary game. He is strong on the puck, backchecks hard, and has some crafty moves. He seems to fit well with Steve Ott on that third line.

Finally Dallas has a backup goalie they can trust. Alex Auld will probably play about 25 games this year. They haven't had a guy who can give Marty a night off and give the team a chance to win since Mike Smith was traded to Tampa Bay. Turco needs to find his form again and get his confidence back. A new goalie coach should help his game.

It is a new era of Stars hockey with Nieuwendyk as GM and Crawford as head coach. There may be an adjustment period, but I expect the Stars to be a playoff team this season, and be very competitive in the Pacific Division. If they can stay healthy, they should have a great season, and it should be a lot more fun to watch than in seasons past.

G'day to anyone out there who still checks this page. I haven't been on in nearly a year, but there is good reason for that. During the hockey season last year, I graduated from college, moved to Sydney to start a Masters program, and spent time in seven different countries. Remote locations such as northern Thailand, east Java, and Tamil Nadu, India are not exactly hockey hotspots. In fact, in many places I have visited I was without any means to communicate with the rest of the world, which meant no watching hockey and obviously no writing about it.

While that might be a valid excuse for a few weeks off here and there, it is certainly not justification for nearly an entire year without a single blurb. I have postgraduate level research to blame for that. Eight hours per day locked into a computer exhausts me in a way that is hard to describe. It is mental, it is physical, and it makes extra writing seem more like a chore than a passion. Couple that with the fact that I have to watch every game on a computer screen in Australia (usually at absurd hours of the morning), and perhaps you begin to sympathize with my situation (I hope).

Another thing that didn't help my keeping up with the NHL like I always have was the trainwreck that the Dallas Stars called a season. I know I am meant to be unbiased, but coming off a trip to the Western Conference Finals two seasons ago, I had much higher hopes for the Twinkles in 08-09. A slow start, a struggling goaltender, a bored legend, and an injured captain made for one of the most painful seasons I can remember. When I came to Sydney in late February, it was clear there wasn't going to be any "May Magic" (as I like to call a deep playoff run), and so I kind of gave up on watching hockey and focused more on finding a place to live, working out my student loan applications, and getting started with my newest academic adventure.

Regardless of how it all happened, I really missed it, and I really missed this site. I started getting really down on myself thinking i was going soft and that the old me would have found a way to keep it all going. The me that used to sneak into the Buffalo Sabres dressing room to try and get autographs at the risk of criminal prosecution would have kept it going. The me that would leave highschool during lunch to skate on the rink in the park for 20 minutes would have kept it going. The me that tried every superstition under the sun including eating raw meat and a three day fast to get Ed Belfour out of his slump in 2001 would have kept it going. The bottom line is that I realized how important hockey has been to my life. My highest highs were from hockey, and my lowest lows were from hockey, both playing and watching.

Because of my love for the game, and very much for the same reasons that I began this site years ago, I am going to get back into the swing of it the best I can for the new season which begins this coming weekend. I downloaded the newest version of SlingBox software today, renewed my account for this site, and dusted off the one Stars sweater I brought with me to Australia (a Jere Lehtinen 2004 away jersey). I am ready to go, and very excited to start watching hockey again. Shortly, everything will be back the way it should be.

Just for laughs I read my most recent post from the 28th of October last year, which was a season preview for the Wahington Caps I did about 3 weeks late. Have a read of it for yourself. It is a shockingly accurate prediction of how the team and certain players would fare last year. I couldn't believe how much of what I said came true. So alas, there is hope that this will once again be THE place for all things hockey!

I think my biggest regret of the year off is all the wonderful hockey events that I did not get to cover. This year's Frozen Four was one of the best hockey tournaments ever played, with the kind of finish that will never be forgotten. The Canadian comeback at the World Junior tournament was one for the ages as well. To do it all on home ice was special. Crosby got the first of what will likely be many Cups, Chris Chelios did not yet officially retire, and Barry Melrose's very brief return to the bench and subsequent commentary was simply hilarious. I wish I got to cover those events on here, and it is a major missing chapter, but they will serve as motivation for me when more writing seems undoable.

Thanks a lot if you still check this site out. It means a lot to me. More to come soon. Cheers
SopCZECH