The Dallas Stars come back tonight. I can not tell you how exicited this makes me. It seems like so long ago when the Stars were eliminated by The Colorado Avaleanche.

I remember I was playing in a charity tennis tournament at the Four Seasons Country Club in Las Colinas and the Stars were on the road at Colorado. Between maches I was watching the game on the clubhouse tv, and talking with a woman who happens to be good friends with Pierre Turgeon, the Stars second line center. She was explaining to me that Turgeon felt a bit stifled in the current NHL, because his immense talent and passing and distributing the puck had been quelched by a combination of the intense hooking, clutching, and grabbing in today's NHL, and the Dallas Stars' system.

Now the Stars are in an NHL which in theory, is emphasizing scoring and enforcing the rules. That means lots of fast skating, lots of puck distribution, and lots of power plays. A perfect environment for Pierre Turgeon to thrive....but unfortunately, Pierre Turgeon is now a mewmber of the aforementioned Colorado Avalanche. I caught a preseason game against the Avalanche and Turgeon had two goals and an assist....whoops.

Thankfully, Mike Modano looked on form too, making a mind-boggling move on a beautiful shootout goal. Yes, I said shootout goal...another new feature in today's NHL. I am excited about today's game vs. the Kings. While I'm disappointed that Turgeon has moved on, I'm rather excited that Richard Matvichuk moved east to the New Jersey Devils. That boy was a dud in every sense of the word...and his helicopter always semed to appear at the wrong place at the wrong time. Blogger Matt and I, in our teenage years, used to call him "Richard Matvi-suck".

Starting tonight vs. the Kings, the Stars will have turned the corner and so will I. I wasn't the happiest of campers when this lockout started, for personal reasons as much as anything. In a much better place now, and ready for the puck to drop!


Go Stars!