We’ll see how patient we are when the games count.

Mike Heika talked to Marc Crawford after Tuesday’s game about the “spotty” play of the Stars.

“We are going to correct the things we can and go back and reinforce the system’s strong points of play, but we are also going to demonstrate some patience as well. It’s going to take a constant reinforcement to get it.”

I think this is a good plan, this demonstrating some patience, but I don’t know if we’ll really see that when the games start counting.

The Dallas Stars got such a terrible start last season that they’re determined this one will be good. But if they’re still trying to learn the system and trust their own creativity and end up losing some extra games, I wonder if the coaching staff will bail on the whole patience thing and just play the half of the team that is already getting it.

I don’t think it will behoove guys like Fabian Brunnstrom to lose playing time because he might make a mistake. Or if he isn’t scoring like crazy in the first few games.

The same goes for the young defensemen like Niskanen and Fistric. Really all of the defensemen are going to need some patience.

Of course, I can’t see any of this new system yet, or how well anybody is playing it. I’m just going by what Mike Heika says, essentially. It just sounds, from the quotes I’ve been reading, that it’s pretty different from what our veterans are used to.

We’re talkin’ about practice.

Pay attention, boys.

I finally went to a training camp practice today and it was great fun. Myra and The Kid joined me for the second hour and we analyzed the X’s and O’s together.

Mostly I took pictures, but not very good ones. I have a new camera and I don’t know it very well, so I’ll need some practice with it. I do know I need to override the shutter speed, first thing. Every picture was just a little blurry from all the movement.

This was the first time I’ve seen Marc Crawford run a practice and the main difference from Dave Tippett was that I could hear that he was talking. Tipp’s voice was so low, even when he was yelling, it didn’t escape the rink. Crawford’s probably yelling at the same volume, but he’s WAY up the register.

I followed Mark Fistric around a little bit and he looked pretty good. They did a lot of drills I’ve never seen, of course, and one was for stealing pucks and breaking up passes and Fistric did well. Kind of surprisingly, Krys Barch was doing a good job of poking the puck off the coach’s stick before he had a chance to try to get it past Fistric.

(R to L) Sitting, sitting, standing, working.

Fabian Brunnstrom was in the second practice and while they were waiting for the Zamboni to finish re-surfacing the ice, we got to watch him practice his stick handling. It’s fascinating to watch. He was doing his school figures during another lull and carrying the puck backwards and forwards in circles. Before the drills started, I caught him working on a trick shot (although I hate to call it a trick shot because I can see how it could come in handy plenty of times) where he flips the puck one-handed, back-handed, top shelf.

You’re never so good you can stop practicing, kids.

I have a feeling, that started the last month of last season, that we’re about to see what all the hubbub was with Bunny. I expect to see him take off this season.

Crawford had them doing what I decided was a “get back” drill that was fun to watch. They simulated losing the puck in the offensive zone, then racing back to take it away from the forward before he got a shot off. It really showed how Nick Grossman is an underrated skater. He and Fistric both had no problem getting back.

Trevor Daley, of course, was just flying around all the time. That guy can skate.

Other than that, there were a lot of kids I didn’t recognize without a program. It won’t be long now until the real games get started.

Pre-season form.

I’m going to attribute it to the long off-season, but I am going to need more work to be able to follow what’s going on.

First, the Tampa Bay game last night, broadcast on Tampa radio (online) really shone a light on how out of shape I am. It’s hard to follow on radio as it is, for a TV girl like me, but it’s even harder when it’s a crazy stranger calling the play-by-play. I’m a big fan of Dan McDowell’s “Homer Call of the Week” bit on the Ticket, and the Tampa guy would be a perfect candidate. He just about blew out my computer speakers when Tampa scored and when Dallas did, he just said, “Score.”

Still, I was grateful for a chance to hear the game. It sounded like Brad Richards was really into it. He had a goal and a shootout goal, and I hear that he was all over the ice. Just the stories about him and how he’s 100% healthy and 100% on board with the new system make me assume that he’s just beaming all the time.

This could be very good for us. If Morrow and Ribeiro continue with their top-line-ness, and Brad and Loui are the 2-punch, it could be very good.

I’m listening to the game against the Avs on Denver radio and while the play-by-play guy is a little more normal, Peter McNabb is the color guy and he is not my favorite. Far from it, in fact. But, you take what you can get.

The score is not in our favor as I listen, but I can’t tell why that is. I’m easily distracted. He’s mentioned Beaudoin several times, and pronounces it differently each time.

I think I need a few more workouts, maybe a couple of play-by-play listening drills before I’m ready for the start of the season.

Very interesting…

Andrew’s Dallas Stars Page had this quote from Brad Richards…

…on the the pace of the scrimmage and activation of the defensemen:

“I’ve been in the league nine years and most of the time I’ve played that type of system. I feel at home. I love it. I feel that’s the way the game should be played. No disrespect to the coaches that coach that way, it’s all about winning and what your personnel is. But for guys like Niskanen, Daley and Robi, who can jump up on plays and have good speed, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Maybe this will be a re-breakout for Brad. And for Nisky and Robi and Trevor, too. I’m all for speed and excitement and offense, as long as we don’t forget to get back and help the goalie. Breakaways can be fun, but not if it’s the other team headed toward Marty.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a fan of defense. I’d rather see a 2-1 win than a 7-6 loss. Sure, I’d love to see a 7-1 win, so if that’s what the new system means, I’m all for it. But if it means giving up 3, 4, 5 goals a game, I am NOT all for it.

Turco might have his work cut out for him. Even more so than usual.

The season inches ever closer.

Tomorrow is the start of Training Camp. Finally, it’s here.

I don’t think I’ve ever wished more for a season to start than I have for this one. Last season was such a mess, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about a new season starting. But now that it’s here, I need it. I need it to clear out last year’s cobwebs.

This is the Nine-Ten* season. Last season is dead and gone. We don’t ever have to mention that one again. We don’t have to wonder what could have been any more. Now we can turn our attention to what this season can be.

Nine-Ten can be the best the Stars have had in a long time, but it could just as easily turn into a circus again. Who knows what Crawford and Huddy are going to be like? Who knows how all the young kids are going to handle the big coaching changes? Or how the veterans are going to handle it, for that matter?

I expect them to try really hard at first, hoping to get a better start than the season we’ve all forgotten about. I just hope that they know what they’re doing. I have a feeling that confidence is going to be a big factor.

If they don’t get a good start, I wonder how Crawford will respond. Will every mistake land a kid in the doghouse? Will he give them a chance to learn? Our three d-kids, Mark Fistric, Matt Niskanen, and Nick Grossman, are all coming off their sophomore year, so they should be past that hump and starting to make names for themselves. They still have a few years before they hit their peak, but it’s not going to help them if they’re afraid to make mistakes.

For all I know, Marc Crawford isn’t like that anymore. He says he’s changed. I have no idea what kind of coach he is on a day-to-day basis. I’ve only seen him behind opposing benches and read unflattering things about him.

Have a good life, Boo.

The signature Boucher shot-block. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Philippe Boucher has announced his retirement today. Even though the last couple of seasons were tough, he ended his playing career on a high, with his name on the Stanley Cup.

He was an underrated defenseman that could block shots, push people around, and chip in a goal or two. He had a hat trick in November of ‘06 on his way to 19 goals and 32 assists. He went to the All-Star Game that season and it was right here in Dallas. He got the biggest ovation of the night.

He had a long career, after some stumbles early, and he made a perfectly good name for himself in the NHL.

He’s a sweet guy. I’ve never heard anybody say anything bad about him. He’s well-spoken and always had great interviews. He actually listened to questions, then answered them, and even elaborated intelligently. I sincerely think he should go into television and maybe join the Fox Sports Southwest crew for the pre-, during-, and post-game shows this season. If he’s not too mad at us.

Being traded is never fun, but I think this trade worked out for Bouche. He got to play alongside Sidney Crosby, and he won a Stanley Cup. What else could a guy ask for?

Whatever he does, I hope he stays in hockey, so we can catch a glimpse of him occasionally…see how he’s doing. I’m going to miss him.

So…how’s everybody doing?

Things have been pretty dull around here, what with all the lack of hockey and everything.

At first I kind of enjoyed the relief of nothing going on. Nothing I can do about Crawford now. Last season is gone, no getting it back. It was relaxing.

But now I’m getting the itch again pretty bad. August is infuriating me by just plodding along at a snail’s pace, with a constant 98-and-sunny forecast. I never liked August, even as a kid. It’s too hot, for one thing, and there are no holidays. When I was in school it was the last month of summer vacation — it was the equivalent of Sunday night. It’s hard to enjoy it knowing what’s just around the corner. Plus it was too hot.

Now that I’m a hockey fan, I am not sure which I look forward to most. Hockey, because it means cool weather, or cool weather, because it means hockey.

Stars name a new assistant coach.

The Dallas Stars have named Charlie Huddy as Marc Crawford’s new assistant coach. I really should know more about him, considering the fact that I was kind of an Oilers-blog groupie for a while. I do recognize the name, but I don’t know how Oilers fans felt about him.

If what Mike Heika thinks is true (and it usually is), he’ll do well developing our d-kids.

I honestly think he has one of the most important jobs in the organization in the next two or three years, as he will have a direct hand in developing youngsters like Matt Niskanen, Nicklas Grossman, Mark Fistric, Ivan Vishnevskiy and maybe even Philip Larsen.

If what I’m hearing is the case, he’ll be joining Marc Crawford in changing the mood to more skating and more offense. He has the players to do it. Even a kid like Fistric, who’s mostly a stay-at-home defenseman, can skate and move the puck well. If we’re about to see Daley finally get to kick off the reins and be the offensive guy we all thought he’d be, I’m all for that. If Matt Niskanen can keep up his improvement after, really, only 3/4 of a sophomore slump, we’ll be in pretty good shape.

This is what I’ve been reduced to.

See anything you want?

I cleaned out my garage! In the heat of the day! In July!

I came across a few things I hadn’t seen in a while.

I knew my dad’s childhood dump truck was in a bin out there, and every time I got in the car I thought, “I need to bring that truck in. I’ll do it when I get home.” Today, I finally brought it in.

This is one of my favorite things.

And I had had a nagging feeling when I finally hung all my clocks after all this time, that I was missing an important one. But I couldn’t find any others and I figured I was just nuts.

Something's just not right...

This is the one I was missing. I had completely forgotten about this clock.

It has a light!

Isn’t it adorable? A little light to shine on the face. This is one of my favorites. I can’t believe I forgot all about it. I took down the wholly inappropriate clock on the top right corner and replaced it with this one.

See? Much better.

Isn’t the little light adorable?

Seriously. Look how cute.

So the garage cleaning wasn’t that bad. To the untrained eye, though, the “after” isn’t much different than the “before.”

And MAN, it was hot.

Hockey’s never coming back, is it?

Sergei Zubov is going back to Russia.

I really don’t like this news. TSN is reporting that he has officially signed a contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. I haven’t heard yet if he has any outs or anything.

I was mostly resigned to the likelihood that he wouldn’t return to the Dallas Stars, but I was planning to watch him play for whatever team he joined. I wanted him to come back to town with his new team so Stars fans could give him a long standing ovation in his new uniform. It would have been very moving.

Now, we’ll just never see him again. We won’t get to say goodbye.

I’m not mad at either side, surprisingly. I don’t blame Joe Nieuwendyk for wanting to wait and see if he’s healthy or for offering him a much-reduced amount. And I don’t blame Zubov for thinking he can still play and wanting to play for somebody that’s willing to take a chance on him.

I don’t know what I’m going to do; cheering for a team that Sergei Zubov doesn’t play for. I never have before.

He has such a fluid style. He can still deke with the best of them. He can still head straight for a defender and then yoink the puck and spin away at the last second, while the other guy looks around, comically confused.

I’ll miss the way he trails one toe as he serpentines through the neutral zone. Or turns on the heel of his blade as he ducks around the crowd at the net and flips the puck into the top corner.

Or holsters his stick after scoring a particularly humiliating shootout goal.

I’ll miss his beaming, dimpled smile when he or a teammate scores a goal.

Adoration makes him uncomfortable, but it’s his own fault for being so great. It’s pretty much assumed his #56 jersey will go up into the rafters in the AAC the minute he retires, and it had better.

Maybe we can say goodbye on that night.