Tippett vents

    Coach Dave Tippett was still angry, fuming, frustrated, whatever the word may be concerning his team's performance (or lack thereof) against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. The Stars didn't practice on Friday. Instead, they met about the Wings debacle.
    Tippett's biggest beef was the play of the Stars' biggest stars. Can't blame him, really. Guys making mucho money are not earning it right now (i.e., top two centers and goaltender). Here's a snippett of what he said:
    "The difference between Detroit’s top players and our top players wasn’t even close: (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg, what they did in the game and what (Mike) Ribeiro and (Brad) Richards did, it was a just ways to go. It's very disturbing. The people you rely on to make a difference just don’t."

Here's more:
    "Whether it’s the ability to make a play out of nothing, to make a good play that makes a difference, make a big save, those are difference-makers. Everybody has to do their part. The top players are usually the ones who can dictate outcomes."

Asked Ribeiro and Turco about it (missed Richards somewhere coming out of the building). The players have talked about it since their flight to Phoenix last night. I asked Ribeiro, who had some really big chances to score early, if the missed opportunities weigh on his mind: "Not really. There's not much you can do about it now. During the game you think about it. But you're not going to score on them now. You just forget about it."

Turco's comments and how Tippett was, uh, ticked: "He should be." But how do the players feel?
    "It stings. A lot of the sting is personal, to how we played individually. As a team, we’re collectively thinking about it. As much as Tip was angry, and deservedly so, our situation dictates focus for tomorrow (against Phoenix) and realizing those points are important. But (Detroit) is a wakeup call. The things we were doing were good, but they don’t mean anything without effort and execution."

Comments

[Danny]

Nice work getting these quotes, Tracey. It was just an awful performaance all around. Like Turco said, if I was tippet, I would be fuming. I'm tired of seeing the same thing when it comes to big games: the stars big names not showing up. It happened in edmonton on saturday and then again yesterday... Just disturbing.