Chase for the Cup Race: 8 – Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway
Dickies 500 @ TMS Day / Date: Sunday – November 8 2009
Dickies 500 @ TMS Time: 1:30 PM Central Time
Dickies 500 @ TMS TV Information: ABC
Dickies 500 @ TMS Tickets:

The Front Office

The first major change the Stars made this off season is the replacement of Co General Managers Brett Hull and Les Jackson with Joe Nieuwendyk. Les Jackson will return to his post with the Stars scouting department, and Brett Hull will reclaim his thrown as the Stars Ambassador of fun / whatever other position they are giving him this year. After this change took place Joe Nieuwendyk’s first move as the Dallas Stars new General Manager was to give Head Coach Dave Tippet the boot. Tippet’s replacement is Marc Crawford who coached the Quebec Nordiques / Colarado Avalanche from 1994 – 1998, this team won Lord Stanley’s Cup in 1996. Crawford then moved on to coach the Vancouver Canucks from 1998.5 – 2006, and after his tenure with the Canucks Crawford served as the bench boss for the Los Angeles Kings for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Marc Crawford’s coaching style will have the Stars playing a more up tempo and aggressive brand of hockey this season.

The Roster

Although it is unclear how the Dallas Stars will fare this year because there will be some growing pains, but at least it will be more exciting brand of hockey. The Stars roster will be without the Russian wizardry of Sergei Zubov, who will playing in the Russian KHL league. It sucks to see Zubov go, but the move had to be made. Zubov only played 46 games in 2007 – 2008 and only made it out on the ice for ten games last season. This now leaves Stephan Robidas and Karlis Skrastins as the Stars lone veteran Blue Liners. The Stars improved their depth at goalie this season adding Alex Auld in case Marty Turco decides to crap the bed like he did last season, Turco posted a save percentage under 90%. In other roster news, the Ice Girls have some new talent so check out the 2009 – 2010 Dallas Stars Ice Girls.

• Right Wing:
  Loui Eriksson, Jere Lehtinen, Fabian Brunnstrom, Krys Barch
• Center:
  Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards, Mike Modano, Toby Petersen
• Left Wing:
  Brenden Morrow, James Neal, Steve Ott, Brian Sutherby
• Defense:
  Stephane Robidas, Matt Niskanen, Nicklas Grossman, Trevor Daley, Karlis Skrastins, Mark Fistric
• Goalie:
  Marty Turco, Alex Auld

The Schedule – October 2009

October 4 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 2 vs Nashville Predators 3 | Home Game
• Result: Loss
• Stars of the Game: 1.) Predators G – Dan Ellis 2.) Predators C – Jason Arnott 3.) Stars LW – James Neal

October 6 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 4 at Edmonton Oilers 5 | Away Game
• Result: Loss
• Stars of the Game: 1.) Oilers RW – Dustin Penner 2.) Stars LW – Brenden Morrow 3.) Oilers C – Sam Gagner

October 9 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 5 at Calgary Flames 2 | Away Game
• Result: Win
• Stars of the Game: 1.)Stars C – Mike Ribeiro 2.)Stars D – Stephane Robidas 3.) Stars C – Steve Ott

October 11 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 3 at Vancouver Canucks 4 | Away Game
• Result: Loss – Overtime
• Stars of the Game: 1.) Canucks C – Henrik Sedin 2.) Stars C – Mike Ribeiro 3.) Canucks C – Kyle Wellwood

October 14 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 6 vs Nashville Predators 0 | Home Game |
• Result: Win
• Stars of the Game: 1.) Stars C – Brad Richards 2.) Stars LW – Brendan Morrow 3.) Stars G – Marty Turco

October 16 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 0 vs Boston Bruins 3 | Home Game |
• Result: Loss
• Stars of the Game: 1.)Marc Savard 2.) Tim Thomas 3.) Zdeno Chara

October 17 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 4 at Chicago Blackhawks 3 | Away Game
• Result: Win
• Stars of the Game: 1.) Alex Auld 2.) Jonathan Toews 3.) Mike Ribiero

October 19 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 1 vs Los Angeles Kings 4 | Home Game |
• Result: Loss
• Stars of the Game: 1.) Ryan Smyth 2.) Justin Williams 3.) Jonathan Quick

October 21 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 4 at Anaheim Ducks 2 | Away Game
• Result: Win
• Stars of the Game: 1.) James Wisniewski 2.) Loui Eriksson 3.) Ryan Getzlaf

October 22 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 4 at Los Angeles Kings 5 | Away Game
• Result: Loss – Overtime
• Stars of the Game: 1.) Anze Kopitar 2.) James Neal 3.) Michal Handzus

October 24 – 2009 | Dallas Stars 4 at St Louis Blues 1 | Away Game
• Result: Win
• Stars of the Game: 1.) Marty Turco 2.) Loui Eriksson 3.) James Neal

October 28 – 2009 | Dallas Stars vs Toronto Maple Leafs | Home Game | Stars Tickets @ StubHub!
• Time: 7:00 PM Central Time
• TV Channel: Fox Sports – SW | HD |

October 30 – 2009 | Dallas Stars vs Florida Panthers | Home Game | Stars Tickets @ StubHub!
• Time: 7:30 PM Central Time
• TV Channel: Fox Sports – SW | HD |

October 31 – 2009 | Dallas Stars at Nashville Predators | Away Game
• Time: 7:00 PM Central Time
• TV Channel: KDFI

The first game at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington will be on September 20th against the New York Giants, who signed Chris Canty in the offseason. Canty, a Cowboy since 2005, averaged 26 tackles and 2.5 sacks a season. To replace the loss of Canty the Cowboys signed Igor Olshansky. Olshansky, previously a San Diego Charger, averages 35 tackles and over 7 sacks a season. The Chargers defense is very similar to the Cowboys’ 3-4 scheme, and was originally designed by Wade Phillips when he was a defensive coordinator there. Comparing career averages shows Olshansky to be a more productive player and an upgrade over Chris Canty.

Other notable departures from the Dallas Cowboys Roster include Zach Thomas, Roy Williams (S), Terrell Owens, Tank Johnson, and Adam (Pac-Man) Jones. These moves were made to fix fractures in the locker room and make the team more Romo friendly.

Roy Williams (S) departure will help the defense; now the defense will not have to hide an overpaid safety that cannot cover his shadow. Adam Jones and Tank Johnson contributed very little besides trouble as Cowboys, and their departure will not have any effect on the team.

Terrell Owens’ act wore thin in yet another city, he will play for the Buffalo Bills this season. Roy Williams (WR), Jason Witten, and Miles Austin will have to make up for the loss of TO, but this move will help the team move on without the circus that surrounded it last year.

Veteran Linebacker Zach Thomas has moved on to the Kansas City, and the Cowboys signed Keith Brooking as his replacement. Brooking has over 100 tackles in each of his last 8 seasons as an Atlanta Falcon.

The cowboys will have 5 primetime games this season, which is among the most in the NFL for the 2009 season.

Dallas Cowboys Regular Season Schedule | 2009

Week	Home / Road	Team	Record 2008	TV	Time	Tickets
Week 1	Road Game	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9-7-0	FOX	Noon
Week 2	Home Game	New York Giants	12-4-0	NBC	7:15	Cowboys-Giants Tickets
Week 3	Home Game	Carolina Panthers	12-4-0	ESPN	7:30	Cowboys-Panthers Tickets
Week 4	Road Game	Denver Broncos	8-8-0	FOX	3:15
Week 5	Road Game	Kansas City Chiefs	2-14-0	FOX	Noon	Cowboys Merchandise
Week 6	Bye Week	Bye Week	Bye	Bye	Bye
Week 7	Home Game	Atlanta Falcons	11-5-0	FOX	3:15	Cowboys-Falcons Tickets
Week 8	Home Game	Seatlle Seahawks	4-12-0	FOX	Noon	Cowboys-Seahawks Tickets
Week 9	Road Game	Philadelphia Eagles	9-6-1	NBC	7:15
Week 10	Road Game	Green Bay Packers	6-10-0	FOX	3:15
Week 11	Home Game	Washington Redskins	8-8-0	FOX	Noon	Cowboys-Redskins Tickets
Week 12	Home Game	Oakland Raiders	5-11-0	CBS	3:15	Cowboys-Raiders Tickets
Week 13	Road Game	New York Giants	12-4-0	FOX	3:15
Week 14	Home Game	San Diego Chargers	8-8-0	CBS	3:15	Cowboys-Chargers Tickets
Week 15	Road Game	New Orleans Saints	8-8-0	NFL	7:15
Week 16	Road Game	Washington Redskins	8-8-0	NBC	7:15
Week 17	Home Game	Philadelphia Eagles	9-6-1	FOX	Noon	Cowboys-Eagles Tickets