ALIVE AND KICKING

“Who is gonna come and turn the tide?
What’s it gonna take to make a dream survive?
Who’s got the touch to calm the storm inside?
Who’s gonna save you?
Alive and kicking.”
               - Simple Minds

Today, one could answer those lyrical questions in a very positive and affirmative manner. The Stars are very much alive in what has been whittled down to a three horse race (Four, if you believe in Bigfoot, leprechauns, and the Calgary Flames) in the Western Conference.

With four games remaining on their schedule the Stars are just 3 points back of the Blackhawks and 4 back of the Ducks. They have played the exact same number of games as the Hawks and one less than Anaheim. And, the DStars have the easiest finishing schedule (on paper) of any team in the National Hockey League. Only Phoenix has a tougher schedule than the Ducks, and Chicago’s is no playground either.

So you see, it’s very doable.

Bloody amazing isn’t it - how a team wins a game, in regulation, against the enemy, to snap a 6 game losing streak, and ends a semi-disastrous five game road trip on a high, and, “shazam”, feels that the playoffs are again a realistic possibility.