Poised to Make a Run

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That’s how you start off a playoff run.

cutWhile the scoreboard read 4-0 at the final gun, it wasn’t even that close. The Minnesota Wild are shorthanded without the services of Zach Parise at the moment and this Dallas Stars team is simply too deep and strong too handle, even with Tyler Seguin still on the shelf. Personally, if it were me, I wouldn’t play Seguin until I absolutely needed to. But I think we will see him soon.

This was domination with a capital D. The Wild’s forecheck was futile from the get-go on Thursday night, as the Stars broke out of their zone without much issue and foiled what surely was Minnesota’s gameplan.

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Basically, if the Stars play defense like this, they will be unstoppable. But tap the brakes just a bit on that one. The Wild offense is like a pop gun right now. Give the Stars credit though, especially Kari Lehtonen, who wasn’t tested too much but played very strong in his second career playoff shutout with 22 saves.

This round will not be an issue for Dallas. The Stars should win this thing in five games or less. Fasten your seatbelts though; the second round will be against either St. Louis or Chicago, and that will be a war, no matter who the opponent is.

 

Draft Deals

Los Angeles Rams, you are on the clock.

The Rams went out and made a big splash, trading for the number one overall pick from Tennessee. I’ve seen some early analysis talking about how the trade is good for both sides. That’s hogwash.

The Titans are the big winners in this one. The Rams will take a quarterback with this move, and the bottom line is that unless it’s a no-brainer franchise quarterback, you do not trade up to the number one overall pick. While giving up their first round pick next year in the process.

Nice going, Rams. Better hope Carson Wentz or Jared Goff is the real deal.

This move also affects the Cowboys directly, as now the chances of a quarterback worthy of being taken with the fourth pick being available are slim and none. I think this is a good thing.

dal_a_jones_kh_576x324I do not want the Cowboys to take a quarterback in round one. Me, I’m rooting for one of the Ohio State kids – running back Ezekiel Elliott or defensive lineman Joey Bosa, with the Cowboys picking up Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott later in the draft.

Meanwhile, LA makes a splash, but is it worth it? Tennessee gets what every bad team really needs – a lot of draft picks that turn into a lot of players. Ask Jimmy Johnson how that can work out for you if your play your cards (and your picks) right.

A first glance at the Cowboys’ 2016 schedule, which came out Thursday, gives Dallas an excellent chance to get out of the gate early and make some hay. They get the Giants, Redskins, Bears and 49ers before facing the Bengals in Arlington. But then again, who really knows? This is the NFL where records change as the wind blows.

Unless you’re the Rams. We pretty much know they are going to struggle a bit. But, hey – they won April. Or did they? They made a PR 101 move that made a ton of sense with the trade; they waited until after Kobe Bryant’s last game to make the announcement the next day. So I’ll give them that. We’re only halfway through the month and the draft is on April 28, so we’ll see what happens.

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Rob Scichili (shick-lee) has worked in professional sports for over 31 years in PR and communications, including time with the Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, MLB.com, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks. A journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he is co-owner and editor at ScoreboardTx and VP at Tony Fay Public Relations. Scichili is a consultant to New York Islanders ownership and was recently named to the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame Selection Committee.