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It would be entirely inappropriate for me, on the day after the Stars won their first round series against the Anaheim Ducks, to offer some half-assed analysis as to how the Stars won because the fact is, I don’t really know anything about hockey.  But that’s not important.  What is important is that the Stars did win, and subsequently my interest in hockey was reborn.

I’m aware that the obvious retort to this statement is that I’m just jumping on the bandwagon, that I was just waiting in the woodwork for the next successful playoff run before I broke out my old Modano jersey, the same way that there are all of a sudden hundreds of thousands Red Sox fans in every city across America.  But this isn’t the case.  After all, I’ve always maintained that my interest in hockey waned in the wake of the lockout season, and not after the Stars were no longer in the Finals every season.  In the words of James Murphy, I was there… when the Stars missed the playoffs in 2002.  And I was there… when the Stars began their first round losing streak in 2004.  I just wasn’t there in 2005, because, well, no one was there.  And I wasn’t there in 2006 because I was still bitter about the lockout.  And as I wrote a few weeks ago, the biggest obstacle about returning to my pre-lockout form as a fan was that, like a lot of people, I had lost the connection that I once felt towards my team and its characters.  Which is why the Stars’ 2007 postseason performance wasn’t compelling.  Yeah, the series went seven games, but the team’s play was uninspiring and listless.

Fast forward to this series against the Ducks, though, and I was spotting all sorts of parallels between this team and the team that was so engaging to watch back in ‘99 and 2000.  Stu Barnes’ gritty play reminded me of Guy Carbonneau anchoring the checking line against Buffalo in ‘99.  Brad Richards was scoring the timely playoff goals that used to be characteristic of Mike Keane.  Robidas was holdin’ it down on the defensive end quasi Derian Hatcher.  It was the sort of inspired play that makes a sports team worth following in the first place.

But it wasn’t just the team’s performance that impressed me in the Game 6 win.  I usually hate it when announcers describe the atmosphere in an arena as ‘electric’, but the American Airlines Center was just that last night.  And I wasn’t even there.  Even on my modest 26″ TV setup, it was obvious that this was one of the more raucous crowds the AAC had seen in awhile.  Not since the 2006 NBA Finals had I lamented not being present at a Dallas sports event as much as I did last night.  But aside from simply being impressed by the crowd’s enthusiasm, I did have a thought as to why the crowd seemed particular riled up.

The first year my dad and I had season tickets to the Mavs we sat on the front row of the upper level, such that, while we were generally surrounded by other season ticket holders, we were more generally surrounded by the more modestly priced single game seats.  The second season we moved to the lower level, about halfway up behind one of the baskets.  Suddenly we were no longer surrounded by fans but by young business executives and lawyers, people that could afford the seats.  Obviously the atmosphere was more subdued.  The scene I saw during the third period of the Stars game last night would never have occurred that near the court at the Mavs games.  And I’ve been to a lot of Stars games, so I’m not just ignoring the inherent differences between basketball fans and hockey fans.  What I’m hoping is the case is that the lockout season weeded out a lot of the attendees that would only go to such events solely for social purposes.  Obviously, there’s no way I can test this from Austin.  But if the Stars hang around long enough for me to get to a game this postseason, I’ll definitely be considering this possibility.

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Two other brief thoughts from the series…

• Brendan Morrow loves to fight, which means I love to watch him play. Seriously. Almost every time the camera flashed to him this series it seemed like he was mixing it up with someone.  Anyone.  But I guess that’s why he’s the captain, and why Modano never was. Morrow definitely has the old Derian Hatcher mean streak.
• That dragon on Marty Turco’s mask is ridiculous. It’s probably the least intimidating dragon I’ve ever seen. And since I don’t think Marty has a nickname yet, wouldn’t it be appropriate to pay homage to both Eddie the Eagle and alliteration and designate him as Turco the Turkey and get a little fowl theme going? Just a thought.