Texas Stars Win Home Opener 3-2

Posted 10:15 AM ET | Comments 1

I just wanted to post a few quick thoughts on Saturday night's Texas Stars home opener in Cedar Park. The

1) Nothing against Krahn, but I'm just a huge Climie fan. He's fun to watch. I'm not sure he deserved 1st Star honors, but he was a large part of this win.

2) I was pleasantly surprised to see Brad Lukowich in the Texas Stars lineup. The Canucks apparently had just assigned him to Cedar Park, but he was an instant impact player. His veteran experience made a big difference...you could see him playing the mentor role at several points in the game, and he had an assist on the winning goal.

3) I was shocked to see Kyle Turris in the San Antonio lineup. I didn't know he'd been sent down to the AHL ranks by Phoenix. I'm sure he won't be there long, though. He was a force to be dealt with everytime he touched the puck.

4) The Austin-area crowd has some learning to do. Cheers and chants were not quite there yet...the most vocal group in the building were the San Antonio fans. Yelling "Stars" during the anthem still gets you dirty looks, but they'll come around.

5) The PA guy needs to learn how to pronounce the names of the home team. No excuse for that.

6) We're pretty sure that Dallas' new netting and jumbotron provided the hand-me-downs for Cedar Park...but no complaints. The screen looks great, if that's where it came from.

7) The opening montage was a bit confusing at first...all Dallas Stars highlights. Then they had an animation of the Dallas Stars logo flying out of the AAC and in to the Texas Sky...coming down at the Cedar Park Center. Once it hit the ice, it spun a few times before morphing into the Texas Stars logo. Nice touch. Not as cheesy as it could have been.

8) I actually enjoyed the game more than the Battle of the Stars last Wednesday. I think it's because I knew who to cheer for