Day Seven was the Stars Vs Wild game. We got up a little late and drove up to Addison to the Dunn Bros Coffee and bored Amber for two hours while we jumped online and did our email and stuff. Then we dropped into Wal-Mart on the way back to the hotel to have lunch and get ready for the game. I went to Salon Amber (Amber did my hair and makeup for me) and then we headed off to pick up Rhonda. We must be getting to know our way around Dallas because we didn’t get lost once going to Garland.

We talked hockey all the way to the AAC and parked pretty close by as it was REALLY cold last night. It’s freezing in Dallas at the moment! Anyway we saw the line up for the Cup and thought… nah… stuff it. We got a pic from a few metres away and that was enough for us. We dropped in to see Ralph and he was just great. He asked what we thought of the game and then we talked about the after game show. He asked if we listen to it and I said I did but Sam didn’t. And Ralph replied, “Yeah but he’s a kiwi, right?” and I grinned and said, “Thanks for backing me up on that!”

He asked if we’d seen any of the players and we said we’d seen 14 of them but missed Mike cuz he slipped out the back. Ralph said to catch him at the rink tomorrow (Thursday) and he’ll see if he can set it up for us. Then he asked for our card because he’s thinking of taking his family to Australia in the next couple of years. I said we didn’t have one but he said to write our details down and give them to him tomorrow at the rink. I said, “Sure, no problem. And if you come in your summer here, and call us, I can hook you up for tickets for the Australian Ice Hockey League!” and he said “Oh yeah, you can hook me up!” and I replied with, “Yeah, as a way of saying thank you, you know, returning the favour!”

Anyway we chatted until he had to go and get ready for the broadcast, so we went down to the glass in 124 behind Turks to watch the warm up. The guys looked GREAT. I couldn’t help but grin when I saw Mike come out on the ice. He was smiling and flying and looked really relaxed. The guys looked like they were bringing it but good. And it was great to see Robi in the lineup too. That was really a joy. I love watching Robidas play D. He’s an elegant skater, and he’s gritty. He works hard, he plays hard, and he does get the job done. He may not have the hands of Modano, or the shot of Zubov, but … Robi is a decent player and I wish we got to see him play more often. Unfortunately it means that someone has to sit out. Janne Niinimaa may not have won over all the fans in Dallas yet, and considering he was traded for the fans’ whippin’ boy he seems to have inherited the title Erskine left behind, but I love all the boys and that includes Niini. You wear the Green, gold, black and white, you’re alright with me automatically. And I’ll defend ya to the death.

Rhonda and Tatjana left us just before the game started and we went down 1-0 to the Wild 10.57 in the first. Marian Gaborik scored, assisted by Piere-Marc Bouchard and Kurtis Foster. Bastards. It was very back and forth in the first, with the Stars playing a dump and chase kind of game. With 48 seconds left in the second, Left Winger Jussi Jokinen (or as Razor calls him, Jack River - which is what Jussi Jokinen is in english) tied the game, assisted by Jere Lehtinen and Willie Mitchell, who was playing against the team that traded him to us not even a month ago!

In the break, Zack and Andrea came down and chatted with us. It was great to see them and talk about the trip so far. We agreed to catch up after the game and meet up outside the Old No 7 Bar. The second started, with Wild goaltender, Manny Fernandez, at our end of the ice. It was awesome to watch another great goalie in net - unfortunately we didnt’ get to see any goals because the only goal in the second was scored 15.53 into the third by the Wild - Brian Rolston, assisted by Mikko Koivu and Marian Gaborik.

Leni dropped by in the intermission between the second and third, and we had a chat. We agreed to meet up at the Frisco StarCentre the next day at the practice. When the third started, I barely had a voice left. I could be heard screaming out LEHTS GO STARS! I made a few people around me laugh or turn around to see who was screaming but I didn’t care. I was at a hockey game, and you need to make noise at a hockey game! I also took a radio along to listen to Ralph and Razor call the game. It’s SO much better when you have both the live game in front of you and the guys calling it too. It’s like live television. Awesome. Another awesome thing in the third was Marty Turco, our goalie, bodychecking a Wild player - who I can’t remember his name - when he was chasing the puck down on a one on one. Marty came out of his net, poked the puck away and then checked the Wild player - sending the crowd wild themselves! It was a beautiful moment.

3.47 into the third, Right Winger Jere Lehtinen tied the game again, assisted by Jason Arnott and Jussi Jokinen. It was a beautiful goal too. We jumped and screamed and hugged and danced to Rock N Roll II - yelling out “HEY!” at the appropriate time. Jon Klemm, Stars Defenseman, netted the game winning goal at 5.26 in the third, assisted by Jussi Jokinen and Mike Modano. I screamed on that one too. When they were annoucing the names of the scorers I was screaming when they called out MIIIIIIIIKE MO-DA-NO! It was fabulous. The Stars then scored an insurance goal at 9.05 by Stu Barnes, assisted by Brenden Morrow (who hadn’t scored a point in 9 games) and Jason Arnott - or as we like to call him… Tim Tam. *GRIN*

After the game was over, and we were done yelling and jumpin’ up and down and screaming, we met up with Zack, Andrea, Tatjana, Rhonda and Andrea’s sister and brother in law and had a group photo and a chat. We then met up with Gail and her husband who we dont’ know his name but know he’s a Wings fan who lives in Dallas and goes to the StarCentre to get the guys to sign stuff all the time. On the way back to Rhonda’s we listened to the Stars Extra show and were happy to hear Ralphie talking about hockey instead of basketball and football. Marty Turco was the Stars interviewee and he was really good to listen to. When we got back to the hotel, we showed Amber our wares and gave her a program from the game that we picked up.

Tomorrow it’s off to Frisco to hopefully meet more of the guys and watch them practice.

~ Wendy