The Eagle Flies Again?

Apparently Eddie has been working out over this past season (his first away from the NHL) and has asked his agent to start contacting teams to see if anyone is interested in signing him next season.

I’m sure Eddie is fit enough to play, but he’s had back problems throughout his career and I’m not sure how well his back is doing at 44. But Eddie is and always will be my favorite goalie so I’d welcome him back to Dallas with open arms I don’t think coming back to Dallas is in the cards for Eddie, but I like to think that some team would have an interest in taking him.

I’m sure Sarah (and many others) would worry about Marty’s well-being if Eddie came back because of what he’s willing to do to get a starting job.

Amy

No Development Camp This Year

After not hearing anything about development camp this summer, I decided to ask Heika when it would be this summer. He replied, saying that as a “cost-cutting measure” the Stars wouldn’t be having a development camp this summer and would instead have a brief meeting with the prospects before the Traverse City tournament.

I think this is a stupid and classless move by the Stars to save a few bucks. Yes, the team has to pay for getting all the prospects to Dallas and pay for their hotel and food costs while they’re in town. But instead of viewing development camp as an added expense for the Stars organization, I see it as an investment in the future of our team.

Most of these guys who have been drafted have never been to Dallas, and have definitely never gotten to spend time with the coaching staff and various players for the Stars. It’s a great opportunity for the young players to see where they may be playing one day. It makes them feel as if they are part of the organization, and not just a member of the Stars who plays in Europe all year and never actually sees Dallas. I’m sure it was also great for all the prospects to meet Brenden and other team members.

As a fan, it was a great experience to go to development camp last summer. I had heard of some of our prospects, such as James Neal, Jamie Benn, and Austin Smith, but I had never seen any of them in person. It was great to see the young guys scrimmaging and doing drills while getting to spend a little time with other hockey friends. Getting to see some hockey in the middle of the summer was more than worth the road trip Sarah and I took to Dallas to see the guys. I only wish we could have stayed for more than one day. After seeing the players at development camp, I followed our prospects more last season than I have ever had. I watched several of Jamie Benn’s games online and fell in love with his personality and style of play. I’ll be the first person to get a Jamie Benn jersey once he makes the team in Dallas. I know I wouldn’t have been nearly as interested in him if I hadn’t watching him play at development camp last year.

One of the reasons why players like coming to Dallas is because of how classy the organization is. How classy is it that they can’t spend the money to bring these young guys to Dallas and let the fans get a glimpse of the future of the team?

Amy

Stars Fire Dave Tippett

GM Joey made his first big move today by firing head coach Dave Tippett. I’m really happy with this move because I have never been happy with Tippett as coach of this team. He never had the guts to do what was really needed to motivate the team to play better.

This move kind of comes as a shock, but Joey met with the coaching staff for the first time earlier this week, and I have to think that Tippett was not all for whatever Joey wants to do with the team. Hicks said previously that he would never fire a coach because he believed it to be the GM’s job, so it must be Joey’s doing.

Maybe this opens the door for Mike Keenan (the Stars need someone to kick their asses) or Guy (the captain/father-in-law thing may be a bit much though) to come in and coach. I just hope that Stu stays as one of the assistants.

In Joey we trust. I believe he knows what he’s doing. And he didn’t trade my mom’s favorite player away the first chance he got, so he’s already gained more points than Armstrong or Hulljack.

As a closeted (sometimes not so closeted) Dave Tippett disliker, this news makes me :)

Amy

Joe Nieuwendyk Named Stars GM!

This just in! Joe Nieuwendyk has been named General Manager of the Dallas Stars! Hull has been reassigned as Executive Vice President and Jackson has been reassigned to his previous post as the Director of Scouting and Player Development. Here is the article from the Stars’ site:

Dallas Stars Owner Thomas O. Hicks announced today that he has restructured the NHL club’s hockey management staff, naming Joe Nieuwendyk as the team’s new General Manager. As part of the reorganization, Co-General Managers Brett Hull and Les Jackson have been reassigned within the organization into positions that focus on their respective strengths. Hull will serve as Executive Vice President and Alternate Governor while Les Jackson will return to his long-time role as Director of Scouting and Player Development.

“We are very excited to secure Joe Nieuwendyk as the General Manager,” said Hicks. “These moves are all about helping this club take the proverbial ‘next step.’ Joe is a leader and has been a winner in everything he has done. He is ready for this opportunity and has a bright future as an NHL General Manager. We want that future to be with the Dallas Stars.

“Brett and Les have done a great job as Co-General Managers, but after analyzing the situation, it is in the team’s best interest to return them to roles that fit their respective strengths. Brett will assist the club in several business areas and serve as an advisor to me and Jeff Cogen, while Les will go back to what he does best – overseeing our scouting department.”

The Stars are going back to a single-leader mentality at the top of their hockey staff. Much like when Bob Gainey was the General Manager, Nieuwendyk brings years of playing experience, a winning pedigree, intelligence (he went to Cornell for three years), respect for the game, and leadership. Basically, he is the total package.

Nieuwendyk, 42, is considered by many to be one of the top up-and-coming hockey executives in the league today. The former Stars player returns to Dallas from the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he served as Special Assistant to the General Manager this past season. Prior to joining the Leafs and after his 2006 retirement, Nieuwendyk worked as a Special Consultant to the General Manager with the Florida Panthers. As Assistant General Manager, he also helped lead Team Canada at the 2009 IIHF World Hockey Championship when the team won a silver medal.

“I am very excited about returning to the Dallas Stars as General Manager,” said Nieuwendyk. “I am ready for this opportunity. The Dallas Stars have built a winning tradition over the years and I want to help continue that legacy. My family is very excited about returning to Dallas. I have great memories from my playing days with the Stars and look forward to helping this team win as General Manager.”

A veteran of 20 seasons as a player in the National Hockey League, Nieuwendyk played seven with the Dallas Stars (1995-2002). He won the Stanley Cup for three different teams, in three different decades (Calgary in 1989, Dallas in 1999, New Jersey in 2003). Nieuwendyk was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoffs most valuable player in 1999 when he led Dallas in post-season scoring on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. The Whitby, Ontario, native played in 1,257 NHL games, scoring 564 goals and 562 assists for 1,126 points. He also appeared in 158 career playoff games, recording 116 points on 66 goals and 50 assists. Nieuwendyk played in 442 games for Dallas, scoring 178 goals and 162 assists for 340 points.

Hull and Jackson were named as the Stars’ Interim Co-General Managers on Nov. 13, 2007. The interim tag was removed last May. The Stars amassed a record of 74-58-15 regular season record under Hull and Jackson, with a trip to the 2008 Western Conference Finals.

Hull, 44, played 19 years in the NHL and is a two-time winner of the Stanley Cup (Dallas in 1999, Detroit in 2002). He joined the Stars’ front office in 2005 as a Special Assistant upon his retirement as a player.

Jackson, 55, has worked in the Stars organization for 22 years, dating back to the team’s days in Minnesota, spending much of it managing and overseeing scouting and monitoring the development of all amateur and professional prospects.

Nieuwendyk will be formally introduced to the Dallas media at a press conference on Monday.

Welcome back to Dallas, Joey. We’ve missed you!

 

Sarah

makeitseven.ca

This is the best possible thing that could be happening in the league right now. Our 6 Canadian teams account for 50% of the revenue in the NHL. Phoenix provides NEGATIVE revenue to the league.

Jim Balsillie may be a crazy guy, but he’s willing to pay off most of the Coyotes loans AND move the team to a location where it could actually make money.

Then the Stars wouldn’t have to play Phoenix 6 times a year

Amy

Jumping Ship

No, I’m not jumping off the Stars ship (hehe Star Trek). I’m jumping off the “let’s allow our players to play in the Olympics and other random tourneys” wagon and am now driving the “let’s not allow our players to get hurt in meaningless tournaments” wagon.

Seriously, what does Ladislav Nagy have against the Stars? I mean, I know R&R pretty much called him a useless flop of a player, but the truth hurts buddy.

More later…

Amy

Yay Robi!

Robi won the 2nd annual “No Guts, No Glory” award from TSN. I’m sure most people haven’t even heard of the award, and it’s not a league-given award or anything, but it’s great to see Robi getting some recognition for everything he does here in Dallas.

You can see the video here.

And I don’t care about the playoffs. None of my teams are winning

Amy

2009 Playoffs: Go Blue-WingedHabCaps!

The regular season is over, and the playoffs are starting Wednesday. Even though the Stars aren’t in the playoffs this year, there are still PLENTY of good series to watch this spring. NHL.com has a nice and funny article about how the playoffs are different from the regular season. The playoffs are by far my favorite part of the year, most because everyone stands and cheers at the games. I can’t stand the people who just sit in their seats and never do anything exciting.

I decided a few weeks ago that I’d be rooting for the Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Habs, and Capitals, so I will be highlighting most of their games… probably with a few other series thrown in as well. Sadly, the Wings and Jackets are playing each other in the first round, so my group will be down to 3 (at the most) at the end of the first round.

The Habs barely squeaked into the playoffs with their midseason collapse, and they’ll be playing the Bruins. Montreal played Boston in the 1st round last year, but the Habs were the 1st seed while the Bruins finished 8th. It was a pretty good 7 game series. Montreal has owned Boston in the playoffs for well.. forever.

The Jackets gave up the 6th spot to St. Louis so they ended up with the Red Wings as a 1st round opponent. The season series was 3-3, so the Jackets were at least able to play them competitively in the first 82 games. The Wings are the defending Cup champs, and defending champions haven’t been able to get anywhere near close to repeating since the lockout. I don’t know who I want to win this series.

There are a few other interesting series, the most notable in my mind being the matchup of “teams that lost to the Stars last year in the playoffs”. I can’t really say I want either Anaheim or San Jose to win. Maybe the ice will melt and they’ll call it a draw.

That’s it for now. I have to go do a bunch of that homework stuff. Ew

Amy

Columbus did it!

I hope to see a lot of this in the playoffs from him!

They clinched a playoff spot for the first time in franchise history. Congrats, Blue Jackets!

This means that the Blue-WingedHabCaps might actually happen in the playoffs!

Amy

The things I’ll miss most about playoff time…

Even though the Stars haven’t been mathematically eliminated from the playoff race, everyone knows that it’s going to take more than a miracle to get in. If we were to even make the playoffs, I don’t think they can survive without the likes of Morrow, Richards, Zubov, and Robidas.

I plan on watching the playoffs, and have decided to cheer for Columbus and Detroit (and Montreal and Washington in the East), but I know it won’t be the same without my Stars in the playoffs.

The only times I haven’t seen the Stars make the playoffs were in 2001-02 and 2004-05 (but there was NO NHL hockey that year so it doesn’t really count), so this is a sad time for me. I know this is the first time we haven’t made the playoffs for a lot of Stars bloggers… believe me, long offseasons suck. But right now, that really seems to be the best solution for this team. Well, that and some roster moves, but expect a large blog about that once the season is actually over.

Since this is a sad time that leaves me feeling very confused and a little depressed, I’ve been watching archived games over at the BEST hockey-watching website ever (www.hockeystreams.com) from last season’s playoffs. Maybe I’ll watch all the way through in the coming months, but tonight I’m watching Game 1 vs. the Ducks. Watching the game brings back a flood of feelings and activities that I will be sad to miss this spring… even though, in hindsight, they may not have been overly productive to my life outside of watching hockey and talking about hockey (which, if I had my way, would not include much).

So, here’s the list of things I’ll miss this spring:

• Wearing a Stars shirt for every gameday. This was made better by the fact that I wore a shirt over and over until the Stars lost a game. Since the games were usually every other day, I had a few people in my MWF classes who wondered if I had lost all my other clothes.
• Washing said “lucky” shirt after each playoff win. I wore my Helsinki South shirt for Game 6 of the Anaheim series and the first 3 games of the San Jose series, so after each game, I’d make a mad rush to my dorm’s laundry room to get the shirt washed before I needed to wear it again.
• Watching Versus from 6 pm – well past midnight when the last game was finally over. I did this every night to get see how all the other teams were doing and pick out future matches for the Stars.
• The random thunderstorms in San Antonio that cut off my cable seconds after Brenden Morrow scored an overtime winning goal. I still remember the phone call to my mom: “MOM!!!! WE WON!! BRENDEN SCORED AND THEN MY CABLE DIED!”
• Eating duck, shark, and wings for each round of the playoffs.
• Staring down the girl at Trinity who wears a Red Wings jersey.
• Checking every hockey website at least every hour to see if there is any news of injuries or other important events.
• The sacrifice that Robi made on every shift.
• Funny Brenden/Marty postgame conferences about chickens.
• Brenden’s hits. Brenden’s goals (even the ones disallowed). Brenden’s “I want to win or else” attitude that he kept throughout the entire playoffs. Brenden standing on the bench screaming at Tippett that he wanted to play. THE goal in Game 6. I could write a whole entry on how much better Brenden makes the playoffs.
• Being in the emergency room for Game 2 of the first round, and being more concerned about how the Stars were doing than how I was doing.
• Going to playoff games and getting to stand the whole time without complaints from “fans”.
• How exhausted you feel the morning after a 4 OT loss compared to how elated you feel the morning after a 4 OT win.
• Arranging my schedule around the playoffs schedule. “No, I can’t come to the meeting tonight. I have another meeting I can’t get out of.”
• Starting a small riot with our “Believe” sign after Game 4 of the Conference Finals.
• Sitting in the Fanatics section and starting all the chants that went through the arena.
• Razor’s playoff blogs, especially the songs he writes for players. “B. Morrow” and “Turcolicious” should be hits!
• Sitting in class wondering if Tippett will shuffle the lines, if Marty will show up to play, how many people Ott will piss off, what else Brenden will be able to do… Well maybe this will benefit my grades this spring!
• The knowledge that EVERY shift of EVERY game is important.
• Even though it’s hard when they lose, it’s so much better when they win. I will miss living and dying with all of their wins and losses. Nothing beats the feelings of having a team in the playoffs.

This ended up being pretty long, and I could still write more. But I have hockey to watch…

Amy