Odds & Ends
Al Strachan of the Toronto Sun has an interesting story on a boring topic in Wednesday's paper. It's about the escrow issue, something I wrote about three weeks ago.
Strachan makes an interesting point:
A lot of fans -- and a lot of players and their agents for that matter -- still don't understand the ramifications of the CBA.
Fans see all the big-dollar free-agent signings and the whopping arbitration awards and they think that the owners are overspending again.
They are. But they're spending the players' money. Once the salaries exceed 54% of league revenues, the players have to make up the shortfall. That's where the escrow comes in.
Strachan is right. The owners aren't spending real money in a sense. If league-wide spending on player salaries exceeds the current 54 percent limit allowed under the CBA, the players have to give money back to the owners.
One note on the Strachan article, I think he may be off on his comment on when the NHLPA can terminate the CBA. He said after the 2007-08 season.
The CBA says: Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in subparagraph 3.1(a), the NHLPA shall have the right: (i) to terminate this Agreement as of September 15, 2009 by delivery of written notice of termination to the NHL at least 120 days prior to September 15, 2009; or (ii) to extend this Agreement for one additional year to September 15, 2012 by delivery of written notice to the NHL of such election to extend at least 120 days prior to September 15, 2011.
30 August '06 - - default| - § ¶
Interview with Tippett
Just wrapped up an interview with Stars coach Dave Tippett. Basically I talked to him about the team as it gets ready for training camp and got his thoughts on the Pacific Division, which he thinks may be the toughest division in the league this season.
I will be using the interview in the various camp preview articles that I'll be doing over the next couple of weeks. Hey, camp is in about three weeks now.
I was expecting kind of a bland camp because the roster seemed to be set for the most part. But after talking to Tippett I get a sense that there could be some interesting story lines. For example, I found it interesting that Loui Eriksson's name came up when I asked about guys who might end up being a fit with Eric Lindros. He mentioned the usual suspects and then said that may Eriksson would come in and show some chemistry with Lindros.
I'll probably do a short article this evening with a few comments from Tippett, who mentioned he checks out Andrew's every now and then.
I need to thank Mark Janko of the Stars for helping arrange the interview with Tippett, who just got back into town. He escaped the Texas heat by spending time at his other home in Minnesota.
25 August '06 - - default| - § ¶
Pat Quinn
Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News picked up on the reports of the Stars reportedly talking to Pat Quinn about a consulting job. Fraley writes:
This cannot be good news for Stars coach Dave Tippett. The organization has approached bombastic Pat Quinn, recently deposed as Toronto's coach, about a "consultant" role. Having a former coach in-house would increase the pressure on Tippett, who has had two consecutive good regular-seasons followed by two consecutive playoff flops. Quinn is not reluctant to assert himself.
I guess you can look at the Quinn matter, if true, in that light. I don't. That's getting ahead of things. I am more interested in what he might bring right off the bat.
What I see is an opportunity for the Stars to bring someone with an outside perspective into the organization. Someone with a few different ideas. That's something I think the Stars could use.
There are times I think the organization has gone a little stale and a guy like Quinn could help. He has vast experience and has enjoyed quite a bit of success in his career. He's fourth all time in coaching victories and although he hasn't won a Stanley Cup he's got a 94-89 record. He's had gold medal success with Team Canada as a coach. He's been a GM as well. He could bring some fresh thinking in more than area.
22 August '06 - - default| - § ¶
The blog returns
After wrapping up the kids' summer activities and getting them back in school, including getting one off to college, it is time to resume the blog.
I don't think anything has changed since my last blog.
The roster is still the same. Trevor Daley is still unsigned. The TV schedule being released was the only major story concerning the Stars.
Not much in the local newspapers, except I did catch this little blurb on Matthew Barnaby from Dallas Morning News columnist Gerry Fraley
A scene from last season shows the type of aggravating – some would say dumb – plays the Stars can expect from new forward Matthew Barnaby.
Playing with Chicago, Barnaby taunted the Los Angeles bench after Kings forward Sean Avery took a late delay-of-game penalty. "We're going to win now," Barnaby yapped to the bench.
Not quite. The Kings killed the penalty, and 10 seconds later Barnaby made the same misplay as Avery by flipping the puck into the seats. The Kings scored the game-winner on the resulting power play.
Barnaby will be popular for his instigating and potentially harmful for his foolish penalties. Coach Dave Tippett will agonize over how to use him.
I don't know if Tippett will agonize over how to use him. He may roll his eyes a few times, but Barnaby can still be an effective player. He and Steve Ott should be quite a pair this season.
The national publications are starting to come out and the consensus appears to have the Stars finishing behind Anaheim and San Jose in the Pacific. Am I surprised at those picks? No, not really.
The Ducks are going to be the favorites because they made the Western Conference Final last season and added Chris Pronger this summer. That's just natural.
The Sharks were a very good team after picking up Joe Thornton last season, made some nice tweaks this summer and have a very talented young team with a great one-two punch at center with Thornton and Patrick Marleau. They've got cap room and lots of assets to make moves to make quality additions, especially on the blue line, if they need too.
I think the perception is that the Ducks and Sharks are up and coming teams with youth that have caught up to the Stars and perhaps surpassed them at this point. Time will tell, but it should be an interesting battle for the top spot in the Pacific.
21 August '06 - - default| - § ¶
Odds & Ends
I thought last week's development camp was OK. It was interesting to see a lot of these players, especially some of the guys I hadn't seen a lot of before. Perttu Lindgren falls into that category. So do guys like Tom Wandell and Alexander Naurov. It was nice to get to watch a guy like Matt Niskanen for extended period of time. It was disappointing that Ivan Vishnevskiy didn't take to the ice.
But when you think about it, perhaps just a few will become NHL regulars for any length of time. A few more may appear a few games here and there. The rest may spend their time in the minors or the European leagues. And a lot of these guys are still just kids. Mere 18 and 19-year-olds.
Recently I mentioned questions about Detroit's goaltending. I guess the answer was delivered yesterday with the signing of Dominik Hasek. That gives them two goaltenders (Chris Osgood being the other) who have been in the net when the team won a Stanley Cup from the past.
"For the money ($750,000 for one year, the rest in incentives), I think this gives us two veteran goaltenders," Detroit GM Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press. "Worst case scenario, if Hasek's groin acts up two-thirds of the way through the season, maybe, by that point, our young goaltenders will have enough experience."
The Red Wings should also have some cap room to make a deal if that's necessary. They have 20 players under contract for about $39 million. The Red Wings were pushing the cap last season and didn't have a lot of room to make deals. That's something Holland wants to avoid this season.
The Hasek signing has left some folks in Detroit scratching their heads. Count Free Press columnist Mitch Albom is among them and you can read his column here.
01 August '06 - - default| - § ¶
