Here's another tidbit that Google News search has sent to me via email regarding Stars forward Sean Avery. This one comes from The New York Times, which has an article on men wearing shorts to the office and Avery is featured prominently in the article.
Here are a couple excerpts:
When the hockey star Sean Avery took an internship at Vogue earlier this summer, the work uniform that the fashion-besotted left wing chose included a shorts suit that showcased his athletic calves.
“Why go to work and be hot?” he asked last week, adding that there was no compelling business reason to look modest and dull on the job. “You can look good and not have that boring-type look,” said Mr. Avery, who signed with the Dallas Stars this summer after several seasons with the Rangers. “Why are women allowed to do it and not men?”
And here is another:
Yet for Mr. Avery, a man in a shorts suit is no more startling than a woman in a miniskirt. “Women have the option of wearing a dress,” he said with the assurance of someone who can hip-check those who fail to share his opinion.
“I haven’t asked them, but I’m sure women like looking at a man’s calves, or if a man has them, nice ankles,” Mr. Avery said.
It's getting close to that time of the year when all the hockey yearbooks will come out and make their predictions for the coming season. I like predictions, but I don't read much into them. The so-called experts aren't any better at it than I am or you. Everybody is just guessing.
The prediction: Eleventh in the West, because this team just has no serious scoring threats beyond Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov.
The reality: Fifth in the West and a serious Stanley Cup contender. Mike Ribeiro made us all look stupid, tallying 27 goals and 83 points, while four other Stars scored 20 or more, including deadline acquisition Brad Richards and the surprising Niklas Hagman. The Stars scored more goals (242) than anyone else in the West except Detroit.
If you didn't see Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com's comment in my post on the Mike Modano and Brett Hull restaurant, I'll pass along the info here. Fish has an interview with Mo about the venture.
Following up on D Mag’s item on Brett Hull and Mike Modano deciding to open up a restaurant together, I rolled over and engaged Mo in a little pillow talk.
“Yeah, we’re going to try to have it ready in time for football season, for September,’’ Modano tells DallasBasketball.com. “It’ll be kind of an upscale sports-themed deal, a restaurant, and then a big room in back for the guys to hang out.’’
I obviously wasn't in Ottawa and didn't see Canada' National Junior Team development camp, but Stars prospect Jamie Benn appeared to do OK. He ended up with four points (two goals, two assists) in the three intersquad games played during the camp.
Benn's four points, as far as I can tell, were tops among all scorers. Two other players, including hot shot prospect John Tavares, had three points in the games.
We'll have to wait and see where Benn stands in December when Canada holds its final camp and makes it final roster decisions.
I caught this little tidbit from Nancy Nichols over at the SideDish blog at D Magazine, which says Mike Modano and Brett Hull are going into the restaurant business together.
It has a working name of Brett and Mo's. I doubt they are going to quibble over whose name comes first, but I think Brett and Mo's rolls off the tongue a bit easier.
Mark Moore has a good blog over at The Hockey News web site. It's about the importance of defense. It's still the driving force behind winning championships. As he points out, a lot of people might have misread why the Ducks won in 2007. Some thought they won because they were big and tough. Teams tried to emulate that, even the Stars a bit when they signed guys like Brad Winchester and Todd Fedoruk in an attempt to get bigger and tougher. But the Ducks won that year because of their defense. Ditto with Detroit this season. For all their splendid offensive talent, the Red Wings were still a superb defensive team. And defense just isn't the defense. You can't look at a team's set of defensemen and say if their defense will be good or bad because defense is a team concept that includes obviously the goaltending, but the forwards as well.
Moore talks about the importance of defense and factors in the speed element as well in his blog, which is titled Speed trumps size.
When a brawny Anaheim team prevailed over a skilled Ottawa squad in the 2007 Stanley Cup final, you could hear the drumbeat in front offices across the league over teams’ need to get “bigger and stronger.”
A year later, Anaheim ducked out in the first round, as did a Calgary team coach Mike Keenan made not-so-subtle hints of being patterned after the Ducks.
Maybe it wasn’t Anaheim’s size and rough play after all.
The Dallas Stars probably would agree. Searching for a way to win their first playoff series since 2003, they got what they needed when they scored 11 power play goals over six games in which Duck players were “feeling shame” in the penalty box.
No, it wasn’t the Ducks’ brawn that won them the Cup. It was their defense. Yes, you’ve heard it a thousand times before: Defense wins championships.
TSN has highlights up of the first intersquad game at Canada's National Junior Team development camp. Stars prospect Jamie Benn scored the final goal in Team Red's 4-1 win.
Howard Berger of The Fan 590 in Toronto has seen pictures of a lot of the third jerseys for this season. Here's his description of what he saw for the Dallas third jersey:
The Stars’ third jersey is simple… a white uniform with the word “DALLAS” crowned on the front, atop the jersey number, which appears on both sides. Parallel dark-green and black stripes appear on each arm. There are no stripes at the bottom of the jersey.
The server move is basically complete. There are still some glitches and we expect to run into a few things we didn't anticipate, but we got most of the key stuff ironed out early this morning. The next month or so will be spent getting the new content management system in order for a late August or early September launch.
It's been almost two weeks since the Stars' prospect camp ended, but I still have an update. This one came to me via email last night. It has to do with the player who was wearing #20 at the camp and who was not Tom Wandell, who was listed on the roster as #20. All I knew at the time was his last name was Richardson and I never got around to checking with the Stars to get more info. My bad.
Anyway, I got an email from that player's dad, Nick Richardson, last night. No. 20 out there was a local kid (born here in Texas) named Jimmy Richardson, who is currently playing prep hockey at The Gunnery in Connecticut. That's where Austin Smith, the Stars' 2007 draft pick, played before heading off to play in Canada last season. Smith and Richardson played for the same organization here in D/FW and when Richardson was being recruited by The Gunnery, Smith encouraged him to go there.
Richardson will be a senior this coming season and is hoping to go on to play college hockey. He looked like college hockey material to me. He was one of the youngest players out there (born in 1990) and he handled himself pretty well while skating with players with college, major junior and pro experience.
It's another sign of how this area is developing good hockey players. There were three local kids at this month's camp. Smith, Richardson and Jordan Zitoun, a defenseman from Irving who is playing college hockey at Hobart in Upstate New York.
I thought the Stars trade yesterday, which falls into the minor deal category, was a good one even though they dealt for a guy who would considered a draft bust so far. Lauri Tukonen was taken in the first round (11th overall) back in 2004, but hasn't lived up to expectations. There have been, according to those who have seen a lot of him, some consistency issues. He's also had some injury problems, most notably with his shoulder.
That said, he's still young, is a good skater and has a good skill set. He's a right shot, which is a positive as well. There's still some potential for development here. Still, it's apparent the Kings decided that Tukonen had hit the end of the road in that organization and were willing to move him in a one-on-one swap of minor league players.
The Stars gave up Richard Clune, a left wing with agitator/grinder potential. I liked Clune, but there are a lot of guys out there who can do what he can do. Tukonen has more skill and overall potential. And although Tukonen hasn't lived up to it, there's always the chance that a change of scenery will do him some good. The Stars didn't give up a high ranking prospect and got someone with some decent potential in return. Overall, not a bad deal at all.
I wonder if Doug Armstrong played a role in this happening:
St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced today the club has signed free agent forward Brad Winchester.
Winchester, 28, skated in 41 games for the Dallas Stars last season, collecting three points (one goal, two assists) along with 46 penalty minutes. He also appeared in six postseason games with the Stars last season.
There's not much going on in Stars' land these days, other than the unveiling of the Ice Girls. The schedule comes out this week, Thursday is when the full schedule comes out. We should get the preseason schedule and maybe a few other tidbits on Wednesday. The last I heard the Stars' first home game was going to be Columbus, but that was still subject to change. We'll see if that sticks or if something new comes out of it.
It's shaping up to be a quiet summer, so I don't expect a ton of updates over the next month to six weeks. I'll probably just do stuff when there is news and sprinkle in a few other things here and there. I am going to be spending a lot of time on learning a new content management system that has just been installed the site and preparing for the site to be moved to a new server. All that's being worked on now.
Not much will change as far as what I do, but the content management system should make site maintenance a little easier once I get used to it. The main portion of the site and the blog will be tied together a little bit more. A lot of the stuff that is currently spread out in various places will be all under one little control panel. Updating will be faster and I should even be able to file stuff via email. It should make life a little easier as long as everything works.
The site will still look basically the same, at least that's the plan right now. This new system opens up a lot of possibilities.
Anyway, it should be ready to go in the next 4-6 weeks. The site may move to the new server before then, but time will tell when that gets done.
Well, I have been waiting all week for this. Here are the 2008-09 Dallas Stars Ice Girls. I am still trying to decide my favorite for this year, although Meagan is the current frontrunner. I may have to postpone the final decision until seeing them all live and in person at the AAC or some other public appearance. Pictures may not do them justice.
The Stars finally announced coach Dave Tippett's contract extension. Here's the release:
The Stars announced on Monday that the club has signed Head Coach Dave Tippett to a two-year contract extension through the 2010-11 season. Tippett was signed to a one-year contract extension through the 2008-09 season in December.
Recently finishing his sixth year with the club, Tippett has a cumulative record of 235-127-48, the best record of any active coach in the NHL. He has guided the Stars to the playoffs in every season at the helm. He was named as the 19th head coach in Stars franchise history on May 21, 2002.
“Dave Tippett has done an exceptional job as head coach of this hockey club,” said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “We are looking forward to getting back to work in preparation for the 2008-09 season.”
Tippett guided the Stars to a 10-8 record in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
“Dave has proven to be a great leader on the Stars bench and we are pleased to have him under contract for the next three seasons,” added co-General Manager Brett Hull.
Tippett’s teams have been near the top of the NHL standings since he took over as head coach, boasting the third-best record in the league since ’02-03 and the second-best home record. Also, Tippett has guided Dallas to two 50-win campaigns during his tenure (23 of the 30 NHL teams have not registered even one 50-win season since 2002-03).
Under Tippett’s leadership, the Stars have finished in the top-10 in goal scoring three times (ranking tied for eighth in ’07-08, ninth in ’05-06 and tying for sixth in ’02-03). On the flip side, Dallas has finished no worse than sixth in goals-against all five seasons under Tippett, including ranking in the top-three on three occasions (’06-07, ’03-04 and ’02-03).
Prior to becoming a coach, the 46-year old native of Moosomin, Saskatchewan, played 11 years as a forward in the National Hockey League with the Hartford Whalers, the Washington Capitals, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. In 721 career NHL outings, he registered 93 goals and 169 assists for 262 points with 317 penalty minutes.
Tampa Bay has signed former Star Mike Smith to a two-year contract extension. Smith's still in the final year of the deal he signed when he was with the Stars. That will pay him $950,000 this season, but he'll get a big raise starting in 2009-10.
The busy offseason for the Tampa Bay Lightning continued Monday as the team signed goaltender Mike Smith to a two-year contract extension that will pay him $2 million for the 2009-10 season and increases to $2.4 million in 2010-11.
... the Chops. The Stars' old AHL team, now an affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, will be called the Iowa Chops. No comment. Here's the article from this morning's Des Moines Register:
The pork associations ran wild in Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday after Iowa's American Hockey League team announced its new name - the Iowa Chops.
"Souey, we're the Chops, baby," one fan yelled into his cell phone after the open-to-the-public unveiling.
Team president Steve Nitzel mentioned possibilities of the Chops' merchandise store being called the Chop Shop, having a Chuck-A-Chop promotion and the Meat Locker becoming a nickname for Wells Fargo Arena.
Ken Hitchcock has gotten a contract extension in Columbus. He's not coach for life, but this contract has him tied up through 2011-12.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed Head Coach Ken Hitchcock to a three-year contract extension through the 2011-2012 National Hockey League season, club General Manager Scott Howson announced July 9. As is club policy, terms were not disclosed.
Hitchcock, 56, has compiled a 470-314-117 (.599) regular season record in 901 career games with the Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars. He was named the fourth head coach in Blue Jackets history on Nov. 22, 2006 and has guided the club to a 62-65-17 mark in 144 games. Last season, he became the 20th coach in NHL history to coach in 900 or more games on Apr. 5, 2008 at St. Louis.
"Signing Ken Hitchcock to this contract extension is another important step for the Columbus Blue Jackets as Ken is at or near the top of anyone's list when it comes to NHL coaches," said Howson. "He has brought credibility, presence and structure to our team and is an integral part of the Blue Jackets' identity. We are pleased to have stability for at least the next four years at the head coaching position."
The morning group from yesterday was on the ice today. Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany were the netminders. I think this session started early, so I only caught about an hour or so.
More drills this afternoon, including some one-on-one stuff. The highlight were the matchups between Ray Sawada and James Neal. Those were good. Austin Smith and David McIntyre, who will be teammates at Colgate next season, going at was worth watching. It was fun watching Ondrej Roman trying to use some of slick moves in the one-on-one drills.
There were some other drills where you could really see how fast McIntyre can skate. That guy can fly. I also have enjoyed watching Austin Smith. He's looked good out there. He's got some good skill and some good moves. He's got a long way to go as far as development, but he's made some good progress and he had a very impressive season in the BCHL.
Other than that, not much to report. There's no on-ice stuff tomorrow. The players will be working off the ice on some team building exercises.
Etar Joe Nieuwendyk is joining the front office of the Toronto Maple Leafs as special assistant to GM Cliff Fletcher.
Cliff Fletcher, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, announced Tuesday that Joe Nieuwendyk has been named the hockey clubs special assistant to the general manager.
Joe is an extremely intelligent individual, who has experienced success throughout his entire hockey career, said Fletcher. We will value his contributions on all hockey decisions and he will be a great asset to our organization.
Nieuwendyk, a 41-year-old native of Whitby, Ontario played 20 seasons in the NHL, from 1986 to 2007 for Calgary, Dallas, New Jersey, Toronto and Florida. He won three Stanley Cups, for three different teams, in three different decades, including the Calgary Flames in 1989, where Cliff Fletcher was the general manager. He also won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 and the New Jersey Devils in 2003.
They had the players from yesterday's afternoon session out on the ice this morning. I still got a kick out of watching Philip Larsen, the Danish defenseman picked in this summer's draft. He's slick.
I tried to watch Nico Sacchetti a bit today. He looks a lot more comfortable than he did at last year's camp. After the morning session he said felt more comfortable, admitting he had a bit of a deer in headlights syndrome last year. He looks good. He's made a lot of progress over the past year from what I can see. He's developed a lot and has more confidence.
Tried to watch Sergei Korostin a little bit today. He's the Russian kid taken in the third round in 2007 who played for the Texas Tornado last season. He's pretty smooth out there too. Not Larsen smooth, but he still has a nice skill set.
I didn't see Scott Winkler yet today (he should be in the afternoon session), but he was among those who talked after the first session. I had to double check to see that he was indeed from Norway. He sounded as if he had been speaking English his whole life. Turns out he had. His Dad is Canadian, so he speaks both English and Norwegian.
Another update following this afternoon's session, which starts in less than a half-hour.
There was a different set of skaters out there this afternoon and Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany were the goalies.
The guy who stood out to me was Philip Larsen, the Danish defenseman taken in the 2008 draft. He's as advertised as far as the skill level. The knock on him is that he isn't that great defensively, but you really can't judge that in this kind of camp. As for the skill, he's got that.
This isn't much of a camp for evaluating goalies. They are just stuck in a shooting gallery most times. That's what impressed me about Bachman last year. He looked good under those circumstances and he did again today. He's calm and composed out there. He made some nice stops, inlcuding a nice glove save on a wide open Larsen in the slot and a nice one where he came out and cut down the angle on a wide open Tom Wandell.
I liked Colton Sceviour, a 2007 pick, today too. He's got a nice shot. He put up some good numbers in the WHL last season and potted a couple of nice goals this afternoon.
Tyler Shelast, the forward they signed as a free agent out of Michigan Tech, was as advertised around the net. Was good at banging pucks in from close range. Matt Tassone, another of the 2008 draft picks, was good around the net too.
I watched a lot of the 2008 draft picks today. Got a whole week to sort through everybody.
Not a lot going on at development camp Monday morning. There were 12 players on the ice: 10 skaters and goalies Tyler Beskorowany and Matt Climie.
James Neal and Ray Sawada were both out there this morning. They both looked fine and were among the more noticeable players. I talked to Sawada afterwards and he thinks this is a good camp for him because of the emphasis on stickhandling.
I thought Ondrej Roman looked pretty good out there. He was sharp last year and had a good season in the WHL. One of the knocks on him is he doesn't shoot enough. Today, he showed a pretty nice shot. He did last year too.
Austin Smith, the Dallas kid drafted in 2007, looks like he has made some nice strides as well. His shot has improved and he is slick with the puck.
The nicest surprise was Scott Winkler, the 2008 draft pick out of Russell Stover. He's got some good hands. He handles the puck well and has a good shot. Craig Ludwig, who is helping out as a coach at the camp, singled out Winkler as the one guy who really caught his eye.
There's no hockey right now, but that doesn't mean you can't have a great scrap between two of the game's bigger names. Oilers GM Kevin Lowe and Ducks GM Brian Burke are still going at it more than a year after Lowe signed Anaheim RFA Dustin Penner to a big offer sheet. Here's how an article in the Edmonton Journal detailing Lowe vs. Burke begins:
Tired of being on the receiving end of criticism from Brian Burke, Edmonton Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe retaliated with a two-hander of his own on Friday.
Lowe described his Anaheim Ducks counterpart as "a moron" and "an underachieving wannabe" in a candid interview with Team 1260 radio station.
Lowe's remarks came after Burke lambasted his Edmonton counterpart again this week after signing forward Corey Perry to a five-year $26.63-million US extension and Lowe left the high road to respond.
"(Burke) loves the attention," Lowe told The Journal, "and I think he feels that if it brings news to the NHL, then it's good for the league. But I am a little frustrated. I was doing what was best for my team. We had no other recourse.
"He's a media junkie who gets his name in the headlines, but I hate the fact my name is linked to his."
Lowe said that because Burke was in a "pathetic hockey market," he was doing what he could to grab a headline.
"He's an underachieving wannabe in terms of success in the NHL," Lowe told the radio station. "He won a Stanley Cup? Great. I've won six Stanley Cups, you want to count rings? Who cares? It's just a little pathetic that he carries on."
The Boyle trade isn't a done deal yet, but according to TSN: "In return for the 31-year old veteran defenseman, it is believed Tampa will receive a package that will include 23-year old defenseman Matt Carle, a first round draft pick, a prospect and a 4th round pick. Sources say defenseman Brad Lukowich is also part of the deal going to San Jose."
As I get back into the swing of things tonight, I see that the Sharks have signed defenseman Rob Blake to a one-year, $5 million deal. One prominent hockey writer really likes this move. You can read his opinion here.
I said earlier you can't judge Sean Avery by a few highlights or a few incidents, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check them out. Here's a collection of top ten Sean Avery moments from TSN:
The Stars have signed some players, including Francis Wathier, to two-way contracts. Here's the press release.
The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has signed left wing Francis Wathier and defensemen Maxime Fortunus and Garrett Stafford each to two-year, two-way contracts through the 2009-10 season. The Stars also inked free agent right wing Landon Wilson to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2008-09 campaign.
Wathier, 23, skated in 15 games with the Iowa Stars last season, recording two goals and three assists for five points with 17 penalty minutes. He missed 60 games during the 2007-08 season due to a shoulder injury, but served as an alternate captain for the club and was honored as Iowas American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year for his outstanding contributions to the Des Moines community.
The St. Isidore, Ontario, native was a member of the Idaho Steelheads club that won the 2007 ECHL Kelly Cup championship. He also skated in 57 games with Iowa in 2006-07, netting 14 goals and three assists for 17 points. He added four assists and 25 penalty minutes in 12 AHL Calder Cup Playoff games with Iowa in 2007.
Chosen by Dallas in the sixth round (No. 185 overall) in the 2003 Entry Draft, Wathier helped the Gatineau Olympiques to consecutive Presidents Cup titles as QMJHL champions in 2002-03 and 2003-04, and he participated in the Memorial Cup both of those seasons.
Fortunus, 24, skated in 65 games for the AHL Manitoba Moose last season, recording eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points. He added an assist in six Calder Cup Playoff games with Manitoba this past spring.
A native of La Prairie, Quebec, Fortunus has been with Manitoba since 2005-06 and previously was a member of the Houston Aeros from 2003-05. In 238 career games at the AHL level, he has collected 13 goals and 43 assists for 56 points with 134 penalty minutes. In 33 career AHL Playoff games, he has registered six points (1 goal, 5 assists) and 24 PIM.
The 6-1, 190-pound defenseman excelled for Baie-Comeau in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1999-2004, posting 148 points (40 goals, 108 assists) and 277 PIM in 285 games with the Drakkar. In 34 QMJHL playoff games, he notched 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) and 16 PIM.
Stafford, 28, skated in 69 games with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins during the 2007-08 season, collecting 44 points (11 goals, 33 assists) and 36 penalty minutes. He went scoreless in two NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings, making his NHL debut on Feb. 23, 2008 vs. Vancouver.
The Los Angeles native had a stellar four-year career at the University of New Hampshire, earning 14 goals and 67 assists for 81 points in 134 games from 1999-2003. The 6-0, 195-pound defenseman was named to the Hockey East Second All-Star Team in 2002 and to the leagues All-Tournament Team in 2003. He was then selected to the AHL All-Rookie Team and the AHL Second All-Star Team in 2004 while with Cleveland.
Wilson, 33, has played the last four seasons in Europe, including the 2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns with HC Lugano in the Swiss Elite League. In 30 games with Lugano last season, Wilson collected 20 points (13 goals, 7 assists) and 67 penalty minutes, and the previous season, he notched 31 points (20 goals, 11 assists) and 67 PIM.
Originally selected by Toronto in the first round (No. 19 overall) in the 1993 Entry Draft, Wilson has skated in 348 career NHL games with Colorado, Boston, Phoenix and Pittsburgh, recording 51 goals and 60 assists for 111 points with 331 penalty minutes. He has also appeared in 13 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, earning a goal and an assist.
The 6-2, 215-pound right wing is the son of Stars Associate Coach Rick Wilson, and like his father, attended the University of North Dakota. In 66 games with the Fighting Sioux in 1993-94 and 1994-95, Wilson posted 25 goals and 31 assists for 56 points with 288 penalty minutes.
So what to make of the Sean Avery signing. Let me start with Avery the player. I like him. I don't judge him by what I see on some highlight show or on YouTube. That's a small piece of the overall puzzle. I judge him by what I've seen the past year-and-a-half or so when I've watched him play with the Rangers. Each and every time I have watched him play I have always been impressed with the way he plays the game. He's all over the place. He's got skill. He's responsible in his own end.
The antics? It depends on whom the Rangers are playing. Avery is one of those guys you hate when he is on the other team, but love when he is on your team. It's like Steve Ott. Stars' fans love Ott, but fans on the other side aren't so enamored. That's life in sports fandom. Rangers' fans loved Avery. I think Stars fans will come around to him to as well, especially if he helps this team win. And I think he will do that. He's a hard-working guy who can play.
The money - an average of $3.875 million - seems to be a lot for a 15-20 goal scorer, but there's more to all this than just scoring goals. The numbers he can produce in that department ain't bad. But he does a lot more. He can play center or wing. He can play power play and penalty kill. He can go up against top players and shut them down. He can play with your top players and fit right in. You see him with Jaromir Jagr and he looks like he belongs.
Chemistry issues? I doubt it. Players may not like him when he's on the other side, but once he's on your side things change. That's just life. Matthew Barnaby talked about that when he joined the Stars. He used to point out that they guys you used to drive nuts the most were the ones that were the most welcoming. If anyone has an issue with Avery, he'll get over it.
My only concern is that cap hit of $3.875 million. That pushes the Stars right up to limit if Fabian Brunnstrom ends up on the roster. I don't know if Brunnstrom will be on the roster, but I get the feeling the Stars expect him to be a player. I hope he is and I hope he is an impact player. I get a kick out of how some people wonder if he will hit all his performance bonuses. I hope he does. That means he had a good season. Why root for him to not hit his bonuses? I say let's see him have a Calder-type season and get paid $2 million-plus.
Anyway, back to the cap. They are up against it right now. Not much room for acquisitions and not much room to cover injuries if they start to run. But it's early July and there is still time to deal with that. Time will tell. Perhaps they can make a trade to improve the team and cut costs. Spending more doesn't mean better. But in this case I think putting the money into Avery is worth the temporary cap issues.
Overall, I like the move. I think Avery is a good player who brings a lot to the table. He'll make the Stars are tougher team to play against. They have a lot of skill players and he'll help Brenden Morrow and Steve Ott in the grit and toughness department. He can add some offense. He brings some personality to the team too. Brett Hull mentioned this in the BaD Radio interview. The Stars don't have a lot of that right now, and Avery will spice things up in that department. I agree with Hull - that's not a bad thing.
Brett Hull was on The Ticket a little while ago to talk about the Sean Avery signing. Here is theaudio of that interview . There is some weird audio in there at times. That's some downloads on my part. Sorry.
*Michael Ryder has signed with Boston at three years for $12 million.
*From TSN: New York Islanders have signed defenseman Mark Streit to a five-year contract worth $20.5 million.
*Wade Redden has signed with the Rangers. Six years, $6.5 million per season.
*TSN reports Bobby Holik is going back to the Devils. It's a one-year deal worth $2.5 million. There's an update on Rolston's contract. It's four years and $20.25 million deal. TSN just ran through some of the teams in the Wade Redden hunt as of right now and the Stars weren't one of them.
*Niklas Hagman has signed a four-year, $12 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Rangers re-sign defenseman Michael Rozsival to a four-year deal worth $20 million. Rumor update: The Stars seem to have dropped out of the Wade Redden rumor mill. It was just a rumor, so I don't know how much there was to it.
*The Brian Rolston signing is official: four years and $20 million from the New Jersey Devils.
*St. Louis will match the offer sheet (three years, $7.5 million) that Vancouver made to forward David Backes. That came from TSN. Just heard an interview with Mats Sundin's agent, J.P. Barry, and he confirmed that the Canucks offered his client a two-year, $20 million contract. Also, TSN is reporting the Devils are close to signing Brian Rolston to a four-year, $20 million deal. Rolston started his NHL career with the Devils.
*Columbus has signed defenseman Mike Commodore to a five-year deal worth $18.75 million.
*TSN's Bob McKenzie just reported that Brian Campbell is going to Chicago. Eight years at $7.1 million per year.
*From the second tier goalie file: Buffalo signs Patrick Lalime to a two-year, $2 million contract.
*From the rumor mill: The Fan 590 reports the Stars, Rangers and Sharks are in the hunt for defenseman Wade Redden.
*A couple more signings. Aaron Voros has signed with the Rangers and Alex Auld has signed with Ottawa at two years for $1,000,000 per year.
*TSN is now reporting what The Fan 590 was reporting earlier: Olaf Kolzig has signed with Tampa Bay. The deal is one year for $1.5 million plus bonuses.
*Darcy Tucker has signed with Colorado for two years at $2.25 million per year. Vancouver has signed Blues RFA David Backes to an offer sheet worth $7.5 million over three years.
*TSN reports that Florida has signed Cory Stillman to a three-year, $10.6 million deal and that the Chicago Blackhawks have signed goalie Cristobal Huet.
*The Maple Leafs have signed defenseman Jeff Finger to a four-year deal worth $3.5-million a season. The Red Wings have signed goalie Ty Conklin for one year at $750,000. Phoenix signed Todd Fedoruk to a three-year deal. No money disclosed on that one.
Note: I will run just one thread from here on out. The rest of the stuff from around the league today is below.
*Just head on XM Radio that the Avalanche have signed goalie Andrew Raycroft to a one-year contract.
*Phoenix has filled one of its holes on defense by signing Kurt Sauer (four years at $1.75 million per year) and Washington has signed goalie Jose Theodore (two years at $4.5 million per year).
*Minnesota has acquired defenseman Marek Zidlicky from Nashville for Ryan Jones and a 2nd round pick in 2009. This is from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
*Minnesota has signed Andrew Brunette to a multi-year deal according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
*TSN is reporting that the Bruins have signed Blake Wheeler to an entry-level contract. That's not a surprise since it was reported by the Boston Globe a couple weeks ago.
*Sportsnet is reporting that Curtis Joseph has signed a one-year deal with the Maple Leafs. (Updated: It's worth $700,000)
*Sportsnet is reporting that Radim Vrbata has bolted from Phoenix to Tampa Bay. Boy, those Bolts are busy. It's a three-year, $9 million deal.
*TSN is reporting that the Penguins are nearing an extension with forward Evgeni Malkin.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are closing in on an extension with Evgeni Malkin that is believed to mirror the extension Pens captain Sidney Crosby signed in July of 2007, a five-year deal averaging $8.7 million.
Sources tell TSN that Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero and Malkin's agent J.P Barry are believed to be finalizing the details with an announcement exected either later today or tomorrow.
*From TSN: The Edmonton Oilers have traded defenseman Joni Pitkanen, a restricted free agent, to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Erik Cole.
*Meanwhile, Sportsnet reports that the Oilers have also acquired Gilbert Brule from Columbus in exchange for Raffi Torres.
*From TSN: Anaheim has re-signed forward Corey Perry to a five-year deal worth $26.625-million. That's an average of $5.325-million a year.
*Sportsnet reports Brad Stuart has re-signed with the Red Wings for $3.75 million per year. I believe it's four years.
*The Penguins have re-signed Pascal Dupuis for three years at $1.4 million.
*Free agency has just opened. A couple of interesting items that happened before Noon Eastern time. Out of New Jersey according to TSN. The Devils re-signed Jay Pandolfo, who was on The Hockey News' list of top ten forwards available because of his defensive abilities. The Devils, did however, decline the option on forward Sergei Brylin. The Devils also re-signed defenseman Bryce Salvador to a four-year deal worth $11.6 million.
*The Caps have re-signed defenseman Mike Green to a four-year deal worth $21 million.
Here are the Stars' prospects who will be at next week's camp. No Fabian Brunnstrom:
Forwards: Jamie Benn, Richard Clune, Aaron Gagnon, Luke Gazdic, Sergei Korostin, Perttu Lindgren, David McIntyre, James Neal, Michael Neal, Ondrej Roman, Nico Sacchetti, Ray Sawada, Colton Sceviour, Tyler Shelast, Austin Smith, Matt Tassone, Tom Wandell, Francis Wathier, Scott Winkler
Defense: Mike Bergin, Philip Larsen, Trevor Ludwig
Goalies: Richard Bachman, Tyler Beskorowany, Matt Climie
Phoenix has filled one of its holes on defense by signing Kurt Sauer (four years at $1.75 million per year) and Washington has signed goalie Jose Theodore (two years at $4.5 million per year).
Minnesota has acquired defenseman Marek Zidlicky from Nashville for Ryan Jones and a 2nd round pick in 2009. This is from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
TSN is reporting that the Bruins have signed Blake Wheeler to an entry-level contract. That's not a surprise since it was reported by the Boston Globe a couple weeks ago.
TSN is reporting that the Penguins are nearing an extension with forward Evgeni Malkin.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are closing in on an extension with Evgeni Malkin that is believed to mirror the extension Pens captain Sidney Crosby signed in July of 2007, a five-year deal averaging $8.7 million.
Sources tell TSN that Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero and Malkin's agent J.P Barry are believed to be finalizing the details with an announcement exected either later today or tomorrow.
From TSN: The Edmonton Oilers have traded defenseman Joni Pitkanen, a restricted free agent, to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Erik Cole.
Meanwhile, Sportsnet reports that the Oilers have also acquired Gilbert Brule from Columbus in exchange for Raffi Torres.
Free agency has just opened. A couple of interesting items that happened before Noon Eastern time. Out of New Jersey according to TSN. The Devils re-signed Jay Pandolfo, who was on The Hockey News' list of top ten forwards available because of his defensive abilities. The Devils, did however, decline the option on forward Sergei Brylin. The Devils also re-signed defenseman Bryce Salvador to a four-year deal worth $11.6 million.
The Caps have re-signed defenseman Mike Green to a four-year deal worth $21 million.
Free agency gets underway tomorrow at 11 a.m Dallas time (Noon on the East Coast) and it should be busy. Can we expect much from the Stars? Honestly, I am not expecting a beehive of activity. Management has made that pretty clear. There's not a lot of openings on the roster.
It's nice to throw out some name players and speculate about how they might fit with the current cast of characters on the team, but I have a feeling the Stars may be low key as far as the kind of player or players they land. Maybe just a depth player or two. Maybe a guy who can move around a bit in the lineup and bring a little grit and a little scoring punch. There's always the defensive depth guy too, but I am not too sure on that one.
Do I have a problem with any of that? Not really. I didn't have a big issue when the Stars didn't do much last year. I thought they had a good team a year ago and they pretty much proved it. That group former GM Doug Armstrong put together without doing much in free agency was pretty much the group that was playing the best hockey in the league heading up to last season's trade deadline. Obviously the trade for Brad Richards paid dividends and the team had a great playoff run, but the Stars did well last season without spending money just to spend money in the free agent market. Yes, they got off to a slow start and all, but that same group turned it around too.
And they have a good team now as free agency gets ready to open again, and I am not overly concerned if they land the so-called scorer or not. I am not a big believer that they have to build the final version of the team in the first week of July. There's nothing that says good management equals looking at how much cap space you have on June 30 and then on July 1 you start throwing money around to eat up that cap space in three days so you can party on July 4. Putting the team together can start in July and it can be an ongoing process right through late February. There's no rush. In reality, putting the team together starts well before July, especially in the cap era. It's an ongoing process. Free agency just gets a lot of attention. You are building teams for the current season with an eye on future ones. Every multi-year contract you hand out or acquire has an impact on future seasons.
When Mike Ribeiro gets a five-year, $25 million extension to keep him from hitting free agency this summer, that's basically free agent money being spent. When the Stars acquire Brad Richards and his $7.8 million contract at the trade deadline, that's like another big free agent contract added. That's $13 million right there for a pretty good one-two punch at center. The Stars also picked up free agent Fabian Brunnstrom, who has a cap cost of $2.225 million because of potential performance bonus money. That's a lot of money the Stars have already committed to the 2008-09 cap and it doesn't leave them a lot to play with when the market opens Tuesday. Maybe that's not a bad thing.
Let's face it, this isn't a free agent market that is just brimming with marquee players. There are some good players out there, but not many that knock your socks off. Still, general managers will throw money around and if the Stars don't get into that game, even if it's because they don't have money to spend, that's OK with me.
I wonder if it's really a good sign that Michael Ryder is considered the answer to the perceived problem or the missing piece by most of us who follow the Stars. I looked at Ryder and thought he might be a good fit. Right shot, goal scorer, played with Ribeiro in Montreal and all. Then I thought about it and said to myself he looks good because he's a guy who has scored some goals and is available. To me, that's what free agency does to people. It's like closing time at the bar. The women do really start looking better.
That's not a knock on Ryder. Obviously, he can score goals, but is he the goal scorer the Stars need? Do the Stars need a goal scorer and if they do, do they have to get him right now?
That said, the Stars will be taking some goal scoring out of the lineup with the likely departures of Niklas Hagman, Antti Miettinen and Stu Barnes. That will be have to made up, but having Richards around for a full season will help create more offense. I would expect Loui Eriksson and Joel Lundqvist to chip in a little more. Who knows what Brunnstrom will bring, but he's obviously got some skill and some scoring ability. A guy like James Neal, if he were to make the roster, can chip in as well. This team will still have a lethal power play.
That's part of the reason I don't think it's crucial to address the scoring need in the first week of July. The Stars can save the cap space, instead of just spending money on what is a limited pool of players and paying more than someone may be worth as a result. if they get a good deal, then go for it. But there is no need to overspend now. They can probably find a guy who can do a lot of things that will help a team win, including popping in some goals now and then. He might not be a 30-goal guy, but that doesn't mean he can't be a piece of the puzzle.
tar Joe Nieuwendyk is joining the front office of the Toronto Maple Leafs as special assistant to GM Cliff Fletcher. 