Andrew's Dallas Stars Blog

Morrison thoughts

Well, it didn’t seem like a busy day on the trade front around the league but when the dust settled there were 22 trades involving 47 players. I believe I heard on TSN (during the Buffalo/Montreal game) that the number of players moved was a deadline record.

Anyway, no blockbuster from the Stars. I think the writing was on the wall as far as that. But the Stars did make a move and if you combine it with what they did last week, they addressed a need and that was to fill some gaps left by the injuries to Brad Richards and Toby Petersen.

They did that without giving up any prospects, draft picks or current key players. I liked the Steve Begin pick up last week and I think plucking Brendan Morrison off waivers today was a decent move too. It’s no risk. He’s unrestricted at the end of the season, so there’s no contract commitment beyond the rest of this season. The Stars gave up nothing to get him.

What’s he going to bring? It’s tough to say. He’s a good player, who is pretty versatile and hes a good character guy who should fit in the locker room. He’s struggled this season, but seems to have gotten better as the season has moved along. He suffered a torn ACL late last season, had surgery and that slowed him to start this season. He’s got some skill, is a good playmaker, and can be effective on the power play, and that will help with Richards on the shelf.

They weren’t going to find Brad Richards II on the waiver wire. But Morrison is a good replacement at what the Stars were willing to give up as far as assets, which meant they weren’t going to deal away parts of the future for a short-term fix. They got a short-term fix for the rest of Morrison’s contract this season, which is a good deal.

He also should fit in well with the team. He knows Marty Turco well. They played together at Michigan. He’s Daryl Reaugh’s brother-in-law. I am assuming that’s a positive. 

Brendan Morrison on CBC Radio

Brendan Morrison was interview on CBC Radio shortly after being claimed off waivers by the Dallas Stars. Here’s the audio:

Modano on BaD Radio

Stars center Mike Modano was a guest on BaD Radio today. Here’s the audio:

Stars claim Brendan Morrison off waivers

The Stars have claimed center Brendan Morrison off waivers from Anaheim. Update: For those who are interested, I just got this note from the Stars: Brendan Morrison will wear #11 for the Stars. Here is the release from the Stars:

The Dallas Stars announced today that the hockey club has claimed center Brendan Morrison off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks. Morrison, 33, has appeared in 62 games for Anaheim this season, scoring 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points with 16 penalty minutes. He signed a one-year deal with the Ducks this past July after spending the previous eight seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. Morrison is just four points shy of 500 for his NHL career, and has earned 14 of his 22 points on the season in the last 28 games. “Brendan Morrison is a skilled veteran who brings valuable experience and character to our team for this playoff push,” said Stars Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “He is a strong competitor who we are excited to add to our group.” Morrison is playing in his 11th NHL season, having scored 169 goals and 327 assists for 496 points in 736 career games. He has scored 20 goals in a season four times and has scored 60+ points in a season three times. The Pitt Meadows, BC, native was originally drafted by New Jersey in the second round (39th overall) of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Morrison, who won the Hobey Baker Trophy as college player of the year in 1997, was teammates with Stars goalie Marty Turco at the University of Michigan. Morrison is also the brother-in-law of Stars color analyst Daryl Reaugh (their wives are sisters).

Trade deadline running thread

Here’s a running thread on the trades and other news of the day. I’ll update it as they come in and as I can update it.

Click here for a list of all trades since February 3.

The Oilers acquire Patrick O’Sullivan and Ales Kotalik in separate deals. Details are here.

Some more of the trades tricking in: The Sharks got Travis Moen and Ken Huskins from the Ducks for some prospects. There are more coming.

Chicago got Samuel Pahlsson from the Ducks for D James Wiesniewski.

From TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs have dealt center Dominic Moore to the Buffalo Sabres for a second round draft pick.

TSN just reported Derek Morris is heading to the New York Rangers for Dmitri Kalinin, Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha.

TSN just reported Nik Antropov to the Rangers for a 2nd round pick and a conditional pick.

TSN just reported that Phoenix has sent Daniel Carcillo to Philadelphia for Scottie Upshall and a 2nd round pick.

Sportsnet is reporting that Bill Guerin is going to Pittsburgh for a conditional pick. Here are the details of the pick from TSN: “The draft pick that Pittsburgh gives up will start as a fifth-round pick. If Pittsburgh makes the playoffs, it increases to a fourth-rounder. If they get to the second round, it becomes to a third round pick.”

From TSN: Mark Recchi to Boston. Tampa Bay gets defenseman Matt Lashoff and forward Martins Karsums.

The Ducks are moving people. D Steve Montador to Boston for Petteri Nokelainen.

TSN says Calgary is shipping Matthew Lombardi, Brandon Prust, and a first round pick to Phoenix for Olli Jokinen.

Oh, and I forgot this one. Toronto picked up Martin Gerber off waivers from Ottawa.

Buffalo gets Mikael Tellqvist from Phoenix for a fourth round pick.

Flames get Jordan Leopold from Colorado for defenseman Lawrence Nycholat, prospect Ryan Wilson and a 2nd round draft pick.

Bob McKenzie just reported that the Calgary Flames are close to landing Coyotes center Olli Jokinen. Not a done deal yet, but close.

TSN is reporting that Buffalo’s Tim Connolly is off the market. He’s signed a two-year, $9 million extension with the Sabres.

Earlier, Ottawa signed Filip Kuba signed a three-year extension at $3.7 million, so he is off the market too.

Anaheim took Chris Pronger off the market earlier in the day as well, according to TSN.

TSN reports that Columbus has sent goalie Pascal Leclaire/2nd round pick to Ottawas for forward Antoine Vermette.

Happy Trade Deadline Day

It’s always fun and exciting.

TSN is the center of the hockey universe.

You can here for their online coverage, which has streaming video and a trade tracker with audio.

Stars-Sharks thoughts

Since I am about hour 21 or 22 of my day, I will keep this brief. That was a good effort. It’s funny how things can change from game to game in the NHL. It’s a long season with lots of twists and turns and highs and lows. Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh was a low and Tuesday’s win in San Jose was a move up the ladder.

It’s one game and they have to build on it, but it was a big, big win. It should give them a shot of confidence. Darryl Sydor talked about that Monday before the team left on the trip. Dave Tippett talked about a jolt of energy in his postgame comments.

They played very well. They outplayed the Sharks for most of the game. San Jose had a decent push early in the game and came out strong early in the third with that leftover power play time, but other than that the Stars were in control of the play.  As I said in a post on Tuesday, they had played some good games during the losing streak and just didn’t execute well enough to win. Didn’t make enough plays at the right time. They did that Tuesday night.

The turning point was that five-on-three in the second period that started with the head butting major on Joe Pavelski late in the first period. I didn’t see what Pavelski did, but the officials did. I doubt they made it up, so the Stars were on the extended PP once a minor on the Stars expired. Throw in the cross checking minor to Rob Blake and it’s 2:00 of five-on-three time. The Sharks came very close to killing that off thanks to some great netminding by Brian Boucher, but Mike Modano scored off a great pass by Mike Ribeiro with just seconds left on it and that was the turning point of the game. San Jose kills that and it’s a huge momentum shift their way most likely. But the Stars scored and it was a major boost Dallas’ way. It’s that fine line between winning and losing. The Stars’ executed in that case.

The Sharks cash in on that pressure early in the third and maybe it’s a different game too. But they don’t and the Stars extend the lead and seal the deal with two quick goals by Brian Sutherby and James Neal. End of story,end of game.

There is still a long, long ways to go. They moved into tenth place with the win and are only a point out of a playoff spot, but the margin for error is slim. There are still two tough games left on this trip. Yeah, you can say these are winnable games. But they are games they can lose too. That’s the case every night in the NHL. How many people thought they would go in and beat the Sharks on Tuesday night?  Probably not a lot. So put away the forks and don’t nail the lid on the coffin just yet. There is a lot of hockey yet to be played.

The most important of the game of the season is coming up on Thursday and after that the most important game of the season is on Friday.

Here is some postgame audio from Stars coach Dave Tippett.

Ott on BaD Radio

Stars forward Steve Ott was on BaD Radio this afternoon and talked about a variety of matters including the incident in Saturday’s game against Anaheim that got him a one-game suspension, how his teammates on the ice responded during it and the Stars’ upcoming road trip. As is usually the case with an Ott interview, this is some good stuff. Here’s the audio.

Tortorella on Avery’s return

Here’s what Rangers coach John Tortorella told reporters in New York on the return of Sean Avery.

“We feel, especially in the division, we need a little more jam on our team. Hopefully he can kick in a couple of goals. I haven’t coached Sean, I want to see what he’s all about. I’ve seen him play. When he’s concentrating on playing under a team concept, he’s an effective player. That’s what we’re looking for. He’s really tried to help himself and Glen believes in second chances. I think he’s done his homework here and we’ll see where it goes.”

“I believe in personalities...If you have conflict, you must be hitting a problem head on. I had major conflicts with a lot of players in Tampa Bay. Now we respect one another, and understand why we went through it.”

More Rangers reaction from Steve Zipay at Newsday. 

Rangers take Avery

As expected, the New York Rangers have claimed Sean Avery on re-entry waivers from the Dallas Stars.

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