Stargazing: Texas Stars Sign Two; Tom Hicks Sued; Six Changes To Stars' Schedule
by Brad Gardner on Aug 17, 2011 7:01 AM CDT
in Dallas Stars News
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PrintFirst, some house keeping the Stars asked everyone to pass along: As you've no doubt seen already, the schedule has undergone some changes for next season already with six games getting earlier in the evening, both home and away.
For whatever it's worth, the press release says that it was the National Hockey League that has announced these changes.
Date Game New Time (CT)
Oct. 10 Phoenix at Dallas 5:00 pm (was 7:00 pm)
Dec. 19 Anaheim at Dallas 7:00 pm (was 7:30 pm)
Dec. 26 Dallas at St. Louis 6:30 pm (was 7:00 pm)
Jan. 3 Detroit at Dallas 7:00 pm (was 7:30 pm)
Jan. 16 Dallas at St. Louis 6:30 pm (was 7:00 pm)
Mar. 20 Phoenix at Dallas 7:00 pm (was 7:30 pm)
You'll notice they're Monday and Tuesday games. Speculation came from ESPN Dallas on Twitter that the October 10th decision was influenced by Columbus Day and the State Fair. The others (Razor mused, in particular) could be part of a Versus/NBC Sports/NHL initiated decision. The Stars haven't said one way or the other. Personally, I will be glad for the earlier return trip from the AAC on those occasions.
- Fabian Brunnstrom has gone from highly sought-after undrafted free agent (rookie 17 goal scorer) to a guy signing a "pro tryout" in a last ditch effort to stay in the North American hockey picture. Ironically enough it's the Detroit Red Wings, who were in competition with Dallas to begin with, that give him this (presumably?) last chance. [TSN]
- In completely non-sports news, new Stars d-man Sheldon Souray was seen at "Summer Slam" in Los Angeles kissing a WWE diva (seriously, that's what they call her) by the name of... "Kelly Kelly"?? I wish I was making any part of that up, but honestly, how could anyone? [Puck Daddy]
- Via ESPN Dallas, the "Sports Forecaster" predicts the Western Conference Standings for the coming season and has Dallas as dead last. [ESPN Dallas]
- Ralph Strangis is spending his summer as a thespian on a local stage and here "Art and Seek.com" asks him about it and chronicles a little of this year's performance. Go get 'em, Ralphie. [Art and Seek]
- On the heels of Derek Boogard's death we have Rick Rypien this week. It's a sad story repeating that is causing many to raise concerns about fighting in the league and about the consequences of CTE in sports in general. [Puck Daddy] And a really good (sad) read here: [National Post.com]
- Tom Hicks' retention of financial interest in several parking lots surrounding Rangers Ballpark in Arlington as well as Jerry-World has spawned law suits claiming that he "embarked on a scheme to build a real estate empire on the backs of the Texas Rangers' players and creditors and fans of the team," which is not a wholly original thought. [Dallas Morning News]
- In turn, Hicks fired back with a lawsuit of his own, calling the former a "money grab" and a "deceptive personal attack." [FWST]
- Hockey Tracker.net lists Sheldon Souray as one of their five players poised for a big comeback year. [Hockey Tracker.net]
- This seriously came up in a Google News search: An 11 year old thinks the Stars will be a "very very good team" next year. [Cochrane Eagle]
- The Texas Stars announce two signings: Forwards Mike Hedden and Stephen Schultz. Those are Texas only deals, not Dallas. Stephen (of HDH) says they'll make it nearly impossible for any tryout players in their camp to make the roster as they now have 15 forwards. [Hundred Degree Hockey]
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Yeah, Tom and more news of him.
Hope Fabian will get his act together with the Wings.
Good times are here and Stars will take what belongs to them. Sooner or Later.
I kind of hope he doesn't
The last thing I want to see is someone we had to throw in the trash heap decide to learn how to play when he joins one of our rivals.
Heika suggests that the players were questioning decisions such as Woywitka over Mark Fistric --Brad Gardner
Maybe that's why Woywitka had that puzzled face after that goal....
"Shouldn’t Fistric have scored that?!" --Tsudbury
Hmm...
He isn’t here, so it doesn’t matter that much what he does?
He has to work anyway. =)
Detroit is one tough place, so might be going even more down, but it remains to be seen.
Good times are here and Stars will take what belongs to them. Sooner or Later.
by Henri Muroke on Aug 17, 2011 2:21 PM CDT up reply actions
True that.
He’ll have some stiff competition to join Detroit’s roster. If he fails, we won’t be surprised, but if he makes it, he’ll deserve it.
"Our GM,
who art in the front office,
on Conn Smythe be thy name…"
by Angelou Del Angel on Aug 17, 2011 3:22 PM CDT up reply actions
Well said.
Good times are here and Stars will take what belongs to them. Sooner or Later.
by Henri Muroke on Aug 17, 2011 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions
I don't know how it doesn't matter
To play devil’s advocate, what if he goes the complete opposite direction and starts playing really well? What if he has a career year and eventually becomes a 20-30+ goal scorer? Unlikely sure, but that’s kind of my point. I would mind if we dumped him because he stunk after wasting so much time on him and then he goes to someone else, plays well and helps a team like detroit. Not to mention, we do play them from time to time and if we wind up in the Central we may play them a lot more. I realize it’s a long shot that he even makes the team, but personally, I would just be annoyed if he decided to find his game with the Wings.
Heika suggests that the players were questioning decisions such as Woywitka over Mark Fistric --Brad Gardner
Maybe that's why Woywitka had that puzzled face after that goal....
"Shouldn’t Fistric have scored that?!" --Tsudbury
Maybe it's just the accountant in me...
but I consider the time and effort spent on him to be sunk costs. It’s like a game of poker….
Let’s say you have $100 at your table. You get pocket Jacks, so you wind up betting $40 pre flop. Someone calls, and out comes K,A,8, all of spades, which you don’t have. Someone bets another $20. Do you call, just because you think, “Well, I’ve already put $40 out there, so what’s another $20?” …..Some people would, but successful players never will. They know that the hand they were dealt isn’t good enough. They fold, because they know not to throw good money after bad. Now the problem is, every now and then, (8.4% of the time, in this example), after you fold, a Jack comes out, which would have given you the best hand. It sucks when that happens, but if you started chasing it every time, you would lose a lot more than you would make. Especially when you have more good hands coming along the way.
That’s what GMs do. Try not to throw good money after bad, and wait for their good hands (other prospects) to come up. Occasionally those hands hit elsewhere, but you can’t let it affect the way you play the game.
I can definitely understand your sentiment about how it would suck if he became a major player there, though. It’s always frustrating, because you ask “why couldn’t you have done that when you were with US!” But, using the sunk cost reasoning, it’s easier not to get too upset about it :-)
"He punched the highlights out of her hair... he punched the HIGHLIGHT'S out of her HAIR!" -- Young Neil
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Those are very good points.
But.
He is not here and sometimes these things just work the way they do. Like Lehtonen did.
If he plays well against us, so be it. It should also fire this team to play better against Detroit, like it even was a problem before.
And still… It’s his career, I don’t want to see him in Elitserien just because he failed here. He had it silver here when Hull was the man. When Joe came and Benn got his minutes… It wasn’t looking good anyway, why shouldn’t he get it together in some other place.
It’s not like we want him back?
Good times are here and Stars will take what belongs to them. Sooner or Later.
by Henri Muroke on Aug 18, 2011 5:21 AM CDT up reply actions
Sigh
Whenever I see ESPN as a link here, I just train myself to ignore it. Their so-called “experts” are rarely right and it makes me sad to see how far hockey has fallen.
If I link ESPN Dallas
It’s ok. That’s Mark Stepneski and he has been covering the Stars locally here forever. That link up there is a link to ESPN Dallas that then links another site called “sports forecaster”. It’s not ESPN content.
by Brad Gardner on Aug 17, 2011 9:05 AM CDT up reply actions
I've been following
The Stars since the mid-90’s (‘97) and really didn’t seek out internet sources other than DMN and ESPN until the past 4 or 5 years. In that time, I’ve come across DBD, Andrew’ Stars Page, and many others. However, I’ve often wondered why it was called Andrew’s Stars Page (and still is, I guess…just under an ESPN heading now). Am I just totally out of the loop on it? It may be a dumb question to all who already know, but I’m clueless about it.
by Erok79 on Aug 17, 2011 9:23 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
From what I understand...
Andrew is Mark Stepneski’s son. When he started the site, a long time ago, he did it for his kid and called it “Andrew’s Dallas Stars Page”.
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by Brandon Worley on Aug 17, 2011 10:33 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
cool, thanks
After a while, I assumed it was either something like that or someone else founded it and Mr. Stepneski took it over. Thanks for the enlightenment.
by Erok79 on Aug 17, 2011 10:49 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
idk some are pretty good
EJ Hradek is solid as they come. plus he used to work in dallas for the DMN. he knows what the Stars can be.
yes, overall ESPN is lousy but some of their guys arent too big. I used to like Bucci but he seems like a tool now.
by spatulacity on Aug 17, 2011 10:01 AM CDT up reply actions
Why 5pm? Why not make it 2pm?
Not everyone gets the day off, so a 5 pm start will be right in the middle of rush hour. Move it to 2pm and the game is over right as rush hour starts. Plus, with a 2pm game, you can promote it as Students Day and get some kids to the game. Oh wait, I said promote. My bad…..
The Dallas Stars will be a very very good team this year....
…They have signed a lot of good players and there is no real holes on their team.
Head…Desk
Writer for Defending Big D
the kid's 11
And writing an article/blogs that are fairly coherent. Cut him some slack. He likes us, he really really likes us! Ha. :)
by Erok79 on Aug 17, 2011 10:52 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Probably the most favourable review out there!
I don’t think he’s too far off the mark, yeah there are holes but, not super massive giant ones (barring #1 d-man).
Tsudbury for King!!! (if you want a pretty scarf)
James Neal - 45 points. Alex Goligoski - 46 points. Nieuwendyk lost?
by Great British Stars Fan on Aug 17, 2011 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions
Last in the western conference?
Give me a break. It can’t be that bad.
Rankings like this are pointless.
You can legitimately expect Edmonton, Colorado, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Columbus (behind Dallas) to be improved next year with the Stars falling off. Phoenix is going to drop.
I think its in flux….but heres my question. Do those improvements + the Stars – Richards = a 40 to 70 goal swing in goal differential between the clubs at the very bottom? That would take some awful fortune.
I wouldn't agree with Colorado, maybe Edmonton.
Phoenix will drop like a stone.
Tsudbury for King!!! (if you want a pretty scarf)
James Neal - 45 points. Alex Goligoski - 46 points. Nieuwendyk lost?
by Great British Stars Fan on Aug 17, 2011 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions
The thing is
This guy has the canucks who pretty much stayed together in 3rd behind 2 teams that got weaker because of loss of key players and he expects us to take this ranking seriously?
by Freelancer799 on Aug 17, 2011 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions
Colorado and Edmonton will improve quite a bit
Colorado has a respectable goalie and more young talent. Edmonton is going to explode one of these days and rise significantly.
The problem I have is saying that either team will be better than Dallas. Do they have more upside? Absolutely. They won’t be better than Dallas this year though.
The last place team in the West since the lockout has had anywhere from 57 to 71 points, so the Stars would have to have about 12 less wins from last year, even without Richards I don’t see that happening.
But I will give the sports forecaster some credit, that’s about as original a list of predictions you will see, Nashville 4th, Detroit 4th in their own division, Colorado ahead Minnesota, not many will have those. East is basically what you expect from most people.
by chris1989 on Aug 17, 2011 12:33 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Nothing but up from here.
When you’re under the radar, you can play above your expectations.
by Cajun_Kowboy_ on Aug 18, 2011 8:19 AM CDT up reply actions
Here's what I'm most excited about...
The NHL will release its 2011-12 national TV schedules on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET. [@NHLschuylerb]
"He punched the highlights out of her hair... he punched the HIGHLIGHT'S out of her HAIR!" -- Young Neil
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The Stars played, what, 2 national games last year?
I’d be surprised if we got more than one.
Maybe that Jan 3rd game is a Versus game
The rest of them…I doubt it. Wouldn’t be surprised if they have zero this year.
by Brad Gardner on Aug 17, 2011 2:00 PM CDT up reply actions
Doesn't bug me, I'll have center ice this year
along with the choice to pick R&R or the opposing broadcast every. single. game.
I’m just excited, because it means the price for center ice will be coming out soon too.
"He punched the highlights out of her hair... he punched the HIGHLIGHT'S out of her HAIR!" -- Young Neil
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Last year
It came out painfully late. Like into October, I believe. I remember thinking how ridiculous it was.
by Brad Gardner on Aug 17, 2011 3:35 PM CDT up reply actions
the price, or the tv schedule?
"He punched the highlights out of her hair... he punched the HIGHLIGHT'S out of her HAIR!" -- Young Neil
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Shouldn't the word national be replaced with top of the Eastern Conference
As for the Stars, you know they won’t get a NBC game, but they could get on VS, Nov 8, Dec 19 or Jan 3, and that’s assuming VS does most of their games on Monday or Tuesday. But like tsudbury said, I’ll get center ice so I don’t care too much about national TV.
by chris1989 on Aug 17, 2011 3:10 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
it's gonna be great this year.
No more illegal internet feeds, no lagging. Just 100% HD quality with R&R all the time.
"He punched the highlights out of her hair... he punched the HIGHLIGHT'S out of her HAIR!" -- Young Neil
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Forgive me for being the bearer of bad news...
but we won’t be getting R&R every game. Sometimes they only have one teams feed, and I know that they only show the opponent’s feed for most of the My 27 games. And the few My 27 games they do show… Dish Network doesn’t even show the commercials. lol
Directv has been saying that you can choose between the two feeds for every game.
That certainly wasn’t the case with Dish. Nor was HD. One of my main reasons for switching.
"He punched the highlights out of her hair... he punched the HIGHLIGHT'S out of her HAIR!" -- Young Neil
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You can "often" choose
let’s put it that way.
by Brad Gardner on Aug 17, 2011 10:15 PM CDT up reply actions
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