5 weeks and 5 days remain until the officials start of 2010 Dallas Stars Training Camp. (The Traverse City tournament will actually kick things off a little before that.) 5 more weeks to bare the dullest part of the off-season, and yet we still have news. Between Tom Hicks, Marty Turco, Mike Modano and a variety of other items, the has been one "newsy" summer, and we hope it continues for a little while longer as we deal with these 107 degree days in Texas.
For some reason, Mike felt it necessary to convey some of his wife's private comments...
Modano told reporters in Detroit on Friday at the news conference to announce his signing of a one-year contract with the Red Wings that Mandy Modano, who goes by the stage name Willa Ford, wants her husband to play well in part to show the Stars they were wrong to let him go. "I think it was more so on my wife's radar than anything. She wanted me to go play, and especially in Detroit, to kind of shove it up everybody's ... you know," Modano told reporters. "That was her precise words, and she felt it was a great opportunity to do that in Detroit and loved the Red Wings and knew it was one of our rivals. She felt going in there and having the chance to play with good players was a real good opportunity." The Dallas Morning News has more. Count the red flags there. She especially wanted him to go to Detroit for the very reason we all do not. To shove it everybody's....? "She loved the Red Wings?"
So she's essentially the devil standing over his shoulder attempting to sew discord between Mike and the Stars organization? It's a good thing Mike has a level head on his shoulders and knows this about hockey.
After the jump, Adam Burish, James Neal, Jack Campbell, and odds on who'll win the Stanley Cup next year...
Mike Heika has a real nice, lengthy profile on Adam Burish. Here's a small excerpt:
Burish adds a right-handed shot, and that's a good thing. He also adds a defensive presence, and that's a good thing. He's a fast skater and a physical player. I wouldn't expect too much help from Burish in the faceoff circle. He is a 41.4 percent faceoff guy over 417 career draws. He will add a right-handed element at key times, but he is like a lot of guys on the Stars in that he has some work to do on faceoffs.
Burish isn't going to save the Stars, but he's another move in which the Stars are going to take a bit of risk to see if they can get more out of a player than his other team did. That's what you have to do when you're on a budget like the Stars.
Check out the whole thing at the DMN.
James Neal is spending his weekend in Plymouth, Michigan...
Dallas Stars forward James Neal is one of several former Plymouth Whalers returning to Compuware Arena for today's Alumni Score for Autism charity hockey game.
Neal, from Whitby, Ontario, scored 27 goals and 65 points for the Whalers in 2006-07 when they won the Ontario Hockey League championship and played in the Memorial Cup. He had 24 goals and 37 points in 77 games as an NHL rookie in 2008-09 and had 27 goals and 55 points in 78 games last season for the Dallas Stars.
Neal spoke to Free Press sports writer George Sipple about the Whalers, why he's coming back for the alumni game, and what he thinks about the changes the Stars made in the off-season...
I included that last little tease because I think it's funny. It says "about the changes the Stars made in the off-season..." The only thing he asked him about was Modano leaving.
Mr. Stepneski of ADSP has been doing a great job keeping up with the Stars prospects at their various national development camps. Here is what he had to say about Jack Campbell's weekend...
Stars goaltending prospect Jack Campbell stopped 14 of 17 shots in the USA’s 8-3 win over Finland in the final game at the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid.
The USA fell behind 3-1 and then rattled off seven unanswered goals. The game recap is here.
Including intrasquad contests, Campbell played in five games at the camp, which ended on Saturday. He had a 4-0-0 record with a 3.15 goals against average and a .869 save percentage.
Bodog, always looking to ruin your life by getting you addicted to online gaming (no joke either, I've seen it happen) has odds on Cup favorites for next year. Look at the pack the Stars lead...
Carolina Hurricanes -- 50/1
Dallas Stars -- 50/1
Toronto Maple Leafs -- 60/1
Atlanta Thrashers -- 66/1
Columbus Blue Jackets -- 66/1
Florida Panthers -- 66/1
Edmonton Oilers -- 75/1
Minnesota Wild -- 75/1
New York Islanders -- 75/1
Take that! Uhh...Blue Jacket fans...?
Meanwhile, "across the pond", as they say, Tom Hicks continues his scheming and conniving whilst getting rid of another sports franchise...[Goal.com]
Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are ready to become unlikely boardroom allies in a bid to sell the club to Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi.
According to The Sunday Mirror, the two Americans are ready to join forces to back Kirdi's £600 million plan to take over at Anfield.
Hicks and Gillett have had a tense relationship since they took over the club back in 2007, resulting in a breakdown in communications and the pair refusing to discuss the future of the club with one another.
However, they had been forced into a reconciliation following a bid from Chinese businessman Kenneth Huang which would see his Sportscorp China Ltd group purchase the club and its reported £237 million debts, leaving the current owners with a small profit.
The sale of Liverpool looked unlikely just weeks ago as Hicks said he could afford to wait and wait for the right price, and now it seems to be accelerating to the point where it will happen before the sale of the Stars. How did we get left in the dust here?