We were hoping to get a chance to see our old pal Marty Turco tonight, but word out of Chicago this morning is that Crawford will start again against the Stars and Turco will watch his old mates from the bench; A place he's been a lot lately. The truth is probably that Crawford just gives them a better chance to win right now.
There are still two meetings in Dallas and those might be better spots for Marty as they would provide immense "situational motivation." Turco is 9-10-2 this season.
Here's some lunch time reading.
- BC Local News touts that not one, but two Benn brothers are doing well down in Texas. [bclocalnews] I like how it says that Cedar Park is "300 kilometres south of Dallas."
- TSN slides the Stars from 10th down to 15th in the power rankings thanks to those Vancouver and Detroit losses. [TSN]
- A win tonight would give the Stars their longest road streak in 9 years. [CBS]
- Tonight at the AAC there will be a meeting of the "National Sports Marketing Network," which Mark Cuban and Chuck Greenberg will attend and there will be a talk entitled "The State of Sports Business in North Texas: The Economics & Growth of the Metroplex." That would be fascinating to listen to. [Dallas Observer]
- Time to celebrate Adam Burish again as the Stars visit Chicago. [DMN]
- You need to see this ridiculous goal that kept the Wild from being utterly embarrassed last night, potentially, at the hands of the Devils. [Puck Daddy]
- Is fan balloting irrelevant for the All-Star game? [Puck Daddy]
- There are two themes of interest for Stars fans that come out of this Kamloops Blazers story. (Or rather one that may interest Stars fans and one that may interest the media, which we vaguely consider ourselves. Kind of.) Continued after the jump...
First there's this from the blog of Gregg Drinnan, Sports Editor for the Kamloops Daily News...
When Tom Gaglardi and his partners paid a reported $7 million for the Kamloops Blazers in 2007, they promised to turn the team into the kind of franchise people would want to watch.
In supporting the sale, The Daily News editorialized: "Clearly, the Blazers have not enjoyed the heady aroma of success for quite some time. The team itself has performed poorly, the organization has been beset by a series of internal problems, and promotion has been lackluster. In short, despite the best efforts of the board and the community based administration, the Blazers have lost their mojo."
Three-plus seasons later, the team languishes at or near the bottom of the standings and Gaglardi's avowed priority - attendance - continues to suffer. In fact, rather than rebounding by the 600-700 fans Gaglardi had hoped, the numbers have continued dropping.
That kind of smacks you in the face as a Stars fan because here is this guy that wants to buy the team (maybe?) and he would be seen as this proverbial "white knight" that comes to save the day and can do no wrong. To even consider the possibility that things might not work out for the best when ownership changes hands is not in our collective consciousness right now.
Right now, "new owner = salvation" in the minds of the fans, no matter how unreasonable or insane it might be. That's why I found the story of what Gaglardi and company have done with the Blazers to this point interesting.
Now, am I trying to throw cold water on Tom Gaglardi's interest in the Dallas Stars? No. I would welcome anyone with that much money today with open arms. Bring it on.
Am I trying to piss off someone who's (possibly) looking at everything Dallas Stars related through the shop window? Again, no.
Am I trying to say the same thing would happen if Gaglardi bought the Dallas Stars? Absolutely not. There's obviously a great deal of talent and structure already in place with this team and there are smart people in all levels of the organization that, if kept, would continue making good decisions. They just need a little cash infusion.
What am I trying to say? Simply that, as a Stars fan, I found the above of general interest and other Stars fans might as well should Gaglardi continue to pursue the purchase of the team, and at this point it's not entirely clear that he actually will. (Read more about that here, and here)
I'm taking the quoted passage a little out of context there to discuss Gaglardi as a potential owner of the Stars. What the article is really calling into question, if you'll read in it's entirety, is how the Kamloops Blazers treat said local newspaper.
The two are currently in a bit of a battle after the team banned Mr. Drinnan from speaking with players and coaches. To quote the Daily News, via theprovince.com:
"Vice president and general manager Craig Bonner, with the support of [owner Tom] Gaglardi, has decided Drinnan will no longer be allowed to talk to team personnel unless he starts writing more favourably about the Blazers," wrote editor Mel Rothenburger. "This is unacceptable to us as a newspaper. It's also unacceptable to the Western Hockey League, or should be, since it clearly violates league policy.
"We're optimistic a solution can be found, but it won't involve the Blazers deciding what Gregg Drinnan or any other member of our staff can or should write about the Kamloops Blazers. In the meantime, he will continue to cover them, albeit without comment from the team itself."
That's troubling, but not unheard of. It's a team's right to issue and revoke credentials as they see fit so they can do whatever they like. Then again, if a team wants someone to "write more favorably" the best possible solution for all involved is probably that they, you know, "play more favorably."
(If you read all of that, you must be quite bored at work.)