I don't know what the tagline was for this site the first time I visited it, but by far the most memorable one went something like: "Won't somebody please buy this team?"
Well we will finally, finally be able to answer yes to that question today as the Delaware courts are expected to approve Tom Gaglardi's approximately $267 million bid to buy the Dallas Stars and a 50 percent share of the American Airlines Center.
Halle-freaking-lujah.
The Stars are expected to officially announce the sale and re-hiring of Jim Lites as team president today and introduce Gaglardi at a news conference early next week.
Perhaps this will put a jump in the team's step for tonight's game at the Colorado Avalanche. At the very least, it should give the fanbase a good jolt of electricity and hopefully nullify any lingering resentment about the end of the Tom Hicks era.
After the jump, more on tonight's game against Colorado, Razor turns in his goalie union membership card and the lights go out in California.
- We've linked this (and Mike Heika admits he's posted it) before, but it bears repeating now that Gaglardi looks like he is finally, officially going to be the Stars new owner. [DallasNews.com]
- The Stars know the last three games haven't been their best, and that's putting it lightly, But they're also not focused on that heading into tonight's game against Colorado. [ESPN Dallas]
- The DMN's paywalled take on the game looks back at why Glen Gulutzan isn't panicking yet either, nor is he putting the players through extra-aerobic versions of their usual paces. [DallasNews.com]
- And the rare Startlegram take on the team at the moment, though there's not a lot new if you've been keeping up with recent news or quotes chosen to lead the daily links post. [FWST]
- Razor gives his take on the Milan Lucic-Ryan Miller prompted discussion about should goalies be fair game, and he doesn't think the rest of his netminding brethren will be happy with him. [Razor With An Edge]
- Adam Pardy might not have made a great impression by being on the ice for three of the goals in the 6-0 loss to the Florida Panthers, but Fox Sports Southwest decided it'd be a good time to write a fairly positive profile of him anyways. Interesting timing. [Fox Sports Southwest]
- Meet the enemy, part the first: The Avs might have played one of the wildest games in recent memory in their 7-6 overtime loss to the Stars a few weeks ago, but they are also capable of an absolute snooze-fest like their 1-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. [Denver Post]
- Meet the enemy, part the second: Our friends over at Mile High Hockey have their always-entertaining take on the game. [Mile High Hockey]
- Around the Pacific Division, the winners: The San Jose Sharks rolled in the battle of teams most Stars fans can't stand to see win as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 behind a 4-point night from Marc-Edouard Vlasic. [San Jose Mercury News]
- Around the Pacific Division, the losers: Dave Tippett might just murder his Phoenix Coyotes if they don't stop giving up critical goals in the dying seconds of the third period. This time it was Matt Read who gave the Philadelphia Flyers a 2-1 victory with his game-winning goal at 19:41 of the third. [Philly Sports Daily]
- Around the Pacific Division, the LOL-worthy: The Los Angeles Kings completed a sweep of the Anaheim Ducks with not one but two short-handed goals in a 5-3 victory. But the real fun came when some of the lights in Anaheim wouldn't come back on to start the third period, causing a 17-minute delay. Even the arena is commenting on the Ducks play, it seems. [Los Angeles Times]
- We all remember how difficult empty-net goals can be courtesy of the Edmonton Oilers dastardly invisible goalie trick from several years back. Craig Smith of the Nashville Predators learned that lesson Thursday when he tried to roof the puck into the Toronto Maple Leafs' empty net. Somewhere, Patrik Stefan is writing a sympathy card while thinking "thank god they have someone else to talk about now." [Puck Daddy]
- The interviews on the site today were, well, just the interviews, though Brenden Morrow did share the sad news that Vernon Fiddler deemed his mustache unlucky and has shaved it to start over. And speaking of mustaches, I'm sure someone out there in internet meme land can have lots of fun with this. It's for a good cause.