For a second yesterday, it almost felt like hockey season was nearing. Almost. North Texas' streak of 100+ degree days finally ended at 40, clouds (actual clouds!) blanketed the area, and NFL football returned, though it was just preseason. It was reminiscent of fall, but not the real thing. It's still the middle of August, and the 100 degree heat returns and stay for weeks to come.
Oddly enough, however, there's enough Stars and hockey related material on the internet right now to make you think it's September, thanks in no small part to the flurry of ownership related tid-bits that may or may not have told us much of anything...
- Yesterday we updated our own individual prospect rankings and ESPN released an insider article ranking the league's prospects by team, calling the Stars #10. You can read what they had to say here at ESPN Dallas. That's 10th, opposed to Hockey Prospectus' ranking of 28th two weeks ago. [ESPN Dallas]
- The shock jock style of blogging at Thursday Morning Cupcheck brings you a preview of the Pacific Division as only Todd could. [Pegasus News]
- In this chat at the St Louis Post-Dispatch, Blues beat writer Jeremy Rutherford speculates that Doug Miller could be one of the parties willing to look elsewhere should the Stars prove too hard to get. It should be noted that it was in response to a rather flippant question about whether one of them could be Mark Cuban. [stltoday.com]
- Dallasstars.com talks with Toby Petersen about the upcoming season and Glen Gulutzan's arrival. Question: How will Petersen's role be affected by all the new depth, particularly on the penalty kill? He scored only twice for the Stars last year. [dallasstars.com]
- Some like to point at the trapezoid and say it's causing all these injuries behind the net. Derek Zona looks at the so called "injury epidemic" Don Cherry likes to talk about and concludes that it might be intellectually dishonest to say so. [SB Nation]
- As you knew he would, because it's a favorite topic of his on broadcasts, Razor opines on the proposed rule changes being studied by the league this week and is very supportive of many. [Razor - Dallas Stars.com]
- Pro Hockey Talk opines on the Stars, Blues and Coyotes updates of yesterday. [Pro Hockey Talk]
- In economic times such as these, the prudent thing to do is obviously spend $1,609 on a Dallas Stars themed foosball table. [Amazon.com] It's not news, I just find it hard to believe someone stocks such a superfluous item.
- Stephen brings us a sad tale for the Austin area as a local rink is closing (that the Texas Stars sometimes use for practice, even!) and is displacing hundreds of rec league players. We hope it's not a portent of things to come in the metroplex as times get tougher and tougher. [Hundred Degree Hockey]
- If you have opulence (and a paid DMN account) you can read "If ever Stars needed Brenden Morrow to be a warrior, it's now." I don't know what the piece says but truer words were never spoken. [DMN - Paywall]