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It seems like just a few years ago that a baby-faced Jamie Langenbrunner was fighting to earn his place in the NHL, on one of the older veteran rosters in the league. As we all know, he eventually would earn that job, and go on to win quite a few fans in the Metroplex with his tenaciously skilled playing style, en route to two straight appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Then you do the math and realize that was almost twenty years ago, and the still baby-faced Jamie Langenbrunner is only days away from his 38th birthday, still sitting at home and waiting for that next deal that will keep him in the NHL for another year. With the Dallas Stars not interested in a third go-round, and his most recent team, the St. Louis Blues, opting to go in a different direction, Langenbrunner is hoping to land with his hometown Minnesota Wild.
The Duluth Heritage Sports Center had a ceremony planned to honor Langenbrunner's career set for Tuesday night, but it has been cancelled, as Langenbrunner isn't ready to delve into retrospection on a career he still sees as alive. Derek Plante, fellow member of that 1999 Stanley Cup team, agrees that Jamie still has something left to contribute. [Duluth News Tribune]
While some are ready to celebrate Langenbrunner's past accomplishments, this Dallas Stars team is looking forward to it's renewed hope in a truly new era of Stars hockey. Pegasus News takes a look at many of the massive changes the Stars have undergone this summer, and gives us a best-case/worse-case scenario. You've got to give it to them... they're not entirely negative, despite being painfully blunt. [Pegasus News]
The Dallas Morning News has more on the Dallas Stars plans to use this preseason to expand their Southwestern footprint, with neutral site games and aggressive marketing... plus an always gratifying clickable slideshow, recapping the summer. [Dallas Morning News]
Jack Campbell remains one of the Stars top prospects, and one of the most highly touted young goaltenders in the game, despite the Stars patient approach to is development. The Texas Stars official website recently sat down with him and talked about the slow learning curve he is being afforded in an organization that's always prided itself on a deep goaltending stable. [Texas Stars]
If that interview wasn't enough to renew your confidence in Jack Campbell, there's always a reminded of his almost cartoonish levels of competitive drive. This summer he's also picking up tennis, based on the advice of New York Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist. Only Jack Campbell could be described as dripping with blood during a simple tennis match. The kid doesn't know anything less than 110%. [The Times Herald]
Today should be the day the NHL finally announces it's schedule, and hopefully it's division names for the upcoming season. Things are still being held up by a lack of a firm agreement on Olympic participation. [Sporting News]
Recent studies have indicated that the rate at which players are being concussed in the National Hockey League has not slowed down, despite the renewed focus on safety and strict ban on head-shots. This has led some to call for a slowing down of the game, not unlike changes that have been made to NASCAR, for the sake of safety. [The Province]
Not only is Dustin Brown one of the most hated men in the league, but he's arguable one of the most overpaid as well. The Los Angeles Kings, who just named Rob Blake as assistant general manager, re-signed their captain to an eight year deal worth $47 million. That's almost 6 million dollars per year, but only a mere seven cents per swan-dive. [LA Times]
On the other hand, the Colorado Avalanche have re-upped Matt Duchene to a beauty of a five-year deal worth $30 million dollars. That one is actually money well spent. [Yahoo!]
In lieu of a video of the day, I'll share a different form of media with you all. It's an Imgur gallery of all the NHL team logos, created in Microsoft Paint. I'm not entirely sure who the artist is, but I believe it to be Koko, the gorilla. Sadly, the new Dallas Stars mark isn't included. Darn. [Imgur]