Dallas Stars Daily Links: Bill Guerin Elected to USA Hockey Hall of Fame

Bill Guerin was a definite fan favorite in his short three year tenure as a Dallas Star in the early part of century. Before becoming a Dallas Star, he won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils, was a sworn enemy of the Stars as a member of the Edmonton Oilers, and became a high-priced free agent as a sniper for the Boston Bruins.

The Stars were lucky to add him in the summer of 2002, signing him to a very rich five year deal. Despite his popularity, he was bought out after only 3 years, largely because of his disappointing 40-point campaign in 2005-06. He went on to play for the St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins after his time in Dallas, winning another Cup in 2009 with Pittsburgh.

Interestingly enough, Doug Weight, who is being inducted with Guerin to the USA Hockey Hall of Fame, is no stranger to being joined at the hip with Guerin. Not only were they teammates on the US National Team on three different occasions, but they were also teammates with the St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, and Edmonton Oilers during their careers.

I think I speak for most Dallas Stars fans when I say that Bill Guerin is a class act and an easy guy to cheer for, even if his five-year deal with the Stars didn't quite end as we all had hoped. Congratulations to the man they call Billy G. An American Institution. [IIHF]

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Newly appointed assistant coach, James Patrick, is excited to be joining the Dallas Stars staff, and not just for his ever-apparent ties to Lindy Ruff and the Buffalo Sabres organization. He sees a lot of promise in the young defense corps, and can relate to the offense-turned-defense roles that Stephane Robidas and Trevor Daley have sunk into. The Dallas Morning News also delves into the question of Tyler Myers, and if Patrick's history with him is a positive or negative in regards to the development of Jamie Oleksiak. [Dallas Morning News]

Patrick may be excited, but Tim Cowlishaw is urging everyone to tap the brakes a bit on the resurgent Stars organization. He points to Kari Lehtonen's brief playoff history and Sergei Gonchar's age as reasons why the Stars very well may fail this coming season. What he doesn't seem to understand is that Stars fans are just excited to be going in the right direction, and no one is planning any parade routes any time soon. [Dallas Morning News]

While this shouldn't even be considered news at this point, Jim Nill reiterated that Valeri Nichushkin will be given every opportunity to make the team out of training camp this season. It would take an utterly disastrous training camp and pre-season for a kid with this level of talent (and hype) to be allowed to return to Russia for a year. [NHL.com]

Former Dallas Stars coach Glen Gulutzan is happy to be "back home" in Western Canada, as the new assistant coach of the Vancouver Canucks. [Edmonton Journal]

Madison Square Garden is currently being renovated to the tune of one billion dollars... money well spent for a decade of use? The city of New York has informed MSG that they have ten years to move the home of the New York Rangers to allow for an expansion of Penn Station, which is currently below the arena. [Yahoo!]

You thought the drama surrounding Roberto Luongo's relationship with the Vancouver Canucks ended when they traded Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils? You thought wrong. His recently fired agent ripped into the Canucks, claiming they treated their client like a fourth liner. [Globe and Mail]

Speaking of goaltenders with baggage, Tim Thomas is still looking for work. Rumor has it that there are actual teams that are interested in his services, but they're waiting for proverbial dominoes to fall. [CBS]

Today's video is a tribute to Bill Guerin's tenure as a Dallas Star, courtesy of the Dallas Stars 20th Anniversary Team.