Monday was a big day in the world of the Allen Americans.
Not only did they officially introduce the quartet of former Dallas Stars – Mike Modano, Craig Ludwing, Eddie Belfour and Richard Matvichuk – who are part of the new ownership group, but they also introduced Steve Martinson as the new head coach.
Martinson, who replaces Dwight Mullins as the Americans coach, coached the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals from 2007-10 and the ECHL’s Chicago Express last year. He also has experience with the UHL’s Rockford IceHogs and the WCHL/ECHL’s San Diego Gulls. Prior to his season with the Express, an expansion team that will not compete next season, he had never missed the post-season as a professional coach.
But he’ll likely get plenty of helpful suggestions from the ownership group.
“When I talked to him, I told him that there’s a very good chance you’ll have five guys who think they’re smarter than you and who will have a lot of ideas looking over your shoulder,” owner Doug Miller said of the four former Stars as well as former NHL player Steve Duchesne, who already is in the front office. “He told me he was fine with that, and that sold me. We want people who can handle the pressure and want the pressure.”
After the jump, Reilly Smith gets some love, Marc Crawford gets passed over and saying goodbye to some of the best beards of the postseason.
- Les Jackson sets a pretty clear standard for what it will take for Reilly Smith to get regular NHL playing time next season – simply score goals. That’s not so hard, is it? [DallasStars.com]
- Belfour isn’t just taking over a minor-league hockey team this weekend. He’s also getting set to be inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. [Winnipeg Free Press]
- The parking lot that got taken away at the American Airlines Center for some new development may be replaced by a parking garage. But like any development, especially once you get Mark Cuban and Ross Perot, Jr., involved, things aren’t nearly as simple as we’d hope. [DallasNews.com]
- This is a write up of the Stars free agent scenario from a Philadelphia Flyers fan perspective. And while that might seem a little odd, it’s a pretty decent recap of where the Stars stand on all things player signing and predicts how they might play out. [HockeyBuzz]
- If you have paywall access to the Morning News website, give this very comprehensive story about the new youth hockey system in North Texas a read. There are a lot of factors in this, but I personally tend to side with the idea that there should be a limited number of Tier II teams. Quite frankly, not every kid who plays hockey (anywhere, not just in Texas) is good enough to play Tier II, and you have to make sure those select teams are really select. [DallasNews.com]
- Dustin Brown (and Zach Parise) was inspired by the Stars Cup victory in 1999? Nope, not working. Still hate his guts. I’m sure that bothers him, too. [Toronto Star]
- As far as the Los Angeles Kings go, I still hate their guts as well, mostly because of Brown. But they pulled a really solid move Tuesday. [Puck Daddy]
- I’m about as far from a San Jose Sharks fan as you can get, but you never like to see stories like this – the wife of Sharks forward Dominic Moore has been diagnosed with liver cancer. [WHAM]
- Marc Crawford may still be looking for a coaching gig, but he won’t get one with the Montreal Canadiens. That’s because the Habs have hired Michel Therrien to lead the team. [Yahoo]
- This article tries to discern exactly how the Kings ended up as an eight seed. But it also offers a wonderful counterpoint for those who try to point to an awesome (or terrible) record in one-goal games as indicative of, well, anything in particular. [Backhand Shelf]
- The saga of the Norfolk Admirals and their awesome beards is sadly coming to an end. But they do give us one last video where we can admire them.