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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Ben Bishop Retires

Posted on by Tyler Mair

It’s a bit old news at this point, but still the most important from over the weekend — Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop has effectively decided to retire from hockey.

Last week, Bishop began a three-game conditioning stint in the AHL with the Texas Stars. But after playing just a single game — one in where he allowed eight goals — Bishop decided that was it:

“It’s no secret, he has a degenerative knee injury, and he went down there, he wanted to be a big part of this,” [general manger Jim] Nill said. “He wanted to do everything he could to get back. In the end, by going through the process, going down there and playing, he found out that it’s the end of his career.”

It marks the end of a phenomenal career, spanning 11 years and 413 games with a .921 SV%. He was a Vezina Trophy finalists three times, including with the Stars in 2018-19, arguably the best season of his career.

“It hurts,” [head coach Rick] Bowness said. “I feel terrible for him because he’s such a great person and as I’ve always said, when he’s on, he’s a top-three goalie in the league. He took us to the Finals in Tampa. When you go that far, you have a special bond.

“I’ve always felt very close with Bish. I’m devastated for him and his family, I know he wants to play. It’s just a very, very unfortunate thing that’s happened.”

You can read more from Matthew DeFranks here.

Stars Stories

Mike Heika talks about the Stars’ recent struggles from a fan perspective, as opposed to a beat writer’s:

Team Canada will have a little Victory Green in them at the World Juniors:

Around the League

A busy Sunday for the Central had mixed results:

  • The St. Louis Blues fell to the Anaheim Ducks in a 3-2 overtime nail biter. [NHL]
  • Meanwhile a single goal was enough to lift the Nashville Predators over the New York Rangers, their fifth in a row. [On the Forecheck]
  • Also on a win streak? The Colorado Avalanche, who beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 thanks to Andre Burakovsky’s first career hat trick. [Mile High Hockey]
  • They still have a stranglehold on first place, but the Minnesota Wild lost some ground after their 6-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. [Knights on Ice]/

Back to the World Juniors briefly — headlining Team Canada is presumed 2023 first overall pick, 16 year old Connor Bedard:

Down Goes Brown talks John Tortorella and more in his Weekend Rankings:

The Calgary Flames will be on hold for a little while thanks to a COVID-19 outbreak:

Finally, the NHL going to the Olympics is still not set in stone, thanks to increasing concerns:

Talking Points