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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Captain Jamie Benn Interview

Posted on by Shawn Ladd

A big shoutout to Amanda Spielberger/@ShatteredLensTX for today’s cover photo of Stars goalie prospect Jake Oettinger. Checkout some of her other photos from the Development Camp.

On Monday after the Development Camp session Stars captain Jamie Benn, his brother Jordie and Mattias Janmark were just some of the players working out to prepare for next season. Senior correspondent Scott Burnside sat down with Ja Benn for an interview. One of the 1st questions was how he felt about the disappointment of last season.

It was a disappointing year as a group. Probably more disappointing given the fact that we had such a great year the year before and we wanted to build off that. And we really did the exact opposite. There were some good points in the year. I thought our young players played fantastic pretty much all year. They did a great job so that was probably a good highlight for us. But you’ve got to play as a group and as a team to win in this league and you need everyone. We just really couldn’t put it together last year.”

They also discussed his thoughts on incoming coach Ken Hitchcock and what it will be like to play for him.

He was kind of our video coach (with Team Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics) and he knew a lot about all the players over there (before Sochi) so he was involved. So that was the most knowledge I had about him. I didn’t know much. When I found out he was coming here I was excited. I know he demands a lot out of his players and he gets what he wants. And in the end, we’re all here to win and he’s a winner and that’s the bottom line.

And his excitement of all the personnel changes that GM Jim Nill has made during the summer,

It’s exciting. We’re making changes for the better here and for the long-term. I think we’ve brought in some pretty key pieces that we need to take that next step. It’s not easy to win in this league especially in our division, we’ve got a pretty tough division. It’s exciting the players that we brought in. We all kind of have our group chat going around and the boys are excited. Hopefully we can put this together quick and find some team chemistry, really bond well as a team.

The whole interview can be found here. (Stars)

Jim Nill’s deal with Radek Faksa for a reasonable price and signing other players at below cost are just some of the shrewd moves that have allowed him to make a big splash in FA. Will it payoff? (SportsDay DFW)

Nill had an appearance on Canadian radio (630 CHED) yesterday where he discussed his moves so far. He thinks the team should have a bounce back year. (FanRag Sports)

Yes Nill has made a lot of moves in FA, but the re-signing of Faksa who has developed in the Dallas system is an important step for the team progress this year. (The Hockey News)

Mark Stepneski has you covered for Development Camp Video.

Dallas also re-signed forward Gemel Smith to a 1 year two-way contract. Smith had 6 points 3 G and 3 A in 17 games with the big club in 2016-2017. (Between the Blue Lines)

Mike Heika held his weekly Q&A session.

Who were some of the standouts at the Development Camp this weekend? (Blackout Dallas)

Dallas, Hurricanes, Coyotes and the Flames are the 4 teams that have made the biggest improvements this summer. (Sportsnet)

Brett Hull’s scoring his 600th goal in what Razor Reaugh called a “Hullennium” is another great moment in Stars history.

It should have been the Green Eagle mask but Ed Belfour with one of the more memorable masks.

Texas Stars:

Usually AHL schedules don’t come out until after the NBA makes their schedule for teams that share barns with NBA teams. In a rare treat the AHL released the schedules yesterday. Some highlights include 14 games with in-state rival San Antonio and off-balanced schedule with their Pacific Division rivals.

In something that needs fixed Tucson and the 5 California based teams play a 68 game schedule whereas the rest of the league play 76 games.

There are 30 teams in the AHL and 29 of them have mascots. The Texas Stars, the last team without one, have posted a job opening for a mascot. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply. (100 Degree Hockey)

Being the assistant coach on the Penguins who have won back to back Stanley Cups makes you a hot coaching prospect. The Coyotes have hired Rick Tocchet to be their next head coach. Tocchet is the 18th coach in franchise history. (Arizona Republic)

In other coaching news Pierre Turgeon has a new gig with the Kings.

The Pens hired Mark Recchi to replace Tocchet as assistant coach. (NBCSN)

Grading some of the best signings in FA so far. (Penalty Box Radio)

After all the goaltender moves during the offseason a look at where everyone ended up after the carousel stopped. (THN)

If Jaromir Jagr doesn’t get signed by an NHL team, he does have some other options like with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL.

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the Jagr trade to the Capitals a few months after winning the Art Ross Trophy awarded to the league’s leading scorer. How that trade and others involving Ross winners worked out.  (THN)

At one time there were 8 teams rumored to want Matt Duchene from the Avalanche. When all is said and done that list is just down to 2 teams the Blue Jackets and Bruins. (SB Nation)

Could Vegas GM George McPhee done a better job at assembling a team from scratch? McPhee chose long term success over immediate result. (FanRag Sports)

Finally a first look at #1 pick Nico Hischier on the ice at the Devils Development camp.

Talking Points