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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Dennis Soetaert Needs Our Help

Dennis Soetaert is the assistant equipment manager for the Dallas Stars. He worked his way up to the NHL after working through the ECHL and the AHL, and he was a member of the 2003 Houston Aeros club that won the Calder Cup.

As a member of the championship Aeros, Soetaert was given a ring, which he has treasured for the past 10+ years. On Wednesday, Soetaert revealed that this ring was stolen from his house a little over a week ago:

Soetaert has been with Dallas since 2006, and it would be fantastic if fans and friends alike could track down this ring. It’s clear that it means a lot to Soetaert, and if you’ve ever experienced the sudden loss of a treasured memento, it’s easy to understand how much it would mean for him to get it back.

I don’t know if we have any DBDers working at pawn shop counters, but it would certainly mean the world to Soetaert if Dallas fans were able to help him retrieve his Calder Cup ring.

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Thursday Links? That’s crazier than an upside down ball pit at McDonalds!

Jim Nill on the Stars kids in the Traverse City final: “They played hard and lost in double overtime, or whatever you want to call it.” That’s about how I feel about 3v3 OT, too. Here’s Mark Stepneski’s writeup. [Stars]

ESPN’s hockey crew talks about the Western Conference in a video, and they don’t even look all that awkward doing it. They totally dish on the Stars, too. Lots of praise for Jim Nill’s work here, especially from Pierre LeBrun, who calls Dallas a “sexy team.” I have no problem with that. [ESPN]

Podcast mogul Josh Bogorad answered fans’ questions in the Stars’ Social Mailbag (which might be a contradiction in terms, but I digress). Kids used to say “mad props” when they were feeling appreciative, but I’m not sure whether they still do. So I will just say that Josh is a good guy, and I enjoyed reading this. [Stars]

Here’s a 30-for-30 style rundown of the Stars that has already awarded the backup job to Lindback, implicitly. Congratulations, Anders. [Guardian Liberty Voice]

Tyler Seguin was on the Ben and Skin show yesterday, and he discussed all manner of things seemly and less so. Apparently it took him a bit to warm up to Jamie Benn, although one wonders if perhaps it was equally so the other way round. Regardless, they are friends and everything is awesome. [CBS DFW]

THN has part 2 of their scouting report from Traverse City, which includes a few notes on Stars prospects. Note the mention of Ludwig Bystrom’s wheels in particular. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the NHL a couple years after this one. [THN]

Josh Harding’s health was looking great just a few days ago, but that all appears to have come crashing down. Harding will miss an indeterminate amount of time (“months”) with an ankle injury–an injury that may have come as a result of an altercation with a teammate. Meanwhile, Darcy Kuemper is still proclaiming how much he would love to play in the KHL unless he gets a one-way deal for this season. In light of all this, Ilya Bryzgalov has been invited to camp, thank goodness. Maybe HBO will come back to do another reality show on him alone. [Minnesota Star Tribune]

Will Winnipeg ever regret drafting Jacob Trouba? Arctice Ice Hockey takes a look back at a controversial article (arcticle?) that said as much. [AIH]

The Ducks have re-signed Devanta Smith-Pelly for 2 years, $1.6 million total. This could end up being a nice little deal for the Ducks, if Pelly’s production can survive without the help of the Ducks’ top scorers. [Anaheim Calling]

The Ryan Johansen saga just keeps getting more ridiculous. The Jackets’ brass went Die Hard 2 (the part with the airplane fuel) on Johansen and his agent, dropping words like “extortion” and even disclosing the precise offers Johansen has turned down. Team president John Davidson flat-out said that their offer of six years/$32 million was more than Jamie Benn makes, in hopes of underlining how absurd it is that Johansen turned it down. Surely players have to use their leverage, but it’s tough to sympathize with Johansen here. He’s obviously trying to get a top-dollar bridge deal followed by a franchise player payday in two years, while Columbus is vigorously pointing at Jordan Staal and encouraging fans to throw tomatoes at Kurt Overhardt. [Puck Daddy]

Did someone say negotiations are turning nasty? Marc Methot is embroiled in some terse talk about his next contract in Ottawa. Thankfully, Ottawa is owned by the very reasonable and prudent Eugene Melnyk, so everything should be just fine. [Ottawa Citizen]

The New York Rangers will wear microchips in their sweaters this year to track player movement. This looks like it will become standard for NHL sweaters in the next couple of years or so. I wonder if the “official game sweaters” will come with them as well, just in case Gary wants to know how quickly we run to the kitchen during an icing. [SNY Rangers]

But at least the jerseys will remain unsullied on the outside. No ads on the sweaters for now, although it’s probably just a matter of time at this point. Enjoy it while it lasts. [TSN]

Down Goes Brown has a summary of where NHL analytics are headed after the summer baptism of Corsi and Fenwick. One phrase that I appreciated from here is to not let the perfect be the enemy of the very good. [Grantland]

Finally, Tampa Bay is taking a new approach to pre-game soccer among its players. Remember, boys: it’s all fun and games until you’re digging a puck out of Ben Bishop’s nostril. [Bar Down]

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