If you don’t think we’re as frustrated as you are after games like that, then you are wrong. Speaking for myself, I shout at the screen, I verbalize my concern about an open player on the back door, and I even turn my head plaintively to the heavens when the Stars surrender four goals yet again. Yeah, it’s to the Lightning, the most excusable team to allow goals to (the Stars being the second most excusable such team). The thing is, Dallas have been doing this all year, and it’s just not my favorite anymore. Stop giving up tons of goals, Stars. Stop doing that. You score so very, very many of them, but you seem to want to share the joy that goals provide. Stop it. Be selfish forever. No more goals for other teams.
But really…some of those were just stupid goals that got deflected or whatever. That fourth goal, what are you gonna do? Oh, right; score on the power play. That’s the best thing to do, always. Could’ve used four PPG tonight, boys.
I’m biaised, but I think the Stars are allowing better-than-average scoring chances at the worst possible times this year. Kari hasn’t been good enough, but this is not a team that’s going to help a goalie to a Pekka Rinne save percentage anyway. Team effort, blah blah blah.
Hey, be happy for Brenden Morrow. That guy is cool. Maybe he wins a cup this year!
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I’m sure you haven’t heard a peep about this, so here’s some hot news for you: Evander Kane is going through some tumultuous times in Winnipeg. He was placed on IR late yesterday, and there is every possibility that he will be having season-ending shoulder surgery. That seems like hard luck for Kane and the Jets, but that’s far from the majority of the drama up in everyone’s fourth-favorite province, Manitoba.
Yes, it turns out that the healthy scratch we mentioned yesterday had, well, a bit more behind it:
Evander Kane failed to show up in time for Winnipeg’s game in Vancouver earlier this week following an incident with Dustin Byfuglien and other teammates, Sportsnet has learned.
[snip]
However, multiple sources familiar with the situation have since indicated that Kane was not on the team’s bus to Rogers Arena and then missed a pre-game meeting. Repeated attempts to reach him were unsuccessful until approximately an hour before puck drop, when Kane answered his cellphone and said he wouldn’t be playing against the Canucks that night.
[snip]
Kane wore a track suit when the Jets players gathered that morning for a meeting — a violation of team policy. Following a brief workout and stretch, Byfuglien is believed to have thrown those clothes into the shower to send a message to his teammate, according to sources.
That was the last the Winnipeg players saw of Kane until the team’s charter flight home. [SportsNet]
Yesterday, Chris Johnston of SportsNet said that one top asset may well be enough to pry Kane away from the Jets. Elliotte Friedman also reflects on whether Kane even has a spot in the locker room left for him after some comments from his teammates. One suspects that the Jets wouldn’t want to give up on a player like Kane without being assured of good, controlled returning value, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to take the best offer they can get in order to pull out of the tailspin they’re in right now. Say, does this remind you of anything?
A better set of examples of players being traded because of character are the recent trades of Seguin, Richards, and Carter. All three were moved because they partied too much and were not the most reliable teammates. While Richards is now in the AHL after not being able to live up to his contract on the Los Angeles Kings, Seguin and Carter have flourished since being traded. [AIH]
Yes, everyone is currently talking about how this is going to be Seguin Trade 2: Money Photos & Wet Track Suits. The thing is, that’s kind of unfair. To Seguin, I mean. When it comes to the circumstances surrounding the trade of summer 2013, we still have nothing but denied rumors about guarded hotel rooms from a bitter Bruins fanbase after a playoff loss and Seguin’s vague reflections on how he did what rich young athletes do here and there. With Kane, there have been multiple issues (like him Tweeting about a potential Philly trade) involving his behavior, and he hasn’t shown enough interest in his residency in Winnipeg to offset the rumblings about his desire to be shipped elsewhere. One can hardly blame a player for not enjoying life in Winnipeg, as the Stars‘ scoreboard reminds us, but the laser-like focus on corporate unity within an NHL team like Winnipeg has intensified the apparent discord between Kane and the Jets.
Because of the Seguin comparison, many people have posited a “Kane to Dallas” scenario, but as you read in this space (and in Brandon’s mailbag) yesterday, that would require the Stars to give up a significant asset. Fiddler, Horcoff and Cole do not fall under this umbrella. Daley does not fall under this umbrella. The Jets would want something like Nichushkin coming back to the ‘Peg, if we’re being realistic; I don’t think anyone wants to make that trade.
Evander Kane is really quite good, and some of the shade being thrown his way is overkill; but the likelihood of his staying with the Jets is directly related to his ability to minimize the Kane drama. To date, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. His winding up with Dallas seems even less likely, though.
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ELO or Fleetwood Mac? These are questions to pore over on a Friday evening.
Yet another recap that you don’t really want to read, but yet you will because of John Klingberg. That goal. [Stars]
Lindy Ruff confirms that “deserving” to win a game doesn’t actually get you any points when you lose. [DMN]
I just don’t see the Stars giving up assets for two months of Cody Franson, but that doesn’t mean SportsNet agrees with me. [SportsNet]
Missed this from a few days back: Best Dallas Stars to wear numbers 1-10. Some of these are absolute tap-ins, of course. [Hockey Writers]
How Minnesota parents are passing on the legacy of misguided bitterness towards the Stars to the next generation. This is kind of adorable. [Puck Daddy]
The Predators have begun extension talks with Mike Ribeiro. “So, Mike, since Phoenazona is going to be paying you for a while, how about we just pay you in country music and good ol’ Nashville barbecue!” [ESPN]
Loui Eriksson is having a “bounceback” season on the Bruins’ third line, driving possession despite not obliterating other teams on the scoresheet. [WEEI]
Brenden Morrow still enjoys coming back to Texas. [TampaBay.com]
Mike Green’s points per 60 minutes rate is actually really good this year. The question is, what will happen to him in UFA? [Washington Post]
Great stuff from Sean McIndoe on the new Negative Value Guy on the modern NHL team. This is what people mean when they say Jordie Benn has value–he is more valuable to an NHL team than Mike Richards. That means something within the context of the league. [Grantland]
A lot of Martin Brodeur’s greatness was tied to his longevity and durability, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all. Health is valuable! [FiveThirtyEight]
How on earth do you put together a Top 10 Throwback Jerseys list but omit the North Stars sweater? [THN]
Finally, from Pro Hockey Talk, why it’s time to give up on the Kings, who need a defenseman. The argument, which also holds for Dallas: They would need to go 18-10-4 to have a shot. Actually, pretty much this entire video is applicable to Dallas as well: