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Dallas Stars Daily Links: It’s Full of (ex)-Stars – Stanley Cup Finals Edition

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

The Dallas Stars didn’t make the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, but a number of ex-Stars did. This year’s NBA Finals feature several Dallas Mavericks alumni as well.

The Dallas Morning News’ Tim Cowlishaw tallied some of the names and took a cross-league look at what it means for Big D that so many ex-players are winning championships in other cities. For example, there’s the case of James Neal:

I don’t mean to beat up on former GM Joe Nieuwendyk here. His was largely an untenable situation, trying to patch things together in the final cash-strained days of Tom Hicks’ ownership. But every time Stars fans see Neal (or Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen), can they really do anything but remember Feb. 22, 2011?

That was the day Nieuwendyk sent both players to Pittsburgh for D-man Alex Goligoski. Metrics have been awfully kind to Goligoski — much more so than Stars fans who watched him play — but even with the sometimes inexplicable help of advanced math, Goligoski (now in Phoenix after five years here) never became a better defenseman than Niskanen has been in Washington.

There’s more, including a look at how former Mavs Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee are doing with Golden State, under the link. [SportsDayDFW]

As NHL Expansion Draft speculation continues unchecked, Bruce LeVine talked with Josh Bogorad about the Stars’ possible moves.

The Stars are sharing plenty of video this week, including this interview from the NHL Scouting Combine with NCAA prospect and Plano native Max Gildon…

…and this one, with top 2017 NHL Draft prospect Miro Heiskanen.

This week’s Defining Moment is from 1998: the Stars’ first President’s Trophy.

Last night, the Nashville Predators won another not-close game 4-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins, and suddenly the Stanley Cup Final is a three-game series. [On the Forecheck]

The Pens are looking for an answer as the series returns to Steel City. [USA Today]

Hockey Night in Canada shares video of that astonishing GWG by rookie Frédérick Gaudreau. UPDATE: The HNIC video won’t play here anymore, so here’s their “Rinne and the Rookie” recap, plus a new embed from NHL.com. [CBC]

Freddy Hockey doesn’t even have a locker yet, but he’s already made history as the Perds’ post-Ryan Johansen call-up. [Puck Daddy]

Frank Seravalli meets Stanley the blue dog – the Predators’ playoffs mascot – and considers Mike Fisher, another exemplar of the team’s “dog on a bone” attitude. [TSN]

Antti Mäkinen strikes again: His call, in Finnish, on an especially thrilling Pekka Rinne save may be this year’s “Bonino, Bonino, Bonino!,” writes James O’Brien. [NHL on NBC]

And because there’s never an overdose of Ilya Bryzgalov, The Players’ Tribune sent him to cover the series. (Watch for the Vernon Fiddler cameo.)

Texas Stars forward Brandon DeFazio has signed a one-year contract with Kunlun Red Star. [RSport]

Mark Stepneski reports that the KHL also wants Matej Stransky.

By the way, the T-Stars are giving away swag for social shares. You may still have time to get in on today’s action.

Finally: Hockey star, philanthropist, bon vivant…internet troll. P.K. Subban showed up at Game 4 with a shopping bag full of mouthwash, and the Series of Tubes weeps. Enjoy.

Talking Points