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Dallas Stars Daily Links: #HeyHeika, The Round-Robin Edition

Mike answers your questions about everything from bubble life to seventh defensemen. Plus, Tyler Seguin’s King Clancy nomination, examining the Canadian home-ice advantage, and more.

The Dallas Stars have finally arrived in Edmonton, and Mike Heika is celebrating the imminent return of Actual Hockey with his latest edition of the #HeyHeika mailbag.

The Stars’ senior staff writer took on tons of reader questions, ranging from practice time...

With all the teams in the bubble city, how much practice time are the Stars going to have before the first game on Aug 3rd? — @AWoelfing

Heika: Because they are using community practice rinks (one of the reasons Edmonton was chosen), the Stars can practice pretty much every day. Rick Bowness is a fan of rest, and the process of getting to the rinks is a little time-consuming because of all the protocol that has to be followed, so the guess is that when games start being played every other day, the practice time will be reduced.

The Stars last season in the playoffs had a lot of workouts in the hotel, so this might work out perfectly for them.

...to how the team looks after that brief summer training camp:

After leaving training camp, which aspect of the team are you most excited about being a strength, and which aspect is the biggest question mark/weakness? — @behale8

Heika: This is a good defensive team. You see it in pretty much every drill and scrimmage. They support their teammates, they have sticks in the lane, they skate well. They are great at killing penalties and they have great goaltending (even the younger goalies). That kind of team can win in the playoffs or at least keep games close.

The problem is they really do have a hard time stringing passes together and being creative offensively. As much as things have changed, they are still very much the same. We’ll see what happens when the real games start.

There’s always more at Mike’s place. [Dallas Stars]

Stars Stuff

The internet connection is always the first thing to let you down.

The Long Pause may have ended up being especially good for the vets, and even more especially good for Jamie Benn. What can we expect in the way of Beast Mode?

Tyler Seguin’s good citizenship is no secret in Dallas. The Stars have recognized it with a special honor.

Around The League(s)

Twelve teams, a thousand personnel, and a whole lot of trying to figure out where everything is. (Just don’t let the seniors try to sell you a pool pass.)

Major League Baseball’s COVID-19 problems have rattled the sports world – but it’s so far, so good for the NHL’s testing program.

It’s the details that count, and the league is trying to make bubble life a little more bearable.

It’s been 27 years since the Montreal Canadiens won the Great White North’s last Stanley Cup. Is it time?

Eddie Shack led a big life on and off the ice. Matt Larkin has written a tribute to the four-time Stanley Cup winner, who died Sunday at 83.

Finally

What’s in Esa Lindell’s cooler? You decide.

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