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Dallas Stars Daily Links: In Praise Of Anton Khudobin, Deity Of Sport

As it turns out, Dobby’s name has been synonymous with The Good Times for a long time. Plus, Joel Hanley’s journey to the Final, Alex Pietrangelo’s trek to free agency, and more.

Anton Khudobin is, as that old Kodak tagline would have it, the gift that keeps on giving.

Having worn the sweater of five different NHL clubs and a double handful of other professional teams, the Kazakh Scorpion has a résumé that Deep Ellum’s own Traveling Man would envy. And everywhere he goes, he spreads his unique brand of joy.

NHL.com’s Russian correspondent reported this quote from Game 1 on Saturday night, and it’s already part of Khudobin lore:

The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf delved deeper into the enigma and majesty of Dobby’s presence. He came up with a near-bottomless cup of anecdotes. Here’s a bit on Anton’s essential character from Saskatoon Blades teammate Adam Geric:

He couldn’t care less if you were an All-Star or the fourth-line grinder or 16 years old or 20 years old, everybody on the team was his friend. It was very honest, very sincere. He was just always happy to be there, always happy to be part of your team, always happy to be around all of the guys.

One of Khudobin’s first Lone Star teammates – Tim Cook, who played with him on both the Texas Wildcatters and the Florida Everblades – summed up his appeal this way:

He would throw out like a funny, really dry comment, and everybody would die laughing because it’s a guy that hasn’t spoken in 15 minutes, and then he said something really funny with a Russian accent....

He taught me five words in Russian. Two of them are clean (hello and thank you) and the other three are curse words.

Yousuf has more. With Dobby, there’s always more.

Stars Stuff

If you’re expecting Game 2 to get a little nasty, well, so is Jamie Benn.

You may be wondering how rookie backup Jake Oettinger is doing right now. He’s describing the ride of his life in his own words at NHL.com.

And if you’ve wondered about that lapel pin Rick Bowness is always wearing, you might be stunned to learn its significance. Jackie Redmond of the NHL Network has the story.

Elsewhere, The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks talked with The Ticket about why he’s covering the Stars’ big run from home instead of in Edmonton.

Around The League(s)

It seems the Tampa Bay Lightning have joined the ranks of playoff teams who don’t know what just hit them. Can it continue?

Also from Ken Campbell: Joel Hanley is having a moment that’s been a long time coming.

As if you needed any more convincing that the Carolina Hurricanes should be your second-favorite team....

Ben Bishop’s former teammate and protégé wants to win it all, too. Here’s more about Andrei Vasilevskiy and his countdown to the Cup.

Is Steven Stamkos the Bolts’ September Surprise? Not tonight, maybe not the next night, but soon...?

You’ve heard the shocking news that the St. Louis Blues have advised Alex Pietrangelo to seek free agency. Darren Dreger gets the story, and then makes it all about the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Finally

Red Peg Tees is a Dallas-area company DBD is supporting throughout the Stanley Cup Final. You can gear up with a treasure trove of playoffs-themed merch, including this awesome shirt commemorating the legend of Joel Kiviranta. Enjoy.

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