Yesterday’s game against the St. Louis Blues ended on a sour note as the Dallas Stars gave up two (literally) last-minute goals to lose 2-1. What stings even worse is that those goals might have never happened were it not for a missed penalty call, which got even the ever-quiet Miro Heiskanen to speak out against:
“They didn’t tell me anything after that but yeah, I think that was a really bad call by them,” Heiskanen said. “I got tripped in the corner and they called me a slash… They didn’t tell me anything. I think they knew they were wrong but yeah, it sucks, like I said.”
Of course, blaming referees for a loss is nothing new in sports. Braden Holtby tried to focus less on those in black and white and more on the team’s own shortcomings:
“Those are tough,” Holtby said of the missed call. “Tough to swallow but at the same time, refs have a tough job. It’s not an easy one. You respect how they call the game, just like us players, when we make mistakes, we don’t want them yelling at us. It’s the way it is. I think for us, we just want to look at what we could have done better to not put ourselves in that position to start with and move forward.”
You can read more from Saad Yousuf here.
Stars Stories
At least this came out of it?
Checking in on Rick Bowness after the Stars loss to the Blues… pic.twitter.com/qQ0a1rOpvd
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 9, 2022
Making the game even more memorable was that Josh Bogorad had to call it solo, as Daryl Reaugh had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier that day:
Thanks to everyone for the very nice messages today. Not at all the way I’d want to do a game normally, but I really appreciate all of you tuning in and your kind words.
Most importantly, here’s looking forward to Razor continuing to feel well and getting back on the air soon.
— Josh Bogorad (@JoshBogorad) January 9, 2022
Elsewhere in the Stars organization…
It was quite a 24 hours for the Stars and last-second losses.
On Saturday in Cedar Park, Texas lost when a puck bounced off Thomas Harley with one second left. On Sunday in St. Louis, Dallas lost when a puck bounced off Jani Hakanpaa with 28 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/jnKQ1TauCQ
— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) January 10, 2022
More frustration — John Klingberg addressed trade rumors after the team’s win over the Pittsburgh Penguins:
John Klingberg wants to be in Dallas. He just doesn’t know if the Stars want him to be. https://t.co/7hCLqU1Tlr
— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) January 8, 2022
Around the League
Down Goes Brown talks about goalie voodoo in his weekly Power Rankings:
Goalies are weird.
People who voluntarily sign up for a life of having vulcanized rubber shot into their bodies at 100 mph? Weird.
You know what isn’t weird? This week’s @DownGoesBrown rankings, which have settled into a bit of midseason stasis ⤵️https://t.co/QIaK8IiXnw
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) January 10, 2022
The San Jose Sharks are attempting to terminate Evander Kane’s contract due to violating COVID-19 protocols in the AHL:
San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane cleared waivers on Sunday and the NHLPA’s grievance is still expected, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.https://t.co/NH5CUo31lj
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 9, 2022
The Arizona Coyotes and arena troubles — name a more iconic duo:
Per sources, the Coyotes do not currently have the votes in the Tempe City Council to approve their $1.7 billion arena and entertainment district proposal.
Story⬇️https://t.co/Gzm5Jrebtt
— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) January 9, 2022
Finally, here’s some NHL 2022 draft content for you… just in case:
I answered 10 questions in total here, I’ll try and get to the ones I didn’t answer on Twitter later today! https://t.co/CUikSNYANr
— Tony Ferrari (@theTonyFerrari) January 9, 2022