Even as the NHL and NHLPA are scheduled to meet for the next three days in an attempt to resolve the ongoing lockout, another Dallas Stars player is headed overseas.
Danish defenseman Philip Larsen became the second player projected to be on this season’s roster to take up a full-time role in Europe on Thursday when he signed with the SM-Liiga team Rauman Lukko.
Rauman Lukko is located in Finland, but they are not the mainstay of Danish players as Mikkel Boedker and Frans Nielsen also signed with the team on Thursday.
Now Lukko might want to consider relocating to Denmark.
Why? Well, Boedker, Nielsen and Larsen represent half of the NHL’s Danish contingent — in fact, the only Danes not making the trek to Lukko are Ottawa’s Peter Regin, Vancouver’s Hannik Hansen and Montreal’s Lars Eller.
If you’re interested in the news in the original Finnish, the team’s official site has got that covered for you. SM Liiga is the top league in Finland, with notable teams such as Jokerit, Assat and TPS, the club that helped groom Jere Lehtinen.
Also today in links, how other current and former Stars are spending the lockout, at least one Tom Hicks’ lawsuits is now settled and what the NHL and NHLPA might talk about today.
- Trevor Daley spent most of his summer in Dallas becoming the community liaison for the franchise, but he’s apparently headed up north during the lockout. Daley was spotted in Michigan, where he crossed paths with a Metroplex native who is making a name for himself. [MLive.com]
- Former Stars forward Brian Sutherby is skating in the Nashville area, hoping an NHL or AHL team is willing to take a flyer on him now that a back injury has healed up. [The Tennessean]
- Dan Ellis, who was a decent prospect goalie with the Stars before becoming more famous for some poorly-conceived Twitter remarks, is also trying to get back in the game. He’s signed an AHL tryout contract with the Charlotte Checkers. [SBNation.com]
- On the coaching side, former Allen Americans coach and general manager Dwight Mullins landed the head coaching job with the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals. [StarGazette.com]
- And from the former owner standpoint, Tom Hicks has settled two lawsuits involving the failure to build a development project near the Ballpark in Arlington. He’s still got some legal issues related to the Stars and an allegedly botched audit outstanding, but they’re finally starting to close the book on the problems that happened near the end of his tenure. [ESPN]
- Dallas native and potential first-overall draft pick Seth Jones gets a nice mention in this story about the growth of hockey in the United States, particularly in the non-traditional markets. [NBCSports.com]
- In the depressing-lockout-news portion of links, an economist has estimated that a season-long lockout could cost the city of Detroit nearly $85 million from the loss of the revenue created by the Red Wings. While I am far from a Wings fan, it is a good illustration of the secondary revenues NHL teams can produce for a city. [MLive.com]
- We’re trying to provide you with comprehensive coverage of the Stars prospects during the lockout, and the official site is also keeping up with the hot starts of several recent draft picks. [DallasStars.com]
- A little lost in the uproar around the Jim Devellano “cattle” remarks were his pretty blatant overtures to collusion when it comes to offer sheets and restricted free agents. But how potentally damaging were those remarks? [CBC]
- With the rest of the preseason officially cancelled, people in places like San Antonio and Kansas City lost their shot at seeing NHL hockey in town this season. The folks in KC are talking it, um, not well. [KCNHL]
- The NHL and PA are planning to discuss “non-economic” items during their meetings this weekend. Todd has a breakdown of the itinerary. [Thursday Morning Cupcheck]
- In my quest to bring you videos to make you smile, I bring you two mites acting out what we’ve all wanted to do to that teammate that just won’t get out of our way.