As the author of this NHL.com article points out, general manager Joe Nieuwendyk only missed the playoffs four times as a player, but he’s on a run of three consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs as a GM.
So while the Stars have definitely been trying to set themselves up for the future with their offseason moves, they are trying to address the present at the same time.
And while the quotes in this article aren’t that new, it is nice to see a bit of a positive spin on the offseason that focuses less on the age the Stars brought in and more the direction they’re trying to go as a franchise, priming for a run this season while also leaving openings in future seasons for players coming up the system.
“We’ve been able to remake our team a bit and we like it,” Stars owner Tom Gagliardi said. “It fits very well with our long-term direction. We had to give up a couple of assets to get there, but we like who we’ve brought in and the deals we made. We feel fortunate we got done what we wanted to get done in pretty short order. We’re a better hockey team today.”
After the jump, some inside information on Jamie Benn, fans from other teams take on the Stars moves and a 15-year flashback to Reunion Arena.
- It’s been my not-so-secret hope since he broke into the league that Jamie Benn develop a public personality to go along with his stellar play. And if we’re to listen to Derek Holland, yes, that Derek Holland, that personality is in there just waiting for a chance to sign. [DallasStars.com]
- In his series going through the impact players for the Stars next season, Mike Heika turns his attention to Vernon Fiddler, who might have moved down the depth chart in some people’s minds but still brings a quality that the Stars might need more of as the season goes on. [DallasNews.com]
- I really do wish people would look beyond the older free agent signings the Stars made this offseason and look at the team as a whole, but at least this look forward to next season isn’t entirely pessimistic. [Bleedin Blue]
- Panthers fans also seem relatively optimistic about the Stars chances next year, though I’m not sure I agree with their description of Jamie Benn as “overachieving.” [The Rat Trick]
- Manny Malhotra, who made a fairly brief stop in Dallas before becoming a defensive center extraordinaire with the Vancouver Canucks, marched in Vancouver’s pride parade last weekend as he lent his his support to the You Can Play campaign. [Vancouver Sun]
- While I think the idea of a female fan club is interesting, I end up falling on the “separate and probably unequal to somebody in this mess” side of things. And if the Detroit Red Wings are going to go down this path, they might want to think through what exactly they’re implying with the name of the group. [Detroit Free Press]
- Well, at least the CBA negotiations haven’t broken off into a name-calling fest yet? [The Globe and Mail]
- If you’ve played rec hockey at any level, you’ll relate to what Ellen Etchingham writes about in terms of turning the hockey player on and turning the rest of the world off. [Backhand Shelf]
- Okay, I’m going to get this snark out of the way first – I hope the Stars got royalties, or at the very least gave their permission, for the logo use. And on the sincere side, it’s very nice to see events that remember the fallen of Yaroslavl Lokomotiv continuing as we near the year anniversary mark for the tragedy. [Puck Daddy]
- As you all watch the in-arena open video from 1997, I like you to think about just how far both video graphic technology and especially synth-free music have come.