We might not have NHL hockey, but we still have highlight reel goals from Dallas Stars players scattered throughout the hockey world.
First up is a gorgeous Jamie Benn goal from a recent Hamburg Freezers game. I like to think the opposing team is called the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams, which would be amazing, but I’m pretty sure something is being lost in the translation.
What’s evident despite any language gap is Benn’s beauty of a breakaway goal that comes about two minutes into these highlights. Yeah, he might be cherry picking a bit, but the way he undresses that goalie is nothing but skill.
Not to be outdone, Jaromir Jagr had one heck of a game of his own, posting a hat trick for HC Kladno against Sparta Prague with some equally gorgeous goals. If you scroll a bit through the Czech write up, highlights can be found here.
The folks over at Fox Sports West recently caught up with Jagr, who talked about playing for the team he owns and his hopes for the end of the lockout.
“Of course it’s good,” said Jagr, who owns 70 percent of the club; the other 30 percent is owned by the Statutory City of Kladno, according to the team’s website. “We’re drawing a lot of fans, especially in the other rinks. And I think the hockey’s a lot more popular than before.”
“But on the other side … I don’t have many games left. I would like to play in the U.S. as soon as possible, like everybody. For this type of hockey, I’ve still got time left. But for the NHL, I don’t have many games left.”
Also in today’s links, a look back at the recent training camp in Plano, a sit-down interview with NHLPA head Donald Fehr how some former NHL players ended up in Germany.
- The camp that brought players like Sidney Crosby to town along with former fan favorites James Neal and Steve Ott back to Dallas wrapped up last Friday. The plan is to hold more of these in other (golf-friendly) places around the country until the blasted lockout gets resolved. [DallasNews.com]
- There’s not a lot of interesting negotiations information in this Michal Russo one-on-one interview with NHLPA head Donald Fehr, which I guess is a good thing. But it’s one of the first less-scripted interviews I’ve seen with any of the negotiating partners in this mess (though to be fair, it still stays on the NHLPA’s talking points). [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]
- I love Jamie Oleksiak’s contention that he just closed his eyes and shot for his first goal as a professional hockey player. And while I don’t believe that for a second, it does make me feel like it’s something I can accomplish as a lowly beer-leaguer. Congrats to the big boy. May it be the first of many. [TexasStars.com]
- On the former Stars front, the lockout came at a less-than-ideal time for Aaron Gagnon, who was trying to make inroads with the Winnipeg Jets after a solid season with their AHL affiliate. [TheTelegram.com]
- When it was announced that Benn was going to be playing in Germany, a collective, “Huh?” went up from many Stars fans. And while it’s not the most glamorous league on the other side of the Atlantic, plenty of North American pros have found their way to Deutschland in recent years. [Winnipeg Free Press]
- Heading back to Jagr’s Czech league for a moment, a note to the fans there. It’s never an appropriate time to chant the Czech equivalent for “monkey” at Wayne Simmonds. I know you guys tend to be more… accepting in what’s considered acceptable for songs and chants at sporting events, but just don’t go there. [Puck Daddy]
- It’s assumed that at least the North American players who have headed to, well, more operational leagues during the lockout will return when everything has settled. But what sort of damage is it doing to the league’s reputation among European players, particularly the Russians? [Backhand Shelf]
- I can almost buy this story from Kypreos on the “silent majority” of owners wanting the lockout over without fighting for a hardline deal. But he loses me, as most Canadian xenophobes do, with his implication that teams like Phoenix and Florida are the reason for the lockout. From most rumors, it’s actually teams from “traditional hockey markets” driving this bus (hi Jeremy Jacobs and Craig Leipold!), not their much maligned brethren. [Sportsnet.ca]
- Happy Halloween from YouTube.