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Zubov’s Number Retired, Don Cherry Fired: NHL Odds and Ends

Sergei Zubov, the defenseman all Dallas Stars blueliners are measured by, will have his number retired by the club next season. Zubov, who leads all stats for defensemen in franchise history, is being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame next week. His number retirement has been years in the making, and is long past due. However, coaching in the KHL up until this October made it tough before now to get him to Dallas for that recognition.

Zubov has been invited to observe the Dallas Stars and provide feedback by general manager Jim Nill, as Sean Shapiro reported from a few seats over in the press box last Tuesday.

Because we can’t go a day without asking someone what they think of Miro Heiskanen, Zubov told Shapiro in a Q&A the following on the Stars’ young blueline phenom:

Gavin Bayreuther Sent Back To Texas Stars (AHL)

With two days off between yesterday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets and their game versus the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, the Dallas Stars sent defenseman Gavin Bayreuther back to the AHL. The Texas Stars will play the Manitoba Moose today at 4 PM, so Bayreuther likely met the team after the Jets game yesterday afternoon since he was already in the province. Dallas would have only six healthy blueliners, presumably, come Wednesday, so it is possible that Bayreuther gets called up again after today’s game.

Don Cherry Fired

The long-time face of Coach’s Corner on Sportsnet, Don Cherry, was fired today by the network after his xenophobic and racist comments took hockey social media by storm over the weekend. It’s not exactly shocking, given his history of making such incendiary comments for the past 20 years, including this one in which he said women shouldn’t be allowed in NHL locker rooms. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council reportedly received so many complaints about this particular instance that it broke their feedback system altogether.

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