What Is Up With Stars?

[KingDL1]

The Stars started the season hot, then dropped out. Last I looked we were in last or second to last in the Pacific, then Thursday at the Game we were in 1^st in Pacific and now we are 2^nd in the West conference behind Detroit? I thought we were supposed to suck this year. Is this what happens when a team is for sale?

[Quoner]

The Stars started the season hot, then dropped out. Last I looked we were in last or second to last in the Pacific, then Thursday at the Game we were in 1^st in Pacific and now we are 2^nd in the West conference behind Detroit? I thought we were supposed to suck this year. Is this what happens when a team is for sale?

The forwards are growing up -- and everyone is bunched within 4 points from 2-8.

The defensemen are trying to pick each other up, but we really need an offensive guy with a heavy shot and one more physical guy to slot everyone where they should be. If only we could spend some of that $10M just sitting under the cap.

Also, Cubes said last week that Monarch and Hicks are in no hurry to do anything with the sale and have terms no one will bid on.

[KingDL1]

The forwards are growing up -- and everyone is bunched within 4 points from 2-8.

The defensemen are trying to pick each other up, but we really need an offensive guy with a heavy shot and one more physical guy to slot everyone where they should be. If only we could spend some of that $10M just sitting under the cap.

Also, Cubes said last week that Monarch and Hicks are in no hurry to do anything with the sale and have terms no one will bid on.

Do you think Mark is still interested, it seems that complete control of the AAC might be nice?

[Quoner]

Do you think Mark is still interested, it seems that complete control of the AAC might be nice?

He sad he is interested, but not as the majority guy since he doesn't have what he thinks is enough of a hockey background/passion. He said he's been part of a few groups kicking the tires, but the same Monarch guy who ran the Rangers sale is running this one, so it won't be easy. He said he really wants the arena, but doesn't see the Stars as part of building a regional TV network because the seasons overlap with the NBA.

[UNT90]

Side note:

I went to the game last night. I am not a big hockey fan, but a friend had an extra ticket, so I tagged along. 1st game in 2 years. I was shocked at how empty that arena was. Maybe half full on a Saturday night. What the hell has happened to attendance?

[Quoner]

Side note:

I went to the game last night. I am not a big hockey fan, but a friend had an extra ticket, so I tagged along. 1st game in 2 years. I was shocked at how empty that arena was. Maybe half full on a Saturday night. What the hell has happened to attendance?

Hicks frustration and delightfully average teams for two years killed the fan base. Even the Pens and Caps haven't helped things.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Hicks frustration and delightfully average teams for two years killed the fan base. Even the Pens and Caps haven't helped things.

I don't know, but I would imagine decreased name recognition factors in somewhere? All the players from the Cup winning team are gone, including Modano, who pretty much sold Dallas on NHL hockey.

[KingDL1]

I don't know, but I would imagine decreased name recognition factors in somewhere? All the players from the Cup winning team are gone, including Modano, who pretty much sold Dallas on NHL hockey.

The Stars have not been marketed properly for almost three years.

[UNTcrazy727]

He sad he is interested, but not as the majority guy since he doesn't have what he thinks is enough of a hockey background/passion. He said he's been part of a few groups kicking the tires, but the same Monarch guy who ran the Rangers sale is running this one, so it won't be easy. He said he really wants the arena, but doesn't see the Stars as part of building a regional TV network because the seasons overlap with the NBA.

Isn't hockey his favorite sport? I know before he bought the Mavericks he tried really hard to buy his hometown Pittsburgh Penguins, but the ownership group didn't want to sell to Cuban.

[Rudy]

Modano's career is likely over. His wrist was cut by a skate blade on the 28th and is out for the season. He expressed interest in buying the Stars last year, but due to the NHL and Betteman's incompetence, they have a rule forbidding a player/owner which the installed after Lemeuix. I think he will hang up the skates and buy they Stars. Maybe with Jim Lites or even the Cubes.

[Quoner]

Modano's career is likely over. His wrist was cut by a skate blade on the 28th and is out for the season. He expressed interest in buying the Stars last year, but due to the NHL and Betteman's incompetence, they have a rule forbidding a player/owner which the installed after Lemeuix. I think he will hang up the skates and buy they Stars. Maybe with Jim Lites or even the Cubes.

Unpopular opinion time -- but Modano stole money for the last 4 years and has even begun admitting as much on his little Red Wings world tour before he got hurt.

http://www.defendingbigd.com/2010/11/26/1837371/modano-on-last-few-seasons-i-kind-of-gave-up-on-it

After I read this a few weeks ago, it killed a lot of my stored up goodwill for him. He was great in his prime and I'll miss seeing him breaking in the zone at full speed and whipping the most ridiculous backhander I have ever seen, but I would have preferred to have left things with his big last week last year.

You can say we were out of it the last two years, but who knows what a healthy Modano could have done in the 2008 WCF?

[Rudy]

I wouldn't put too much stock into the article. The title is misleading. He didn't say that he went Randy Moss on the team. He just wasn't in "as good of shape". He is still a phenomenal athlete, even if he is considered "out of shape", and its not like he was eating Big Mac three times a day. He still tried his hardest day in and day out. He even said that Crawford's first training camp was the hardest he had ever worked during training camp. A few years ago, the Stars made the Western Conference Finals. As much as I hate to admit it, they were not going to beat the Red Wings that year. The next year, Tippitt's last, 3/4 of their payroll was our for the year with injury. The fact that they were that close to the playoffs was a tribute to Tippitt's coaching, and the talent of the team. Which is another reason I was dumbfounded that Joe fired him when he was hired as the GM. Even IF they made the playoffs, the players were so tired from over compensating, they would have bowed out pretty quickly, not to mention all of their best players were out with injury. The team held on, until Richards returned from a broken wrist against San Jose. He broke his other wrist that game, which took him out for the season. That was pretty much the final straw that broke the proverbial camal's back. Not Modano's extra helping of gravy at the Thanksgiving table that Willa made.

I'd have to say that the article is just to make Stars fan less pissed off at some of the crap Joe has pulled since he took over.

As to their success this year. Im actually shocked by it. I think it has more to do with the players we have coming into their own, than it does with Marc or Joe. I think the players are winning despite what Joe has done. As far as Marc, I think he is just getting lucky again. I have never been impressed with him. I think him winning the Cup with Colorado in 1996 is kind of like Phil Jackson and the Lakers. how could anyone NOT win with that team.

[UNTflyer]

Power Ranking Notes:

The Stars continue to be the surprise leaders of the Pacific Division even though their penalty-killing unit ranks 28th in the league. Still seems a bit nitpicky with the Stars riding a six-game win streak. A side note on the Stars' penalty killing: It may be 28th in the league, but over the last 16 games it is 47-59 (86.0 percent).

[Quoner]

I wouldn't put too much stock into the article. The title is misleading. He didn't say that he went Randy Moss on the team. He just wasn't in "as good of shape". He is still a phenomenal athlete, even if he is considered "out of shape", and its not like he was eating Big Mac three times a day. He still tried his hardest day in and day out. He even said that Crawford's first training camp was the hardest he had ever worked during training camp.

No one said he went Randy Moss on the team -- but I like the extra exaggeration to make it more football-like for everyone who doesn't care. Since 2003-2004, Modano had point totals in the 40s for 4 of 6 years. If you watched him play, he seemed to pick and choose his nights -- you never knew which level of effort you were going to get. He blamed everyone but himself -- the lack of wingers, the GM and never seemed to realize that he should look at why he lost the C. The playoff contending teams got nothing from him -- 9 points in 3 first round exits with nothing close to shutdown D being played. Remember the moment against Colorado where he just stepped out of the wya as his man went to the net and iced the clinching game? I sure do.

Will I burn my jersey over this? No, but if you look at it, it's obvious he let himself slip and gladly took the money for much longer than he had to. He probably thought that Crawford camp was so hard because sometimes if you take some time off from training, it feels even harder to do it again.

A few years ago, the Stars made the Western Conference Finals. As much as I hate to admit it, they were not going to beat the Red Wings that year. The next year, Tippitt's last, 3/4 of their payroll was our for the year with injury. The fact that they were that close to the playoffs was a tribute to Tippitt's coaching, and the talent of the team. Which is another reason I was dumbfounded that Joe fired him when he was hired as the GM.

Why not? No one would bet on it, but it's easier to upset a favorite in hockey than any other sport. He did nothing that entire series and if a 2-1 game had just had one more push from him, it could have been a 7 game series with all the pressure on Detroit. That team had a lot of talent on defense and a hot goalie -- one more threat at forward could have put it over the top.

Even IF they made the playoffs, the players were so tired from over compensating, they would have bowed out pretty quickly, not to mention all of their best players were out with injury. The team held on, until Richards returned from a broken wrist against San Jose. He broke his other wrist that game, which took him out for the season. That was pretty much the final straw that broke the proverbial camal's back. Not Modano's extra helping of gravy at the Thanksgiving table that Willa made.

Yes, the injury situation sucked in 2009. That Avery move was horrible, too. I understand this is why you hate Joe...oh wait, that was the old regime.

I'd have to say that the article is just to make Stars fan less pissed off at some of the crap Joe has pulled since he took over.

What crap? Trading for a good goalie? Finishing the rebuilding job on our young talent? Compare Turco and Lehtonen's stats -- and remember that Chicago is the freaking defending champ with more defensive depth.

As to their success this year. Im actually shocked by it.

We agree!

I think it has more to do with the players we have coming into their own, than it does with Marc or Joe. I think the players are winning despite what Joe has done. As far as Marc, I think he is just getting lucky again. I have never been impressed with him. I think him winning the Cup with Colorado in 1996 is kind of like Phil Jackson and the Lakers. how could anyone NOT win with that team.

Outside of shoring up the goal-tending spot, changing the style of the team and making the most of their talent, those guys have done a terrible job. Oh, and the Adam Burrish signing really sucked, too.

You can get as mad as you want at Joe for whatever reason, but how could he really do anything else under constraints that would make Jon Daniel's feel bad about his last four years?

[TheTastyGreek]

[Censored by Laurie]

We need to git sum skatin'

[Green Mean]

The Stars had to break off from everything related to the 99 Cup. Look those were excellent times but that was over a decade ago and change was needed. Modano became a power down in the locker room. And I don't blame him to some degree because he has been the man for so long, and they have been good for so long that I think he was really unhappy especially the last few years.

The whole Hicks thing doesn't help either. Even though the Stars are good, the fans won't come out until Hicks is permanently removed and a new owner is in place. What is funny about it is that Hicks was always a great hockey owner. Even Razor has said in the past that they couldn't quite compute what was happening with the Rangers because as an owner for the Stars he was always praised. Yeah I know that he had great personnel in the front office but Hicks was a part of that.

Why don't the Stars have any marketable players? And the foreign player excuse doesn't hold water because I find that for the most part, NHL players speak pretty good to very good English. The guys the Stars can market are James Neal, Jamie Benn, Louii Eriksson, Kari Lehtonen, Morrow, Ribs etc. These are all guys you can market especially the young guys...if they don't promote them then the casual fan base will never know them. Eriksson and Lehtonen are foreign but they speak great English.

Mark Cuban is keeping a really low profile. I think he is very interested but he's going to see what happens. He would get full control of the AAC, doesn't have to change offices so to speak, and he would be purchasing a team that with a new owner, would be on the cusp of eventually becoming a perennial playoff/elite team. If I am Cuban, I would get together with Jim Lites and Mike Modano to buy the Stars and you would get the same buzz if not more like we got with the new Rangers ownership associated with Nolan Ryan. As for the NBA and NHL season going on the same time, that is not a good enough argument because it is still a ton of money and when there are games on the same nights there are always alternative feeds. And think about it...you would have sports going on from October to April or May. That is not bad if you ask me.

[Quoner]

Mark Cuban is keeping a really low profile. I think he is very interested but he's going to see what happens. He would get full control of the AAC, doesn't have to change offices so to speak, and he would be purchasing a team that with a new owner, would be on the cusp of eventually becoming a perennial playoff/elite team. If I am Cuban, I would get together with Jim Lites and Mike Modano to buy the Stars and you would get the same buzz if not more like we got with the new Rangers ownership associated with Nolan Ryan. As for the NBA and NHL season going on the same time, that is not a good enough argument because it is still a ton of money and when there are games on the same nights there are always alternative feeds. And think about it...you would have sports going on from October to April or May. That is not bad if you ask me.

I agree with all of this, but I'm just telling you what he said. He stressed he doesn't want to deal with Monarch's B.S. again and he doesn't see an advantage for building a station by only covering one section of the sports year year -- even if it's 4 of ever 5 nights instead of 2 of every 4. Baseball would have given him the full 12 months, so now he needs to figure out summer and early fall programming again.

[Rudy]

No one said he went Randy Moss on the team -- but I like the extra exaggeration to make it more football-like for everyone who doesn't care. Since 2003-2004, Modano had point totals in the 40s for 4 of 6 years. If you watched him play, he seemed to pick and choose his nights -- you never knew which level of effort you were going to get. He blamed everyone but himself -- the lack of wingers, the GM and never seemed to realize that he should look at why he lost the C. The playoff contending teams got nothing from him -- 9 points in 3 first round exits with nothing close to shutdown D being played. Remember the moment against Colorado where he just stepped out of the wya as his man went to the net and iced the clinching game? I sure do.

Im not totally disagreeing with you, but I think the fact that he had to play with new line mates regularly had something to do with it as well. His longtime partner, Jere, was routinely on the shelf. As to losing the "C", many think he wasn't really comfortable in the role. He is an on ice leader, not necessarily a locker room leader. When the "C" was taken off, it seemed to take a load off of his shoulders.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Rudy

[Rudy]

The whole Hicks thing doesn't help either. Even though the Stars are good, the fans won't come out until Hicks is permanently removed and a new owner is in place. What is funny about it is that Hicks was always a great hockey owner. Even Razor has said in the past that they couldn't quite compute what was happening with the Rangers because as an owner for the Stars he was always praised. Yeah I know that he had great personnel in the front office but Hicks was a part of that.

Hicks will be gone soon. Hopefully it is soon enough that they can resign Rebiero and Richards. If the Stars lose one of them, I think Waddell is your number 2 center. Not good.

[Quoner]

I'll drop the line by line rebuttal and first admit that I am really enjoying the discussion. It just doesn't happen that much besides a few corners of the interweb because so few fans care these days. As for Rudy's points, I'll try to take them in order by paragraphs.

I think Modano just hit a hard patch of time -- the NHL went clutchy grabby, he adjusted only when a coach rode his ass and then it was too late for him to be a superstar when the rules were fixed again. I will always blame him for not living up the conditioning end of his role at the end -- no matter how many memories he gave me. You live up to your contract -- mopey or not.

I also know Detroit had a 3-0 series lead, but a fully functioning Modano could have swung any of those games, especially the 2-1 loss in game 2. Remember how the SJ series - in retrospect - came down to the guy jumping out of the way of Mo's slapshot goal? Maybe there's a moment or two in there that could have swung things for us. It sucks we know he didn't have what he needed to grind through 3 full rounds.

I think our GMs are a mixed bag and I love Turco with a passion. I still often work out in my #35 shirt and went to the same church as the man. There are not many nicer guys in hockey. I was convinced he would go to Chicago or Philly and make us look stupid, but Chicago is seeing the same late breakdowns and lack of big saves -- with or without the bad defense. As for Auld, I don't think the market was ever there and Philly was the only logical contender that made could take Turco's salary if I recall correctly. They stood pat and got a finals run out of the deal. Bastards.

I think the Texas Stars minor league system is a good thing for our goalies and I think that will change our pipeline. Drafting Jack Campbell as the future franchise makes the other kids expendable and I think the defense is partially better because they know what Lehtonen will do with the puck.

The Red Wings have always taken an old guy or two for depth because they know they can cover for them. His time for them is the playoffs (he was not having a good year even with their talent)

I think the Jere offer was little more than a nice gesture because he seemed done. Also, unlike the current version of Modano, he's still capable of teaching the kids how to play sound, two-way hockey. Not a bad leader to keep around as the transitions continue. Modano was just keeping Benn off the ice where he belonged.

I'm also no Crawford fan, but think he's been humbled enough to give this a better effort than before. I consider him little more than a stop gap to keep the rebuilding process on track as it continues -- whether we're in 2nd or 12th in a few weeks.

[mad dog]

I think this thing will all sort itself out with new ownership, whenever the creditors get their heads out of their asses and realize that they're devaluing their own investment by letting it sit.

To me, this team is two top blueliners away from being a legitimate cup contender. When every defenseman is playing their best game, your top pair is probably Grossman (lately) and Robidas. Those are two solid players, but no one will ever confuse them with a shutdown group. Asking them to be anything more than a second line role is frankly optimistic to unrealistic. Grossman and Fistric (24 and 25, respectively) still have room to grow into 1st liners, but they aren't there yet. Robi is a hell of a player, but he's never been the guy who could go toe-to-toe with the other team's top line.

We have an embarassing amount of cap space, enough to go and grab a marquee guy and then probably one more. Then, you go Grossman/Fistric and Robidas for 2nd and then Grossman/Fistric and Daley for your third. Trade Nisky and have Woywitka and Skrastins be your plug-in scratches.

Having a responsible, technically and positionally sound top blue line group allows your forwards to release earlier, relaxes your goalie, and offsets your opponent's best line.

It may not be the panacea, but that's the direction you need to go.

[Green Mean]

I love this guy. A true professional with class. I am glad he did it all with one Jersey.

Jere Lehtinen officially announces retirement

[mad dog]

I love this guy. A true professional with class. I am glad he did it all with one Jersey.

Jere Lehtinen officially announces retirement

Definitely. Not a whole lot like him.

[Rudy]

An amazing player. NEVER out of position, always ready to play, team player, and hell of a nice guy. A career +176 rating is unheard of.

Ill always remember meeting him. I was getting autographs in 1999. When Jere rolled up. He signed my hat. As he handed it back to me, I dropped it, but Jere apologized as if it was his fault. He was a class guy. The organization will miss him. I think he would make a great instructor or coach.