Stuuuuuu no more (and other coaching changes)

... at least not in game.

While I'm certainly not the first to report this, I wouldn't be living up to my new claim that I'm going to be a better news blog for the Stars if I didn't report it: Stu is officially retiring.

I know, we've all been expecting it (even though I can't imagine many of us wanted it).  The Stars moved on as if it were going to happen this summer (did you see the youngsters we signed this summer?); a vacancy in coaching suddenly appeared, conveniently; and Stu really never recovered from that season-ending concussion:

Barnes says he is clear of concussion symptoms that ended his season, but that he really hasn't pushed himself to get his heart rate where it needed to be for him to play again. He said he will probably push harder during the season just to see if the symptoms come back. [ Dallas Morning News ]

Everyone reporting on this has a slightly different angle as those "real" news people actually get a chance to talk to people not just read what's been announced on the internet, so in a poor attempt to keep you from having to read every article out there, here are some other things worth reading on the subject:

He and his family love it here (they all live here in season, and the kids just started school a few days ago), and he said his kids were thrilled when he told them of the coaching opportunity.  All in all, Barnes is very excited about his chance. [ Five for Fighting Blog ]

The modest Barnes never saw himself as a “player-coach,” but the effort he brought to every game and every practice spoke volumes to his teammates.
“I’m not sure if I ever had coaching qualities as a player. I just feel like you are who you are,” Barnes said. “I went out and played the best I could every night, and tried to learn all the time, in every situation. I was pretty fortunate to play as long as I did and learn from all the great people, and I look forward to passing some of that along in this new role.” [ Official Stars Release ]

 

Barnes played in 1,136 regular season games and had 261 goals — 50 of which were game winners. He was tied for 10th among active players with 11 game-winning goals in the playoffs. [ James Mirtle ]

Stu will be missed on the ice, but expect him to become more and more vocal in the years to come.  He's a fantastic player, always learning, and well respected by the rest of the team.  While he is expected to stay in the press box most of the time, I think we'll see him become more and more valuable as an assistant coach, once he learns how to not be on the ice!

And yes, I apologize for continuing the disservice to the following gentlemen by putting their news below a post title for Stu Barnes, but it does make sense.  Rick Wilson (Associate Coach) and Mark Lamb (Assistant Coach) have each been given extensions of 2 years, lengthening their contracts to the end of the 2010-2011 season.  They each have 6 years coaching with he Stars and are both well respected.  Congratulations gentlemen!  [ Official Stars Release ]

Minors details

In an attempt to actually keep our 13 readers up to date I'm going to start posting more of the details without sounding too much like all I do is copy Heika at the DMN, Myers at the Star Telegram and Stepneski at Andrew's Stars Page ... but it's going to happen from time to time, especially as I get into the habbit.

But the subject of this blog isn't really about that; that was just an admittance that I know I'm going to sound like a repeater for a little while.  The subject about this blog is about news of some of our minor leaguers ... news we knew would be coming soon.

With the dissolution of the Stars' minor league team in Iowa the major question is what would happen with our little minor leaguers?  Hull and Jackson narrowed down our pickings this past year by trading away some of the extras without totally destroying our talent pool, and that's something to be commended for sure, but now we wait to see where the boys will go.  We also wait, this time a few years, to see how this effects their chemistry ...

So, with more than enough introduction allow me to get to the point: 2 of our guys are off to Europe immediately.  At least that's what I'm hearing in the blogosphere.  The Stars don't have an official announcement on their site nor does the NHL, but Heika said it so it's got to be true, right?  :)

For an in depth look at the move check out Heika's blog, but in summation both boys are going back to their home countries: Lauri Tukonen will be playing in Finland's top league with Ilves Tampere and Tom Wandell will be playing in the Swedish Elite League with Timra.

I'll let you know as soon as I see more information on the other guys.

Avery to play for TIFF Festival Cup

Like him or not Avery brings LOTS of media attention to the Stars; so much so that Mark Stepneski over at Andrew's Stars Page has been tracking him this summer with a series he calls Searching for Sean Avery. Now maybe he is driven to this due to the lack of hockey (oh how we loathe the summer months), but it has led to some interesting tidbits.

I'll say this, I don't have the same google search pattern Mark does, but in my DALLAS+STARS search that I track the information listed in the subject came up from the Tornoto Sun:

The inaugural Festival Cup will see hockey stars such as the Ottawa Senators' Jason Spezza, Dallas Stars' Sean Avery, Joe Thornton from the San Jose Sharks, goaltender Curtis Joseph and fellow Maple Leafs player Matt Stajan among others playing in the event with proceeds going to the international humanitarian organization Right To Play, a group which uses sports as a means of promoting health, education and development in children around the world.

The Festival Cup is being put on by the Toronto International Film Festival (get it? festival?) and Right To Play on Sept. 5th at the Air Canada Centre. Mark Brender, deputy directory of Right To Play's Canadian office, is hoping to make this an annual fund raising event.

Interestingly enough I just read something about Celebrity Games over at Yahoo's Puck Daddy as part of their summer filler "5 ways" where they ask both fans and league members alike to come up with new ways to improve the league. What a fantastic idea ... and really, who wouldn't want to watch Tim Robbins take a slapshot at Martin Brodeur?

NOTE: I just realized that Wyshynski actually linked from the post that included celebrity games to the TIFF link I'm talking about ... guess I should more carefully read my blogs, eh?

Mid-summer System Reboot ...

*AHEM* Does anyone still read this thing?  Not sure why you would, but thanks if you do!  Scott and I are going to be getting together in the coming month to begin planning for, what we hope to be, our best (and most complete) season yet. 

Logistics will be more difficult as I now live more than 60 miles from where we have been recording over the past 2 years, but I have faith we'll come up with a solution you can be proud to listen to!

But really, as we get into our 3rd (4th overall) season of covering the Dallas Stars, and the NHL as a whole, I ask you, our dear dozen or so readers, what do you want from us?

Is consistency enough?  Do you want specific interviews?  Do you want us to cover more/less of the NHL?  More/Less game details? More AHL news? A new host? One of us gone (too bad)? Do you have ideas that you could contribute regularly yourself?  Would you like to be part of our news blogging team?

Tell us what would make the Dallas Stars Podcast something worth visiting more; what would get you to tell your friends about us; and we'll do our damn best to get it done!

Yours in Hockey

Jay 'The Wall' Leask