ESPN choo-choo-chooses Barnaby

Ok - this isn't an official announcement, yet, but the rumor from Buffalo News is that in the next few days everyone's favorite (in recent times) instigator Matthew Barnaby (everyone loves Matthew Barnaby) will be announced as ESPN's replacement for Barry Melrose, who left ESPN to return to coaching for Tampa Bay.

This isn't the first news suggesting this WONDERFUL information, as back at the end of June Puck Daddy on Yahoo! had this bit of information on the subject including some links proving the leak.

While Wyshynski is right that ESPN could still screw this up, Barnaby has an excellent opportunity to help the NHL find it's way back to the biggest sports network in the US.  It's not that he'll be organizing the return, but his personality and lack of smug holier-than-thou attitude (can't stand Melrose, sorry) allow him the opportunity to really get people who have forgotten the NHL since the lockout thinking about the sport again.

While I don't personally care about those people, it's THEM that can demand ESPN return the NHL back to it's TV glory - them and HD camera systems!

Prospects Win; Zubie & Bouch ... again??

Allow me to start off with the best greeting possible: Happy Last Day of Summer before Hockey Begins!

Stars prospects squad just won the Prospects Tourney in Traverse City, Mi - major props to them.  James Neal came away with most points in the tourney (expect to see him a lot in Dallas) with 9 and Brunnstrom, although he started slow, really showed that he has potential to shine.

But what really made me post today was this bit of news posted by both Heika and Keeli over at the Star Telegram:

Sergei Zubov underwent an arthroscopic hip procedure on Thursday. He will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

Also, Philippe Boucher is day-to-day with a sore foot.

-- Keeli Garza, Five For Fighting

I'm sorry, what?  Heika reports Zubbie could be out 6-8 weeks on the procedure.  Can anyone tell me exactly what is going on here?  I know, they're both old; I know, this is bound to happen; I know, we'll be fine.  This is not me paniking; this is me being pissed off they waited so long to get on the ice that they both just realized they have issues.

Puck Daddy on Stars, Class of 08-09

Yahoo's Puck Daddy has been doing a great spin on the yearly previews of the NHL, following the high-school "Superlatives" styles in looking at each team.  Today they released, by Sean Leahy, their preview of the Stars.  Not a bad writeup:

With stiff competition always getting better in the Western Conference, it might seems like the Stars will be in a dogfight for a playoff spot at times this year, but in the end, they'll qualify with ease and if healthy, can put together a deep run, similar to what we saw last spring.

Check it out ... and while you are at it check out some other season previews of our Stars:

Dallas has transformed itself from an aging team dependent on the same few veterans to one that has a new core of young stars in seamless fashion, much like their nemesis Detroit Red Wings. There’s room for individual growth, and that will translate into more team success. The Stars are very much among the elite in the West, and that means they are a contender for the Cup. - Yahoo Sports - Ross McKeon

For Dallas, the sky is the limit—and all the hard work begins now, in preseason workouts and training camp. - Bleacher Report - Ken Armer

It’s time to take a closer look into one of the NHL’s most popular markets. That habitual hotbed of hockey, the first team below the Mason Dixon line to take home a Stanley Cup. Home to big hair, toddler beauty pageants, steers, queers, high school football, and Dawson’s famous “I don’t want your life.” The jewel of the Lone Star state, Dallas Texas. - Melt Your Face Off - user MNHLE

The Stars will continue to have strong goaltending from Marty Turco, who finally took his team deep into the playoffs. Turco handles the puck better than any other goaltender and is effective as any of his defensemen on the blue line. - MVN Outsider - Karen Francis

There's even a video preview ... actually a well done inspirational video by conman1188 on YouTube.com.

Avery to help pick "Hockey Night in Canada" theme?

First, if you didn't know about it, Hockey Night in Canada lost it's rights to the theme that they have used for many, many years at the end of last season.  Earlier this summer they opened a contest to allow user submissions for the new theme [ CBC ].

Second, they have over 12,000 submissions [ AnthemChallenge.com ] to date, with the voting to begin October 4th.  Point worth noting, they actually have close to 15,000 entries, if you count the total number displayed in their Anthem Gallery.

Third, they have announced, so says the Detroit Free Press, some of the judges; well, at least three of them: Dan Cleary of the Wings, Jason Priestly of the original "Beverly Hills 90210", and Sean Avery ... yes, yes, I said Sean Avery.  I had no idea the Canadians loved him so much ...

Stars Announce TV Schedule

I've always wondered when reading these articles, doesn't the NHL announce the TV schedule?

Worth noting: FSN will have 62 regular season games; Versus will exclusively carry 4 games including Detroit, San Jose, Phoenix (why??) and Minnesota; NBC has option on one game agaist Nashville (again ... why?); and lastly WBAP will continue to be the home of Stars games on the radio.  The full schedule is available as a PDF document.

Also, this did effect some game times, so be wary of these game changes:

• Sunday October 18 vs Colorado: 1pm start
• Tuesday, December 2 @ Calgary: 8:30pm start
• Saturday, January 17 vs LA: 1pm start
• Saturday February 21 vs Chicago: 1pm start
• Wednesday March 18 @ Calgary: 8pm start

Note that the Saturday start time, for you locals, means breakfast with the Fanatics in our usual spot, 3 hours before the puck drops!

Dallas All Sports Association Awards

Yeah, I've never heard of it either, but the DASA is *ahem* a philanthropic organization founded in 1965 by Dallas businessman Field Scovell whose love of sports was only exceeded by his love of the Dallas community [ DASA ]*cough*.

Anyway, the reason they are important is they honored [ DMN ] two of our boys last night: Mike Modano with the Emmitt Smith End Zone Award and coach Dave Tippett with the Tom Landry Award.  Modano won his award for, I believe, being an all around great player over the years.  Tippett's award, a bit more timely, was the Dallas Area Coach of the Year.  Of course, I can't find the descriptions for these anywhere, so I could be wrong.

Before presenting the award of his name-sake, Smith commented on Modano and was rather humorous:

"As far as hockey goes, he's the best," Smith said.

But where does Modano rank alongside Cowboys legends like Smith and Troy Aikman?

"It's hard to compare apples and oranges," Smith said. "They both taste good."

There ya go boys ... congrats!

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 ]