Dallas Stars 2013

[Slowhand]

I concur, and it APPEARS they are worrying more about the team than the coach. No on is talking poorly about him either.

Actually, hearing him getting pissed about losing puts him up higher in my book too. Also, it seems like he's helping to make things happen even though the team is going through a major overhaul.

I like what he's done. He stays cool and collected, but isn't afraid to voice his displeasure. He has no problem shaking lines up and generally produces good results when he does so.

The Stars have also made WAY too many coaching changes in the past decade, as far as I'm (uneducatedly) concerned. Hitchcock and Tippet were both generally fine coaches and have done well after leaving the Stars. Gulutzan gives us a chance to jump in on the beginning of what could be a pretty good coaching career. It'd be nice to hold on to a coach like that for a while and have a solid, stable figurehead.

[big_tiger]

Are there any reports on what the draft will look like? I have no idea about NHL drafting. I just know there are hardly ever any draftees that can immediately start making an impact.

[motoman]

Stars are building up the defense. They traded Tomas Vincour for Cameron Gaunce from the Colorado Avalanche.

[Fry86]

But we lost good scorers

Sent from a bathroom.

[Slowhand]

I don't know that I like the Vincour trade.

[CWO]

Pens consecutive win streak stopped at 15 to the fucking Sabres of all teams. Oh well, see you guys in the playoffs..... or not

[Fry86]

I don't know that I like the Vincour trade.

I feel the same way. I have traded for a lot of tough, physical players. We may not win every game, but we'll beat the shit out of them!

Sent from a bathroom.

[motoman]

This is straight from a contact within the Dallas Stars organization...

Jagr Trade:
- Jagr had an expiring contract that we felt had good value heading into the deadline due to his production here with us this season.

- Jagr is an NHL legend and we are thankful for his service, but we had a chance to collect some valuable assets moving forward

- MacDermid adds toughness/grit to our 4th line (just 23 years old).

- Payne is a big winger that brings size and an element of skill that is hard to play against...Only 19 and will probably go back to Juniors (in Plymouth) next season.


Roy Trade:
- Roy had an expiring contract and we were looking to get some assets to continue to help us in the future.

- We couldn't come to an agreement on an extension so we explored ideas on trading him.

- Connauton was one of Vancouver's top prospects and is very close to being NHL ready.

- Our defense has prospects like Oleksiak, Morrow, Nemeth, Connauton and Klingberg that are either going to be on our team next year or are very close.

- We now have two first round picks (if Boston makes the Conference Finals), two second round picks or one first round (if Boston doesn't make Conference Finals) and three second round picks in this year's draft.


Summary:

- We had an opportunity to gather valuable assets (prospects and picks) for two expiring contracts (like with Brenden Morrow) and we decided to act on it.

- We have been in the same position the past four years now at the deadline and just felt like in order for the organization to move forward and become better, we had to make decisions to acquire these assets like we did.

- This is not a fire-sale...A fire-sale is when you trade almost all of your players. We traded two expiring contracts today in Jagr and Roy and felt like these were smart hockey decisions that were hard, but were for the betterment of the organization.

[motoman]

Here's a great article from this morning...

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/observations-on-two-stars-trades-_-stars-need-to-get-this-rebuild-right.html/

ANAHEIM, Calif. _ The Dallas Stars are a mess.

No, really, a mess.

They are a “transition’’ wrapped in a “journey’’ shrouded in a “process.’’ They are a pilot for a new DIY Network show, a scattered box of auto parts on the garage floor, a Rubik’s Cube in which no line matches up.

And the dismaying thing is they are probably more a mess today than they were yesterday. By sending away Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy, the Stars created more questions than answers. By acquiring two draft picks and three prospects from Vancouver and Boston, they scrambled an already unclear picture of their own youth. By loading up on the unknown, they threw their destiny into even further disarray.

And that is a very good thing.

Look, the Stars have been a mess for a while. You can’t go from a high-flying Marc Crawford team that relies on a one-line superstar attack, to a rough-and-tumble, aggressive team that wants to hit everything in sight, to a super-soft, super-skilled puck possession team that relies on two 40-year-olds. You can’t be that uncertain of your identity.

You can’t act like a kid trying to navigate junior high and pick between the “Goths,’’ the “Jocks’’ and the “Nerds.’’ It just doesn’t work.

So mixing things up now actually puts this team in a better place by tearing it further apart.

But here’s the catch…they have to now show their mechanical aptitude and start building something special. A box of parts can become a Ferrari. A Do-It-Yourself project can produce a lasting classic. A finished Rubik’s Cube can draw stares of appreciation for a very long time. But you have to put the work in. You have to use your hands, and your endurance, and your vision. You have to really think.

And that is the challenge now for Joe Nieuwendyk and his crew.

Truth be told, you’re probably not ever going to see Joe Morrow and Kevin Connauton and Philip Larsen and Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoiski on the same defense. They are all too similar of players. They’re 6-footers who weigh 200 pounds and rely more on skill than physicality. That group would not work together.

So what the Stars must do is find which of those defensemen they want and which they want to move. They have to use the prospects _ and the accompanying draft picks they received Tuesday from the Canucks and Bruins _ as currency. You need a center? Scour the league, rank the talent, and then be ready to pounce. If it takes two prospects and a pick to get the player you want, then you have the ability to make that decision. You need a right-handed defenseman instead of a lefty, toss in an extra prospect or draft pick to get that done.

You want to make a run at Seth Jones at the top of the 2013 draft, you have some ammo now.

The problem is you have to make smart decisions and get the right players who fit the right way, and then you have to build a system that develops players until they are a seamless part of something special. The two-tone seats out of a ’55 T-Bird are really cool, but you’re not going to put them in your Ferrari. A Jackson Pollock mural could be worth $1 million, but you’re probably not going to hang it in the sitting room of your Victorian mansion.

You have to know your style, your taste, your identity. You have to have a plan that works.

The Stars are on their way. They are building for the future. While it was fun to have Jagr here, he’s not really a Dallas Star. Neither was Derek Roy or Sheldon Souray. And, if you’re going to be honest, your memories of Ray Whitney are going to be fairly brief when you look back.

Of all the things professional sports teams demand from a fan, maybe the most valuable is your heart. These teams want you to care, to trust, to love _ and that’s hard to do sometime when they keep changing the faces. But asking you to care about Brenden Dillon right now? That’s something you can get behind. Asking you to invest in a little Cody Eakin for the next decade? Yeah, you can do that.

It’s actually kind of fun.

There’s a reason all of those makeover shows do so well on television _ because you like seeing a “transformation,’’ you care about the “journey,’’ you want to enjoy the “process.’’ You enjoy watching a good story from beginning to end.

The Stars are a mess right now…they really are.

But they have the ability to sort something fairly special out of the pieces of this mess, and that makes today a pretty good day for Stars fans.

[Trip McNeely]

Pens consecutive win streak stopped at 15 to the fucking Sabres of all teams. Oh well, see you guys in the playoffs..... or not

I watched that game last night and was pissed. Voukon sucks. MAF > *

[David]

Looks like jussi jokinen gets a chance at a cup with the pens.

[Slowhand]

Looks like jussi jokinen gets a chance at a cup with the pens.

So the Pens are basically the Stars as of about 5 years ago now?

[David]

So the Pens are basically the Stars as of about 5 years ago now?

The stars are the pens farm team.

[David]

Gaborik to Columbus.

[Slowhand]

Great shootout win by the Stars today. If nothing else, this younger team is a lot more entertaining to watch.