Mike Ribeiro is definitely one of the most exciting hockey players to watch during the shootout. Last night against Phoenix, he lived up to the hype once again with a great goal. I would imagine it’s a pretty difficult move to pull off, but he definitely made it look easy. Take a look below and let us know what you think.
Posts Tagged Dallas Stars
If you have ever wanted to purchase a hockey team, now is your chance.
There are various media reports stating the Dallas Stars is now for sale pending the team filing for bankruptcy. A source familiar with the team and the situation say that owner Tom Hicks planned to file for bankruptcy as early as today as a means to start the auction process has been approved by the majority of the team’s creditors. There are already a couple bidders lined up to purchase the team, including a team led by Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi. Gaglardi is the chairman and CEO of Sandman Hotels, Inns & Suites.
This is a growing trend in sports as the Stars are the fifth major professional sports team to file for bankruptcy in the last two years, joining fellow NHL member Phoenix Coyotes and MLB’s Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Coyotes are still owned by the National Hockey League and is still looking for a buyer that will keep the team in Arizona.
Hicks, 65, fell off the Forbes list of billionaires in 2010. In 2009 his worth was reported to be at around $1 Billion. He also previously owned the Texas Rangers and Liverpool FC of the English Premier League. He and Montreal Canadiens owner George N. Gillet Jr. purchased Liverpool FC in February 2007 and sold the team in October 2010 to a New England-based group led by Boston Red Sox owner John Henry. Hicks’s holding company for the Stars and the Rangers defaulted on $525 million in loans after missing interest payments, according to Bloomberg data.
The Rangers were sold to a group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan in a transaction worth about $575 million. The winning bidder of the Dallas Stars will also receive 50 percent ownership of American Airlines arena. The other 50 percent is controlled by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
At this rate, little league baseball and youth hockey parents may want to think twice if Hicks offers to purchase or sponsor their team.
Former Dallas Stars forward Fabian Brunnstrom has signed a professional tryout contract with the Detroit Red Wings, according to the Detroit News and MLIve.com.
Brunnstrom, once a highly sought-after free agent from Sweden, signed with the Dallas Stars in 2008 after several teams courted the young forward – including the Red Wings. He debuted in 2008 with the Stars and registered a hat trick in his first NHL game. Brunnstrom finished the season with 17 goals and 12 assists in 55 games.
However, Brunnstrom’s stock fell considerably the next season when he managed only two goals and nine assists in 44 games with the Stars, which ultimately prompted the team to place Brunnstrom on waivers and assign him to their AHL affiliate. Brunnstrom was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. He was assigned to the team’s minor league affiliate and never cracked the Leaf’s roster.
“Things just haven’t gone the way he wanted to. He actually approached us and said he’d like another opportunity,” said Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill. “He knows now what it takes to be a pro after it probably caught him a little off guard being a younger guy from Sweden.”
“I think he just said, ‘You know what, if I’m going to have a chance to be a pro maybe I can do it in Detroit.’ We said, ‘You’re welcome to come and try out,’ and he accepted.”
Detroit already has 13 forwards under contract for next season and Cory Emmerton is out of minor league options, meaning he will be exposed to waivers if the team tries to send him back to the AHL. Brunnstrom will need to beat out Emmerton, at the very least, in order to stay with the club.
“It’s about competition, and if he comes in and plays better than someone else, we’ll find a place (for him),” said Nill. “Things probably haven’t gone as he would have liked, but this is an opportunity.”
Nill said that there have been no discussions yet about Brunnstrom possibly playing with Detroit’s minor league affiliate in Grand Rapids if he doesn’t make the roster.
“I really haven’t talked to him about that,” Nill said. “His focus is to come here and make the Red Wings and we’ll go from there.”
Mike Modano Retire?
Jul 16
If Modano retires, life won't be so bad spending time with wife Willa Ford.
With the free agency pool depleted of all the big names, with the exceptions of both Steven Stamkos and Drew Doughty, it is easy to miss the remaining crop of players. Once such player is that of veteran Mike Modano, who, will be faced with a decision to retire or not.
Modano, who is currently 41 years of age, broke into the NHL in the ’80-’90 season with the Minnesota North Stars. His impact on the team was immediately felt. Playing 80 games, Modano posted 29 goals and 46 assists for an impressive 75 point season. Today, the veteran has accumulated 561 goals and 813 assists in 1,499 games played. His production holds the record for most goals (561) and most points (1,374) by an American-born player in NHL history. In the ’98 – ’99 season, Modano lead the Dallas Stars to their first ever Stanley Cup Championship, the only to his name currently.
Last season Modano played for the Detroit Red Wings, his first non Minnesota North Stars/ Dallas Stars team. In 40 games played, he totaled an unimpressive 15 points. Fans would credit the low production to a string of bad luck. Modano suffered a cut tendon in his wrist from the skate of Columbus Blue Jacket’s R.J. Umberger. Ultimately needing surgey, Modano’s injury sidelined him for 41 games.
The bad luck seemed to continue after returning to the ice as Red Wing’s Head Coach Mike Babcock scratched Modano on multiple occasions to rotate younger, grittier players into the lineup. Ultimately, Modano was such a last resort that at one point in the playoffs, Babcock opted go with a injured Johan Franzen who could barely skate, instead of a healthy Modano. For many, the writing was on the wall for the veteran player.
The critics would say the fairytale ending with the Dallas Stars is over, his legacy slightly damaged this past season. Perhaps it is time to hang up the skates, acknowledge his best years are behind him, and begin a respectable after career-career in the front office of the Dallas Stars organization.
The fans would point out he will not be the workhorse of yesteryear, but put him on the third line and give him some powerplay time, Modano will surely produce 30 points in an injury free season.
Modano is expected to make a decision within the next few weeks if he plans to come back for another season as a player. It seems unlikely that the Detroit Red Wings will sign him, but other teams would most likely express interest in the still, very talented player.
With a lack of quality scorers in this year’s free agent pool, some NHL teams may choose to look outside the box for sleeper players ready to contribute to their team. That’s what Finnish scoring leader Janne Lahti is hoping anyway.
Lahti is gaining attention as a possible sleeper in this year’s free agency pool after having played in the Finnish hockey league the past three seasons. Last year, Lahti racked up 37 goals and 59 points in 59 games with Jokerit Helsinky.
Th
is wouldn’t be Lahti’s first go-around with North American hockey, however. Lahti spent a season with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League in 2007-08, but struggled at times and only managed a meager nine goals and nine assists in 65 games.
Rumors are swirling that Lahti is weighing offers from several NHL clubs right now with the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings being the frontrunners for his services, but a decision will need to be made soon as June 15 is the deadline to sign European players for NHL teams. New Jersey probably holds an advantage over Detroit as Lahti could immediately step in and claim a roster spot with the Devils where the Red Wings would possibly choose to put Lahti back in the AHL to see what he is capable of and allow him to acclimate to the North American style if he doesn’t earn a roster spot out of training camp – something that is highly unlikely as Detroit has an abundance of players right now both waiting to crack their lineup and hoping to return instead of being forced into retirement.
Several other teams are looking for quality scoring and could get in on the hunt today or tomorrow before Lahti makes a decision. The Kings, Rangers and Maple Leafs have all expressed interest in beefing up their offense this offseason.
Landing a highly coveted European free agent comes with its risks. Several years ago, Fabian Brunnstrom was a relative nobody garnering a lot of attention from NHL clubs. After being courted by several teams, Brunnstrom decided to sign with the Dallas Stars where he was offered an immediate roster spot. Brunnstrom struggled and has spent most of his career in the minors since signing in 2008-09.
Ville Leino was another highly coveted European free agent when he signed with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 after posting 77 points in the Finnish league. Leino came in with high promise but never fully panned out with the Wings but found himself a home with the Philadelphia Flyers where he was a key component in their Stanley Cup playoffs run last season. Leino followed up that performance with 19 goals and 53 points this past season and could still have more potential in the future.
General Managers with a lot of spending money this offseason just got some good news – Brad Richards will be hitting the free agent market.
With management and ownership of the Dallas Stars in a state of flux, the team has decided not to offer star center Brad Richards a contract this offseason with Richards set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Richards posted 28 goals and 49 assists in 77 games with the Stars last season. He tallied 91 total points the season before.
“We have had talks with Brad throughout the year, and he’s not going to sign with us unless we have the ownership situation resolved, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen by the start of free agency,” general manager Joe Nieuwendyk told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
At 31-years-old, Richards is in the prime of his career and already has one Stanley Cup championship with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 where he also won the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. His resume speaks for itself, but in a year where there is very little offensive talent in the free agent pool, Richards will be highly coveted around the league.
However, after making $7.8 million last season, Richards could be outside the price range of many general managers. However, it’s highly likely that Richards could sign a long-term deal with a team that front-loads his contract to help keep the annual salary cap hit lower. A lot will depend on Richards and whether he wants to play for a contender or if he wants to seek out a big pay day.
Several teams appear to have the cap space to adsorb a big salary like Brad Richards, but many of them are teams currently in the rebuilding process. The Florida Panthers currently have the most cap space with $41 million available and could offer Richards a hefty contract, but Richards would likely have to endure several years of rebuilding and regrouping before Florida becomes a contender. With $27.8 million in cap space, the Colorado Avalanche could be a possible destination. The team has a lot of good, young talent and Richards could really help put the team over the edge. But don’t count out the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings or the Toronto Maple Leafs as contenders for Richards. Both the Leafs and Kings have been itching for a solid forward for several years with rumors swirling that the Kings heavily courted Kovalchuk last season before he signed with New Jersey. The Leafs would love to get Phil Kessel a proper center while the Rangers would love to get the same for Marion Gaborik and Richards would be a huge boost in offense for either team.
All hope is not lost for the Stars, however. The team will likely trade negotiating rights for Richards to another team, although Richards would still need to waive his no-trade clause for that to occur. The team that lands the rights to Richards will be able to solely negotiate with Richards before the free agency period opens. While this is certainly not a new option for teams preparing to lose their star players, teams looking to acquire the negotiating rights run a risk of giving up something for nothing if a player has no intention to sign with that club. This happened last season when Montreal landed the negotiating rights for goalie Dan Ellis from Nashville in exchange for forward Sergie Kostitsyn and future considerations. Ellis rebuked Montreal’s offers and signed with the Lightning at the open of free agency instead. If nothing else, the Stars will likely get draft picks in exchange for Richards’ negotiating rights before the NHL Entry Draft later this month.
What other sports typos have you seen around hockey?
I have a job in an office building just like most other people. I have my own desk area, and I have the liberty to decorate it however I desire. I believe I am one of only two hockey fans out of my company with over 250 employees because it is the only one seen with anything hockey (and sports) related around their desk.
I bought one of those daily calendars that has a funny or interesting NHL statistic or fact that you can tear apart everyday and learn something new. I don’t look forward because I like the intrigue of learning something new. I learned something new Friday: that in 1993 a team named the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup over the Buffalo Sabres. I hope Montreal Canadiens fans who have this calendar didn’t see that today in offices across the country.
Of course we all know this is simple typo because we know Brett Hull scored one of the most infamous Stanley Cup winning goals in 1999, not 1993. Dallas didn’t even have their own franchise in the spring of 1993. The Stars moved from Minneapolis in 1993 and started playing in Dallas at the start of the 1993-94 season.
While we are on the subject, below is a list of some of the more well known engraving mistakes on the only North American professional trophy where players names are on it: the Stanley Cup.
- Dickie Moore won six cups, his name was spelled differently five times (D. Moore, Richard Moore, R. Moore, Dickie Moore, Rich Moore).
- Bob Gainey’s name was spelled “Gainy” when he was part of several Montreal championship teams in the 1970′s.
- On the 1963 entry, you will see Toronto Maple “Leaes” instead of Leafs.
- The engraver in 1972 must have heard Boston natives say “Bqstqn” because that’s how it was spelled.
- Teams that won four-straight championships aren’t spared either, as the New York “IIanders” was engraved in 1981.
- Adam Deadmarsh is the first player to have his name changed following a mistake. His name was spelled “Deadmarch” in 1996.
- Other players who have had their names corrected include Manny “Lagace” Legace, Eric “Staaal” Staal, and Kris “Vertseeg” Versteeg.
With the NHL roughly two weeks into its schedule, lets take a five teams that are off to a surprising start in 2010-11.
Toronto Maple Leafs (4-0-1; 9 pts) – Lead by Phil Kessel and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Maple Leafs look like they’ve figured out a way to compete in the Eastern Conference this season. Kessel is hot with 7 points in 5 games, and Clarke MacArthur has been a surprise, picking up 5 goals so far for the Leafs. Giguere, a trade deadline pick up late last season, has been stellar so far. His 1.96 goals against average, and .911 save percentage have gone a long way in allowing Toronto to win games. Dion Phaneuf and Tomas Kaberle have been strong defensively, and the team looks much improved over last season.
Dallas Stars (4-1-0; 8 pts) – Through 5 games, the Stars have averaged 4 goals per game. A team that many thought were going to rebuild after letting Mike Modano walk away, is now playing extremely well. Brad Richards, James Neal, Mike Ribeiro, Brenden Morrow, and Loui Eriksson have all gotten off to a tremendous start. Richards, a former Conn Smythe winner with the Lightning, has 10 points in 5 games, and is currently sitting at plus 8 on the season. Kari Lehtonen hasn’t been ridiculous in goal, but he’s been good enough. He’s made 40+ saves, however, in 3 of 5 games, so the Stars should hope to tighten up defensively if they expect to keep this up.
Tampa Bay Lightning (4-1-0; 8 pts) – New general manager Steve Yzerman was quick to put some of the pieces in place to try to turn the Lightning into a contender again. However, it seems to be last years players who are getting it done again. Steven Stamkos picked up right where he left off last season, and has 5 goals in 5 games to start the season. On the flip side, newcomer Simon Gagne has yet to register a point, and is currently a minus 7. He has also been a minus player in each of the teams first 5 games. Victor Hedman should continue to improve throughout the season, and the return of Pavel Kubina should take some of the pressure off Hedman. Steve Downie continues to be a threat whenever he’s on the ice as well, with both his scoring and phsyical play.
San Jose Sharks (1-2-1; 3 pts) – Is it too early to say the Sharks made a mistake in letting Evgeni Nabakov walk away? It may be, but Antti Niemi and Antero Niittymaki have been far from spectacular so far this season. Niemi, who has started 3 of 4 games, is sitting in the goalie hot seat with a 3.71 goals against average and .880 save percentage. One of these goalies needs to stand on their head and take the reigns as a true number one netminder. In addition, Joe Thornton needs to make his presence felt on both ends of the ice. He’s currently minus 6 through 4 games. In those games, he’s managed to put up 4 points, but 3 have come on the power play. Big Joe and Dany Heatley need to be more productive at even strength to get this team fired up.
Vancouver Canucks (2-3-2; 6 pts) – Six points in their first seven games is not the start that the Vancouver Canucks were hoping for. This is a team that many have picked to be Stanley Cup contenders, and they are off to a slow start. Part of the reason they haven’t been successful has been their lack of secondary scoring. A guy like Ryan Kesler, who finished with 75 points last season, has only a goal and an assist so far. He owns that second line, and will have to start playing like it for the Canucks to improve. The Sedin twins are still excelling, as you would expect, but they need some help. Back in net, Roberto Luongo has been a bit of a disappointment thus far. His 2.92 goals against average and and .900 save percentage are less than acceptable for such a highly regarded Canucks team. Luongo will have to go on a tear here soon to get the Canucks back to the top of the division.
Those are my picks for five teams that have gotten off to a surprising start this season. What teams have surprised you so far?
Dallas Stars' Mike Ribeiro's mug shot.
Reports are surfacing that Dallas Stars’ center Mike Ribeiro was arrested in Plano, Texas under misdemeanor charge of public intoxication. He has been released early this morning.
Ribeiro is one of Dallas’ top centers and top performers. In the last two season combined, Ribeiro put up 41 goals, 90 assists totaling 131 points in 148 games. His point contribution has continued so far with 3 assists in 2 games.
Joe Nieuwendyk, Dallas’ general manager, says the team will handle the matter internally.
Modano to Detroit?
Jul 5
Once I heard Mike Modano possibly being signed by Detroit this I had to take a double take. Could it be, the player I grew up watching and loving, a home grown Michigander, possibly playing for my home team? The thought still makes me tingle with anticipation.
Mike Modano is on the verge of retiring as the Dallas Stars have decided to part ways with their once franchise player. Modano is no spring chicken anymore, this is not contested, but he has plenty left in the tank. Modano played only 59 games last season and the majority of that on the third and fourth lines but put up a respectable 30 points. Modano’s strong suit is on the power play where he posted 3 goals and 7 assists. Ok, I know right now you are saying 10 points is pretty low, but factor in he did not play much on the power play, he did just fine.
Detroit currently, as always, waits on free agency to see who they can get for cheap and under the cap space. With Detroit losing a few free agents by will, most likely including Jason Williams who did play point on the power play, it would make sense not only from a cap space opportunity to sign Modano, but also because he can work with young up and coming stars like Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm.
Please Detroit, I know I have criticized you for signing old and over the hill players, but please sign Modano, I guarantee I will purchase a jersey with his new number on it. (9 is retired, 19 is retired, what other combination with 9 could he take?)
