Five for Fighting

Winging it

Couple of thoughts as I'm watching Game 4:
**You always want to get scoring from the "who?" guys, those players whose names don't just roll off the tongue or garner the most notice on the roster. For example, one Jiri Hudler for the Red Wings. Not the brightest star on the Red Wings' squad, but he just came up with a biggie in the third period. Believe it was his fifth goal of the playoffs. Can't put a price on how valuable those are.
**Penalties kill, especially bad ones. The Pens are playing with fire with that delay of game penalty by Marc-Andre Fleury. Nobody capitalizes on things like that better than the Wings.
**Pretty slick goal by Marian Hossa in the first period. They need more from him.
**Speaking of which, same to Evgeni Malkin. They need anything from him. Still looking for his first point. In Game 4. Not good at all.

Good news, sad news

First, congratulations to Doug Armstrong, who is the St. Louis Blues' new vice president of player personnel. He will hold that title until 2010, when he assumes the general manager position with the Blues. Just talked to him a few minutes ago. As he said, he will be working with some greats up in St. Louis, including John Davidson, Al MacInnis and current general manager Larry Pleau. The Blues should be going nowhere but up from here on out, as they've got a great group of young guys and prospects taking them through the next few years.

Now, the sad news... Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luc Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle accident in New Brunswick today. He was just 21 years old. Bourdon played 27 games last season with the Canucks, who were pretty banged-up on the blue line if you recall. I'm going to get a little mushy here, so forgive me. My heartfelt sympathies go out to his family. No one should be leaving us at age 21. And no parent should ever, ever have to watch their child go before them.

Daley, Penguins and other musings

With his signing today, Trevor Daley avoids arbitration this summer; although with the way salaries are going, who knows what he may have gotten with it? Now, does that mean he's staying put here for a while? Sounds like it. We'll wait and see what the summer brings. As far as the Stars are concerned, Daley has upswing. And he is expected to grow in various aspects of his game, including the offensive side.

By the way, congrats to Mr. Daley on something else: He's getting married later this summer.

OK, onto other hockey tidbits:
**The Penguins have two goals against the Wings in Game 3, their first two goals of this SERIES. Oh, and Sidney Crosby has both of them. That's the non-surprise of this whole shebang.
**That was one pretty goal by Johan Franzen. Yeah, never bad to have someone like that return to the lineup.
**In-game interviews are just not a good idea. And I mean that for every sport, especially in the playoffs. You're playing for your season, and someone wants your thoughts. If we're going to do the in-game interview, put these games on HBO. Now those would be some deep (and colorful) thoughts.
**Did everyone see the footage of the Spokane Chiefs dropping the Memorial Cup? Yes, I know it's just a replica, but that was funny nonetheless. I almost fell off the crosstrainer at the gym.
**There's one storm cloud in the area, and it's right over my apartment. Is someone trying to tell me something?

Daley inks 3-year deal

Defenseman Trevor Daley has signed a three-year deal worth $6.9 million with the Stars. The deal will give him $2.1 million next season, $2.3 in 2009-10 and $2.5 million in 2010-11.

Daley played in all 82 games for the Stars this season,  scoring five goals and 19 assists.

More to come

Getting there

Hey folks,

Just some quick notes, really. The Dave Tippett deal still isn't completely finished. Sounds like they're still hammering out some bonuses and such, but nothing that will change the main structure of the deal. Not sure we'll be hearing the final word tomorrow, either.

Ulf Dahlen is now the head coach of a Swedish Elite Team. Very sad to hear that, but not totally surprised, since he didn't sign on when the Stars gave that one-year renewal to the coaches back in the fall. Still sad to see the guy go. He did a lot of work with the power play, and it was looking pretty nice during the first two playoff series.

When will we see Fabian Brunnstrom for the first time? Les Jackson said he'll be here for the Stars' development camp from July 7-14. I'm just interested in seeing the kid. After that, we'll see him again in September when training camp begins.

Hey, just trying to keep the blog going through this sweltering summer months... although I did enjoy the rain today. And I don't even have a yard!

Wings and things

Watching Game 2 of the Red Wings-Penguins. A few thoughts:
Do you think Marc-Andre Fleury would like to yell "little help, guys" to everyone in the Pens locker room? The guy's getting bombarded by the Red Wings; meanwhile, his teammates can only get a shot on goal if they're on the power play. Yikes. Evgeni Malkin still sorta missing.
The Wings' greatness lies in their top players, yes, but also in everyone else coming along with them. Scoring continues to be spread-out. Brad Stuart jumped in with his first of the playoffs in the first period.
I love a physical player, but I'll think that much more of Niklas Kronwall if he doesn't leave his feet on those hits.
Methinks the Wings are going to keep on making Fleury's life miserable. Yeah, I know. Shocking statement from me there.

Oh, and what IS up with the Red Wings and Pistons playing on the same night? Why are execs paid so much when they can't even schedule a city's two teams on different nights? Dum-da-dumb-dumb.

Armstrong and the Leafs?

There's a story on TSN about the Toronto Maple Leafs meeting with former Stars GM Doug Armstrong. According to the story, the Leafs and Armstrong are likely meeting sometime this week. The Leafs tried to talk to Joe Nieuwendyk a few days ago, but the Florida Panthers wouldn't let them.

Ah, that's the beauty of Toronto... hockey up there is like football here. Year-round drama.

Tackling the padding

Gary Bettman talked this weekend of decreasing the size of goaltender equipment, and how it is a high-priority issue before next season. It's about time. We've only been talking about this for how long now? But enough talk. Do something about it.
The key, obviously, is protecting the goaltender. That can be done without resorting to the outlandish-size pads that some of these guys wear. Anyway, Brett Hull was one of the men pushing for this, and he was on the committee talking about it at the GM meetings this past February.

Something tells me when he talks, the NHL will finally listen.

Tippett getting 3-year deal

There's apparently a few little things to be worked out with Dave Tippett's deal, although most of the big pieces are in place. The three-year part is set, which puts him through 2010-11, but they'll iron a few things out when Les Jackson gets back to town early next week.

I'm a fan of this deal, although I'm probably surprising no one with that statement. I know there are criticisms of the man when he goes through various line changes. But when the injuries came about as the postseason wore on, the ability to make those changes came in pretty handy. Now that this trio is in place for a bit, it'll be interesting to see what they do.

So enjoy the weekend, folks. See you Tuesday or Wednesday.

Looking ahead

Aah, the summer time. For those of us hockey-covering scribes, it's a time to kick back. At least until free agency. But the minds of the Stars' brass will probably be in full swing during these months. The Stars are close after their Western Conference run, and it'll be intriguing to see what they think this team needs for next season.

And Les Jackson, Brett Hull and Dave Tippett are all on the same page with all of this. Yes, I know the Tippett deal hasn't been announced formally yet. But that's basically a foregone conclusion. Tippett got these guys believing this season, and once any moves are made this offseason (winger? another defenseman if Norstrom isn't back? More speed?), he'll find a place for them.
Oh, and there's Mr. Fabian Brunnstrom, too. Sorry, keep forgetting he's coming here. I think it's going to take him some time to adjust, but I'm curious to see what this guy can bring.