What Sean Avery said to get suspended was both funny and vile.  Yep, I went there.  Here’s the quote in case you some how missed it.

“I’m really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada,” the Ontario native said. “I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about, but enjoy the game tonight.” 

If it was said on the ice, no problem.

It wasn’t.  It was said in front of TV cameras.

Here’s the real problem with Sean; he’s young and thinks he’s funny.  Oh, we have the same problem.  Perhaps that’s why I’m not gonna join the bandwagon and bash him like everyone else has.

Let’s preface this a little.  I love the fact that the Dallas Stars have done a great job, from the very beginning, in creating a team that is well respected in the NHL as well as at home in Texas.  There is pride in being a sports team housed in this great state.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has summoned Sean Avery to New York for a hearing Thursday. I guess we’ll have to see how that goes.

Here’s my real problem… I think; If you pull in the reins on a guy like Sean Avery, does he lose his ability to play effectively? I think he does. How much can you actually quiet a guy like him? What’s the cost?

Facts:

• Sean Avery is a fast talking, fast skating, pot stirrer
• The suspension put Avery out of a game that could have involved much retaliation
• More national coverage for the NHL in these past couple of days

Opinions

• Not all PR is good PR
• Maybe the NHL does need more villains like a Darth Vader
• The Dallas Stars are not happy with his antics
• The Dallas Stars didn’t need another pot stirrer, Steve Ott does a fine job with that job description

Did Avery cross the line with what he said?  Perhaps

Does he still have a future with the Dallas Stars?  This question is much harder to answer, although I do know that his contract has a limited no-trade clause, whatever that means.

The biggest factor by far is the effect that all of this has had on the team.

“More than anything, he’s let his teammates down,” said Dallas co-general manager Brett Hull.

“From my own standpoint, there’s a great deal of frustration and embarrassment,” said Dave Tippett. “Ten minutes before Sean came out with those comments, I defended him and that’s very disappointing to me. There’s been people from management to coaches, to teammates that put a lot of time and effort to try and get him engaged in our group. Obviously the point wasn’t getting across, which brings us to where we are right now.”

“It’s going to take some time,” teammate Mike Modano said. “It’s a situation we’ll have to address when that time comes, if it does.” on repairing the damage in the dressing room.

Marty Turco: “It’s just so disappointing for guys who have been around here for a long time and have taken a lot of pride in how this organization has been perceived. The disrespect of this morning and other things over the course of the season have been extremely disappointing for us. It’s a slap in the face.”

Then went on to say;

“We expect that out of him like we have all year,” said Marty Turco, who was critical of Sean Avery’s agitation of Brodeur during the playoffs when it happened. “You know, the show continues.”

Sean Avery has come out with a statement on the event:

“I would like to sincerely apologize for my off-color remarks to the press yesterday from Calgary.

“I should not have made those comments and I recognize that they were inappropriate. It was a bad attempt to build excitement for the game, but I am now acutely aware of how hurtful my actions were. I caused unnecessary embarrassment to my peers as well as people I have been close with in the past.

“I apologize for offending the great fans of the NHL, the Commissioner, my teammates, my coaching staff and the Dallas Stars Management and Ownership. As many of you know, I like to mix it up on and off the ice from time to time, but understand that this time I took it too far.”

Okay, deep breath.

Here’s the press release.

FRISCO, Tex. - The Dallas Stars announced today that the left wing Brenden Morrow is out indefinitely with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will require surgery. He is expected to miss up to six months. The club also recalled right wing Landon Wilson from Grand Rapids (AHL).”We are obviously very disappointed to hear the news about Brenden’s knee,” said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “As our captain, he will obviously be missed, but we have every assurance that he can and will come back from this injury at 100 percent. There is a lot of hockey left to be played this season, and we are confident our team will rally together and keep pushing.”

Morrow, 29, has skated in all 18 of the Stars’ games to date, recording five goals and 10 assists for 15 points with 49 penalty minutes. He placed tied for second on the club in assists and points, second in penalty minutes and tied for fourth in goals.

The native of Carlyle, Sask., is coming off a 2007-08 season where he led the Stars in goals (32), power play goals (12), hits (260) and plus/minus (+23), and was second in points (74) and game-winning goals (7). Morrow added 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists) and 22 penalty minutes 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games last spring, as the Stars advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

Wilson, 33, has skated in 15 games with AHL Grand Rapids this season, earning eight goals and seven assists for 15 points with 37 penalty minutes. Among Griffins team leaders, he was tied for first in goals and tied for second in points.

The 6-3, 226-pound right wing has skated in 348 career NHL games with Colorado, Boston, Phoenix and Pittsburgh, collecting 111 points (50 goals, 61 assists) and 331 PIM. In 13 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, Wilson has earned a goal and an assist with 20 penalty minutes. His most prolific NHL season came in 2000-01 with Phoenix, when he collected 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in 70 games.

I can’t really imagine the entire impact that this will have on the team.

Let’s try to be optimistic here for a sec.

Here we go with some local fandom kool-aid.  We can still salvage this season!

The younger Stars that will have to come in and fill ice skates could blossom as this season may end up becoming a rebuilding year.

Here is some stuff from Mike Modano.

“You look at last season when Zubov was out, and people just stepped up,” Modano said. “Robidas stepped up, and the kids on defense really just played over their heads. I think we have to pull together as a team and look for something like that happen.”

And now, back to reality.

My biggest concerns come with the knowledge that some of our best and most consistent players are our oldest as well.

• Mike Modano - 38
• Sergei Zubov - 38
• Daryl Sydor - 36
• Jere Lehtinen - 35

These are some of the guys I want to win the cup with.  How much longer can we expect to see them around.  Another couple of years?  I can only hope.  I’d love to send Mike Modano and the rest of these guys to retirement with their names newly etched into the Stanley Cup.

The season is still young.  There are 64 games left so we aren’t without opportunity to turn this around.

I just hope that there is some wind left for these sails.

Onward ho!?

I had seen a couple of mock ups of the Dallas Stars third jersey throughout the week, but really didn’t put too much stock into them. 

Why?

Because they didn’t even look like freakin’ third jerseys!

The crappy thing is, they were right.

Here’s the third jersey for the Dallas Stars.

Dallas Stars Third Jersey Modano 9

Now, I may only be a photographer living in West Texas, not a fashion designer, but I think I could have come up with anything much more creative than this in an hour sitting at a coffee shop drawing on napkins with broken crayons!

I’m just saying…

Is anyone really going to go pony up extra cash for this jersey?

Again.

No, not for the election of President of the United States, that was a last month.

I voted for our Dallas Stars in the NHL All Star ballot.

You should too. I’m just saying.

One of my favorite memories of Dallas Stars hockey occurred during the playoffs a few years back. Our player got his feet tangled with another skater and slide awkwardly into the boards blowing out his knee. The injury occurred close to our defensive blue line and while our player was obviously seriously injured the officials let the play continue. Much to everyone’s surprise the player literally crawled on all fours pulling himself forward with his arms to lay down close to the crease taking away that portion of the ice.

As you may have guessed that player was none other than Darryl Sydor. The Stars have at times seemed to lack the will to win and nothing better exemplifies that will than that play.

Although we lost Phillipe Boucher in the trade I think we got the better deal. Boucher has not been playing well over the last season and a half. Sydor on the other hand played very well in the Stanley Cup finals against Detroit. I for one am glad to see one of my favorite Stars returning.

Welcome home Sydor.

Mark Parrish is a veteran scorer with a right handed shot and we need that.

His defensive side has much to be desired, but at a low, low price we can fill holes with him on the offense.

He’s played with Mike Modano before in All-Star games so at least there’s some chemistry already there.

He says he’s fit and hungry to play so that works for me.

I do feel that we needed to look more on the defensive side of things because scoring isn’t necessarily our biggest concern.

I’m interested to see which line he’ll be on.  I see him fitting well with Brad Richards more than on Mike Modano’s line, but he could do well on either.

I guess I’m still waiting to get Jere Lehtinen and Sergie Zubov back before a real assesment of the Dallas Stars can be made, but dealing with key injuries has to be a big concern for a team that was picked pre-season to be a Stanely Cup contender.  Maybe this is the kind of spark that this team needs.  We’ll see.

Everyone stepped up in all three zones and played with tenacity and hunger.  This is how Dallas Stars hockey is supposed to look.

Performance nods go to some usual suspects in Brendan Morrow and Mike Ribeiro which is good, because you want your star players to show up every game.

Brad Richards looked especially good this game as well.  He was really flying around the ice tonight and seemed to be involved in every play.  Plus, he was really pulling the trigger tonight with a rather large number of shots on goal.

Welcome back Steve Ott; we missed you.  Steve always makes the game more fun to watch and I love it when he scores a goal.  I think he may have put a hit on every one of the Wild players on the ice tonight.  I guess he was making up for lost time.

The Dallas Stars forwards out-worked and out-hustled the Minnesota Wild.  They seemed to really give the Wild some trouble with their fore-check and some fantastic offensive zone turnovers led to great scoring chances and a couple of goals.

Dallas’ defense-men looked solid and in sync throughout the entire game.  When the Wild did get manage to get a breakaway the back-checking forwards were there to break it up.

Tobias Stephan looked solid, at times, in his first game this season (only his second NHL start).  He was noticeably nervous/shaky in the beginning with a few questionable passes and a misstep behind the net.  His nerves did seem to get under control after a while and I don’t think anyone is going to fault him for either of the goals tonight.  The first one was a blister of a slapshot that may have had the speed to break the sound barrier.  The second?  Still not sure exactly what happened with that fluky goal.  So, not a bad seasonal debut for the young netminder.

By the way, I love teaming Steve Ott and Sean Avery on the same line with Brad Richards.  Seriously?!  Which opponent line is going to volunteer to go against that trio?  “Gee coach, I think I’d like to play against two obscenely abrasive checking power forwards that consistently crash the net and try to check anything moving not in a Dallas Stars jersey.  Don’t worry, I’ll try not to forget about the precision passing center with an accurate shot.  Put me in coach, I’m ready to play.”

Welcome back Ott.

While I think it’s a good thing to get the young netminder some playing time, I do think that Dave Tippett wasn’t really thinking it would be this early in the season and under these circumstances.

Tonight’s game will at least give us a chance to see how things are going with Antti Miettinen, a former Star. I wasn’t happy to see him leave, but he’s arguably in a better place now as the Wild are hot right now. Currently at 6-0-1 they are the only remaining team without a loss.

Let’s hope we can change that for them.

This is not the Stars team that we all know and love. My hope is that this is a consequence of all of the new players in the forward lines. If this is the case, only time and coaching can cure the problems. If not the Stars have a major delima on their hands. If the players are the problem they will have to be benched and the front office, specifically Brett Hull and Les Jackson are to blame. If it is lack of coaching then the current staff will have to be fired. Dave Tippett has the highest winning percentage of any active coach and yet he could be in trouble if the team doesn’t get this turned around.

So instead, here’s a congratulations to my favorite sports analyst Daryl “Razor” Reaugh on his two emmys.

Well deserved awards for such a novel wordsmith.