Dallas Stars Ice-Girls Auditions

In case you have been dying to see how the Stars' Ice-Girls are going to look next year, click here.

More information on the small Stars/Kings trade

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

Clune, 21, was selected by Dallas in the third round (71st overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He played in 38 games with the Iowa Stars of the American Hockey League (AHL) this past season and recorded eight points (3-5=8) while finishing second on the club with 137 penalty minutes. Clune, a 6-0, 195-pound native of Toronto, also skated in 19 games with the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads this past season and registered 10 points (1-9=10) and 41 penalty minutes.

Clune finished third on his team in goals (32), assists (46) and points (78) and led his club in penalty minutes (151) while skating with the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) Barrie Colts during the 2006-07 season. He also led the Colts in postseason scoring with seven points (3-4=7) and eight penalty minutes in eight playoff games that year. In addition, Clune appeared in one game with the Iowa Stars that same season, recording two penalty minutes.

Read more about Clune from Inside the Kings here.

Clune seems to have some potential. When two teams trade prospects like the Kings and Stars did last night, it always take a couple years to see who came out ahead.

Stars acquire Lauri Tukonen

From Todd Davis of the Dallas Morning News:

The Stars traded left wing Richard Clune to the Los Angeles Kings for right wing Lauri Tukonen, a 2004 first-round draft pick and yet another Fin.

Clune, a third-round pick in 2005, didn't make it to the big club in Dallas, bouncing between Iowa and Idaho last season.

Update from Mike Heika: This move seems to have Dave Taylor's fingerprints on it. The Stars' director of player personnel was with the Kings when they drafted Tukonen, and would obviously have the most information on the Finnish winger.

Read the short post here.

Tukonen put up 35 points in the AHL last season, so I guess the Kings didn't see him cracking their fairly deep forward lines. He is only 21 years old, so the Stars must figure they can crack some of that untapped potential.

More on Tippett's contract extension

From Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News:

Jackson said Tippett has earned that trust. After five seasons with the Stars, he has the best regular season winning percentage (.632) among active NHL coaches and is coming off a playoff where he helped the Stars get to the Western Conference finals.

While Tippett has made the playoffs every season and has won two division titles, it hasn't always been easy for him. He has had regular season losing streaks and playoff failures that have put his job in jeopardy, and that's one reason he takes the contract extension with a grain of salt.

Read the entire article here.

This extension is very well deserved. Tippett has turned the Stars into bona-fide Stanley Cup contenders for this upcoming season.

Dave Tippett signs two-year extension

From the Dallas Morning News:

The Dallas Stars on Monday announced that coach Dave Tippett has been signed to a two-year contract extension through the 2010-11 season.

Tippett was signed to a one-year extension through the 2008-09 season last December.

Read the entire story here.

Word had it that this contract was almost done back in May. So obviously these two sides were just working out minor details. Tippett definitely proved himself to be a playoff capable coach last season and his re-signing is a good move by the Stars franchise.

Kings tried to persuade Norstrom out of retirement

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

You could probably count this as another "almost'' for the Kings this summer. The Kings recently talked to Mattias Norstrom about ending his newly announced retirement and returning for one year. Norstrom respectfully declined, and the subject of money never even came up.

Read more from Inside the Kings here.

Norstrom would be a good addition to any blue line, especially L.A.'s with all of their young defensemen. Nonetheless, it appears Norstrom is content with his decision to hang up the skates.

Brenden Morrow can't hate Sean Avery anymore

From Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News:

"I have said 'hate,' and I imagine if we wouldn't have signed him, I would have said I still hate him," Morrow said Thursday. "But he's a teammate now, and I'll admit that I don't really know him other than what I see on the ice. So now we need to get to know each other and work together as teammates."

Read the entire article here.

Someone needs to give Morrow a medal for being the captain of a team that has both Steve Ott and Sean Avery on its starting roster.

Stars in talks with Sean Avery

From Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News:

The Stars still are in on Sean Avery and were in the talks on Wade Redden, but they are shutting things down for the night, said Brett Hull, co-general manager.

Hull had Avery living over his garage when Avery was a rookie with the Red Wings back in 2002-03. so the two know each other pretty well. He declined the opportunity to explain why the Stars are interested, saying those things could be talked about if the Stars signed Avery.

Read more from Heika here.

The Stars were one of the teams rumored to be interested in Avery prior to free agency beginning this afternoon, so it is no surprise they are one of the teams he is negotiating with. If I had to guess, I'd say he is line for a 4 year, $16 million deal or a 5 year, $20 million deal.

Stars not expected to be very active in free agency

From Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News:

While the NHL salary cap has been announced as $56.7 million for next season, the Stars' budget is expected to be somewhere around $52 million.

That means the Stars have less than $3 million to spend when NHL free agency begins at 11 a.m. today.

Hicks calls the budget flexible but said the team learned a lesson last season when it unintentionally missed out in free agency and then had plenty of room to acquire center Brad Richards and his $7.8 million contract in February.

Read the entire article here.

Not a bad plan from the Stars here. Leaving flexibility down the road can turn out to be very important during the season and especially at trade deadline time. Never mind the fact that most teams will probably overpay today for the players they sign on the market.

Stars don't have much room for UFAs

From Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News:

"Honestly, we might only have room for one right now," Jackson said.

Jackson said he is seeking a right-handed right wing with scoring ability. However, he added that the team is on a budget and won't spend to the salary cap of $56.7 million. So they might have only $2 million to $3 million for unrestricted free agents.

"We won't be bidding on any of the big free agents," Jackson said.

Read the entire article here.

Michael Ryder anyone?

Modano still considering a return

From Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News:

Modano said getting to the conference finals has him thinking this team can make one more push for the Stanley Cup. That, more than anything, is his biggest consideration.

He said if the Stars had gone out in the first round as they had done in their last three trips to the playoffs, he would have retired.

Here is the full story from the Dallas Morning News.

Modano is not the player he once was, however, he is still an above-average NHL player and can contribute to his team both on and off the ice. I suspect Modano will return next season.

Dave Tippett expected to get contract extension

Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News: "The next major announcement will be an extension for Tippett, who is entering the final year of his contract."

Here is the full article from the Dallas Morning News.

The Stars are showing confidence in their current coach and clearly believe the working relationship between Tippett and their two-GMs is a good one. Continuity in today's sports world is often sacrificed for the "big splash" or "quick fix," however, this move is the right one for the Stars organization in my opinion. Tippett did a terrific job during the regular season as he always does; he then proved his worth even more by leading his team past powerhouses Anaheim and San Jose to reach the Conference Finals. Clearly the Stars expect Tippett to lead them to the Stanley Cup Finals in the next year or two and believe he will continue to be the right man for the job.

Stars bring back two-headed GMs through 2010-11

Quote Tom Hicks: ''Brett and Les have earned these extensions, doing an excellent job in leading this hockey club this past season.''

Here is the full report from TSN.

My take: Both of these men are qualified individuals. My question, and I'm sure it is that of many others as well, is whether this co-GM arrangement can last three more seasons. Obviously, the arrangement worked well for the last half of this past season, but there are far more decisions to be made during the off-season and beyond. It is hard to predict what the result of this arrangement will be; however, I don't particularly see this trend growing around the NHL.

Western Conference Final - Morning Papers

• The Stars return to Dallas and feel that home ice will be to their advantage. Mike Ribeiro will be available for the stars as he only received a fine for his slash on Chris Osgood. I thought that using your stick as a weapon warrants a suspension. If it was Chris Simon there would be some major suspensions handed out. The NHL can't punish the star players, especially in the playoffs.
• Jean-Jacques Taylor is not overlooking Detroits powerful defense that has held Morrow-Lehtinen-Ribeiro to only three points in two games. The Stars need to find a way to counter.
• Stu Barnes (concussion) will be out for tonights game and Jere Lehtinen (leg) is a gametime decision. This game is as close to must win as you can get for the Stars.
• Detroit's current eight game winstreak is the most since the 1995 playoffs where they got bounced by the Devils in 4 games of the final. The Red Wings know they can't let down on the road.
• The Red Wings take pride on keeping their cool and not retaliating. However, players like Tomas Holmstrom are doing a fantastic job of agitating the opposition, especially Marty Turco.
• The Detroit News also takes note that coach Mike Babcock has taught his players well, as they are able to refrain from taking retaliatory penalties.
  

NHL Morning Papers--Conference Finals!

My apologies for the delay in getting these posted, but my sleep was more important. If you wanna crown my ass for that, then go ahead and crown it. I am who I thought I was. And that is lazy.

Eastern Finals

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia

---Setting a new record for putting the cart before the horse, Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette says it’s not too early for the Pens to be talking sweep.

---According to someone smarter than Ron Cook, Bob Smizik resisted the urge to make bold outlandish predictions, and instead said that the best two players on the ice last night were Gene Malkin and Sid Crosby.

---Yet another columnist smarter than Ron Cook, Shelly Anderson astutely pointed out that the Flyers have much experience in these playoffs responding to 1-0 deficits.

---Tim Panaccio of the Philly Inquirer, says that the Flyers knew how important it was to play a clean, turnover free game, and in not doing so, they ended up losing.

---Ray Parrillo of the Inquirer seems to be calling out for a replay of the Bobby Clarke-Valeri Kharmalov slash from the 1972 Summit Series, in saying that the Flyers were unable to stop Malkin last night.

---Phil Sheridan said that the emotion the Flyers used as momentum to begin the game, only took them far enough to lose last night, and at some point, skill overtakes emotion.

Western Finals

Detroit vs. Dallas

---JJ Taylor of the Dallas Morning News reports that Stars head coach Dave Tippett has scrapped his game 1 defensive pairings and is going back to the drawing board to find the right mix.

---Mike Heika has all the intricate news and notes hockey junkies crave in his game-day notebook.

---In an impressive bit of ironic writing, Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press, says that “Hockeytown is back” because there were higher TV ratings and fewer empty seats at a CONFERENCE FINALS PLAYOFF GAME, then there had been at previous years.

---For all those who have been demanding more information about Wings D-man Niklas Kronwall, Helene St. James has the goods for us all.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Drew Mindell

If you have any thoughts, questions or ideas, please post them in the Comments!

Red Wings Win at the Joe, nobody is there to see it

• Last night the Dallas Stars were not even close to the level of performance of the Red Wings. I wouldn't put much stock in the Game 1 result. Game 2 and 3 should be more telling of the direction the series is headed.
• The Stars were unable to stay out of the penalty box, taking seven penalties. Detroit followed up by scoring on three of them. Brenden Morrow felt that his team "stood around and watched too much"
• Niklas Kronwall is throwing the body around these playoffs, with great timing, he has been making impact body checks. The Detroit Free Press feels he is not getting enough respect.
• The Red Wings showed no effects of a week off, Bob Wojnowski called them "borderline abusive".
  
• Mitch Albom calls out the "Hockeytown" fans for not coming to the game. Many of the seats appeared empty in all sections. As of 9:23AM (Central) I was able to find 2 seats in the 200 section on ticketmaster. How are these games not selling out? Comments on the Detroit free press have indicated that the high Michigan unemployment rate and the low economy are reasons for low attendance.

Western Conference Final Stars-Red Wings Morning Papers

• Phillipe Boucher is recovering from a strained hip and could return this series, but is doubtful for Game 1. Stu Barnes took a hit to the head in Game 3 and is "possible" to play in Game 1. The Stars are planning on playing very tight D versus the Red Wings, not trying to give them too much room to work.
• Chuck Carlton marvels over the greatness of the Red Wings front office. Their payroll is now $20 million less than than their 2003 payroll (pre cap era) and this is their 17th consecutive season making the playoffs (the longest streak in pro sports). GM Ken Holland and a central scouting staff that has been together for over ten years have done a fantastic job, finding gems like Pavel Datsyuk (6th round/1998 draft) and Henrik Zetterberg (7th round/'99 draft)
• Dallas writer Bob Kowalski gives five reasons why Detroit is Hockeytown. (Detroit may be Hockeytown, but Minnesota is the State of Hockey)
• Detroit could face fines if Octupi are littered on the ice. In in game news, Valtteri Filppula is "hopeful" for game 1. If he can't go, Dan Cleary will be moved up a line with Kirk Maltby taking Filipula's spot.

Game 1 takes place on Thursday at 7:30pm Eastern.

Second Round Playoff Matchups

Here are the matchups for the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs:

Eastern Conference:

Montreal (1) versus Philadelphia (6)

Pittsburgh (2) versus New York Rangers (5)

Western Conference:

(1) Detroit versus Colorado (6)

(2) San Jose versus Dallas (5)

NHL Morning Papers: Playoff Teams (Monday Edition)

Eastern Conference Playoffs

Montreal versus Boston:

• Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette says that there is no team in the Eastern Conference that the Canadiens cannot beat. Carey Price will be the key for the Habs.
• You can't fool Kevin Paul Dupont and convince him you thought the Bruins would make the playoffs. Fluto Shinwaza provides readers with lots of Bruins injury news in the team's notebook.

Pittsburgh versus Ottawa:

• Now that the Penguins got through Sunday's regular season finale in good health, the team is ready to focus on the playoffs. The Penguins/Senators series starts on Wednesday. Here were the statistical leaders for the Penguins during the regular season.
• Senators coach Bryan Murray is happy to face the Penguins in the first round once again this playoffs. Chris Stevenson of the Ottawa Sun has the injury details for the Senators. This playoff run will be Wade Redden's last with the Senators franchise.

Washington versus Philadelphia:

• The Capitals are hoping to start the playoffs against the Flyers just like they did the Bruce Boudreau era versus Philly earlier this season. You have to give George McPhee some credit for the job he did improving the Capitals at the trade deadline, writes Thom Loverro.
• Martin Biron is heading into the first round coming off of two consecutive shutouts, writes Sam Donnellon. The Flyers are looking forward to the challenge of facing Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals.

New Jersey versus New York Rangers:

• The Devils were happy to have finally beat the Rangers on Sunday, but they were happier that they clinched home-ice advantage over the Blueshirts in the first round. The Devils/Rangers match up will see a couple of players suit up who have played for both teams during their careers.
• Unlike in 2006, the Devils will have to deal with Jaromir Jagr for more than a game during this playoffs, writes Larry Brooks. Brendan Shanahan isn't going to fixate on the Rangers not getting home-ice advantage yesterday.

Western Conference Playoffs

Detroit versus Nashville:

• Tomas Holmstrom suited up in Sunday's regular season finale, in order to be ready for the playoffs this week, writes Helene St. James. Needless to say, the Wings are no easy match up in the playoffs.
• The Predators have been playing so well lately, that it has given them extra confidence heading into the first round versus Detroit.

San Jose versus Calgary:

• "They've got a great team - great goaltending, good forwards, powerful defense," said Sharks forward Joe Thornton about the Flames. Here is the Sharks/Flames first round schedule.
• The Flames are sure going to have their hands full, writes Steve MacFarlane. The Flames will not be lacking class in the series as they will be led by the classy Jarome Iginla.

Minnesota versus Colorado:

• The Wild/Avalanche game on Sunday got intense near the end, which is surely a sign of what is to come over the next two weeks, writes Michael Russo. Did the Wild start Josh Harding because they wanted to play against the Avalanche instead of the Flames?
• Ian Lapperiere set the tone for this series by going after Marian Gaborik late in last night's game. It looks like Andrew Brunette will be out to get revenge...against himself. Jacques Lemaire may not be trying to motivate Peter Forsberg, but that doesn't mean these comments won't serve to motivate Peter the Great.

Anaheim versus Dallas:

• The Ducks are ready to start the playoffs already, writes Dan Wood. Teemu Selanne has his team ready for a long playoff run, writes Mark Whicker. Here is the Ducks/Stars first round schedule.
• The Stars are expecting to have a fairly healthy team for the start of the first round. The Stars are heading into the playoffs with the momentum of Sunday's victory over San Jose.

The non-playoff team morning papers will be posted around 11:15 cst...

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Email any thoughts, ideas or suggestions to illegalcurve@gmail.com

NHL Morning Papers--Western Conference (Monday Edition)

Here are the Central Division morning papers:

• On Gordie Howe day at the Joe Louis Arena, Johan Franzen broke one of Howe's records to lead the Wings to a 1-0 overtime victory over Nashville. On the injury front, the Wings are expecting Tomas Holmstrom to return to the line up later this week.
• The Predators got an important point in Detroit yesterday, but John Glennon of the Tennessean wonders if it will end up being enough.
• The Blue Jackets had yesterday's game until Kris Russell lost an edge and the Blackhawks tied it up; the Hawks eventually went on to win in a shootout. The Jackets may be out of the playoff race in the NHL but the team's AHL affiliate in Syracuse is tearing it up.
• "We talked after the second period, and we said if we lose that our season was over," said Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp after his team's come-from-behind 5-4 shootout victory Columbus.

**There are were no St. Louis Blues articles today**

Here are the Northwest Division morning papers:

• After last night's 6-2 debacle in Vancouver, the Flames have left themselves basically no chance at winning the Northwest Division. The Flames lost Daymond Langkow prior to puck drop and Craig Conroy only minutes after, writes Randy Sportak.
• The veteran leaders took the bull by the horns last night in Vancouver's win over Calgary, writes Jason Botchford. Brad Zeimer of the Vancouver Sun says hope is back after last night's big win.
• The Wild beat the Avalanche in overtime on Sunday, which moved them closer to the Northwest Division title. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune has an interesting piece on Mikko Koivu's face-off strategy.
• "If they get in, they're going to be a tough opponent," said Wings GM Ken Holland about the prospect of facing the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs. Here are the results the Oilers fans are hoping for come Tuesday.
• The Avalanche, sans Peter Forsberg, was happy to at least earn one point in the team's 3-2 loss at Minnesota on Sunday. Jordan Leopold was also a scratch for last night's contest.

Here are the Pacific Division morning papers:

• Ryan Clowe's return ended in a 3-1 victory for the Sharks, writes David Pollak. With the Sharks having sewn up second place in the Western Conference, coach Ron Wilson has decided to spread out the ice time a little more between all four lines.
• The Stars lost 3-2 in a shootout yesterday to the Ducks and, as a result, backed up into a playoff spot.
• The Ducks defeated Dallas last night and moved to within two points of clinching home-ice in the first round of the playoffs, writes Dan Wood.

**There were no L.A. Kings or Phoenix Coyotes articles this morning**

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Email any thoughts, ideas or suggestions to illegalcurve@gmail.com