The regular season is over, the playoffs are almost wrapped up and the NHL Awards and NHL Entry Draft are right around the corner.  This part of the year is almost always marked by teams making huge changes and the Dallas Stars have jumped right in. 

NHL.com is reporting that, after six seasons behind Dallas’ bench, head coach, Dave Tippett has been relieved of his duties despite the fact that he has an impressive 271-156-28-37 record.  It had to be expected, however, that major changes would be on their way when Joe Nieuwendyk took over as the team’s general manager.

I know that things went off the rails for the Stars last season so I’m not overly surprised but a lot of it was not the fault of Dave Tippett.  They were plagued by the Sean Avery controversy and a host of injuries, leaving them with captain, Brendan Morrow, and Sergei Zubov for most of the season.  It’s hard to get things done when two of your most important players are out of the lineup.  Then, just when it seemed that things couldn’t get any worse, Brad Richards, got sidelined with hand and wrist injuries that prevented him from helping the team make a push for the playoffs.  It was just an overall bad year.  It was the first time in Tippett’s six years with the team that they didn’t make it to the postseason.

Of course, the rumors about a replacement have started.  The Los Angeles Kings have reportedly given the Stars permission to talk to coach, Marc Crawford.  He’s still under contract with LA and I wish he would just stay there.  I’m not sure how he would fit in with Dallas’ roster.

**UPDATE** NHL.com is now reporting that the Stars have, in fact, hired Marc Crawford.

image: TSN

Did you catch the Vancouver at Dallas Stars game last night?  It was a crazy one filled with action, injuries, wild hits and amazing saves.  It truly looked like a playoff game and reminded me of how strongly these teams have battled during the postseason in the past.  It also demonstrated how much Vancouver wants to overcome their setbacks this season and make playoffs.  Vancouver is now 17-4-1 in its past 22 games and has 87 points which ties them with the Chicago Blackhawks for fourth place in the Western Conference.

image: TSN.ca

I saw Daniel Sedin take a high stick to the mouth.  He tried to keep playing but he was bleeding so much.  Over on the bench, he spat out a good amount of blood (and a tooth) and then returned to the ice and scored the go-head goal in a tied game.  Outrageous.  Sedin ended up needing multiple stitches to close the wound.  “I got hit by the high stick,” he said. “But it was nice to score on the power play. We got the lead and that was huge.”

Ryan Kesler also had a big night.  Not only did he score two goals but he got clipped in the back of the head with a skate during the second period and left the game.  He did return, though.  Henrik Sedin rounded up the scoring with two goals, powering the Canucks to a 5-2 victory over the Stars.

Roberto Luongo stopped 35 shots to help the Canucks snap a four-game road losing streak.  “It was a gritty game and we found a way to get goals,” Luongo said. “Sometimes, you’re not going to get a picture-perfect goal, but you find a way to win.”

Still, Marty Turco made the save of the night by narrowly keeping the puck out of the net, stopping it right on the line. Watch the highlights:

In a demonstration of extraordinarily bad luck, Brad Richards broke his other hand during his first game back in the Dallas Stars lineup after a 15 game absence due to a wrist injury. Now, the Stars will be without Richards indefinitely which really dampens their chances of making the playoffs.  Even though he was out of play for so long, he is still the team’s third-leading scorer with 48 points.  How sad is that?

The shocking injury came during the third period of a 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.  “That’s not good news,” Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. “You just have to get back at it and find a way to get points.”  Honestly, it’s starting to look like Dallas just can’t catch a break this season.

Brendan Morrison will now be wearing a Dallas Stars jersey after the team picked him up after the Anaheim Ducks put him on waivers. 

It’s been a tough year for Morrison who has only 10 goals and 12 assists in 62 appearances.  The 33-year old signed a one-year deal with the Ducks over the summer.

"Brendan Morrison is a skilled veteran who brings valuable experience and character to our team for this playoff push," Stars co-general manager Les Jackson said in a statement. "He is a strong competitor who we are excited to add to our group."

image: tsn

I didn’t see the game but this video shows Anaheim Ducks goaltender, JS Giguere, attacking Steve Ott (Dallas Stars) and then standing back as a fight erupts between Ott and Travis Moen (Anaheim).  The commentators said that all of the Ducks wanted a piece of Ott after he apparently had had run-ins with Giguere and Niedermayer.  Watch the video:

All I know at this point is that Steve Ott has been suspended indefinitely without pay by the NHL since he got a match penalty after the fight.  I have heard rumors that the refs claim to have seen Ott trying to gouge out Moen’s eye.  This is crazy.

The Montreal Canadiens have traded forward, Steve Begin, to the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenceman, Doug Janik. 

I guess I can see how this could benefit both teams, particularly the Stars.  They can really benefit from Begin’s energy even though this isn’t his beat season – he’s got 6 goals and 4 assists in 42 games. 

It’s interesting that this is the second west coast/east coast swap in the past day or so.  The trade watch continues…

Brad Richards broke his wrist on Monday night in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The good news is that he will not need surgery to repair the injury.  The bad news is that he’s going to have to wear a cast for about five weeks but then will be out of the lineup for an additional one to three weeks. 

The Dallas Stars have placed Richards, who has 16 goals and 32 assists in 55 games, on the injured reserve. 

image: TSN

The Dallas Stars have made a really wise decision - they’ve chosen to free themselves of Sean Avery.  While reps for both the Stars and Avery say that the team continues to be supportive during “this critical time” for the player, they’ve elected to not put him back in the lineup after his six-game suspension is over. 

I wasn’t surprised to hear co-GM, Brett Hull, weighing in on this.  He’s been vocal about Avery in the past.  Today, Hull said: “Sean needs to focus on his own well-being while the Stars hockey team must focus on playing hockey and competing for a playoff spot.  Everyone understands that Sean will not return to the Dallas Stars. We all need to move forward.”  He added that the goal is to allow Sean to “focus on resolving his personal issues” while the Dallas Stars can have “closure on this episode. The team needs to put its energies into winning.”  Therefore, the team will honor Avery’s contract while he seeks treatment.

There’s a long list of grievances when it comes to Avery’s past behavior.  Just to name a few things, he’s made racial comments against minorities and French Canadiens in the league, he’s gotten into fights with commentators and coaches, his weird hand-waving tactics in front of Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils) during the playoffs led to a rule change and he has criticized players like Jarome Iginla (captain, Calgary Flames) of not being “exciting enough.” 

Of course, the incident that finally caught up with him was when he referred to his old girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert (who is currently dating Flames d-man, Dion Phaneuf) as “sloppy seconds.”

I think this is good for the Stars who have been really struggling this season (they are currently 27th in the league).  Hopefully, this will be a turning point for them because it’s just sad to see them doing so badly…

Sean Avery has been handed a 6-game suspension (without pay) for making defamatory remarks about Calgary Flames defenseman, Dion Phaneuf, and his girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert.  The suspension is retroactive so there are just 4 games left in his punishment.

Dallas Stars GM, Brett Hull, had mentioned that maybe Avery could use “medical help” so I wonder if he had anything to do with the request that Avery undergo a professional anger-management evaluation.  If necessary, he may have to begin attending structured counseling sessions to address, what the league feels, is “unacceptable and antisocial” behavior.  Here’s what NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman, had to say about the situation:

“Mr. Avery has expressed remorse for his recent comments and has sought a professional anger management evaluation.  I will require that he follow through with that process as a condition of his returning to the ice and that he complies with any and all recommendations.

Mr. Avery has been warned repeatedly about his conduct and comments, which have too often been at odds with the manner in which his more than 700 fellow players conduct themselves.  Playing in the National Hockey League is a privilege, requiring a high standard of personal behavior. Mr. Avery forfeits that privilege for six games.”

I wonder what will happen with the Stars.  They have eluded to the fact that they may not want Avery back.  Do you think he will dress for the December 16th game against the Phoenix Coyotes?

image: TSN

Wow.  This situation gets worse by the minute.  People are pissed and I know some people think he shouldn’t have been suspended for his actions but I’m sorry - I hope Sean Avery is done. 

I’m reading articles/blog posts where people say it’s unreasonable for Avery to have been suspended indefinitely for referring to Calgary Flames defenseman, Dion Phaneuf’s girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert as “sloppy seconds.”  I’m sorry but it’s about more than that. 

He’s gotten away with so much crap over the years and this is my personal list of things that you shouldn’t do if you want to be taken seriously in the NHL:

• Don’t call a press conference to basically call someone a slut and insult an opponent on his choice of girlfriend.  Lame attempt to bring excitement to a game.
• Don’t call a press conference to insult a player in his own town.
• Don’t call a press conference when you’ve told your team and PR people that you won’t do that.
• Don’t get away with making racial comments towards players of diverse backgrounds as he has done with George Laraque.  The NHL couldn’t prove it and he was not punished.
• Don’t even think about commenting on a player’s fight with cancer as he did with Jason Blake.
• Don’t wave your stick in front of a goaltender in a lame attempt to look like you’re doing a good job defensively.  Beat a goalie like Martin Brodeur with skill.  Have a little class and respect for the game.

I have watched a lot of coverage on this tonight and one thing that stands out are the comments from Dallas Stars GM, Brett Hull, who said:

“There’s probably deeper issues that need to be dealt with as a person and forget being a hockey player.  Um… you know I think there might be, uh.. you know, some sort of medical help that he can get… you know there comes a point where you have to put everything together and go look at maybe this just isn’t gonna work.”

Ouch.  I respect Brett Hull for all he has given to the game and I have to agree with him. 

image: TSN