Excusing the fact that this topic is a little old (and having been registered for two years and not posting to this point), but now that I'm taking the time to look through the WeTalk network, I figured I'd chime in on one of my favourite sports!
I'm a Dallas Stars fan, myself...tough couple of years! Watching the final two games of Mike Modano's career (it's not official, no, but it's as close to it as you can get) was something extremely special. Such a shame to see Dallas losing out on three great players, or at least potentially losing three great players (definitely losing Turco, most likely losing Modano and potentially losing Lehtinen); however, the core of players that's come in over these past few seasons is phenomenal. Brad Richards, Loui Eriksson, James Neal, Jamie Benn, Mark Fistric, Niklas Grossman, Trevor Daley, Toby Petersen, Tom Wandell, Phillip Larsen (very high potential!) -- there is so much potential in that lineup it's hard not to get excited about next year. With Kari Lehtonen now the undisputed number 1 (still need a solid backup, though!) and Dallas looking to bring in a true #1 d-man (and hopefully ditching Mike Ribeiro), there's reason to believe Dallas will be back to their competitive position once again very soon.
With regards to the Playoffs -- I'm happy to see the Canadiens doing so well. It's great to see the underdog teams beating the big teams. Hopefully Crosby and the Pens will be the next team taking an early summer vacation
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Anyway, thought I'd chime in and see if there's a hockey community here
Coming back to this, I'm fairly happy w/ Kari Lehtonen's contract extension. 3 years, $10.65 Million (works out at around 3.55 million/year). Some would argue it's high, given his health concerns; however, if he can play at a level anywhere near what he played this past season, then Dallas' new number one will have come at one hell of a bargain. Now it's just a case of what happens with the backup position, and where Turco ends up...plus Dallas still need a #1 d-man, a proper second line center (to replace Ribeiro, who HOPEFULLY will be moved this offseason), and some extra depth players, though Brandon Segal played a vital role last year as a $.5 million contract. One or two more of his ilk and the Stars may well be back where they were two years ago.
