Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are gearing up for a very big event in just a few weeks, unveiling the franchise's new logos and jerseys as well as making a few important announcements in front of an exclusive crowd of season-ticket holders and special guests. The new jerseys and logos themselves have been the source of much mystery and intrigue with Stars fans the past few years, as it was made clear very soon after Tom Gaglardi purchased the team that changes would be coming. With rumors swirling that a color change was also in place, it became clear that the Stars would indeed be turning to green as the new main color for the team moving forward. Anything else was unclear. On Thursday night, what appears to be the new logos were posted in the "Wallpapers" section of the team's official iOS and Android app. From what we can confirm, this is indeed what the new logos will be. According to our sources, the "DALLAS STARS" circular logo will actually be the shoulder patch, while the larger "D" logo will be the new official logo that will be the crest on the jerseys. As you can surmise from the colors above, gold is now out. The two main colors will now be green and silver, with white and black also coming into play. The green above is the one we've been mentioning, a variation on the "Celtics Green" and "kelly green" that has been discussed so much lately. The Dallas Stars have removed these images from the official app. An official with the team had this statement when reached about the leaked logo: "We will officially unveil our new logo and uniforms on June 4th at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Beyond that, we have no comment." Defending Big D will be covering the unveiling event live on June 4th. Until then, it's important to remember that it's tough to accurately judge the merits of the new logos without the context of the actual jerseys. For what it's worth, I think they're sharp.

The Edmonton Journal reported yesterday that the Dallas Stars will journey to Oklahoma City on September 27th to play a preseason game against the Barons' parent club: The Edmonton Oilers. The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars will play a pre-season game at the home of the Oklahoma City Barons, the Oilers' American Hockey League affiliate, on Sept. 27. It will be the fourth NHL exhibition contest played in Oklahoma City. The Stars took on the St. Louis Blues in 1995, then two years later the Blues and Boston Bruins met in the state capital. The most recent game featured the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes in 2002. And so the Dallas Stars continue to write checks my marriage, my day job and my gasoline bill (training camp in Forth Worth too, remember) may not be able to cash. You might recall that the Stars will also play a preseason game one week earlier against the Florida Panthers in San Antonio - Consecutive Fridays. Still, it's a big part of the Stars' stated plan to become, perhaps, the hockey teams of all of Texas and the Southwest, not just Dallas and Fort Worth. Road trip? *** Multiple outlets in Phoenix reported yesterday that Phoenix Coyotes GM Don Maloney is close to a contract extension despite the team's ongoing existence problems. That's significant. If Maloney stays the smart money says Dave Tippett definitely stays as well, making the talent pool where head coaches are concerned all the more shallow as Nill and others look for their next bench boss. [FSAZ] Jonathan Toews was a bad boy last night in taking three separate minor penalties in three separate incidents within about 6 minutes of the second period. Coincidentally, or perhaps not so, the Blackhawks now find themselves with their backs against the wall as the Wings lead 3-1. Your best players have to be your best players. Hard to do that sitting frustrated in a penalty box. [Pro Hockey Talk] The Carolina Hurricanes will reveal their new jerseys on... June 4th? Hours and hours before Dallas does. A coincidence, says Icethetics, and not to do with Reebok. It's safe to say Jim Lites may not love the timing. [Icethetics] Curt Fraser will NOT interview for the head coaching vacancy in Dallas, but will be put on the staff of whoever is hired. [Heika] Tim Cowlishaw details his wish list for head coach, doesn't mention Alain Vigneault [DMN] We're still not sure that it isn't an elaborate prank on the hockey world, but the Avalanche made the Patrick Roy hiring official Thursday, naming him not only head coach but also VP of hockey operations. The entertaining press conferences should start any second now. [Puck Daddy] Stars Assistant General Manager, contract guy and all around great dude Frank Provenzano will be leaving the team, Craig Custance reports. [ESPN] Idle speculation from a radio station in Canada that Vigneault could get some consideration from Dallas, and they suggest a few teams in the East that have not fired their coaches yet will do so in the coming weeks. [660 News] Todd at Pegasus news forgoes most of his usual snark in genuinely wondering if Jamie Benn has enough in the leadership department to be captain. Recall the Stars said there will be significant announcements at the jersey unveiling. Could a captaincy announcement be in the offering? [Pegasus News] There was other "news" last night, and we may or may not comment on it depending on what inquiries reveal throughout the day. That's all on that. And uhhh... well... Oh dear... And so we must wait, largely due to this blunder, to celebrate the possible procurement of Boston's first rounder.

Stars prospect Taylor Peters will be heading to the semifinal of the Memorial Cup after the Portland Winterhawks defeated Saskatoon, 4-2, Thursday night. Peters had no points, an even rating and four penalty minutes for Portland, which finished...

The Texas Stars unveiled their new jersey designs Thursday for the 2013-2014 season as part of a fifth anniversary celebration, featuring big changes to the road sweaters in particular as the all-black look is out in favor of green as the primary color. The announcement comes about two weeks ahead of parent club Dallas' announcement of new jersey designs as well as a new primary logo on June 4th, though only coincidentally. The two clubs are owned by different entities and the redesigns were done without coordination, so these cannot be taken as any kind of sign of things to come where the new Dallas jerseys are concerned. I'll repeat that: These cannot be taken as any kind of sign of things to come where the new Dallas jerseys are concerned. The old road jerseys: Credit: OKC Barons The new road jerseys: Credit: Mike Connell, Texas Stars, HDH Francis Wathier just doesn't look happy about any of this. From the team's release: In preparation for the fifth season of AHL hockey in Cedar Park, the Stars will make a significant shift in their road jersey colors. Texas is replacing the all-black away uniform with a primarily dark green jersey, the same dark green that is featured in the team's logo, and the crest patch will feature the team's secondary logo. The shoulder cap is white with a primary logo patch on each side. The collar is gold and includes a white lace tie-up. The sweater will also have thick white bands on each sleeve and along the bottom hem, trimmed with black and gold. The matching socks will be principally dark green with three bands of black, gold and white just below the knee. Texas' new home jersey is a jersey that was unveiled initially as the team's alternate jersey prior to the 2011-12 season. The jersey is a predominately white jersey trimmed in dark green and gold, emblazoned with the Texas Stars primary logo on the front crest. The shoulders are dark green and have small patches featuring the Stars' secondary logo. During the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons the team wore the alternate jersey with the original home socks, which were half white, half dark green, bisected by a thick gold band. The 2013-14 home uniforms will feature a newly designed sock of all white with bands of dark green and gold. "We are very excited about our new jersey designs and we believe they will help our continuous efforts to strengthen the Texas Stars brand and team identity," said Stars president Rick McLaughlin. "We have enjoyed tremendous success on and off the ice over the past four seasons and we are really looking forward to initiating our fifth anniversary celebration with this great new look." The new jerseys were designed by the Texas Stars in conjunction with Reebok, the official and exclusive jersey supplier to the American Hockey League. The jerseys will be available in both replica and authentic versions at the Texas Stars merchandise stands beginning this Fall. For full coverage of the jerseys and all things Texas Stars visit Hundred Degree Hockey.

So its been a month and a half since I decided to write my last Dallas Stars Draft Board. Things have changed in the order since then and there has been a lot of shifts up and down this list. Will it look like this in the lead up to draft day? Its unlikely. This draft board is based on how the Stars have drafted in the past, though with a new General Manager that could change significantly, and what their organisational needs are currently. This was my last attempt to write a Draft Board for the Dallas Stars. This is only my opinion and its highly unlikely that the Stars have a draft board which looks anything like this. Their scouts have been able to see many of these prospects in person and therefore will be able to pick up factors which I cannot see through my investigations online. Again, I'd like to remind people that this is not a mock draft. This is a draft board which is the order that I think the Stars should order these prospects. Position Player Explanation 1 Seth Jones (D WHL) Best player in the draft and an incredibly well rounded defenseman. 2 Valeri Nichushkin (RW RUS) With the news that Nichushkin is willing to go to the NHL next season he jumps up the draft board as the Russian factor decreases. He's, in my opinion, the most talented forward in the draft. 3 Nathan Mackinnon (C QMJHL) Extremely talented and in previous years would have been a shoe in for the top spot. 4 Aleksander Barkov (C FIN) Very talented well rounded forward with top sniper skills. 5 Jonathan Drouin (LW QMJHL) Excellent hands and possibly the best play making forward available in the draft. 6 Elias Lindholm (LW/C SWE) Talented typical Swedish forward, good two way play and though lacking physicality good in his own zone. 7 Sean Monahan (C OHL) Good sized, well rounded two way forward. Has high end hockey awareness. 8 Darnell Nurse (D OHL) Big smooth skating all around defenseman. 9 Hunter Shinkurak (LW WHL) Fast but smallish talented forward. Predominantly a goal scorer. 10 Ryan Pulock (D WHL) Smooth skating, big, offensively talented blueliner. 11 Alexander Wennberg (C/LW SWE) Typical two way Swedish forward with high end hockey skill. 12 Max Domi (C OHL) Very talented playmaking centre though on the small side. 13 Rasmus Ristolainen (D FIN) Big, mean Finnish defenseman who can skate well for his size. 14 Bo Horvat (C OHL) Well rounded centre, high floor moderate ceiling player. Leadership potential. 15 Curtis Lazar (C WHL) Fast skating forward who is a natural goalscorer but also has the smarts to be a good playmaker 16 Josh Morrissey (D WHL) Intelligent smooth skating defenseman with high end offensive potential. 17 Nikita Zadarov (D OHL) Extremely physical large defenseman who can skate well for his size. Offensive instinct is limited but reasonably productive when its kept simple. 18 Anthony Mantha (LW QMJHL) Physical top end offensive forward with consistency issues 19 Andre Burakovsky (LW SWE) Excellent skater with top offensive talent but who needs work in his own zone. 20 Adam Erne (LW QMJHL Physical power forward whose defensively responsible. Erik Cole style player. 21 Frederik Gauthier (C QMJHL) Big scoring centre, not a playmaker. Physicality is a big part of his game. 22 Nicholas Petan(LW WHL) Extremely talented, if small, offensive forward. 120 points in 71 games in the WHL. 23 Artturi Lekhonen (RW FIN) Another extremely talented, but small, offensive forward. Needs to work on his defensive game however. 24 Robert Hagg (D SWE) Two way defenseman, Intelligent and composed player who did well at the WJC. Not overly physical but he can clear the crease when needed. 25 J.T Compher (C USHL) Two way forward with agitator potential. Got the offensiv

It should come as no surprise, but it's still good to see that it's official. The Vancouver Canucks have relieved Alain Vigneault of his duties as head coach, as well as his assistants, Rick Bowness and Newell Brown. This news is made even more interesting by the fact that the Dallas Stars are currently in the process of searching for their next head coach. There has been much speculation, ever since Glen Gulutzan's contract option was not picked up, that Vigneault would be one of the top candidates for the Stars. It remains to be seen how seriously the Stars are going to consider him during their search. Much of the hockey world considers him to be one of the better coaches in the league, and that much of the blame for the Canucks under achieving should fall on the shoulders of general manager Mike Gillis. There is no question that Alain Vigneault will get another head coaching job in this league, and he shouldn't have to wait too long for the offers to start rolling in. You can read more about the circumstances of his departure over at the [CBC]. One of the most vocal defenders of Vigneault in the wake of this news has been Hockey Night in Canada's Don Cherry. He used phrases such as "thrown under the bus" and "thrown down the drain" when describing the situation. He went on to say that Vigneault was a good coach, and that he was an undeserving scapegoat for an organization with problems from the top-down. [CBC] Vigneault isn't the only Western Canadian resident that will be relocating this summer. Alex Burmistrov of the Winnipeg Jets has made his intentions clear. He will not be signing a new contract with the Jets, has no plans to head to the KHL, and will be playing for a new NHL team this fall. The restricted free agent is expected to draw a lot of interest from around the league. [ProHockeyTalk] Did anyone watch the Pittsburgh Penguins / Ottawa Senators game last night? I don't even have words for it, other than "massacre." Unless you're in love with Sidney Crosby, James Neal, or Jarome Iginla, that third period was hard to watch. [USA Today] Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates were certainly pleased with the blowout victory. They're so in to the playoff spirit that the team has decided to wear Penguins jerseys on their upcoming road trip to play the Milwaukee Brewers and the Detroit Tigers. [NHL.com] Penguins legendary announcer, Mike Lange, was recently spotlighted by the Montreal Gazette. Love the Pens or hate them, you can't deny that Lange is an institution. Remember when Jaromir Jagr scored his first goal as a Dallas Star? That was Ralph Strangis paying his own tribute to the man. "HEEEEEeeeeee shoots and scores." [Montreal Gazette] In regards to the other Eastern Conference series going on, The New York Times has a great article about Daniel Paille and Dan Girardi... two natives of Welland, Ontario that are currently at war with each other on the frozen pond. It's got everything. East side versus West side. Bruins versus Rangers. French versus English. They've got the town split in two. [New York Times] Did you see Paul MacLean's post-game press conference after the game last night? I wouldn't blame you if you missed it. It lasted about 13 seconds, and spanned the range of emotions from frustrated to upset, then to determined and confident. If you needed more reason than just his mustache to love the guy, check this out.

When writing a season in review article about a fourth-line player than only dressed for nine contests throughout the season and averaged a little over 5 minutes of ice time per game, normally there wouldn't be a heck of a lot to say. But when you were part of a mid-season trade involving the legendary Jaromir Jagr, and then score goals in your first two games with your new team, well...then there's a little more to talk about. That's exactly the case with 23 year-old left winger Lane MacDermid, who came to Dallas from the Boston Bruins as part of the Jagr trade and then immediately went to work on the Stars' fourth line. Now, before I go any further, let's get the obvious controversy out of the way. Yes, the return that Dallas received from Boston in exchange for Jagr, a package containing MacDermid, OHL prospect Cody Payne, and a conditional draft pick that will be either Boston's 1st rounder or 2nd rounder depending on how far the Bruins go in the playoffs, is not as good as what Stars fans were hoping for. Many felt, and still feel, that then-general manager Joe Nieuwendyk could have gotten a lot more for the 41 year-old future Hall Of Famer, although we'll likely never know for sure. Even though the draft pick, not MacDermid, was the centerpiece of Dallas' return, that trade will be a negative mental asterisk that will probably stick to the big left winger for the entirety of his tenure in Dallas, though no fault of his own, and that's simply a shame. Alex Goligoski certainly knows that feeling. However, even though the Stars didn't receive a premium return for Jagr, they certainly added an interesting asset in MacDermid, one that could become another important piece of the puzzle as Dallas continues to build their foundation for the future. When it comes to MacDermid, what you see is pretty much what you get, and what Stars fans saw during his short six-game stint at the end of the season is what they should expect to see more of. Big, strong and not afraid to throw his weight around, MacDermid plays the role of a prototypical fourth line grinder. He'll hit with impunity, go to the dirty areas of the ice, and drive the net with reckless abandon. He's not strictly an enforcer, in the Krys Barch kind of mould, but he certainly isn't hesitant to drop the gloves, as seen with his tilt with Columbus' Jared Boll, his only fight so far as a Star: Surprisingly, MacDermid shocked everyone in his first two games with the Stars, scoring his first career NHL goal in his Dallas debut and then adding his second the very next game, both against the Anaheim Ducks. Does he possess some hidden, untapped offensive potential? Highly unlikely. His career high for points in a season is only 35, and that came as a veteran 19 year-old playing in the OHL. What he does possess, though, is above-average foot speed for a player of his size and role. It's no secret by now that the Stars are going full speed ahead with the "north-south" playing style and team identity, and MacDermid's particular skillset is certainly complementary to it. His second goal came as a result of that playing style, as he barreled down the middle of the ice and then lifted this cheeky backhand past Viktor Fasth. That was the end of that, though, as MacDermid then failed to register a shot or a point over his final four games. It's obvious that offensive production from him will never be expected, but he could certainly be the benefactor of a few more of those types of goals if he continues to buy into Dallas' new system. In the end, MacDermid's brief Stars debut wasn't spectacular, but it showed a nice glimpse of what might come. Ask a Bruins fan about Shawn Thornton or an Ottawa Senators fan about Chris Neil and they'll be full of praise, as character guys like that always seem to find their way onto successful teams. While many of these types of players fade into the abyss and are never seen again, Stars management clearly hope tha

With the 2013 NHL Draft quickly approaching its the time of year to evaluate and rank the Stars top 20 prospects. This has become increasingly difficult to do with the Stars having quite a few above average prospects and many of those who might have been in the top 10 a few years ago are near the bottom of this particular ranking. Brandon brought you his top 20 on Monday and this is my attempt to do the same. It's important to remember that this is subjective to each individual. This is my take on the top 20 Dallas Stars prospects, I hope you enjoy. table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: <?php echo $tableFont ?>; font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #15EE0C; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Rank Player Details… 1 Jamie Oleksiak, D Despite not blowing away the NHL in his first stint in the league he did the best thats expected of most rookie NHL defenseman: He mostly stayed unnoticed. Oleksiak oozes potential and his development so far has been good. He might do with spending most of next season in the AHL but theres no need to rush him into a permanent NHL spot yet. 2 Alex Chiasson, C/RW Alex Chiasson burst onto the NHL scene at a point per game pace which is unlikely to translate into next season. When he wasn't scoring goals he showed his strength along the boards and a good defensive game. He probably has the most potential out of the Stars forward prospects... for now. 3 Jack Campbell, G Despite Jack Campbell not having the season many Stars fans wanted, he wasn't No.1 in Austin for large parts of the season, he probably will take the leading role in Austin next season. He's got sky high potential which is why ever since he was drafted hes been near the top of all these rankings. Campbell needs time to refine his game before he's even ready to take a sniff at real NHL time. 4 Brett Ritchie, RW Brett Ritchie blew away the OHL with 76 points in 53 games with the Niagara IceDogs. While this could have been padded by playing alongside Ryan Strome I still believe that Ritchie has some top potential, especially when combined with his size and strength along the boards. How Ritchie handles a full season in the pros will be interesting but he looks like he has a bright future ahead of him. 5 Patrik Nemeth Patrick Nemeth suffers from the lack of attention that defensive defensemen get around the league (Just as an example, find the last defensive defenseman who won the Calder Cup as Rookie of the year...). Nemeth has adjusted to the AHL far better than I thought he would and he has proven himself to be an excellent shutdown defenseman. He gets into my top five because of this and his astonishing adjustment to North America. 6 Matej Stransky Matej Stransky, despite a slow start to the season, really took off later with 85 points in 72 games helping lead the Saskatoon Blades to a playoff spot. His skating appears to have improved over the season, my biggest question mark on him at the start of this season, and his numbers are pretty good. His potential is high and it will be interesting to see how he handles the AHL next season 7 Reilly Smith I agree with Brandon that its hard to place Reilly Smith on these rankings. I really like his skill set but if he wants to be higher up these rankings he needs to get tougher when on the puck. He is talented but apparently snakebitten. His potential keeps him in the top 10 for me. 8 Radek Faksa Radek Faksa has had a forgettable season in the OHL and appears to have made little or not progression in his development. This stalling is why he drops to number 8 for me but he still has the potential and a few years left to get over any humps in the road. 9 Devin Shore I really like what Devin Shore brings

For the last five years I have experienced the same, sad post season experience of watching teams I don't truly care about battle and grind for the cup, all while having to put up with the jabs and snide comments about "How's your team doing this year? Oh, what's that? They didn't make it again? That's a shame." Bunch of tossers. Having lived in central Pennsylvania, I get the best worst of both PA teams (Pens and Flyers). The east coast bias is unbearably thick in this portion of the country (as well as most places in this northeast corner of america). I count my blessings I don't live in Canada (not because it wouldn't be a great place to live, cause yea it would) because I can only imagine what Canadians think of this Dallas Team. Oddly enough, this is the best I have felt about this team in quite a while. First off, let me say a sincere thank you to Joe Nieuwendyk. I am certain I will continue to thank him for various things over the next several years, but one thing that I can add to his "win" column is this Jagr trade. As I write this, it is May 22, 2013 and the Boston Bruins just went up 3-0 to the NY Rangers. If Boston wins this series, Dallas has its conditional 2nd round pick turn into a 1st rounder (between 26-30 overall). Not too shabby! To follow up with this, Newy really has done some great things for this organization. It is kind of sad he will not get as much credit for things as he should. Sure he had his bad moments and his head shaking decisions, but Dallas could have done worse than they did had it not been for GM Joe1. Consider where we were. Year 1. Modano still playing, no owner, Turco still playing, Brad Richards in the last year of his deal. Scott Glennie is the last draft pick. Zubov goes awol. Not a lot of good things to speak of. Good things he accomplished: Trade Ivan Vishnevsky for Kari Lehtonen. Establish Texas based farm team in Austin (can't be overstated). Let Turco and Modano go and play for other teams to end their playing careers, then let them come back to play parts with the organization. Draft safe, secure picks (more on this in a bit). Then finally he trades Roy, Jagr and Morrow for good solid prospects and picks to further bolster the farm club. The fruit that blooms from these decisions will not be truly seen, nor appreciated till several years from now, but early returns are being noticed and should be passing along credit where credit is due. Did he make bad decisions? Of course. The Neal-Niskanin for Goligoski debacle still looms over us, and the Ryder for Cole trade still has many of us shaking our head a little bit. Trading Ott and Ribs can go either way in my book. Ott + Pardy --> Roy Roy --> Connauton + 2nd Round Pick So...Otter and the worthless bag of pucks Pardy (who is not playing in the NHL as of right now lolz) eventually get flipped into Kevin Connauton and a mid 2nd rounder (TBD). Should Connauton prove to have a certain level of prowess to his game that translates well into the NHL, this could be considered very savvy asset management on GM Joe1's part. Otter, I still miss you, but not your stupid penalties, but mostly I still miss you. Assuming Boston wins one more game this playoffs (Go Bruins) the Jagr trade looks like this. Jagr -> Lane MacDermid, Cody Payne, Late 1st round pick. :-D even if Macdermid is no better than Dyvorak and even if Cody Payne is Kris Barch, the late 1st in this years draft is value enough, especially from what Boston is getting out of him this year. So for those of you keeping score at home, Dallas has the 10th overall pick, a pick between 26-30 (pending a BOS win), the 40th overall pick, Vancouver's pick between 47-52ish (depending on the outcome of the San Jose vs. LA series), and the 68th overall pick in the third round. Supposing Dallas does not make any more trades or tries to move up in the first round, this figures to be 5 really good solid players picked very near the top in this stocked full draft. One final thought

Jim Lites isn't content with the Dallas Stars simply being the hockey team of Dallas. Even just the Metroplex won't do. He wants the Stars sphere of influence to extend throughout the State of Texas, and into Oklahoma, Louisiana, and beyond. When you look at an NHL alignment map, such a plan doesn't seem that far fetched... especially if the Phoenix Coyotes are on the move. The first step in this aggressive takeover over the region? Inching training camp out west, into Brahmas territory, Fort Worth, Texas. Seems to be the best of both worlds, if the Stars plan to keep the players in hotels as if they're actually out on the road. In the past, the Stars have held training camp on Prince Edward Island, in Colorado, and other not-so-local locales. The purpose of this was to force team bonding in a way that coming to the rink, then heading home to the wife and kids, simply can't recreate. Training camp alone isn't going to win over the entire state or region, however. The Stars also plan to schedule preseason games way down in San Antonio, and up in Oklahoma City. Lites kept the door wide open on the prospects of future training camps being held in Austin, Houston, or beyond. Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has more about this plan over on his blog at the [DMN]. In other Dallas Stars news, we are getting closer and closer to the unveiling of the brand new identity on June 4th. It's been no secret ever since invitations went out that this date would be marked on everyone's calendar, but the official press release from the organization point to bigger announcements coinciding with the event. Tom Gaglardi, Jim Lites, Jim Nill, Jamie Benn, and Mike Modano will all be present, when the Stars are expected to trot out in their new look, and make announcements about the future of this franchise. Does two-plus-two equal Jamie Benn as the captain? Announcing Modano's jersey retirement? Some kind of former-player/player-coach co-coaching hybrid that puts "Hull-Jack" to shame? We've got plenty of time to make outlandish predictions. In the mean time, here is the press release. [DallasStars.com] Speaking of the Stars coaching vacancy, you can mark Phil Housley off the list of candidates. The Nashville Predators have inked the former defenseman to be their new assistant, replacing the recently fired Peter Horachek. [Tennessean] The Dallas Stars are one more Boston Bruins victory away of obtaining a first round draft pick from the Jagr trade. Their victory last night put the New York Rangers on the verge of a sweep. Go Bruins. [TSN.ca] The San Jose Sharks have officially made this a series out west in California, armed with another controversial call in a post-season that seems to be riddled with them. The official apparently lost sight of the puck as it slid through Niemi's pads and into the net, resulting in an early whistle. So THAT'S why the Sharks are wearing black instead of teal this post season. Puck camouflage. [CBS] Speaking of poor decisions, the Los Angeles Kings twitter account allowed a "celebrity" tweeter to take over last night. I use that term loosely. Among his contributions? Comparing hockey action to sexual assault. You stay classy, Los Angeles. [Sporting News] Today's video isn't in English, but it's a trailer for a new Russian movie that's coming out, based on the life of Valeri Kharlamov, one of the coolest and most underrated hockey stars in history. I can't wait for this to come out subtitled for us yankees out west. Looks like it could rival "The Rocket" for best hockey biopic. ??????? ?17 - ??????? HD (via CentralPartnership)