GDT: Game #37: at Anaheim, 4/05 (9:00 PM, Fox Sports Southwest Plus, 1310 AM, 104.1 FM)

[LT]

I know I criticized giving Willie the job because of AHL success (look at Gulutzan's AHL record), but with what he's doing with the youth, if he's not on the bench next season, there better be a damn good coach there instead.

 

[ck26]

Gee three future hall of famers and a several great players during that span. There's no comparison between Detroit and Dallas. I can't believe anyone thinks the final games of this season are some magical means to teach all these players all of a sudden how to win or create some amazing culture that's going to affect this franchise more than actually drafting a franchise player.

You can get a franchise player 5 picks lower too! Look at picks 16-60 over the past 8 years and you'll find good players / stars / somewhere in between all over the place. The Stars haven't spent to the cap (which would / could / might / if done correctly get you two of those three superstars).

Detroit's success wasn't luck but since we don't have their scouting staff I don't see the harm in having a top 5 pick. The culture of winning is fine in Chicago and they blew for a long time. This team already has a culture of losing - are you people blind? Adding a competitive talented kid ready to possibly contribute next year is not a bad thing. I don't know how many times some of you have to see the same re-run episode before you realize that status quo blows and we need a new tactic. This team has been trying to win for the last four years.

With $14m in cap space??? The players have been trying their best and GMJN has been fighting with one hand tied behind his back. It's hardly been the stuff t-shirts are made of.

 

[Hull Fan]

Cap space doesn't matter if good UFAs don't want to sign here. Which they don't right now. Besides the FA crop this year is crap. The only way to turn this ship around is to find and develop our own players plus maybe a trade for someone's cap casualty. A franchise player, new coaching, an infusion of youth who don't have a long history of losing, and a stated goal of we're going to be better at the end of the season than how we began because all those kids will grow as players next year is how you turn that around. A kid like Barkov will make it so much easier. It may take a year or two for them to mature but just like every other franchise that goes this route, Dallas will be better in the long run.

 

[glovesave_35]

]With $14m in cap space??? The players have been trying their best and GMJN has been fighting with one hand tied behind his back. It's hardly been the stuff t-shirts are made of.

By trying to win I mean that they continually held onto assets rather than trade and thinking they were better than they were. See my posts in the Fire Nieuwendyk thread about my feelings on Joe's hands being tied.

Regardless, every year we hear the same BS about not having a cap ceiling team. Take that over to the Phoenix board and see how much sympathy you'll get from them. The fact is that about as many teams who had payrolls approaching the cap ceiling missed the playoffs as those with "low" payrolls made the playoffs. Money doesn't guarantee anything.

The biggest blunder Nieuwendyk made IMO was coming in guns-a-blazin' and firing Tippett first thing. He knew he would need a coach who could squeeze out wins in any way possible yet he canned a coach who could do that in favor of a guy who played a style Nieuwendyk liked better (past tense because we have seen him shift from that position with his second coaching hire).

 

[Troy McClure]

They also didn't have a whole lot to trade away each of the past few seasons. Joe wanted to trade Modano as a rental, but Modano shot that idea down. Other than him, the Stars did not have much to trade at deadline times in years past except some lower line vets with no value.

 

[glovesave_35]

They also didn't have a whole lot to trade away each of the past few seasons. Joe wanted to trade Modano as a rental, but Modano shot that idea down. Other than him, the Stars did not have much to trade at deadline times in years past except some lower line vets with no value.

The point isn't that they missed out on reaping major rewards in trade bounty. The point is they continually misjudged the team's ability. He also misjudged the ability of at least two different coaches. I say "at least" because it's still possible he gets the chance to hire a third. I'm giddy with anticipation.

 

[eartotheground]

when the team is able to be in the playoffs with a win in the final game, is the "misjudgment" really all that grotesque?

 

[glovesave_35]

when the team is able to be in the playoffs with a win in the final game, is the "misjudgment" really all that grotesque?

Touché. I will point out that if they had won that game it would have been the fifth of a five game winning streak. Counting on your team having those kinds of runs in them to barely squeak into the playoffs is quite a show of faith given the course of events in seasons prior.

 

[Brand New Stars]

Cap space doesn't matter if good UFAs don't want to sign here. Which they don't right now.

Jagr? Whitney? I know they're old and Dallas gave them a lot but still.

 

[eartotheground]

i wonder if having a goalie like kari make joe/the org think that even just sneaking in as the 8 seed is worthy of going all in. kari shows flashes of being able to carry the team through stretches.. maybe pull a giguere.

 

[LT]

Not even plausible, as we'd have to run him into the ground just to get there.