Jan 14, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Brenden Morrow (10) takes the ice to face the Colorado Avalanche at the American Airlines Center. The Avalanche defeated the Stars 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

By now most of you have seen the article that TSN’s Bob McKenzie published last week (if you haven’t, here it is). While easily dismissed by many Dallas Stars fans simply because they don’t want it to happen, there might be some fire behind this smoke. While Morrow has been a source of rumors in the past simply because many teams would want him, hearing someone as big as McKenzie saying that a lot of contenders are showing that they would be interested in acquiring him means that GM Joe Nieuwendyk will have some interesting conversations over the next month. Brenden Morrow is of course the current captain of the Stars and one of the few “big names” mentioned on the team when national media types think of the Dallas Stars. Morrow has been the captain since taking over from Mike Modano prior to the 2006-07 season when the team asked Modano to step down, and during his tenure the Stars have had some rough years. Now at 33 years-old, we could be witnessing the backside of Morrow’s captaincy and tenure in Dallas no matter what happens this season.

The team’s first round pick in 1997 has spent all of his NHL career in Dallas (12 seasons if you count the current one) and has constantly said that he loves being here and is planted firmly in Dallas. During his time in the organization he has been one of leaders during a period in which the team has seen some success, but has never lived up to the “glory years” of the franchise while the greats have moved on or retired. He was the branch over from the days of Modano, Sergei Zubov, Marty Turco, and many others. His rookie year was the 2nd of their back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Finals. But since then the team’s only deep run was the trip to the Western Finals in 2008, when Morrow carried the team and showed that he did have some real heart. With three straight years without playoff hockey and a fourth possible if the team doesn’t step it up in the second half of the season, things might be changed simply to continue the rebuilding process and bring back youth to go with young stars like Jamie Benn, Loui Eriksson, and Alex Goligoski. … [visit site to read more]

Buy Or Sell: Would The Dallas Stars Trade Brenden Morrow? - Blackout Dallas - Blackout Dallas - A Dallas Stars blog

So where do the Dallas Stars fit into everything this season? Last year I think most of us didn’t expect for the Stars to make a big trade in the second half of the season. They didn’t have ownership still, money was tight, and GM Joe Nieuwendyk really looked like he had his hands tied unless he moved Brad Richards and decided to give up on the season. But then Nieuwy made a move that few of us might have seen coming. Young power forward James Neal was on his way to the Pittsburgh Penguins with struggling defenseman Matt Niskanen and the Stars received a young puck-moving defenseman in Alex Goligoski that they wanted. Despite the argument that Dallas might have overpaid, they did make a move during a time that it seemed they would have little ability to pull one off.

Fast forward a year and things are starting to kick up again. The Stars are again in the playoff picture, but are again having injury issues and inconsistent efforts that are leaving them bouncing around the final playoff spot. But what the Stars do have this season is new ownership. With Tom Gaglardi now in place, the Stars do have an owner willing to spend some money. He has already said he does not plan to keep the Stars close to the salary-cap floor. So with the team struggling at times and now without Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro, some fans are eager to see GM Joe and the team make a big move.  … [visit site to read more]

Why Dallas Stars Fans Shouldn’t Wait For A Big Trade - Blackout Dallas - Blackout Dallas - A Dallas Stars blog