Stars Fire Armstrong

[IceRat]

didn't see this on TSN yet


Stars Fire GM Doug Armstrong
Today @ 1:41 PM ET | Comments (17) (http://v4.hockeybuzz.com/boards/thread.php?thread_id=29912&forum_id=1)
Armstrong had been with the organization for seventeen years and in the role of GM since 2002. The Stars are off to a 7-7-3 start and blew a four-goal lead late in the third period against the Kings on Saturday night, losing in OT 6-5.

It would seem that Dave Taylor would be a top candidate for the position. He is currently the Director of Player Personnel for the Stars. Prior to joining Dallas he was the Kings' GM for nine seasons. Under his leadership the Kings drafted Kopitar, Cammalleri, Brown, Frolov and Visnovsky, among others.

From Tom Hicks, per the team's official site:

“As an owner I have to be responsible for one person in Hockey Operations and that is the General Manager of the team,” said Hicks. “I thought that the team needed a change in direction. I know that change can be healthy and it was my determination that this move needed to be made. I want the Dallas Stars to return to being one of the elite teams in the league.

“Doug has been a great member of this organization for 17 years and has been a big part of the success we have had here in Dallas, starting under Bob Gainey and winning seven division titles, two Presidents’ Trophies, making two consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearances and winning the Stanley Cup in 1999. He has been our General Manager for the past five years, and we’ve been to the playoffs the past four seasons.”

“There is no question that Doug will continue to have a solid career in hockey as the future general manager of an NHL team,” said Hicks. “I would like to thank him for his efforts and I wish him and his family nothing but the best.”

Danny - dtolensky@hotmail.com

Note: stay tuned tomorrow morning for my complete HOF weekend coverage..

[Xar]

Best of luck to Doug Armstrong, but I definately thought this team needed a shake-up.

[Hckeynut1]

now if something would happen with the Caps Organization....We need a shake up too

[Voodoo Chylde]

Hmmm. Interesting they got rid of Armstrong before Tippett.

[Paul755]

I'm surprised the coach didn't go first.

[RickyWilliams34]

People had to see this coming. The trade for Nagy was terrible and the lack of free agent signings did him in.

[Xar]

OH, dont get me wrong..........Im glad as hell he didnt go out and pay the price for some of these free-agents. I think that was a brilliant move by Armstrong.

However, im not sold when it came to his scouting and drafting record. We havent been able to get that "star" player through our drafting system. One that comes out and SHOCKS everyone.

[dallasstars06]

I'm truly surprised Tippett wasn't let go first.

[Voodoo Chylde]

An interesting hypothesis was presented on XM 204's Face Off tonight:

Hicks: "Armie, this sucks! These boys ain't winnin' and it pisses me off! Go fire Tippett!"

Armstrong: "Are you crazy!?! Dave is a helluva coach, all the guys like him, hell, I like him. No way am I firing him!"

Hicks: "Damn it Armie! I said get rid of his ass! We need a shakeup!"

Armstrong: "Tom, I can't do it. You want Dave gone, you're gonna have to get rid of me first."

Hicks: "Armie, I'm gonna miss you."

[RickyWilliams34]

^^^LOL

I hate Hicks as an owner. He doesn't seem to care about hockey at all.

[IceRat]

Voodoo I heard that hypothosis and I wouldn't doubt for a second that is the way it went down

Dear Stars fan,

There have been a lot of things written and said over the last two weeks, many of which have painted a negative perception of the Dallas Stars as a hockey club and where we are headed in the future. We've been called everything from 'stupid' to 'asleep at the wheel' to 'out of touch,' simply because we did not make a big splash in the free agent market.

I'm here to tell you that these beliefs, columns, opinions and statements couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, it's downright unfair. Contrary to what some have written or said, we haven't gone stupid overnight and we do have a plan in place.

The Dallas Stars have been the second-most successful team in the entire NHL over the last 11 years. We're proud of that mark, and you should be too, for your support has been a big factor in our success. Do we wish we had more hardware? Absolutely, but the consistent success we've achieved over the years cannot be ignored.

We were one of the best teams in the league again last season. The Stars won 50 games and earned 107 points, finishing just three points behind Pacific Division and Stanley Cup champ Anaheim (who we beat four times). And we did this while having the fifth-most man-games lost due to injury, most of which were our best players (Modano and Morrow). And we played our best hockey against the best teams (going 23-15-4 vs. all other playoff teams).

That's the good news. But obviously a first round loss in the playoffs was disappointing for all of us, and that is what people remember and center their attention on. That's understandable. We all want to win in the playoffs.

But in the new NHL, there are no longer “upsets” in the first round. All eight playoff teams in the West could have easily won the conference. The “new NHL” includes first round match-ups that are much closer than in the old system. The playing field is more level than ever before.

Some believe that we should make wholesale changes to this club because we have struggled in the playoffs of late. We disagree. It would be irresponsible of us to trade some of our core players because we believe that won't make us better. At the end of the day we would punish the fans and ourselves.

Would we like to add scoring? Yes. But we have to operate under the salary cap and do the best we can with the chips we have to play with at the table. We want to give ourselves the best chance for success, both short and long term. What we can't do is take unreasonable risks on contracts, which was something we could do under the old system. We can't take an extra center on a long-term deal and see if we can make him change positions and make him fit into our system. We tried that with Pierre Turgeon and it didn't work. That was OK when it was just money. We can't take that risk now with the salary cap.

These might sound like excuses to some but it is the reality of the business model we are in.

Doug Armstrong has done an excellent job in firming up our roster. He was able to sign Brenden Morrow and Jere Lehtinen to extensions one year ago at money and term that are fair and make sense. Then Doug traded for Mattias Norstrom at the trade deadline. These moves basically spent a lot of the possible money that would have been available for this year's crop of free agents. Any team that would have added these three players to their roster on July 1 would have been very happy.

That said, we were very much interested in adding a player to bolster our scoring (and still are). In essence, we have about a $4 million slot available to try and sign someone and we held discussions with several key free agents on July 1. In the end, all of our targets ended up getting more money and/or more term than we were comfortable with.

Many of the contracts that were signed by free agents in the first 24 hours of free agency were for what we like to call “stupid money.” In our opinion, several teams drastically overpaid to sign these free agents and they are now tied to contracts for many years that they may regret in the future because of the way it will hinder their roster movement.

We refuse to mortgage our future simply to sign a free agent in July and appease the media. We're not going to sign a player to win a PR battle; we'll sign free agents to contracts that will help us win hockey games. We're going to do whatever it takes to get better but you have to make good smart decisions, because mistakes in this system can kill you.

There are still options available to add players to our roster. One possibility is making a trade to add that scorer. But the bottom line is that we will not make a move unless we feel it is the right one. And we don't need to make that move in July.

Some have asked me what kind of a team we're going to have this season. I think it's going to be a good one. Take last year's 50-win team and put it up against our roster right now. The main differences are Mattias Norstrom replacing Darryl Sydor, Joel Lundqvist replacing Eric Lindros, and Todd Fedoruk replacing Matthew Barnaby. Then look around our division and our conference and ask yourself has anyone gotten better? None of the playoff teams have. And our roster that you see today is probably not the final roster you will see on opening night. We will continue to look for a way to add scoring punch to this lineup.

There are three main things that a team needs to have to be successful in the NHL -- a quality goaltender, a productive offensive defenseman, and talented center-ice men. We feel we are in very good shape in all three of these areas for 2007-08.

Marty Turco is one of the best goaltenders in the league and is under contract for the next three years. We also feel very good about Mike Smith in his role as Marty's back-up. We just extended Sergei Zubov's contract through 2009. We expect him to again anchor our blue-liners and be an important player for us. And we think we're in good shape at the center position with Mike Modano, Mike Ribeiro and Jeff Halpern. We're talented and can compete.

Every decision we make is done to win hockey games. We've always spent to the cap and always will, thanks to a great owner in Tom Hicks. Money is not an issue. The Dallas Stars are about winning. We've won in the past, we're going to win this season, and we're going to win in the future. ...

Thank you for your support of the Dallas Stars. Have a great summer!

Sincerely,

James R. Lites
President, Dallas Stars


notice no mention (praise) of Mr. Tippett

Dallas fans better pray Brett Hull isn't their next GM

[Eddie20]

Voodoo I heard that hypothosis and I wouldn't doubt for a second that is the way it went down



notice no mention (praise) of Mr. Tippett

Dallas fans better pray Brett Hull isn't their next GM

Brett Hull and Les Jackson have been named Interim Co-GMs.

[IowaHusker]

"Some have asked me what kind of a team we're going to have this season. I think it's going to be a good one. Take last year's 50-win team and put it up against our roster right now. The main differences are Mattias Norstrom replacing Darryl Sydor, Joel Lundqvist replacing Eric Lindros, and Todd Fedoruk replacing Matthew Barnaby. Then look around our division and our conference and ask yourself has anyone gotten better? None of the playoff teams have. And our roster that you see today is probably not the final roster you will see on opening night. We will continue to look for a way to add scoring punch to this lineup."

Right now Joel Lundqvist is playing here in Iowa, so that's not exactly replacing Lindros!

[Cowtown]

The Jim Lites letter quoted above really torked Stars fans when it was sent out before the season started. Fan support has been tepid all season, with upper management as a major factor in the fans' level of frustration.

As a Stars fan, I'm glad Armstrong is finally gone--a few years too late! The team could use a few more moves, both off and on the ice.

Tippet's time as manager is numbered--he received the dreaded vote of confidence form the interim co-GMs.

II think Hull as GM after this season is a distinct possibility--the interim co-GMs is seen by many local observors as on the job training for Hull to take over the GM position. If Hull does become GM, you won't see the Stars building around a defense-first system.

[Cowtown]

Jim Lites is out as president of the Stars--reassigned within the Hicks sports group . . . press conference at 11:30 CST.

from dallasstars.com
JEFF COGEN COMES “HOME” TO DALLAS STARS AS TEAM PRESIDENT
JIM LITES MOVES TO EXPANDED ROLE WITH HICKS SPORTS MARKETING GROUP


DALLAS -- In the words of the new president of the Dallas Stars, Jeff Cogen, “I’m coming home.”

Dallas Stars Owner Tom Hicks announced this morning the appointment of Cogen as president of the NHL franchise, the cornerstone of Hicks’ interests and investments in sports and its related interests after he bought the hockey club in 1995. For three years, Cogen has served as president of the Texas Rangers, the major league baseball club that Hicks also owns. Concurrently, Hicks announced that Jim Lites, who has had split assignments between his leadership at the Stars and Hicks Sports Marketing Group (HSMG), will now be totally dedicated to, what Hicks defined, as the “global mission” at HSMG.

“The Stars franchise and the Stars fans need a man like Cogen, and I need Jim Lites working full-time on the national and international expansion and marketing of our properties,” said Hicks.

Hicks said the new assignments will take effect immediately. He did not indicate a timetable for the selection of a new president of the Texas Rangers.

“The Rangers have strong depth of management in operations, marketing and ticketing,” said Hicks. “I have asked Jeff to apply his considerable talent and creative energies to the revitalization of the Dallas Stars. At the same time, Jim Lites is ‘on point’ for myriad HSMG projects including the planning and construction of a new stadium for Liverpool FC as well as the efforts to build a hockey arena in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park, Texas.”

Longtime friends and allies, Lites and Cogen came to Dallas after Norman Green brought the team to North Texas from Minnesota in 1993.

Cogen, who has served as president of the Texas Rangers for the last three years, has over 20 years experience in professional sports. Prior to his three-year stint with the Rangers, he served as chief operating officer for the NHL’s Florida Panthers from 2001-2004, responsible for all business operations of the hockey club as well as the business operations of the National Car Rental Center/Office Depot Center.

Lites has served as president of the Dallas Stars in each of the club’s 14 seasons in North Texas. Last year, he also assumed leadership as president of newly-formed Hicks Sports Marketing Group, the venture formed to represent Hicks’ syndicate of interests in sports, advertising sales and media.

[mfan]

Jim Lites was a law school classmate of mine in Detroit.

[mikedanger]

so when does the owner get fired?