According to Forbes, Tom Hicks is on the verge of selling the Dallas Stars franchise. He’s also selling off his 50% stake in the American Airlines Center. The report says that Hicks will get about $300 million for his portion.

Creditors of Hicks Sports Group will get back about $200 million in addition to what they’ll get from the sale of the Texas Rangers.

No word yet on a potential buyer, but reports have leaned towards Mark Cuban as the guy with the opportunity. Cuban once wanted to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins, of course, and many have predicted that he put out feelers in terms of buying the Stars.

Hicks recently sold his interest in the Rangers baseball club and also owns half of English football club Liverpool. He bought the Stars for a cool $84 million in 1996.

There have been rumours about potential buyers for the Stars for a while, with Alberta oil tycoon Bill Gallacher once being tied to the purchase for $225 million. The reports were refuted after it came out in the Dallas News that the price tag suggested was “far too low.” It’s still possible that hockey fan Gallacher is still in the mix with a slightly raised bid. He does own the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL, after all.

Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi is apparently also among the runners for Hicks’ Stars.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

After 18 seasons in the National Hockey League, defenceman Darryl Sydor has announced his retirement. At 38, Sydor looks back on a career that saw him play in 1,291 games with Los Angeles, Columbus, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and St. Louis. He finished his career with 98 goals and 409 assists.

Sydor wasn’t an offensively-minded defenceman, but his contributions were certainly felt by any team fortunate enough to have him in their roster. He brought a lot of heart with him everywhere he went.

Sydor won a Stanley Cup in 1999 as a member of the Stars in Dallas and added another one with Tampa Bay five years later. He spent the majority of his career with the Stars, piling up nine years as a key component on a team that managed considerable success.

Sydor is an Edmonton native and is likely to take on a front office position somewhere. Along with Richard Matvichuk, his Cup win brought a lot of pride to the Alberta city even as the Dallas/Edmonton playoff rivalries built over the years.

Most of all, however, Sydor will be remembered for his level of professionalism. A classy player through and through, he may well represent part of a dying era in pro sports. He may not be Hall-bound in the near future, but he certainly deserves to be mentioned with the utmost respect. A master of the intangibles, Sydor will be remembered for his guts more than anything.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Mike Modano is finished as a Dallas Star, but all indications point to a desire to continue his NHL career with another franchise.

Tuesday came the revelation that the Stars weren’t planning on offering him another contract. Modano was understandably “disappointed and upset” at the news and stated that he was leaning towards signing a contract with another team for the opportunity to lace the skates again. “It certainly depends where and what teams are interested,” he said.

Modano said that he was interested primarily in Western Conference teams because he was familiar with them and added that he should know early in the free agency period whether he’ll be suiting up again or not.

Joe Nieuwendyk, Modano’s former teammates and the general manager of the Stars, wants to make room for younger players on the team and plans to enter a rebuilding phase. “We have to try to find the next Mike Modano,” Nieuwendyk said. “We aren’t going to find the same Mike Modano.”

Modano has been the face of the Dallas Stars for ages, helping the team to its only Cup in 1999 and leading the franchise in goals, assists, points, and games. But a new era is set to begin in Dallas, an era that Nieuwendyk hopes can bring wins and awards back to the team.

Nieuwendyk has had nothing but kind things to say about Modano and his attitude throughout this whole thing. “He said to me, ‘Joe, I’m not mad at you. Our relationship’s not going to change,”‘ Nieuwendyk said. “I think at the end of the day they realize that it’s difficult for me, too.”

So whether we’ll see Modano in another team’s sweater or not remains to be seen, but it sure will be strange to see the Stars without him in their lineup.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

In a day that might be more remembered for Tiger Woods news, Dallas Stars forward Mike Modano stole the show in the eyes of this sports fan.

At the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Modano fought back tears and finally let them go with about five minutes left in the game. Better still, Modano showed his guts and determination in scoring the game’s tying goal with 1:47 to go in regulation and added a shootout goal later on.

Modano was a bright spot in what will amount to a lost season for Stars fans. While he hasn’t announced his retirement from the game formally, the tears streaming down his cheeks and the general attitude of the night certainly seemed to indicate that Mo might be done in Dallas. And there doesn’t seem to be any reason to believe that he’ll appear in any other jersey, either.

Modano, who turns 40 in June, told reporters that it “certainly felt like the end.” While he added that his father doesn’t want him to hang up the skates just yet, most signs are pointing to this season being Modano’s last in the National Hockey League.

With 16 years spent in a Stars uniform (he lost a 17th due to the lockout), Modano has become THE sports figure in Dallas. No other Dallas franchise boasts a 16+ year figure and no other Dallas franchise boasts such a classy ambassador to the game. Mike Modano sold hockey like no other American player. Period.

There will be no successor to Modano in Dallas, at least not for a while. Stars fans will, as they wave goodbye to one of the game’s finest, have no choice but to wait to see what’s next.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

It looks like Brett Hull is looking to purchase his former team, the Dallas Stars, and he’s trying to get a little help from his friends to seal the deal. The Dallas Observer reports that Hull is trying to purchase the team from Tom Hicks and that he’s putting together a group that includes Mike Modano and Wayne Gretzky.

While the Observer seems pretty adamant regarding the veracity of the report, Modano doesn’t seem to know anything about it. “I haven’t spoken to Gretzky about any possible ownership situation,” Modano said. “I don’t know anything about this.”

TSN’s sources have reported that Hull did indeed talk to Gretzky about something in this neighbourhood, but added that nothing had gone down in over six weeks.

Gretzky could certainly be open to another experience, as he sold his stake in the Phoenix Coyotes when the NHL bought the franchise following the bankruptcy reorganization. The Great One also stepped down as head coach and there has been considerable speculation as to whether or not he’d step behind the bench again somewhere else.

Hull is currently the executive vice president of the Stars, but had a rather underwhelming run as a GM in Dallas.

At this point, it’s hard to say if this is anything more than a rumour. That it is in the Observer gives it some credibility and the fact that Hull and Gretzky have talked about it adds a little more fuel to the fire. It’s possible, too, that Modano’s name is just being tossed around as a possibility, but it’s also possible that Modano is just keeping mum on things until he decides how his career will finish out.

Only time will tell if this story has any legs, but many Dallas fans have to find the trio of “interested parties” at least somewhat exciting. After all, it’s not every day that three of the league’s greatest players get involved in team ownership.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, Mark Cuban, has expressed interest in owning a stake in the Dallas Stars.

Cuban expressed interesting in joining a group of investors interested in purchasing the team from its current owner, Tom Hicks. The group hasn’t been made public yet, but Cuban’s interest in the scenario could mean that something is on the horizon soon regarding the future of the Dallas franchise.

It’s easy to see why interest in the Stars might occur to Cuban, as it would enable him to have more control over the American Airlines Center.

As we know, the Hicks Sports Group expressed interest last week in selling the franchise. The group is also nearing completion of the sale of the Texas Rangers to Chuck Greenberg, a Pittsburgh businessman, so we could be looking at a sort of “clean house” effect in Texas for Hicks. If he’s truly serious about jumping ship on his franchises, we could expect a move on the Stars front relatively soon.

Cuban didn’t express interest in actually owning the Stars outright, however, and any inclusion of his name in any deal would likely be only as an investor. Still, it demonstrates that the wheels are in motion in Dallas and that the team’s sale may be closer than we think to completion.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Speculation is running rampant over Atlanta Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen and a possible trade with the Dallas Stars. Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is one of the lead reporters on this story in Atlanta and he’s saying that the deal could be done any time now.

Dallas will be sending prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy to Atlanta in exchange for Lehtonen. The deal opens up trade rumours over the future of Marty Turco, of course, and that could mean that Dallas could be looking to move him soon as well.

Lehtonen is currently worth about $3 million this season and will become an unrestricted free agent, so the move makes sense considering Atlanta’s recent restocking process. Now that the Trashers can use Ondrej Pavelec and veteran Johan Hedberg as a goaltending tandem, Lehtonen’s the obvious odd man out.

Lehtonen hasn’t appeared in a game this season and has just come off a two-week conditioning run with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. His trade value can’t be all that high because of that, but it looks like the Stars are willing to take the risk.

Turco is set for unrestricted free agency on July 1 and there hasn’t been much talk in Dallas of keeping him in the fold.

UPDATE: This trade is now official. Atlanta is also getting a fourth round draft pick.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Yesterday we discussed the news of Dave Tippett being shown the door in the Dallas Stars organization. Today we’ve learned that former Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche coach Marc Crawford will be stepping behind the bench of the franchise.

Crawford, who had been working as a CBC reporter on Hockey Night in Canada, will work with Joe Nieuwendyk, the team’s new GM, to help bring the Dallas franchise back to respectability. Nieuwendyk has worked with Crawford in the past, playing for him once in the Olympics.

“What Marc will bring is a real command at the top,” Nieuwendyk said. “The players will know who’s in charge. They will be held accountable on a daily basis. That’s what I think is necessary.”

Crawford, 48, won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 1996 and has a 470-361-156 record in 13 seasons as coach of the Nordiques/Avalanche, Canucks and Los Angeles Kings. He was also head coach of the Canadian Olympic team during the 1998 Winter Games, leading a team that lost in the shoot-out to the Czech Republic in the semifinal game and missed out on the bronze by losing to Finland.

Crawford was also said to be on the short-list for the Edmonton Oilers coaching job before Steve Tambellini went with Pat Quinn and Tom Renney.

Dallas should be a nice fit for Crawford. He comes into the team with something to prove and should have a lot of room in which to work. The Stars boast a good mix of players and Crawford might be a better, tougher coach than Tippett.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

After six seasons in charge, the Dallas Stars have fired head coach Dave Tippett. This is another move in the wholesale change procedure going on in Dallas right now, with new management in place as we reported earlier and moves planned to get the once-fiery franchise back to basics.

Over his six years with the Stars, Tippett boasted a 271-156-28-37 record and twice led Dallas to Pacific Division titles. In the end, however, it wasn’t enough for a team that, by all rights, should be drawing Stanley Cup Finals passes more often than not.

With the Stars now boasting Joe Nieuwendyk as a new GM, it’ll be interesting to see which direction they’ll head when looking for a new head coach. After owner Tom Hicks began to shake up the front office earlier this month in Dallas, there is a feeling that nobody is safe and that nothing will be the same when the puck drops next year.

For a team who endured the likes of Sean Avery and a poor season overall that had them missing the post-season despite a few surges of brilliance, such change will doubtlessly be welcomed with open arms. While it was just the first time the team has missed the post-season under Tippett, there was a sense that a change was needed to help draw some new energy into the club.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The failed Brett Hull/Les Jackson experiment has come to an end in Dallas as the Stars organization have named Joe Nieuwendyk as the team’s new general manager. Nieuwendyk has worked in the front office of the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs and has always wanted to run his own team.

“We are very excited to secure Joe Nieuwendyk as the general manager,” Dallas owner Tom Hicks said. “These moves are all about helping this club take the proverbial ‘next step.’ Joe is a leader and has been a winner in everything he has done. He is ready for this opportunity and has a bright future as an NHL general manager. We want that future to be with the Dallas Stars.”

The Jackson/Hull pairing was less than advantageous for the Stars, even after the duo took the team to the Western Conference final last year. The most talked-about move by the pair involved bringing troubled forward Sean Avery to the club, a move that caused a significant locker room problem and largely contributed to Dallas’ disappointing season out of the gate.

Jackson and Hull have been reassigned in the Stars organization, with Hull serving as executive vice-president and alternate governor. Jackson will go back to his formal post as director of scouting and player development.

Nieuwendyk has been learning the tricks of the trade from Leafs GM Brian Burke, so he should arrive in Dallas ready to rock. It’s a nice fit and Nieuwendyk has always been popular with the Stars’ organization. He also has gained experience as assistant GM for Team Canada at the 2009 IIHF world hockey championship.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.