According the Dallas Morning News blog, they fired Doug Armstrong.
I am not happy about this at all. I think Army has done a fine job with the cap and he hasn’t fallen for the false hype of mediocre free agents.
I’ll have to add more later. I think they’re going to regret it. He strikes me as the guy that will go straight to a new team and take them to the Cup while we sit around wishing we had a decent GM.
My heart sank hearing it, and I’m about to cry now. I wish Army could know that not all fans are calling for his head. Just the bandwagoners.
UPDATE: I just read in the announcement that he’s been with the team for 17 years! He’s such a smart guy, and funny, and I think he’s done a pretty good job. We set new records every year for games won. It’s not his fault they cave in the post season. At the very least, it’d be nice to have the same team two years in a row so they aren’t strangers when the post-season rolls around. But what do I know?
When he’s interviewed, you really get a sense that he knows what he’s talking about. He doesn’t just spout cliches. After every interview (if they let him talk, which The Dorks don’t usually do), I learn something new about how they look at players and teams and seasons.
I hope he gets on with somebody this year.
Tom Hicks (grr!) said he wants the team to get back to being an “elite” team. I think we’ve all forgotten what not being elite is really like. And we’re about to be reminded.
UPDATE: Andrew’s blog over at Andrew’s Dallas Stars Page has some quotes from the players. More tears well up in my eyes when Brenden says,
He’s the reason all of us are here. He said he still believes in us. We still have his confidence. It’s a sad day.
UPDATE: It goes from bad to worse. Brett Hull and Les Jackson have been named new interim co-managers. I’m sure Les Jackson will make a fine GM, having been the assistant for quite a few years (kind of like Army was), but I have major reservations about Brett Hull. Maybe he’s smarter and less whiny when he’s working in the front office than he is in the broadcast booth.
At least he’s not the coach. Unless he appoints himself there, now that he can. I shouldn’t joke about that, though, because I joked about him yesterday and look what happened.
UPDATE: Player reaction is up on the Dallas Stars site.
I’m torn on the issue. While I do think that it’s about time that the Stars do SOMETHING to improve their team (yeah, yeah, playoff runs, but also first round exits), I’m not sure if firing Armstrong was the right call. I don’t know, man. I’m confuuuuuused and I don’t know what to think anymore.
I like Army, I really do. I’m not sure if this was the right to move to make, though.
Something mentally is going wrong with this team. I don’t think it’s the coaching – I actually like Tip and think he does fairly well, and quite frankly we could have a lot worse. I don’t think it’s the players, since we have virtually the same roster as last year. Something has changed since last year, and I think it has a lot to do with the mindset of the team, although I am really not sure what has caused that to change.
If that makes sense.
I think that something had to change internally, but whether Army deserved to go is seriously debatable.
I’m surprised to see such a drastic step from them so soon as what essentially comes off as hardcore damage control.
Yeah, I don’t know what the problem is, either. I thought Turco was a little hard on the rest of the team after that debacle in L.A., when honestly, I thought it was his fault. Defense can be a problem, but if you give up 6 goals on 6 shots, might be you. Maybe Turco is rubbing guys the wrong way, or maybe they think he’s either going to get a shutout or give up a ton of goals. So they’re okay when he’s shutting out, but a goal makes them panic.
Maybe it’s because I’m a girl, but I really feel for Army having to leave. You have to know that he loves this team. He won’t love a new team right away. And he had to tell the team himself. I hope they all feel bad.
And I hope they don’t compound it by firing Tippett, too. Maybe give him the rest of the year, since we’re obviously giving up on the season. Let him finish it out. It would be so great if they went on to the Finals or something — they’d have to give Army credit then.
Firing Tippett right now would murder whatever season we have left.
I’m going to be the eternal optimist and say we still have time to turn it around. I give it another week before I start making rest-of-season predictions.
I’m right there with you on Army. You know who I feel terrible for? His wife and children. At least if I got fired, my whole family wouldn’t have to read about it in the newspaper. (Hopefully).
Something funky is going on with Turco this season…I love Marty to death, but something’s off there.
Tip and most of the coaching staff have contracts that are up in June, right at the end of the season. I think they have the rest of the season to shape up before contracts are not renewed, essentially.
I just feel like this is the start of some series of events that I’m really, really not going to like.
While Turco is somewhat to blame for Saturday’s disaster, they’re called defensemen for a reason. His statement after the game about the lack of respect intrigued me. I want to know what the hell is going on with this team. There’s something going on between the players, and I want to know what it is…Or if I can’t know what it is, I want it to get fixed.
You know what would be really hilarious? If the Stars ended up not only making it to the playoffs, but advancing past the first round and making a legitimate Cup run. Let’s see all the Chicken Littles when the team starts winning.
His statement after the game about the lack of respect intrigued me.
That’s the part I found odd. I can see that the defense didn’t help much, but Turco collapsed, too. I wonder if he and the defense have been fighting.
I can’t figure out why a team that is essentially the same and seemed so tight last year, can seem so “off” this year. Did Brad Winchester come in and start cliques that only the cool guys could join?
Brett Hull and Les Jackson just got named “interim co-GMs”.
….At least Hull makes me laugh?
Ack! I was afraid of that. Maybe they’ll give them the season at co-GM. I don’t like the Hull idea.
But, hey. It’s probably time for me to stop rending my garments and buck up.
Mike Heika, on the blog, said he talked to Hicks, who said Jim Lites wasn’t in on the decision. I’m not surprised.
And the co-GM thing is silly. It’s very these-are-my-pals-and-I-can’t-pick-just-one.
He probably thinks Hull’s very presence will increase ticket sales. I hope the Stars don’t turn into the Oilers or the Coyotes and just hire people because they were here for the Cup.
Patty, if it makes you feel any better, Hull has always said he is never interested in coaching and will never do it. It holds relatively no interest for him.
I wish I had something witty and insightful to say about all this. The sad thing is that I really don’t.
All I can say is: What. The. Hell.
I have no idea what’s going on with this team, and it scares me a little bit.
I also want to know what Turco meant by that comment. Obviously there’s a lot going on behind the scenes with regard to all this.
That does actually make me feel better, Caitlin. Maybe he smart enough to know how hard it is for someone with natural abilities to coach people with just regular abilities.
I have endless love for Brett Hull. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know either.
But the co-GM thing mystifies me. Like Cat posted, I think it’s kind of a Jackson takes business/numbers side, Hull takes a players/sport kind of side. I have no idea, in reality though, as apparently everything about this organization utterly stymies me at times.
Or, it could be that they really wanted Brett Hull as GM, but also wanted someone who could read, write and add.
Sometimes it seems like hockey is the end all and be all of Brett Hull’s life. It seems therefore likely that a little thing like arithmetic could hardly be bothered with if he wanted to have hockey all the time. I kid, Brett, I kid!
It just occurred to me that it’s also entirely possible that we are reading WAY too much into this, and that nothing else is going on behind the scenes, and the players are just having a crappy start to the season.
I’m going to take a breather, and just…Not even think about it. At least, not for a few hours.
Um….according to Heika:
Jim Lites just stepped down as president of the Stars. Rangers president Jeff Cogen is going to be president of the Stars.
Um…yeah.
I have no words, or thoughts, just confusion.