Please don’t go, Stu!
I don’t know how we lucked out so much that we have had Stu Barnes here for five years. It seems like just yesterday that he came to town at the same time it seems like he’s always been here.
Stuuuuuuuuuuu, as he’s affectionately called, is trying to figure out if the concussion he suffered in the playoffs is going to force him to retire. I really hope it doesn’t, because the Stars would really miss him.
When a guy’s name rhymes with “Boo” it’s not uncommon for fans to call his name whenever they can. Whenever he touches the puck, the fans yell, “Stuuuuuuuuuuu!” I always love it when a new fan asks me, “Why are they booing him?” They’re not booing, they’re Stuuuu-ing!
Stu’s one of the team leaders and has been since the first day he set foot in the dressing room. I don’t even know what makes me like him so much. He seems to be such a great guy. Last season a kid came to the Stars facility with Make-A-Wish and Stu volunteered to give him a tour of the locker room and took him around to introduce him to the other players.
In interviews he can be kind of generic, but he never blames teammates specifically for mistakes they made in a game or for slumps they might be in. And he is fine with admitting when the team as a whole isn’t doing what it should be doing.
He started kind of slowly this past season, but he really picked it up toward the end of the year. I don’t actually know, but I can imagine that he was a big help in the room getting the team through that awful March where they lost so many games.
He had two goals in the playoffs. I happened to see them in a highlight reel the other day and I got all misty, thinking that that might be the last time he plays.
He suffered a hit into the boards in Game 3 of the San Jose series that knocked him a little dizzy. He tried to get up, but staggered. Then when his teammates and the trainer came to help him up, he still insisted on skating off on his own since he could.
He is basically a checking center, but he plays all forward positions on all lines, sometimes in the same game. He is one of our top penalty killers, which by default makes him one of my favorites. The coaches run the penalty kill, but I think Stu influences the rest of the players on the PK. He’s a great mentor for the forwards working on their defensive play.
I think the Stars really did miss him in the Detroit series this spring. He’s not the big hitter or the big goal scorer, but he’s an anchor, and he can play anywhere. When he has a regular place on a checking line, he takes care of it so well that you notice him most when he’s not there. After he got hurt, we really noticed him.
There’s some talk that even if he retires, he might take the assistant coach’s position that Ulf Dahlen vacated this year. If he really can’t keep playing, I think that would be the next best thing.
Stuuu! With his impending retirement, I feel a little wrong for all the “Stu’s got arthritis”/”Stu needs a hip replacement”/”Stu’s OLD” jokes I made this year.
I really, really hope he takes the coaching gig. It would be awesomely awesome to at least still see him around. It’s a bummer he’s probably not going to be able to play anymore.
I hope he sticks around, too. I think it’s a nice testament that they want him to stick around even if he can’t play.
Stuuuuuuuuuuuuu will always, always be loved in Buffalo as well. Just a good all-around guy.
Stuuuuuuuuuu was watching at Development Camp both yesterday and today. The Sign Girls were there today and held up his sign and he waved at them, they were thrilled.
How sweet!
Heee, we saw him today up in the office with Tippett. Almost made me cry!