Monday Dallas Stars Roundup: Planes, Trainers, AHL Playoffs, and Nearly Automatic Awards

Also Justin Hryckowian

Update: I’m now hearing that this story may not be true after all. We’ll update this as new information trickles out.

Reportedly, Tom Gaglardi flew Mark Scheifele back home to Kitchener on his private jet after Game 6.

Considering the tragedy Scheifele was playing through, it would have been a touching gesture by the Stars’ owner to make sure Scheifele got back to his family as quickly as possible after a devastating 24 hours.

In the context of the somewhat tightfisted actions of other owners in the NHL, it sounds downright generous. And even though my relationship with money is as different from a billionaire’s as my relationship with water is with a fish’s, it is still a pretty kind thing for an owner to do.

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It’s worth pointing out fairly regularly, I think, how much money Gaglardi has put into the Stars since purchasing them over a decade ago. While some NHL teams are battling solvency from year to year and waiting to pick their spots before spending to the limit, Gaglardi has been more than happy to spend to the salary cap (or way above it, like this year) in order to keep the Stars competitive. He also has paid to make sure they aren’t lacking in amenities and facilities, with multiple players telling me this year that the Stars are a “first class” organization when it comes to those behind-the-scenes things.

While Vancouver fought with Tom Willander over performance bonuses, the Stars have never had to worry about these sorts of things. With Jim Nill at the helm, Gaglardi’s Stars can write checks like the $15 million Mikko Rantanen will be making next year without causing a fuss.

If you’re a fan of the local hockey team, you want your owner to trust the right people and give them the means to make good decisions. It sure seems like that’s what Gaglardi has done, and you don’t have to look much farther than the other locker rooms in American Airlines Center to find an example of the opposite.

By the way, one player that has been flown across the country by the Stars owner recently is their top defenseman.