Stars in Dallas Talk Langenbrunner Trade

Written on 1/07/2011 by Jim Cerny

After playing parts of nine seasons in New Jersey, Jamie Langenbrunner is heading back to the team that drafted him in the second round of the 1993 draft, and with whom he won the first of his two Stanley Cups, the Dallas Stars.

With the Devils at the bottom of the NHL standings, and with Lou Lamoriello looking to cut payroll, Langenbrunner---New Jersey's captain since December 5, 2007---became the first of what likely will be several exiled Devils.

For the Devils side of this trade, including comments from Langenbrunner today, check in with Tom Gulitti's excellent Fire and Ice blog.

As luck would have it I am here in Dallas with the Rangers for tonight's game, so I was able to catch up with several key people in the world of the Dallas Stars this morning over at the American Airlines Center.

Here's what the star player, team captain, and head coach of the Dallas Stars all had to say....

Brad Richards

"Jamie has won Stanley Cups in this league, so he'll be another voice in this room...another example of how hard it is to win"

"I am very excited. Anytime you can add a guy whose done what he has done, and has already been in this organization---plus is good friends with Joe (Nieuwendyk, the Stars GM and former teammate of Langenbrunner's in Dallas and New Jersey)---you know we'll get everything he's got, and he'll come in here with a great attitude. He's always been a hard player to play against, which I like. I think that's the direction we are headed---being a good, hard, resiliant team---and he adds to that. I'm very excited to see him in this lineup."

Brendan Morrow

"Personally, I know what he brings to the team: good leader, good work ethic, plays in all situations. I'm looking forward to him getting here."

"He adds a little bit of everything: a good shot on the power play, hard on pucks on the forecheck, been in some pretty good systems in Dallas and New Jersey. It's just overall good for us."

"I know how close those guys are (Langenbrunner and Nieuwendyk), so we've heard about Jamie coming back here for a few years now...he had some success here, so we'd like to help him have more of that here."

Marc Crawford

"It's a great addition to our club which makes us a better team. You've got a guy that's familiar with Dallas and familiar with a great many of our fan base, and on the other side he's a quality leader, a captain--not only on his own team but on the US Olympic team last year, and a guy with playoff experience. If you are talking about a shot in the arm, we've gotten a tremendous one here today. We couldn't be more pleased to have Jamie Langenbrunner on board."

"Any time you have guys that have been the distance and have had those playoff experiences, they're guys that can help younger guys that haven't been there. This team hasn't been in the playoffs in a couple of years and we're not taking anything for granted. We're in a dogfight like everybody else in both conferences. The addition of Jamie Langenbrunner gives us more depth on our team, another right shot which we haven't had very many, and that helps us. I think it shows Brad Richards and others on this team that Hey, the organization really believes in us."