HockeyVOX

The Dallas Stars are expected to announce today that Stu Barnes will retire as a player and become an assistant coach with the team. He’ll get a two-year deal, and the team also will announce two-year contract extensions for associate coach Rick Wilson and assistant coach Mark Lamb.

Barnes will take Ulf Dahlen’s place in the mix, but he will definitely have a less prominent role — which might, in a strange way, be a good thing for the Stars. Dahlen (who this season will be the head coach for Frolunda in Sweden) very much wanted to play a big role on the Stars, and would often leave the press box during a game to come down to the bench in the third period. That probably put too many voices on the bench for the players. Barnes will stay in the press box and learn the role of assistant.

He is expected to go to Traverse City for the prospects tournament Sept. 13-17 and hang out with the front office and the scouts and learn how to "see a game” from the stands. That’s tougher than it sounds for a player, because it takes some getting used to when you’ve been on the ice your entire career.

Barnes says he is clear of conussion symptoms that ended his season, but that he really hasn’t pushed himself to get his heart rate where it needed to be for him to play again. He said he will probably push harder during the season just to see if the symptoms come back. But right now, he’s feeling good and ready to take the next step.

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