Dallas Suspends Belfour Indefinitely
D A L L A S, Jan. 8, 2001 -- A second case of bizarre off-ice behavior thatleft Dallas Stars goalie Eddie Belfour suspended indefinitely maybe reconciled with general manager Bob Gainey — and lead to thegoalie’s return in a matter of days.
Gainey for the second straight day sounded optimistic sayingthat differences could be overcome and that Belfour could be backon the ice soon.
Belfour left the team in Boston on Saturday, flying back toDallas after arguing with coach Ken Hitchcock over participation inan optional pregame practice.
On Sunday, the Stars suspended Belfour indefinitely.
“I’ve spoken to Ed, and at this time he feels he is not readyto join the team,” Gainey said in a statement Sunday. “We haveplaced him on suspension as we work toward a resolution.”
Backup Turco Gets Shutout
On his way out of town, Belfour — a free agent after this season— called Stars captain Derian Hatcher to give his side of thestory. Hatcher filled in his teammates, but refused to publiclydiscuss the details.
“I don’t want to speak for Eddie, and I don’t want to speak for Bob,” Hatcher said.
On Saturday, Gainey said: “I think the way I view the situationis there was a conflict, which itself was a problem, and the way Edchose to respond to the problem created another problem. That isthe bigger problem. We’ll start there and work our way back. Hemade a choice, and I’d like to give him the opportunity toexplain.”
Coming off a 4-2 loss in Detroit, Hitchcock decided to giveBelfour a break and let Marty Turco start Saturday night againstthe Bruins. Tradition dictated that, as the backup for the day,Belfour be in goal for the morning skate so Turco could savehimself for the game.
He refused, triggering the blowup between a coach known asdemanding and often vocal with his players and a quirky star withwhom there was never any indication of friction. In fact, twice inthe last month, Hitchcock went with Belfour in games after he’ddiscussed using Turco.
Turco made 33 stops for his first career shutout in a 4-0victory in Boston. He’s likely to be in goal for the last two gamesof this road trip, tonight against the New York Rangers andWednesday night in Atlanta. The Stars also recalled journeyman RickTabaracci under emergency conditions from Utah of the InternationalHockey League.
Quirky Goalie at Last Wins in Postseason
The 35-year-old Belfour came to Dallas four seasons ago with ahistory of strong regular seasons and mediocre postseasons. He wasconsidered flaky and unreliable under pressure. The Stars made itto the conference finals his first season, but didn’t advance.
Belfour was solid in the 1999 playoffs, winning twotriple-overtime games and outdueling goalies Patrick Roy andDominik Hasek while Dallas won its first Stanley Cup title. Belfouralso ended his dubious streak of playing the most postseason gameswithout a championship of any goalie in league history.
He was even better last season. Although the Stars lost in thefinals to the New Jersey Devils, Belfour was widely credited as thereason Dallas came close.
Despite his success, Belfour still was left off the All-Starteam. And in March, he was arrested for fighting with securityguards and police at a Dallas hotel.
According to police reports, Belfour spit and kicked atofficers, who used pepper spray to subdue him. While being taken tojail, the goaltender offered $100,000 for officers to let him go,then upped it to $1 billion.
He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrestand was placed on two years’ probation, fined $3,000 and ordered tovisit two area high schools to warn about alcohol abuse. He alsowas enrolled in the NHL’s substance-abuse program.
He got off to a brilliant start this season, posting sixshutouts in the first two months and going 219 minutes withoutallowing a goal.
He’s 6-6-1 since that streak ended Nov. 29.