By Pierre LeBrun, Sportsnet.ca
Few people sat down for turkey this week with a bigger smile than Mike Ribeiro.
The Dallas Stars' leading scorer burned his former team, the Montreal Canadiens, with a goal and two assists in a Sunday night victory to kick off the Christmas break.
The 27-year-old Montreal native hit the Christmas holiday with 39 points (19-20) in 34 games on pace for a career-high 94 points this season. He's a bargain at US$2.8 million for sure. But a raise is coming.
Ribeiro is slated for unrestricted free agency July 1, but before fans of other NHL teams can start licking their lips, sources tell Sportsnet.ca that contract talks are already under way between the Stars and the Ribeiro camp. Word is a deal should be done well before the end of the season.
Why not stay in Dallas if you're Ribeiro? The Stars gave him a chance to become a No. 1 centre and the go-to offensive guy. He never got that chance in Montreal with captain Saku Koivu standing the way.
Might be worth remembering who is responsible for stealing him from the Habs. That would be Doug Armstrong, fired as Stars GM earlier this season. Armstrong got Ribeiro from Montreal on Sept. 30, 2006, as well as the Habs' sixth-round draft choice in 2008 in exchange for defenceman Janne Niinimaa and a fifth-round pick in 2007. Niinimaa is now playing in Davos, Switzerland, after a mediocre stint with the Habs last season.
In defence of Habs' GM Bob Gainey, I highly doubt Ribeiro would have ever blossomed this way in Montreal. There were off-ice distractions in Ribeiro's hometown and the move to Dallas allowed him to focus more on his craft.
"Maturity comes into play," Ribeiro told me in a November interview. "When I was younger I was thinking less about training then I'm doing now. I'm in better shape than I was before. I also know the game better, too, and playing with confidence."
Ribeiro is on fire and so is his team. The Stars are second in the Western Conference with 46 points (21-12-4). It's the same team the fired Armstrong put together. In fact, only Detroit and Ottawa have gathered more regular-season points in the standings since the beginning of the 2002-03 than the Stars during that period.
But owner Tom Hicks has his reasons for firing Armstrong, perhaps the lack of playoff success and perhaps the need for a higher-profile face in the position. So Brett Hull took over on an interim basis alongside the respected Les Jackson. So far so good.
In the meantime, Armstrong has been offered several scouting-type jobs around the league but will lay low for now, hoping for another crack at a GM job in the off-season. He deserves another shot, his record speaks for itself.
Speaking of re-signing potential unrestricted free agents, look for the Detroit Red Wings to try to lock up veteran goalie Chris Osgood before the end of the season. You know, the same 35-year-old Osgood that leads the NHL with a 1.83 goals-against average and is among the leaders with a .926 save percentage. Oh, and he's 15-2-1 on the season all while earning $800,000.
It'll cost the Wings a few more bucks to keep him around longer.
Osgood, who has 351 career NHL wins, wants to remain a Red Wing. He's second in club history with 267 victories behind only the great Terry Sawchuk (352).
"I still want to try and catch Sawchuk for most wins in Red Wings history," Osgood told me earlier this season. "That's one of my goals. I also want to get to 400 wins, not many guys have done that (nine to be exact). And of course I want to win another Stanley Cup."
"So I have some things I still want to accomplish."
Osgood has gone 46-11-12 since re-joining the Wings after the lockout following stops with the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues from 2001-02 to 2003-04.
"When I came back from the lockout I knew I had to change my style," said Osgood, who played his first eight seasons in Detroit. "I'd say that was the biggest thing. These young guys are bigger now and they slide around covering everything low."
"Before I stood up more and left more holes. Now I'm trying to close those up."
He's not diving around as much as he used to.
"I'm stopping more second shots than before," he said. "I'm more square to the puck than I used to me. I think that's the biggest thing."
