Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News is reporting that Mike Ribeiro will miss tonight’s game for ‘disciplinary reasons’, after missing a team meeting on Sunday.
Crawford skated Ribeiro hard after the morning skate in what clearly was a message skate.
Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyksaid he backs his coach.
``We have team rules and we have a schedule, and players need to respect that,’' Nieuwendyk said. ``We talked about it and it’s a decision that I feel is correct.’'
Still, it’s just a missed meeting and it’s obvious that Crawford is sending a message that despite the Stars missing the playoffs and basically playing for pride at this point, his team will not slack off the rest of the season.
As Nieuwendyk and Crawford look to the future and what they want their team to be, it’s a possibility that Mike Ribeiro doesn’t fit into those plans. His skill set, while magical at times, is not the approach that Crawford preaches. Ribeiro likes to slow the game down, go at his own pace while Crawford wants an intense and uptempo approach.
Could this be the first step in Ribeiro being traded this summer? It’s possible. Certainly not a great impression your coach to have headed into the offseason.