DALLAS – After an overtime victory in Chicago last night, the Carolina Hurricanes seek to pick up a third win in a row as they visit the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

–

When: Tuesday, January 21

Puck Drop: 8:00 p.m. ET

Watch: ESPN+, Hulu

Listen: 99.9 The Fan, Hurricanes App

Odds at Time of Publishing, via Fanatics Sportsbook: Canes +105

–

Canes Record: 28-16-3 (59 Points, 2nd – Metropolitan Division)

Canes Last Game: 4-3 Win (OT) over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, Jan. 20

–

Stars Record: 29-16-1 (59 Points, 3rd – Central Division)

Stars Last Game: 4-1 Win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, Jan. 19

While the Dallas Mavericks don’t intend to trade Daniel Gafford, according to recent reports, his name has been thrown into the rumblings of trade rumors. The club acquired him at the trade deadline a season ago, and he was essential in their run to the NBA Finals.

With his name being hot in trade rumors, Gafford made a statement on Monday. With a full slate of games being played all day, the Mavericks had an early contest against the Charlotte Hornets.

Dallas suffered a brutal 110-105 loss as the return of Luka Doncic can not come soon enough. Still, Gafford made a loud statement, scoring a career-high.

In 34 minutes played, Gafford scored 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting while pulling down 15 rebounds and blocking seven shots.

Simply put — the Mavericks center made a statement. He proved his value by posting a career-high in points scored, even if the team took a brutal loss.

Given the injury history of second-year center Dereck Lively, having a backup like Gafford capable of coming into the starting lineup and making such a massive impact would certainly have to make the Mavericks front office think twice about a trade.

For the time being — don’t expect a Gafford trade. His impact proved even further that it could be a mistake from the club, too.

However, given how much success the team has had with in-season moves in years past might lend a hand that they could be making a move.

READ MORE: Despite Loss to Hornets, Mavs Made Right Decision Letting Former First-Round Pick Go

Stick with MavericksGameday for more coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA offseason. 

Follow Kade Kimble on Twitter.

The Blue Fish, a sushi restaurant that eventually grew to one of Dallas-Fort Worth’s biggest homegrown Japanese chains, has closed on Greenville Avenue in Dallas.

The restaurant opened at that spot in 1998, then as a sake bar modeled after the cool-kids spots from Los Angeles, The Dallas Morning News’ critic wrote a few months after its debut. Founders Julie Lee and her brother Alex Lee helped introduce Dallas audiences to sake — both the cloudy, unfiltered alcoholic drink as well as the hot, cheap stuff. (The Lees suggested drinking it cold, as experts still do, but a $1 deal on carafes of hot sake quickly made Blue Fish on Greenville Avenue a happy hour hot spot.)

The restaurant opened relatively early in Dallas’s relationship with raw-fish restaurants, and The Blue Fish served a mix of uncooked fish as well as hot dishes like edamame, teriyaki-sauced chicken breast and a shareable 2-pound fried catfish.

“The Blue Fish is quite a catch,” the late critic Dotty Griffith wrote in 1998.

The “hip Lower Greenville setting” earned The Blue Fish a spot on The News’ list of best new restaurants of 1998. A few others on that list remain open and are now stalwarts: Tei Tei Robata Bar, The Mercury and Al Biernat’s. Seems 1998 was quite a year in Dallas food.

The Blue Fish grew in North Texas, with restaurants on Greenville Avenue, on the Dallas North Tollway near Frankford Road, and in Irving, Carrollton and Allen. When I visited Breckenridge, Colorado, a few weeks ago, skiers wearing puffy coats and gloves made a steady entry into the Blue Fish there, a few blocks off of Main Street.

Today, two Blue Fish restaurants remain: in Allen and in Breckenridge. Those are owned by founder Julie Lee Osborn, who got married since she opened the original.

The other locations were sold in 2019, she confirmed.

For decades, Blue Fish had an iconic stainless steel interior and neon lights, a look called “techno-razzle” in a 2004 review. That was the era of tuna towers and raw yellowtail spiced with jalapeños.

By the 2020s, Japanese food in Dallas had changed dramatically. Omakase restaurants, or those with $165+ price tags and a fixed menu of a dozen courses or more, were starting to pop up. Case in point: By late 2024, just one restaurant in Dallas earned a Michelin star, and it was unaffiliated Japanese spot Tatsu.

The Blue Fish’s franchise owners opened a higher-end Japanese restaurant, Blue Maki in Carrollton, in 2023. The restaurant sells temaki, or handrolls, in addition to sashimi, crudo and rolls.

The Blue Fish, on the other hand, seemed emptier on Greenville Avenue in the past few years.

Representatives from the franchise company did not return an immediate request for comment on why the Greenville Avenue restaurant closed. The phone has been disconnected.

Founder Julie Lee Osborn said she has no relationship with the franchisees of the restaurant she started, but she has interest in taking over the lease from her original Blue Fish on Greenville Avenue. More to come on that.

The Blue Fish was at 3519 Greenville Ave., Dallas.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on X at @sblaskovich.