The Dallas Stars Web site has the news: Jim Lites, who's been both president of the hockey club and the head of Hicks Sports Marketing Group, is moving over to HSMG. Which means that the Stars, which yesterday got rid of general manager Doug Armstrong, have a new president: Jeff Cogen, who, for three years, has served as president of the Texas Rangers. Says Tom Hicks: "The Stars franchise and the Stars fans need a man like Cogen, and I need Jim Lites working full-time on the national and international expansion and marketing of our properties."
No word on when Texas will get a new president, but Lites gets to oversee the planning and construction of a new stadium for Liverpool FC -- "as well as the efforts to build a hockey arena in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park, Texas," Hicks says in the release. Still trying to figure out if this is a good deal for Cogen. Or the Stars. Or the Rangers. Or you. --Robert Wilonsky