Modano's mark eclipsed by struggles on ice and off

Dave Tippett's defense-first system has the Stars playing scared when they have a lead. Jeff Vinnck/Getty Images

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When Atlanta dropped the axe on head coach Bob Hartley two weeks ago, it stirred up the inevitable speculation regarding who would be next to walk the plank.

Paul Maurice in Toronto is a clear favorite, his odds of survival dropping with each home blowout. He certainly can't survive too many more efforts like the one his Leafs delivered in Monday's 7-1 loss to Washington. Tom Renney's promising tenure with the Rangers could be cut short by the sulking of Jaromir Jagr and the ineffectiveness of high-dollar hires Scott Gomez and Chris Drury. In San Jose, the early stumbling of the Cup-dreaming Sharks may bring about the demise of Ron Wilson.

All three bear watching, but here's another name to watch: Dave Tippett.

As with the other three, his failures are not entirely of his own making. But that hasn't stopped the buzzards from circling a team that is struggling to find consistency on the ice and failing to fill seats in a very competitive market.

It's to the eternal credit of Dallas GM Doug Armstrong that he stayed with Tippett to start this season. When many in the local media called for the coach's job after yet another first-round loss last spring, he stuck by his man, rewarding him for artfully guiding an injury-riddled roster to a miraculous 107-point campaign that should have earned Jack Adams consideration.

But armed with a full complement of players, this year's team appears to be no better off, lurching to a 5-4-2 start that suggests reaching the postseason will be a challenge.

And, if anything, the offensive shortcomings that sank the Stars' playoff hopes last season are even more glaring now.While the quality of the personnel assembled by Armstrong is an issue, so too is Tippett's defense-first style that dictates his charges rarely attack when they have the lead. Rather than display the courage needed to intensify their assault and salt away a victory, these Stars seem afraid to make a mistake that will cost them what they've achieved to that point. That tendency was painfully evident in Monday's 4-2 loss to the Sharks, a game in which the Stars held a 2-1 lead before coughing it up with three stunning defensive blunders in the final eight minutes.

That kind of hardline approach to the game has a limited shelf life (just ask Tippett's Cup-winning predecessor, Ken Hitchcock). And going by body language alone, it appears that dancing along a razor thin margin for error night after night is weighing on several players.

While the Stars continue to struggle to create offense, Tippett's biggest problem may be his decision to add a new fourth liner to an already crowded mix: erstwhile superstar Mike Modano.

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