|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Mirror images Stars, Avalanche expect exciting, seven-game series
Posted: Saturday May 13, 2000 10:48 PM
DALLAS (AP) -- They both have great goalies, superb centers and depth on defense. Each believes it is a team of destiny. Even their record this postseason is the same, at home and on the road. After nearly a week of being compared on paper, the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche finally get a chance to see how they match up on the ice when the Western Conference finals begin Saturday night. "The week off has been good, relaxing," Stars center Mike Modano said. "We've gotten refocused mentally and physically. Knowing how hard the series is going to be, that helps." Dallas beat Colorado in seven games to advance to the Stanley Cup finals last year, then beat Buffalo for its first title. The hunt for a second straight title is driving the Stars, while the Avalanche are seeking revenge. Motivation is just another area where neither team has an edge. The teams are so even -- from style of play to caliber of players -- that another long series seems inevitable. "It comes down to discipline and making sure that you're patient," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said. "You can't be impatient against a quality team like Dallas." Both teams are peaking at the right time. The Stars slumped early, then Modano got on a roll coming out of the All-Star break. The Avalanche have been hockey's best team since adding Ray Bourque in early March. This postseason, each is 8-2 and perfect in six home games. Both dropped one game in each of the first two rounds. Dallas' top two lines are led by Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk, who has begun showing why he was the MVP of last year's playoffs. Right wing Brett Hull, though, is the leading playoff scorer among both teams with 12 points. Colorado's attack is keyed by centers Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic, the MVP of the 1996 postseason. However, their leading scorer so far has been right wing Adam Deadmarsh with 11 points. Patrick Roy, the winningest goalie in postseason history, is playing as good as he did in '96 when he led the Avs to the third Cup of his career. Dallas' Ed Belfour has been even better than last season when he and the Stars each won their first Cup. Great defense has helped both goalies. Dallas is allowing 24.6 shots per game; Colorado 26.1. "It's been a great playoffs so far for me, but I don't want to look at that now," Roy said. "We're only halfway." Special teams are practically a wash, too. Colorado has more power-play goals, while Dallas has more penalty kills. Bourque, a key part of the Avs power play, missed the last two games of the second round with a knee injury but he's expected to return. Yet Dallas expects to have forward Jere Lehtinen back in action, and on the penalty kill, for the first time this postseason. Bourque has become an emotional figure for Colorado in that teammates want him to get the first Cup of his long, stellar career. That's why they think a title is their destiny. But Dallas is in the conference finals for the third straight year and players believe it's their destiny to be added to the list of repeat champions. "Colorado has a lot of intangibles, but I think we're a determined group, too," Nieuwendyk said. "We want to keep the Cup, so it's going to be a heck of a series." The bottom line is there are no clear advantages for either team. "I don't see us saying 'Look, we can take advantage of this player or we can take advantage of that,'" Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We've spent very little time talking about anything they do on the ice because we know we're just going to have to be perfect." There is one advantage Dallas has going into the series: home ice. Yet Colorado can win it back by taking either of the first two games. The Avalanche won the opener at Reunion Arena last year, but the Stars won a game in Denver and ended up clinching the series with a Game 7 win at home. "It doesn't matter if it's five, six or seven games, you have to expect hard-fought battles every night," Modano said. "But if it goes seven, then it fits us because that game is in Dallas. It helped us last year."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
