Good news, bad news
Stars go out with new reputation: legitimate Stanley Cup contender
Posted: Saturday June 06, 1998 05:32 PM
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Coach Ken Hitchcock (center) expects much more offense and success
from the Stars with a healthy roster (AP) |
DALLAS (AP) -- Down and out of the playoffs in Detroit, the Dallas Stars can look back on
a breakthrough season and ahead to a new reputation next year -- a
legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Despite a slew of injuries to key players throughout the season and the
playoffs, the Stars played grinding defensive hockey with a balanced,
opportunistic attack. But when the injuries began to deplete the Stars'
flagship defensive corps in their best-of-seven series with the defending
Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings,
resilience was not enough.
"In the end, it started to catch up to us," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock
said after his team lost Game 6 of the Western Conference finals Friday.
"It really caught up to us."
The 2-0 win gave Detroit the series, four games to two. And although
Dallas has said all along that winning the Stanley Cup was its goal, its
elimination in the conference championship can be considered a respectable
finish to its most productive season in Texas.
After a first-round exit from the 1997 playoffs at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers, the Stars
returned to win the Presidents' Trophy with the best record in the regular
season (49-22-11) and the best road record at 23-14-4. They also answered
any questions about playoff performance by beating the San Jose Sharks, and then
their first-round tormentors from the previous year, downing Edmonton in
the second round.
But although their defense was strong, the Stars couldn't ignite their
offense against the Detroit. Scoring only one or two goals a game was
enough to win in the first two rounds, but Detroit's ability to score with
any one of four lines emphasized the Stars' weakened scoring ability. The
loss of center Joe
Nieuwendyk in the first game of the playoffs was a particularly costly
blow to the league's third-best offense.
"We needed to score more goals," Hitchcock said. "You can't go along
thinking your goalie is going to be the star of every game."
Goalie Ed Belfour
was by turns brilliant and dreadful, but always unpredictable. Brought in
by general manager Bob Gainey, Belfour was expected to be the final
component of a Stanley Cup squad. Though he played well, Belfour let in
several undeniably soft goals in each series and let his temper get the
better of him on several occasions. Judgment on him may have to wait until
next season, as it will for several older players on the Stars' roster.
Gainey made veiled references during the season about younger players
stepping up to take on greater responsibilities. That could mean that
veterans such as Craig Ludwig and Guy Carbonneau
might be playing elsewhere.
Whether or not the Red Wings repeat as Stanley Cup champions this year,
the bar for Dallas will remain high. With a healthy roster, many will
expect much more offense and success from the Stars.
"They have learned what others like us are trying to learn," Hitchcock
said. "There is an awful high price to pay to win at this level."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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