| | The Dallas Stars do not believe in standing pat.
|
Saturday's NHL games
|
|
Carolina at Boston
|
|
Toronto at Montreal
|
|
Ottawa at Philadelphia
|
|
New Jersey at Atlanta
|
|
N.Y. Islanders at Tampa Bay
|
|
Washington at Florida
|
|
Buffalo at Detroit
|
|
Phoenix at St. Louis
|
|
Los Angeles at Nashville
|
|
Anaheim at Dallas
|
|
N.Y. Rangers at Vancouver
|
|
Calgary at San Jose
|
When they open the NHL season Friday night at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), they will have a different look from the team that won the Stanley Cup in the spring.
Gone will be Pat Verbeek, Dave Reid, Craig Ludwig, Tony Hrkac
and Roman Turek. Highly regarded prospects Jamie Pushor, Juha Lind
and Pavel Patera are among those replacing the veterans.
So the Stars should be a younger, faster team. Not that they'll
neglect the type of physical defense that helped them win their
first Cup in franchise history.
"This isn't a whole new offensive system," Stars coach Ken
Hitchcock said. "This is just a system that's based on more use of
what we have as a team. We have more speed, so let's make better
use of it.
"We're trying to become more of a team that's going to come out
cleaner, rather than jam it in areas and try to jam it out."
In not bringing back Ludwig, the Stars lost one of their last
players from their days in Minnesota. The remaining North Stars are Mike Modano and Derian Hatcher.
"Despite the fact we lost some players from last year, we have
a lot of talent left," said Guy Carbonneau, at 39 years, 6 months,
the oldest player in the NHL this season. "The kids in training
camp showed a lot of promise."
The Stars think that repeating as Cup champions will be
difficult.
"Last year was an unbelievable season, going all year being the
best team in the league and being able to win the Stanley Cup,"
Carbonneau said. "I think the same goal is in our mind this year,
but we know it'll be much harder than it was last year because
everybody wants to try to beat the best."
One issue for the Stars might be injuries. Brett Hull limped through the locker room Thursday favoring the leg with the still-healing knee ligament and sporting a nasty green bruise across the back of the other thigh.
"The knee is fine," he said. "It's everything else that's killing me."
One hundred-three days have passed since Hull's foot-in-crease goal clinched the title in a triple-overtime
thriller in Buffalo. While the time off is several years worth of vacations in the real world, it's extremely short for guys with pro sports teams, especially the brutal NHL.
"Players want more money, owners want money, the fans have to pay more money. As a result, we're getting less time off," Stars veteran Brian Skrudland said.
Grant Marshall, who tore a groin muscle, is the only Dallas player who won't play Friday because of a lingering injury. But others are still feeling the effects of the 1998-99 season.
Hull's torn medial collateral ligament, disguised as a groin injury during the finals, isn't totally healed. Neither is Shawn Chambers' arthroscopically repaired knee. And even though Modano's fractured wrist has healed, he still feels stiffness in the wrist and fingers.
The pain will disappear shortly before 7 p.m. Friday when the various trophies the Stars won last season are brought onto the ice. After a light and laser show that will include a video montage of last season's great moments, the first championship banner in franchise history will go up.
"I think there's going to be a lot of emotion," Hitchcock said. "I know for me it's going to be a proud moment
when that banner goes up because I recognize all the hard work players past and present put into it."
One person in attendance who'll understand the feeling is Mario Lemieux, a two-time Cup winner for the Penguins and their new owner.
From his new perspective, Lemieux hopes his former teammates-turned-employees soak in the ceremony and envision being the guests of honor of a similar presentation this time next year.
"It's going to be exciting for everyone in the organization to be there and see all of the festivities and hopefully one day come back here and regain the Cup," Lemieux said.
|  | | Wayne Gretzky won four Stanley Cups while playing in Edmonton. |
While the Stars are raising the Cup banner in Dallas, the New
York Rangers will play at Edmonton in the other NHL opener Friday
night.
At Edmonton, the game will feature a tribute to
Wayne Gretzky. Before finishing his career in New York last season,
the NHL's all-time scoring leader led the Oilers to four Stanley
Cups during the 1980s.
In Saturday's action, the Thrashers will play their inaugural
regular-season game at Philips Arena, one of four new arenas in the
NHL this season. The others are the Los Angeles Kings' STAPLES
Center, the Colorado Avalanche's Pepsi Center, and the Carolina
Hurricanes' Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena.
The Thrashers have sold more than 13,000 season tickets.
"The last four or five months, the build-up has been real
good," general manager Don Waddell said. "I think the city's
ready for it. We've got a new venue and I think we're going to have
a lot of excitement in Atlanta." | |
ALSO SEE
1999-2000 regular-season schedule
ESPN's Top 5 in the game
ESPN experts' picks for 1999-2000
NHL Power Rankings
Northeast Division: Depth is a strength
Central Division: Wings unflappable
Atlantic Division: Rangers up the ante
Southeast Division: Fighting for respect
Pacific Division: Stars stud of the group
Northwest Division: Canadian teams full of unknowns
 |
