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head coach: Ken Hitchcock

roster: C-Mike Modano, Guy Carbonneau, Joe Nieuwendyk, Bob Bassen. LW-Dave Reid, Greg Adams, Benoit Hogue, Juha Lind, Bob Errey, Patrick Cote. RW-Todd Harvey, Pat Verbeek, Jamie Langenbrunner, Jere Lehtinen, Grant Marshall. D-Derian Hatcher, Craig Ludwig, Darryl Sydor, Shawn Chambers, Richard Matvichuk, Sergei Zubov, Craig Muni. G-Ed Belfour, Roman Turek.

injuries: Mike Modano, c (separated shoulder, 4-6 weeks). Todd Harvey, rw (surgery to repair cartilage tear in knee, 2- 3 weeks). Benoit Hogue, lw (facial fracture, 3-4 weeks). Sergei Zubov, d (neck sprain, 7-14 days); Dave Reid, lw (back, day-to-day). Bob Bassen, c (knee, 1 week). Patrick Cote, d (shoulder separation, indefinite).

transactions: Placed Todd Harvey, rw, on injured reserve as of March 23; recalled Jeff Mitchell, rw, from the Michigan K-Wings (IHL); reassigned Petr Buzek, d, to the K-Wings; reassigned Kevin Sawyer, lw, to the K-Wings; removed Derian Hatcher, d, from the injured reserve list on March 20; reassigned Sergey Gusev, d, to the K-Wings; assigned Richard Jackman, d, to the K-Wings; recalled Jason Botterill, lw, from the K-Wings; recalled Jamie Wright, lw, from the K-Wings; recalled Kevin Sawyer, lw, from the K-Wings; recalled Petr Buzek, d, from the K-Wings; recalled Sergey Gusev, d, from the K-Wings; recalled Chris Tancill, rw from the K-Wings; recalled Peter Douris, rw, from the K-Wings; placed Mike Modano, c, on injured reserve as of March 13.

standings:

Western Conference - Central Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
Dallas       69  42  16  11    95  210  137
Detroit      70  38  19  13    89  211  166
St Louis     70  36  26   8    80  205  168
Chicago      69  28  30  11    67  169  165
Phoenix      70  27  31  12    66  189  197
Toronto      69  24  36   9    57  158  198

game results:

3/12 at Phoenix       L 5-4
3/13 Anaheim          W 6-3
3/17 at Los Angeles   W 4-3
3/18 at San Jose      W 3-1
3/20 Carolina         W 6-1
3/22 Pittsburgh       T 0-0 

team news:

by Jim Panenka, Dallas Correspondent

Daddy's Home!

The Stars received a major boost to their defensive game when captain Derian Hatcher returned from an injured knee on March 20. Hatch wasted no time in making his presence felt again by registering an assist during the Stars' 6-1 blowout of the Carolina Hurricanes on March 20.

Hatcher's return proved more valuable than the single point, though. Dallas showed more of the same confidence and swagger it had lost due to earlier injuries with the team's captain back on the ice. It was obvious that Hatch's quiet leadership carried this team further than many might have guessed before he went on the shelf.

Nobody was happier to see Hatch back than his usual partner, Richard Matvichuk. Despite playing with a torn (missing) cartilage in one of his knees, Matty sucked it up big-time and absorbed the majority of the minutes Hatcher normally played. Matvichuk did all that was asked of him and more, including blocking numerous shots and standing up the opposition's best line, shift after shift.

Matty held up the d-men despite injuries to Hatcher and Zubov, and a two-game suspension levied against bad boy Craig Ludwig. The only help he had was from a bunch of guys recalled from the IHL. Matvichuk is just one example of why the Stars have continued to win despite missing a rotating cast of injured players.

The injuries have cursed Dallas all year long, and will not give the team any slack for what looks like the rest of the season. Currently out are Zubov, Reid, Modano, Hogue, Cote, and Harvey.

Mighty Mo shelved again

Mike Modano dislocated his shoulder following a clean check against the boards in Phoenix. Trouble was he had his shoulder rested on the glass, and as we all know, that continuous glass doesn't give as much as the plastic or Plexiglas inserts do in many of the older buildings. Modano's shoulder popped cleanly from the check. He will be on the shelf for the rest of the regular season, and possibly into the playoffs.

The injury sparked Don Cherry to make a commentary on all the players recently suffering the same fate. Ya have to ask yourself as a fan: Is a good view of the game worth any injury to a player, or retirement of a player due to injury?

Todd Harvey just went under the knife to repair torn cartilage in one of his knees just like teammates Modano, Hatcher, Bassen, and Matvichuk had earlier in the year. He can be expected to miss the customary two-to-three weeks. Harvey was day-to-day with back problems as well as the sprained knee - but battled through them and played when the team needed him.

Quacked-off Ducks

D-man extraordinare Craig Ludwig was fined $1,000 and suspended for two games for a hard hit to Teemu Selanne during the teams' March 13 brawlfest. Oh, you hadn't heard?

Luds' skates left the ice in an effort to rack Selanne's head into the boards behind the net. Selanne crumpled to the ice and layed for several minutes, unmoving. The Ducks were criticized for not retaliating against Chicago following Suter's now-infamous hit on Kariya, which left the star totally dazed and with a broken jaw. Well, make no mistake about it-the Ducks definitely retaliated after this hit.

Ludwig had to be left in the penalty box for his own protection while the zebra shirts figured out how to get him off the ice without getting mobbed. The Ducks' enforcers were foaming at the mouth and screaming to get at Ludwig. The tension was furious while the referee reported the initial penalty. About a minute later, the officials escorted Luds towards the tunnel to the locker room - holding off a Duck player the whole way.

As the group approached the door leading off the ice (which was ironically placed smack between both benches), the Ducks' bench erupted with a series of VERY animated conversations with Ludwig. One Anaheim player smashed his stick to the ice as close to Ludwig as he could. Luds finally left the ice after retorting to most of the verbal assault.

Well, you just knew something had to give. And boy, did it give just a few shifts later. Shortly after returning to play, the Ducks caught the "softer" Stars out on the ice, including an injured Darryl Sydor.

Sydor was wearing a face shield because of stitches in the mouth received from a blow by teammate Grant Marshall during a previous practice. His first shift out following the Ludwig melee, Sydor was attacked by a Duck player, even though he was obviously in a protective posture because of his facial injury. The other Stars on the ice were just trying to get off for a change, but most tied up their opposing partners while Sydor attempted escape.

It was an obvious act of goonery by Anaheim, one that was condoned by their coach Page. The Stars wanted nothing of it to begin with, but after this sorry display by the supposedly Mighty Ducks, they were going to have their answer to the situation. Hitchcock countered with Grant Marshall, Todd Harvey, and Jason Botterill.

Well, if you haven't seen Botterill, he is one big boy. He is similar in stature to a John LeClair. Botterill and Marshall dropped the gloves for Dallas against two Anaheim players the very next shift, and Marshall had a wild throw-down while Botterill had the usual wrestling match to the ice.

After the penalties were sorted out, the Ducks were down to one five-man unit to play, and one or two spares on the bench. Play continued until the last five minutes of the game, where several individual fights broke out. When all was said and done, Anaheim had no players left. You heard it right - there were ZERO players on the Anaheim bench!

Both teams had to resort to playing three-on-three hockey until two of the minor penalties could expire! There couldn't be any more penalties, so the officials had to resort to choking on the whistle, despite some very chippy play.

The net result was the ENTIRE Mighty Duck bench was emptied in retaliation to the hit on Selanne. OK, guys - we get the idea! You will stick up for your franchise players. Relax, already!

Yeah, it was a very unusual game - the funny (and very good) part of it was that Selanne was fine and played normal shifts the next game the following day. Ludwig was suspended while the league defined the final punishment of another game suspended and a cool grand.

The Stars proved they were still team-tough, with enforcers or without them, with injuries or without them. It doesn't matter who is wearing the jerseys, the team concept stays the same.

Dallas has survived incredibly well despite the injuries. When another player goes down, the others take up the slack. For the Stars, it isn't a cliche, it's a fact. Just witness the recent incredible performances by both Joe Nieuwendyk and Pat Verbeek.

Joe carries the weight (a long time)

Nieuwendyk single-handedly put the team on his shoulder for the Stars' 6-3 win over Anaheim. Joe netted the hat trick, and then closed out the scoring with his fourth goal of the game. It's a shame all the fighting overshadowed Nieuwendyk's great performance. Joe leads the team in goals with a bountiful 32 scores, 23 assists for 55 points. That is two shy to Modano's 57 overall points. It was also Nieuwendyk's second hat trick of the season.

Joe has taken up the scoring slack and then some for the missing Modano. He also revived a personal tradition of his by once again wearing the captain's C on his jersey during Modano and Hatcher's absences. He had also done so during the early preseason, just as he had done during past years in Calgary. He is one player that lives up to the captain's C every night, whether he's wearing it or not. The guy is one class act.

Nieuwendyk's feisty linemate, Pat Verbeek, wasn't about to be outdone by his glamour-boy centerman! The Beeker roared to life three games later by scoring a hat trick of his own against Carolina.

"I feel like every puck has a chance to go in," was Verbeek's response to the outpour of offense. It's a godsend to any Stars fan that remembers the Beeker's scoring demons of last season. Looks like he'll do just fine during this campaign, thank you. Verbeek already now has more goals than last season with a total of 25. He has also scored 24 assists for 49 points.

That now makes for five, count `em, five Stars forwards with 20 or more goals. The pecking order is: Nieuwendyk (32), Verbeek (25), Lehtinen (22), and both Modano and Langenbrunner close it out with 21 goals apiece. It makes you wonder what could have been if the team had stayed healthy!

Other Notes

* The Stars battled the Penguins Sunday to a scoreless tie. Yech! While it may have been the league's sixth scoreless tie this season, it was the first-ever for the Stars franchise since moving to Dallas. The fewer of those suffered, the better!

*Eddie Belfour stopped 20 shots (yes, the Stars only allowed 20 shots on goal) during the 0-0 tie for his ninth shutout of the season. Belfour currently is second only to Martin Brodeur in goals-against average (1.90) and wins (30-11-10). He is also second in shutouts (9). Did I mention the nine shutouts?

*Dallas is unbeaten in its last five games (4-0-1), and still has the league's best power play at 20.4%. The Stars have clinched a playoff berth and lead the league with an impressive 95 points (42-16-11).

*The Stars are still looking to pick up a big, scoring left winger. Todd Harvey was listed as the most likely to be traded, but that is in question now due to Harvey's knee surgery. Dallas may not make any moves at all before the trade deadline. It's all up to Bob Gainey, and he isn't saying.

*Carolina has just emerged publicly as a team that is courting free-agent-to-be Mike Modano. Modano (a Livonia, Michigan native) played previously for Carolina owner Peter Karmanos' minor hockey program in Detroit. Karmanos said he wants a star for the Canes while they try to build a stronger fan base in their new market.

"We'll be interested in seeing if there's any interest on his part," Karmanos said. "You never know. We're going to look at all our options."

Don't hold your breath, Peter...

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