Who will Belfour rack this year?
The Stars wrapped up the regular season somewhat quietly, going
4-4-0 in April and ending on two losses to Phoenix and Colorado.
What's that sound? It's the sound of no one caring.
It's playoff time.
The Stars are coming off a major high, having dominated the
regular season. Dominated is not even the right word. More
like.....'super'-dominated...well you get the point.
They grabbed the President's Trophy once again, and this year
added the Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals against. But, you
can't drink out of the President's trophy. You may be able to
drink out of the Jennings. I haven't actually seen it.
The Stars head into the postseason without captain Derian
Hatcher, suspended for the first five games for laying the smack
on Jeremy Roenick's head, and taking Keith Tkachuk's big mouth
with it. The big "C" will be sewn to Joe Nieuwendyk's jersey in
his absence. Also out is the feisty veteran winger Pat Verbeek
with a sprained knee. Pat is expected to start skating later this
week.
Edmonton is seen by most everyone as a heavy underdog going into
this series. The Stars went 10-1-1 against Edmonton in the last
12 regular season games. History has shown that underdogs can be
a powerful force when playoff time comes around, with Edmonton
having upset Dallas in the 1997 playoffs, and Colorado in 1998.
"We learned a lot from that thing that happened two years ago,"
coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We know not to overlook anybody. We
learned our lesson."
However, this is not the same Oilers that did those evil things.
No more will Curtis Joseph be freaking out in the net. They are
also without their top two scorers, Bill Guerin and Josef
Beranek, both out with injuries for at least the first couple of
games.
"We're confident but we know the other teams can beat us if we
play like a bunch of arrogant dogs," Brett Hull said. "If anybody
thinks we're going to walk over a lower seeded team they are
sadly mistaken."
Let's hope Dallas sticks to this attitude. Edmonton goes into
this race with nothing to loose.
"We don't stand a chance," Oilers coach Ron Low.
Sing it, brother.
