star-telegram.com: Jim Reeves

Jim Reeves: A miracle would be the Stars winning a game

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:45 CDT

By JIM REEVES

DALLAS -- Does the NHL have a mercy rule? Can we apply it now, please?

Show a little compassion, guys. Let our gritty little Dallas Stars limp off to the golf course right now, before somebody really gets hurt.

If you listened closely enough at the AAC last night, you could practically hear the ice beginning to melt.

The long, hot Texas summer is rapidly descending upon us, just not fast enough to spare the poor Stars one final indignity.

They still have to show up for Game 4 in less than 48 hours.

Whatever mojo the Stars had hoped to find by returning to home ice never materialized Monday night, and the Detroit Red Wings blistered their favorite whipping boy again in a 5-2 rout to a take a three-games-to-none lead in the Western Conference Finals.

Call off the dogs; this one's over, and everyone south of the Bering Sea and north of The Falklands knows it.

The Stars simply can't beat these guys, and I say that having been an eyewitness to such incredible sports surprises as Kirk Gibson's famous World Series home run and the ball bouncing through Bill Buckner's legs at Shea Stadium.

The Stars winning four straight from these Red Wings? Even Vegas oddsmakers, who have no hearts at all, have to be taking that one off the boards.

There will be no Miracle on Ice in this series. There's no hint of a Buster Douglas here, waiting to come storming out of his corner to floor Mike Tyson.

"These guys aren't Anaheim and San Jose," Stars center Mike Modano said. "Tons of skill. World-class players."

He's right. This is simply a mismatch from a talent standpoint.

Even worse, there's The Curse.

You know what I'm talking about. The Stars see Red Wings jerseys, and their insides turn to jelly. Their eyes cross. Their sticks turn into over-cooked spaghetti.

Marty Turco turns into a sieve. Even his holes grow holes when the Red Wings show up.

There's a reason Turco has won only twice in 20 career games against the Wings. They're good, and they're living in his head.

The one thing the Stars simply couldn't afford in this series was for Turco to be average, and he wasn't even that Monday night. He was spectacular against both Anaheim and San Jose, and that's what he had to be for the Stars to have a chance against the Red Wings.

Instead, Turco has played just as poorly as the team in front of him. It was a given that he would have to steal at least one game for the Stars to have a chance. He hasn't even come close to being larcenous.

"We're 0-3. I don't feel like I've given our guys the best chance to win," Turco said. "I just have to start stopping pucks and turn things around.

"This is going to be the biggest test of character we've had all year. It's going to come down to each guy doing their part. For me, it's making whatever saves necessary, the easy ones, hard ones or the ones I'm not supposed to [make]."

Jim Reeves: A wing and a prayer or whistling in the dark?

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:50 CDT

By JIM REEVES

It was my granddad who taught me how to whistle when I was knee-high to a tumbleweed more than half a century ago, but it was my grandmother, the former school principal, who advised me when that talent would best come in handy.

You whistle, she told her wide-eyed grandson, when you're walking past the graveyard at midnight. Whistle the loudest, she said, when you're most afraid.

My ears tell me that there was a whole lot of whistling going on Saturday night in the Dallas Stars' postgame locker room in Detroit.

Not that I blame them. If I were them, I'd be whistling, too.

The graveyard at midnight is suddenly very, very close at hand.

Let me give you a sample of the tunes the Stars were whistling after falling behind the Detroit Red Wings 2-games-to-none in their best-of-seven series.

Goalie Marty Turco: "The intensity built for us. It took a little longer than we'd like, but this locker room has no doubt that we can win some hockey games at home."

Center Brad Richards: "That was a close game, and it could have gone either way."

Center Mike Modano: "I think it was better. The effort was certainly there, and we played harder for the majority of the game."

Turco again: "We do feel like we're right there. The reality is, we're on the right path. We've been building since the drop of the puck in Game 1 to this point, and we just need to keep skyrocketing up for Game 3, and I have no doubt that we will.

"I certainly felt a lot better the last two periods. It was a good sign for me to play my best hockey of the series so far. That'll just lead into the next game for me. The rest of the team is right there."

Of course, they're all saying what they have to say after losing their second straight to a talented and focused Detroit team, but where Turco and the Stars find themselves is in a deepening hole that could reach six-feet before they even know what hit them.

Here's the reality Turco alluded to: The Stars showed the residual effects of that four-overtime thriller against San Jose a week ago in the Wings' 4-1 rout in Game 1, but they played their best period of hockey in this series in the first 20 minutes of Game 2 Saturday night... and still found themselves down 2-1.

They had a breakaway and a 4-on-1 odd-man rush in that first period, and in both cases failed to even get shots on net.

The realization that they just may not be good enough to make this series competitive, much less win four of the next five games to beat the Wings, is beginning to dawn on them.

And that may say more about the Wings than it does the Stars, who have already overachieved to get this far in the playoffs.

"We haven't done it [come back from 0-2] before [in these playoffs], but we're going to see what we're made of," captain Brenden Morrow said. "[Down] two games is tough against anyone, especially the Wings, the top team in the league. But [Game 2] was a good step."

A good step that still resulted in a loss. The Stars continue to be whipped in every facet of the game: goaltending, shots, physical play, skating, you name it.

The Wings have been a step ahead at every turn, even without their top playoff scorer Saturday night. Huge Johan Franzen, who had scored a dozen playoff goals, is out with concussion-like symptoms and won't play tonight either.

For awhile it appeared that break would be evened out when, not if, the NHL handed down a suspension to center Mike Ribeiro for his two-handed whack job on Wings' goalie Chris Osgood as Game 2 ended. Prudently, the league instead reviewed the tapes and realized that Osgood had instigated the incident by clipping Ribeiro in the face with the butt end of his stick, so there was no suspension. Ribeiro and Osgood were instead fined undisclosed amounts.

Two stupid acts shouldn't equal one penalty

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:52 CDT

By Jim Reeves

DETROIT -- Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood butt-ended Dallas Stars center Mike Ribeiro in the face with the knob end of his stick in the waning seconds at The Joe on Saturday night, and maybe, just maybe, that will mitigate how the NHL will react today to what happened next.

But don't count on it.

It's hard to mitigate stupid.

It's generally the guy who retaliates who gets slapped the hardest. If Ribeiro didn't already know that, he's about to find out the hard way.

An agitated Ribeiro went tit-for-tat on Osgood, giving the Wings' goalie a two-handed whack across the chest from across the net after time had expired.

It wasn't much more than a love tap, really, considering how padded an NHL goalie is, but Osgood reacted with an over-the-top swan dive that Robert De Niro would have been proud of. The referees immediately handed Ribeiro a match penalty, leaving open the very distinct probability that the Stars will be without the services of one of their top scorers for at least Game 3 on Monday night back in Dallas at the AAC.

The NHL tends to take a harsh stance on players who use their stick like an ax, whatever their provocation, as it should. It was a dumb play by someone who should know better.

"We'll see," Stars coach Dave Tippett said of a possible Ribeiro suspension. "That's for the higher powers to figure out."

No doubt the Stars' front office will be quick to point out that Osgood initiated the stick battle, but that doesn't forgive Ribeiro's momentary loss of composure or lessen how much it may cost his team.

Ribeiro declined to come out for interviews after the game and walked past waiting cameras and reporters on his way to the Stars' bus, saying he would talk back in Dallas today.

Coming on top of a 2-1 loss in Game 2 that gives the Red Wings a commanding two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series, this does not bode well for a Stars team struggling to find a way to penetrate the wall thrown up by Osgood and the Wings' talented defenders.

The Stars salvaged some pride and dignity by at least being competitive in Game 2, but that won't be enough to beat the Wings. It's going to take more rubber in the net, and the Stars have exactly two goals in this series and only nine in their last six games.

"We have to find a way to give ourselves a better opportunity to score," Tippett said. "We had three or four chances [in the first period] where we didn't even make [Osgood] make a save.

"In close games, you have to find a way to make one of those count. I thought our energy was much better tonight, but the execution wasn't what it needs to be to be successful."

Stars goalie Marty Turco, meanwhile, started slowly, and you can't get away with that against the Wings.

There was nothing particularly special about Darren Helm's wrist shot that beat Turco less than 6 minutes into the game, and even Henrik Zetterberg's power-play one-timer to break a 1-1 tie late in the period was a shot Turco admitted he should have stopped.

Turco is now a dismal 0-9-2 at Joe Louis Arena.

"It's just like scoring goals," Tippett said. "Our room for error is very slim. We can't give anything away around here. We have to find a way to win hockey games, whether it's with a big save, or a big goal, whatever."

Those big goals will be even harder to come by without the smooth-skating, skilled Ribeiro. That the incident came at the end of a game that was already lost makes it even more frustrating for the Stars.

"Ribeiro was going behind the net, and I think maybe Osgood thought he was going to run him," Tippett said. "Osgood sticks his stick out and catches Ribeiro right on the cheek with the butt end of his stick.

Hull's new-found patience paying off

Sun, 11 May 2008 09:13 CDT

By Jim Reeves

There was never any question in Brett Hull's mind why talented Swedish forward Fabian Brunnstrom would choose the Dallas Stars over NHL bluebloods such as the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I think he saw that there's a very good chance that there will be openings on our roster that would allow him to play for us next year," Hull said. "I think that was probably the deciding factor.

"Plus, I sent him an autographed picture."

Then he broke down in gales of laughter.

That Hull could find something to hoot about Friday, the day after the Stars were ignominiously slapped around by the Red Wings in the opening game of the Western Conference Finals, tells us two things.

One is that Brunnstrom has a chance to be one of those players who comes along only about once every 10 years or so, a player who can be a franchise difference-maker.

Two is that Hull, never known for his patience, has come a long way in his first year as the Stars' co-general manager with Les Jackson.

Far enough, fast enough, that owner Tom Hicks' first order of business when the Stars' playoff run is over should be to remove the "interim" tag from in front of Hull's and Jackson's titles.

Who knew this co-GM thing could work so well? Who knew that Hull would ever develop the patience required to handle a front-office job like this?

Oh, Thursday night's 4-1 loss was still agony for Hull, who'd rather have his toenails torn off than watch the Stars lose like that. But he's trying. He really is.

"It's murder," Hull said. "And it's not just games like last night; it's every game. When you're ahead, your lead's never big enough, and when you're behind it seems like it's impossible to catch up.

"When you're tied, it's like you'll never score again."

This, from one of the most positive-thinking people you'll ever meet.

"It's not a negative attitude, I promise," Hull said. "I knew we would beat San Jose in Game 6. It's just so much easier to play and have a say in what's going on, instead of just sitting there helplessly.

"When you're playing, you're out there and you can get the big goal, or set up the big goal, even make a defensive play (like he ever did anything like that). But when you're sitting up there, your hands are tied. You can't do anything."

Game 2 with the Wings is tonight at The Joe, and Hull, who won a Stanley Cup with each of these organizations, hopes the real Stars show up this time.

The fact is, Detroit simply may be too good for the Stars, but I do expect them to put up a fight, starting tonight. Their road to this point hasn't been easy. They've beaten the defending Stanley Cup champs (Anaheim) and disposed of the team most of the experts were picking to win it all (San Jose).

But Detroit is a different animal, and the Stars will have to go to a level they haven't reached all season to have a chance in this series.

Win or lose, they're a lot like Hull. They've come a long way since this season began.

It wasn't so long ago that we were bemoaning the fact that the Stars were getting old and the future didn't look so hot in an NHL where the salary cap makes it all but impossible to reload from one year to the next.

Nightmare in Detroit stalks Stars In my opinion

Sun, 11 May 2008 09:13 CDT

By JIM REEVES

DETROIT -- Stephen King couldn't have written a more horrifying script than the one the Dallas Stars penned for themselves Thursday night at The Joe.

Every murderous boogeyman hidden in the Stars' closet, every venomous monster lurking under the bed, every hideous ogre they've ever dreamed about in the depths of their darkest night came to life here in Game 1 of their Western Conference finals series with the Detroit Red Wings.

This is the fire-breathing dragon the Stars must slay, the only one left between them and another shot at the exalted Stanley Cup.

They'll never get that chance if they can't play better than this.

The Red Wings embarrassed the Stars 4-1, dominating the game almost from the moment the first octopus splattered on the ice during the national anthem to the final horn.

"I'm not worried about how the Red Wings played, I'm worried about how we played," head coach Dave Tippett said grimly. "That was a game that wasn't even close to how we've played in the playoffs.

"Whether it was fatigue or whatever, it is disappointing. We just didn't skate. Whether we left our legs back in Dallas, time will tell."

If you want to use the oh-but-they-just-played-a-quadruple-overtime excuse, this is the time to do it, but I'm not buying that alibi and neither was team captain Brenden Morrow.

"It's the Western Conference finals," an exasperated Morrow said. "Sure I'm surprised. We've had three days to recharge. I don't think we can use that quadruple overtime as an excuse. Maybe mentally there was [some residual hangover], but physically, I think we all felt pretty good.

"We gave up that goal on the 5-on-3 early, then we started panicking a little bit. That's what it looked like to me."

Chasing the game after the Wings took a 2-0 lead in the opening period, the Stars were guilty of seven mostly ticky-tack penalties, four in the first period, and the Wings scored three times on the power play, constantly parking a huge forward in Marty Turco's lap. The befuddled and meek Stars defenders either didn't have the guts to move him or simply couldn't get it done.

But this wasn't just a Wings' team taking advantage of the man -- or in the case of the first goal of the game, a 2-man -- advantage. Even when it was supposedly 5-on-5, I'd have sworn the Wings were sneaking three extra players onto the ice.

This was not the same Stars team which out-gritted, out-worked and ultimately out-lasted the tough Anaheim Ducks or San Jose Sharks in the first two rounds of the playoffs. This Dallas team was nervous, jittery and soft.

"We looked like we were lacking a little emotion or jump that we've been having," Turco said. "This team's resiliency has been the biggest factor for us to be at this point in the playoffs."

No resiliency this time. The Stars didn't just lose to the Wings, they capitulated. They allowed the Wings to do what they always do to the Stars here: play the role of schoolyard bully.

Don't for a minute believe the stat sheet that showed the Stars and Wings virtually even (31-30 Wings) in the hits department. The ones that counted were all delivered by the Wings.

The Stars validated every fear their fans had coming into this series.

Turco just can't beat the Wings: True.

Mike Modano never plays well in his home state of Michigan: True.

The Stars turn to Jell-O at the sight of Detroit's red jerseys: True.

Mavs may be on verge of hiring another Avery

Sun, 11 May 2008 09:13 CDT

By JIM REEVES

There's a story going around the NBA about a coach who was such a micro-manager, he once jumped off the bench as his team raced downcourt on a clean fastbreak and screamed "Slow it up!"

He wanted them to run one of his set plays, you see.

Avery Johnson?

Nope, Rick Carlisle.

Two different coaches. Same coaching world.

Now ask yourself, is this the guy who can get the most out of the Dallas Mavericks next season?

This is what scares me. Is Carlisle, reportedly in deep negotiations with the Mavs to become Johnson's replacement, simply another helping from the same pot of gumbo?

Because we need to get serious about this: Next season is what matters here.

That window of opportunity everyone seems so sure has already slammed shut is actually still open, but just a sliver. One season, Jason Kidd's last under contract, is what the Mavs have left before it's start-over time.

We'll worry about the future after that. But the Mavs should have one more run at this thing -- with the way the roster is set up, it's about all they can hope for -- and they'd better hire a coach who has the same type of urgency. Maybe Carlisle is that guy. His NBA coaching pedigree certainly isn't shabby.

He did, after all, take the Pacers to 61 victories and the Eastern Conference Finals in his first year there. Before that, he'd turned around a losing culture in Detroit and produced back-to-back 50-win seasons and another trip to the conference finals with a less-than-impressive roster.

His quick success at both stops earned him the reputation as a quick-fix artist, though his playoff record (30-32) is still two games under .500.

But the same things that wore thin with the Mavs players about Avery are also Carlisle's calling cards: control freak; eventually gets on players' last nerve; an absolute tyrant with point guards.

The only thing Carlisle seems to lack is Avery's massive ego. That's a plus.

There are others, too.

He's an extremely intellectual coach, which can sometimes make it seem like he's on another planet than the rest of us. He's an X's and O's genius (but so, we were told, was Avery).

He has been accused of having an unimaginative offense.

Sound vaguely familiar?

Seriously, Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have to be convinced that this guy is ready to do what Avery wouldn't. He has to loose the reins on the offense and rely on Kidd's instincts as a potential Hall of Fame point guard.

That means Carlisle can't do what he did in both Indy and Detroit, and that's call every offensive play. And he has to turn the Mavs loose to run when they have the chance, something he didn't do even with good athletes at Indianapolis.

Will Rangers wash their hands of manager?

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:14 CDT

By JIM REEVES

I heard a local sports talk show host suggesting Wednesday that just about any casual baseball fan off the street could manage the Texas Rangers at least as well as Ron Washington has in his one season, plus one month, in the first-base dugout at The Ballpark in Arlington.

It gave me an idea for the Rangers' next big promotion, which I offer to new team marketing guru Dale Petroskey free of charge, my own personal "welcome wagon" gift.

Hold a "Manager of the Month" contest that any fan -- male or female -- can enter and win.

Really, how hard could it be?

Scribble nine names onto a lineup card.

Ask pitching coach Mark Connor whose turn it is to start on the mound.

Sit next to former big league manager Art Howe and listen to his sage advice.

Tug on your earlobe or wipe your nose now and then to signal a hit-and-run or sacrifice bunt.

Given 27 games, like Washington had had going into Wednesday night's game with Kansas City, all Joe Fan would have to do to match the current Rangers' manager would be win one-third of his games, a measly nine. You could do that, right?

Heck, Rusty the Longhorn that picks football games in the fall could do that.

That Washington apparently will leave town after today's game with his job still in hand is perhaps the biggest surprise of a local sports week filled with shockwaves, from the Stars' unexpected playoff success to the firing of Mavs coach Avery Johnson less than 12 hours after his team's first-round elimination.

I was all but certain the Rangers would hold a news conference Monday to announce Washington's dismissal, especially after reading general manager Jon Daniels' quotes following last Friday's meeting with owner Tom Hicks and club president Nolan Ryan. It was more what Daniels didn't say than what he did.

Daniels had every opportunity to declare that Washington is his manager, period. End of story. He didn't. He couldn't.

It's not his call any more.

So when it didn't happen Monday, I figured it would certainly come no later than Wednesday, before the team leaves on a six-game road trip to Oakland and Seattle after today's game.

Again, no announcement. There Washington was before Wednesday night's game, working up a sweat throwing batting practice to his players.

Maybe it's just that Hicks doesn't want to do anything to steal headlines from his Stars right now.

Ryan was back at The Ballpark on Wednesday night, sitting with Petroskey in the owner's box by the dugout, but Nolan has had other things on his mind this week after a family emergency in the Panhandle.

And Daniels hasn't wavered in his support for Washington, nor would I expect him to do that.

"Anybody I hire and bring into the mix, I have strong ties to," Daniels said. "I'm not going to jump ship on him, and I'm not saying that just to be a martyr.

Turco has taken his duties, his team to a serious level

Thu, 01 May 2008 09:22 CDT

By JIM REEVES

Hockey, by its nature, is a game of scars. The speed, the flashing blades, the violent collisions, inevitably see to that.

That most of Marty Turco's scars are on the inside, instead of the outside, doesn't mean that they have been any less painful.

On the contrary, I would argue that Turco has bled more than most in his NHL career. His hemorrhages have simply been internal. That's the lot of an NHL goaltender.

It's no coincidence that the Dallas Stars have advanced this deep in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in five years with Turco playing at a higher level.

We can talk about how Mike Modano owns San Jose, or Brad Richards' four third-period points in Game 2 Sunday night, or even the dramatic return of defenseman Sergei Zubov, but make no mistake about it, the Stars are where they are, leading the Sharks 2-games-to-none in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series, because Turco has been, hands down, the best player on the ice.

As the Stars and Sharks line up tonight for Game 3 at the AAC, there's not a single player on either team who doesn't know that.

This is the new and different Turco, the one we actually saw emerging during last year's seven-game, first-round loss to Vancouver, when the Stars won three times only because he pitched shutouts.

This Turco, the father of two young daughters, doesn't laugh as much as he did when he was 27 and coming off a modern-day NHL record-setting season after replacing Eddie Belfour and posting an amazing 1.76 goals-against average in his first full year between the Stars' posts.

Subsequent playoff failures, when the fickle finger of blame found itself, more often than not, wagging in Turco's direction changed his outlook, changed his approach, even changed his persona.

Like most of us, he simply didn't know then what he knows now.

"For me, the complete understanding of what I need to do for this hockey club has come to me," Turco said in San Jose, where the Sharks threw everything they had in his direction and it still wasn't enough. "I've always known that stopping the puck and moving it and giving these guys confidence is what I've wanted to do, but I'm just at a better place now.

"You always wish you'd known more things when you were younger, but there's nothing I would change now that got me to this point."

He understands and appreciates the first-round losses now as learning experiences, a process that he needed to go through and absorb to become the goaltender and person he is today.

"Experience is a huge thing for anybody, experiences you can draw on to keep you calm," Turco said. "My game has developed with a lot of confidence to trust my instincts and abilities, to remain in position and to remain patient and to be strong for the whole game.

"Every facet of being a professional athlete has been tremendously better. It's been a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrificing, but that's exactly what I wanted."

Stars' play-by-play TV and radio announcer Ralph Strangis has had a front seat for Turco's metamorphosis from cocky playoff failure to quiet, efficient brilliance.

"Losing humbles you. It slaps you in the face," Strangis said. "I imagine life had always been pretty easy for Marty Turco. He'd won at every level, played on two national [collegiate] championship teams.

"Then he had to wait behind Belfour, and I'm sure he thought he would step right in and [win Stanley Cups], too, and he didn't."

At least not yet. But this Turco, who owns a 1.99 goals against-average for the first eight games of the 2008 playoffs, has the talent, and now the maturity, to do exactly that.

"What you're seeing is the maturity of becoming a veteran goaltender, accepting his role on the team," coach Dave Tippett said. "His leadership has evolved and his leadership is essential for our team.

Zubov's awaited return is a thing of beauty

Thu, 01 May 2008 09:23 CDT

By JIM REEVES

Just when it looked like this one would have to be filed directly under "Be Careful What You Wish For," Sergei Zubov reminded us of just what the Dallas Stars have been missing for the past three months.

For almost a hundred days the Stars had been anxiously waiting for Zubov, without question their best and most experienced defenseman, to recover from an assortment of injuries, including sports hernia surgery performed less than four weeks ago.

So what happens?

Zubov finally returned to the ice Sunday night at HP Pavilion, and the Sharks took advantage of several layers of rust and a pair of slow legs to score both their goals.

But hold the phone, puck-breath, there's one more little chapter to this feel-good story, the most important one of all.

It was some of that old Zubov magic, a whirling eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head, cross-ice pass that the Silent Russian zipped right onto Mike Modano's stick to set up the Shark-killer's game-winning goal.

Once again dominating the third period, the Stars, who trailed 2-1 when the final period began, stunned the Sharks 5-2 to take a 2-games-to-none lead in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series.

Zubov, you see, wasn't the only player who showed up for the first time in this series. So did center Brad Richards, a total waste in Game 1. Richards picked up a turnover and scored the tying goal early in the period, then added three assists.

That's more like what the Stars expected and needed from their huge trading-deadline acquisition.

But it was Zubov's return and his incredible game-changing pass that had the dressing room buzzing after the game.

"I struggled in the first half of the game, but felt better after that," Zubov said. "Personally, for me, as long as I have the same support I did tonight, I'll be fine."

Fine doesn't even come close to how the Stars feel about Zubov's return to action. It was a toss-up who was happier to have him back on the ice, head coach Dave Tippett or Modano.

"You have to always be ready for [the puck]," Modano said, shaking his head. "You have to be prepared, because Sergei can get it to you whenever.

"You have to realize it's coming to you, and he had [Sharks' goalie Evgeni Nabokov] out of the net a little bit."

Out of the net? How about out of his jock?

Modano had just taken a shot that had hit a skate and eventually skittered back to Zubov near the right side wall.

Modano, knowing how Zubov operates, had quietly circled back on the other side while every Shark defender's attention -- especially Nabokov's -- was focused on Zubov.

Without hesitation, Zubov whirled 360 degrees, backhanding the puck across the ice to the now wide-open Modano, who knew exactly what to do with it. His lightning-like wrister beat Nabokov on the stick side before the goalie could react.

"I had spun back the other way and everyone kind of gravitated towards Zubie," said Modano, whose goal was his second in two games and seventh this year against the Sharks.

"That's 'shinny' hockey at its finest, but with Zubie, that's part of his game," Tippett said. "That's pretty special right there, to find a guy right on his tape, spinning around like that, that's a special play. But we've seen that from Zubie around here for a long time."

Stars await the day silent Russian says, 'I'm ready to play'

Thu, 01 May 2008 09:23 CDT

By JIM REEVES

Sergei Zubov was as uncomfortable as he'd been all day, and that says a lot about a guy recovering from hernia surgery less than a month ago and fresh off a 45-minute on-ice workout.

But that -- practicing with his Dallas Stars teammates -- is Zubov's element. This was not.

He sat fidgeting, a smile frozen on his face, as a handful of reporters, notebooks and tape recorders in hand, encircled him in the cramped dressing room at Logitech, a local ice rink, where the Stars had just completed practice Saturday.

Even now, after all these years with the Stars, Zubov still isn't completely at ease as the center of media attention. He prefers to do his thing quietly and efficiently, and then to slip away while others do the talking.

The Silent Russian, if you will.

But now the Stars need him to break his code of silence. They need to hear four words from their best puck-handling defenseman, who hasn't played since January:

"I'm ready to play."

Sometime today, before the Stars and San Jose Sharks meet in Game 2 of their quarterfinals playoff series, would be just fine.

The puck, as they say, is on Zubie's stick.

"It's up to him now," Stars coach Dave Tippett said for the second straight day Saturday. "Zubie is a special player. When he comes to me and tells me he's ready to play, then he's in the lineup."

Tippett has no problem saying that even though his patched-together defense corps -- a mixture of scarred veterans such as Stephane Robidas and Mattias Norstrom combined with a cast of wide-eyed youngsters -- somehow held together long enough to dispose of Anaheim in six games in round one and skates tonight with a 1-0 series lead in the second round.

"Believe me," Tippett said, "we'll find a place for Zubie."

Of course they will, and the sooner the better.

This is not meant in any way to suggest that Zubov, 37, is a malingerer. On the contrary, he underwent a radically new, supposedly less-invasive, hernia surgery in Munich, Germany, just 24 days ago, on April 3. Recovery time for this type of surgery is reportedly around a month.

But this was Zubov's second sports hernia surgery in a year. The first one knocked him out of the seventh game of last year's playoff series with Vancouver.

He was sidelined with foot and groin injuries Jan. 17 here in San Jose, then came the second hernia surgery a little more than three weeks ago. He hasn't played in a game in more than three months.

What has he missed most?

"Everything," he said. "This is the longest I've been out of the lineup in my career. It's tough; tough to handle, tough to go through.

"It makes me look forward to getting back."

The one thing he feels he can't do on the ice right now?