Stars being run over by big train that should

They have been outscored, outhit and outclassed by the Detroit Red Wings in almost every facet of the game in the Western Conference Finals, which is best illustrated by the fact that the Dallas Stars will be fighting for their very playoff lives tonight, down 0-3 in the best-of-seven series.

They have looked almost nothing like the team that shocked Anaheim and stunned San Jose in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

The Wings have pulled the plug on the Dallas power play and reminded the Stars' young defensemen that there's no place for raw and inexperienced players this deep in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Stars have been flustered, confused and frustrated by a much deeper, more talented team.

So here's my suggestion to you when the Stars take the ice tonight at the AAC:

Get on your feet and pay your respects to a Stars team that has played its heart out for you. Bring them out with a standing ovation and, whatever happens in the game, send them out the same way.

Whatever else you may think, they've earned it.

Look around you. Anybody else around here still fighting in the playoffs in mid-May?

Don't think so. In fact, the Stars have given us our longest run in the spring since the Mavs' trip to the NBA Finals two years ago.

By all rights, the Stars shouldn't be here. They weren't supposed to have a chance against the defending Stanley Cup champs in the first round, but it was the Ducks who went home mad.

In the semifinals, the Stars were expected to be easy pickings for the hungry Sharks, just about everyone's pick to win the Cup this year, but it was the Sharks who were disappointed.

Both were hard-fought, tense, six-game series, climaxed by that four-overtime win over San Jose at the AAC.

Now, The Little Team That Could has finally run out of steam. The tank is empty. The Stars are wheezing on fumes.

It's not that the heart isn't there. That's never been a problem with this team.

You could see that illustrated perfectly in Game 3's 5-2 loss Monday night when Brenden Morrow ricocheted awkwardly off the end boards and landed with his left arm bent behind him in ways it's not supposed to bend.

"Broken?" I typed onto my computer at the time, as Morrow slowly skated toward the bench, cradling the arm in front of him. He disappeared down the tunnel, done for the series I was sure, only to reappear on the bench and then back onto the ice 3 minutes later. The miracle of painkillers, no doubt.

It didn't matter that the Stars' chances of overtaking the Wings were zero. Morrow wasn't going to quit on his teammates. And this Stars team hasn't quit on you, the fans.

So I'm asking you, don't quit on the Stars.

There was some frustration Monday night, when the Stars struggled to mount an offensive threat even with six power plays. And there was some booing of the home team that came out of that frustration.

That's understandable. The talented Wings have made the out-of-gas Stars look like they're totally out of their league. While the Wings are making nifty plays and crisp, accurate passes, the Stars too often are fumbling the puck around, making turnovers and missing wide-open shots.

But the Stars don't deserve your disdain or your boos tonight. They deserve your deep and sincere appreciation. It'll probably be your last chance.

You might even save a little of that and share it with the Wings when it's all over. Yes, the Wings. You have been a witness to greatness on ice. There's a reason the Wings have won a single-season, franchise-record nine straight playoff games, and it's not all about the Stars.

Detroit may be the best NHL team we've ever seen around here, and that includes the 1999 Stanley Cup-winning Stars, who didn't have to play the Wings in the playoffs that year, thank goodness. The Stars are 6-15 in postseason action against the Wings and are on the verge of losing their fourth straight playoff series to them.

The Pavel Datsyuk-Tomas Holmstrom-Henrik Zetterberg line, with Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom manning the blue line, has been both unstoppable and impenetrable.

"The five best guys I've seen or played against in a long time," a weary, but realistic, Mike Modano said after Monday night's third straight loss. "They pretty much carried the team [Monday].

"They made some plays that were rare and you don't see 'em very often, but you kind of see them a lot from those guys."

Way too often in this series, and we haven't even talked much about the fact that the Wings have only had playoff scoring monster Johan Franzen for one game.

For two straight series, the Stars did almost everything right, starting with Marty Turco in goal.

They somehow survived the first series without veteran defensemen Sergei Zubov and Philippe Boucher, and Morrow made huge plays on offense.

But the quick-handed, fast-skating Wings have exposed the Stars' young defenders. Turco has been average, at best, and that's not good enough against a team like this.

Much of that has to do with the Wings, but some of it also has to do with the Stars simply getting to the end of their rope. They have run up against a far better team. The Wings are what the Stars hope to be someday.

It still wouldn't surprise me if the Stars jumped up, with heart and effort, and won a game tonight, but I keep remembering how the Wings, up 3-0 on Colorado in the last round, massacred the Avs 8-2 in Game 4.

Whatever happens, you owe your Stars a token of your appreciation. They've reminded us again what heart and grit can mean in sports. They've laid it all on the ice, for each other, and for you.

Tonight may well be your last chance to show them how much you care.