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Randy Galloway 
Stars' Morrow is raising the bar for any would-be stars
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
For those not paying attention, for those who will tend to dismiss it with a smug shrug (it's just hockey, who cares?), it might be best if you consider the current case of Brenden Morrow.
Where else around here are you going to find that?
That one player who can personally hoist a team above and beyond all postseason expectations, the one player who not only takes over a playoff game, but a complete playoff series, doing it already not once, but twice...
Shock me, shock even Tom Hicks, the owner who catches so much grief on not one, but two continents (actually, I think they hate Tom more in Liverpool), now actually has a team on a New York football Giants kind of postseason amazement trip.
One disclaimer: What the Stars have accomplished thus far, it's a given this begins with Marty Turco. Pitching, quarterbacking and goalies are where you win or lose.
But for delivering hell, fire and damnation on an opponent, it's been a long while locally -- Cowboys, Mavericks or Rangers included -- since we've seen anything like what Morrow has suddenly become. And the next question is obvious:
Do our other teams have anybody who might be capable of the same?
While disrupting a couple of good hockey clubs (Anaheim and San Jose) with muscle and mayhem, Morrow also repeatedly provides the big-moment scoring touch.
Next up, the conference finals, the last step before the sainted Stanley Cup Finals, begins Thursday night in Detroit. Again, the Stars are a huge underdog.
But the best advice I can give you is:
(1) Watch.
(2) Watch No. 10 in the Stars sweater.
To make it real elementary, Morrow is a forward, or in his case a "power forward." Forwards are on the ice in 3-man shifts. The physical toll is such that ice time is supposed to be 50 seconds a shift. Anything over 60 seconds, and a player is condemned for cheating his team.
Can Morrow take over a game, or a series against the top-seeded Red Wings? That's questionable, but any local sports fan is cheating himself if he's not tuning in for shift after shift involving this guy.
Let's be blunt, but honest. Normally our teams go playoff punk. As underdogs, they don't deliver. As favorites, they choke. The Stars have been involved on both counts, going back to the turn of this century.
But now? Morrow, along with Turco, has provided the long-awaited wow.
And seeing it from Morrow, who in his ninth season with the Stars has never had anything close to this on his résumé, made me wonder if the Cowboys, the Mavericks or the Rangers had the player who some postseason soon can suddenly emerge into a Brenden Morrow.
Maybe. Maybe not.
Actually, the Rangers are the longest shot of all to ever even make the playoffs again, but center fielder Josh Hamilton, with only a brief glimpse thus far, might come the closest to fitting the Morrow profile. And that includes all the players on both the Cowboys and Mavs.
But, of course, Hamilton also has the smallest collection of talent around him, plus Josh is still very green.
The Cowboys? On offense, it would be quarterback Tony Romo, although the if-if-if factors are many, starting with him getting his head out of his navel when it comes to common sense at playoff time. And, obviously, Tony needs a playoff win. On defense, that's DeMarcus Ware, but the killer instinct has to also arrive for this young star.
The Mavericks? We've seen Dirk take over playoff games in the past, but, OK, he's not considered the answer. It was interesting that beyond Nowitzki, the one player Hornets coach Byron Scott feared the most was the player without a real position, Jason Terry.
Scott said Terry was the Mavs' dynamite. If the fuse was lit, he could go off, and ignite his team. It's true, except the consistency factor for Terry makes him a player to respect, but not fear, despite Scott's fear.
What Morrow teaches us, however, is that surprises can happen. Hello, Dirk.
Over the years, Brenden has been a solid player, with enough leadership skills and work ethic to legitimately earn the C on his sweater. Unlike other sports, captain is a huge honor in hockey.
But taking over games, not to mention an entire series? No one thought that about Morrow. He has reached the ultimate point in the playoffs where the Red Wings have now tagged Morrow with "if we stop him, we win the series."
Known for his physical play, but also once known for taking untimely penalties, Morrow has now emerged as the guy who delivers the timely and brutal blows. In hockey, the right kind of check ignites a team the same as a goal.
Speaking of goals, Morrow had scored eight in 60 playoff games prior to April. He now has seven in his last 12 games, and don't get me started on the one, maybe two, that off-ice reviews took away from Brenden against San Jose.
Even the great Hitch teams of the late '90s never had a Morrow doing what Morrow is now doing. OK, those hockey clubs were so balanced, they didn't need a one-man army, but still...
With Morrow doing this, there is hope for many. But for now, if you aren't watching him do it, consider yourself missing something spectacular.
Randy Galloway's Galloway and Co. can be heard 3-6 p.m. weekdays on ESPN/103.3 FM.
Randy Galloway, 817-390-7760
