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 Optimism high as Stars head into offseason

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Stars goalie Marty Turco was clean-shaven as he met the media Wednesday in Frisco. The playoff beard was gone earlier than he had hoped. The enthusiasm over what this team accomplished wasn't gone though.

"I wasn't ready to stop playing," said Turco, who added that he didn't even have razor handy when he needed it. "Everyday it was more fun. That was the best part of it all."

And even though the Stars' season at the hand of the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Final, there was a lot of optimism as the team headed off into the offseason.

"We're doing the right things," said Turco.

The Stars' trip to the conference final was the deepest the team has been in the playoffs since 2000. There was no wringing of hands over another first round exit. On this day the talk was about loftier goals.

"It was a great run, but now I think it is the responsibility of the players to take it to a new level," said center Brad Richards. "We've got a young core and young guys who have stepped up. Now it is our job to keep going, play in that Stanley Cup Final and have a chance to win. We want to contend for Presidents' Trophy, division or whatever and expectations are to make that run for the Stanley Cup."

Those expectations are high because of how much progress the Stars made during the season. The Stars, a team some picked to miss the playoffs at the start of the season, toppled two of the top teams in the West in Anaheim and San Jose as they shook that label of a first round and out team.

"You take a lot of positives out it. The way the young kids came in and showed that they could play at this level, even while they were just learning the NHL game bodes bright for our future," said co-GM Brett Hull. "The leadership, Brenden [Morrow] and the whole group, the way they stepped up and took control of the team and led us through the playoffs was something that missing a little bit. That take charge attitude was great to see.

"You saw a lot of playoff demons that you guys like to talk about get cast away. And you saw a lot of players who hadn't experienced a lot of success in playoff time, and now that they've had it I think you see a lot of people that are excited about the future, want to get there again and want to get further."

While the Stars made progress, there was also the recognition that there is work to be done in the future. It was hard to get to this year's level. It will be harder to go beyond that next season.

"There are a lot of positives, but recognize the work we put in and how hard it was to get where we were and recognize how hard it is going to be to take that next step," said coach Dave Tippett. "The next step is the one we all want to take."

And this season's run is a good foundation upon which the team build.

"The experiences you learn the farther you are invaluable for everybody - coaches, players, management. You see the level you get to and we're not quite to Detroit's level yet. That's the extra bit we need. You learn a lot about your team and where you need to go."

So, how close are the Stars? Hull said they are almost there.

"We're close. You look at the team we lost to and that's the bar. That's where we are trying to get our bar to," said Hull. "It's not an overnight fix and it's nothing where you can snap your fingers and say, 'OK.' Maybe you could before, go out and buy players. You can't do that anymore. It's going to take time, but we're going in the right direction."

As for where they can improve, Tippett offered this.

"There are a lot of little things," he said. "We have a lot of blocks in place that need to be there. Our goaltending is fantastic. We have a defense that is young and has a lot of room for improvement there. Up front we have some questions marks because of free agency, but we've got [Fabian] Brunnstrom coming in, and he is supposed to be a very good player.

"The ability for our young players to take the next step has been real strong. I am very enthused about his group. We have a lot of great pieces in place. I am sure we'll look at a lot of different options in the summer to give us that extra boost."

Modano, for his part, still likes the idea of the team finding that scoring winger. He thinks the team did well without that kind of player this season, but thinks it is something the team could use down the road.

"You look at the way the game is played, it’s skill, it’s speed, it’s scoring, it’s doing all those things at a high tempo and pace," Modano said. "At times we were able to do that, but you’re still looking at that pure goal-scorer, that guy who can change the outcome of a game with one shot. Those are few and far between. I think we recognized that as a team. Our game plan allowed us to play very competitively even though we were missing that. I think Dave did a good job understanding the personnel we have and applying a game play that suited those players."

But whatever the Stars do this summer, the general feeling is that the ship is heading in the right direction after a few years being stuck in neutral when it came to the playoffs.

"We're improving. We made great strides this year," said Morrow. "We'd all like to be still be playing right now. We just realized how hard it is and how hard you are going to have to work to get back to where we were. We feel real good about ourselves. There core is returning. There is always going to be some changes. We believe in management to give us the best chance to win. Our team made some good progress this year."