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Saturday, May 30, 1998

Stars' GM watches his team flourish in playoffs

By DAVE CALDWELL / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS -- Bob Gainey practically sits up in the rafters during Stars games at Reunion Arena -- always in the first row of the press box, always in the second seat from the right.

His office is tucked into a little-trafficked corner of the Dr Pepper StarCenter. His desk is placed in such a way that his back is to the big glass window that overlooks the practice rink.

If you are thinking the Stars general manager does not particularly care if he is noticed during the Stars' fun playoff run, well, you are pretty much correct.

"It's consistent with his personality," said Jim Lites, the team's president. "Bob's a guy who's always liked to give the credit to everyone else."

And yet no one in the organization, Lites said, deserves more credit for building the Stars into one of the best teams in the NHL. Not that you would ever hear Gainey say such a thing.

"I just look at myself," he said softly, "as a part of the group."

Two-and-a-half years after, in essence, firing himself as the Stars coach, Gainey has given coach Ken Hitchcock a great team and has more or less stepped out of the way.

And to magnificent results: Under Gainey and Hitchcock, the Stars have won nearly 60 percent of their games. As coach and GM for 4 1/2 seasons, Gainey's Stars won only 48 percent.

The Stars' three pivotal transactions this season were all Gainey masterstrokes: the signing of goalie Ed Belfour, the trade for veterans Brian Skrudland and Mike Keane (both former teammates of Gainey's in Montreal, by the way) and the re-signing of team cornerstone Mike Modano.

"A lot it had to do with (owner) Tom Hicks, and a lot of it had to do with Bob Gainey," Modano said last week. "Everybody wants to come here and play in Dallas, and I feel lucky to be here right now."

Much of that has to do with Gainey, 44, who is in his eighth season with the Stars. Hitchcock has become the front man for the Stars, the team's spokesman. He will be the first to tell you that he has had some help.

"I think I have a real advantage here in Dallas," Hitchcock said. "I'm working with a man who has a distinct knowledge of knowing what it takes to win -- as a player and as a coach.

"I can't say enough how much he's helped me as a coach. He's given me lots of information -- a lot of private things, a lot of personal beliefs. And it's information that's been tried and tested."

You just don't see Gainey much.

After the Stars eliminated Edmonton in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Gainey was trapped by reporters in a corner of the Stars' dressing room -- the first time he was seen there in the playoffs. He was asked to put the glorious moment into perspective.

"We know we're halfway there," he said. "But it's going to be as difficult, or more difficult, as we go along."

Then Gainey was whisked away.

The fact is, he likes being just the general manager. As he sat in his StarCenter office on a quiet Saturday afternoon, a midget hockey game played out below him, Gainey said he really does not miss being behind the bench all that much.

"I haven't had this emptiness in the stomach that somewhere I should be back in coaching," Gainey said.

"I think part of Bob misses coaching," Lites said.

But only a part.

Gainey has not used the extra time on his hands to make more deals.

When the Stars traded Todd Harvey and Bob Errey to the New York Rangers for Keane and Skrudland on March 24, it was the first trade Gainey had made in almost two years.

What Gainey has done is his homework -- meticulous amounts of it. Take the Keane-Skrudland deal, which has helped the Stars immensely.

The Stars needed veterans to replace injured players, and they needed gritty players who would not wreck the Stars' team chemistry, which is never easy to build.

Every ramification of the trade was dealt with before the trade was made. Hitchcock was encouraged to give his input, and although Gainey had played with Keane and Skrudland in his final year in 1988-89, Gainey wanted every shred of information he could get -- including personal information.

"He didn't do it without getting information from all the people who would be involved," Hitchcock said. "Bob knew that Keane and Skrudland were throwbacks to team-first people."

Gainey took a calculated risk. The Rangers wanted the 23-year-old Harvey, a popular player and a former Stars first-round draft pick. Gainey made the trade -- but not without some reservations.

"It wasn't that these players came without a price," Gainey said.

He looks like a genius now, but all Gainey said he was doing was covering every angle. He has not been able to do much about the team's relentless run of injuries this year, but he has fostered a feeling of togetherness in the Stars' dressing room.

"Hockey lends itself to team chemistry," Gainey said. "The group that's able to come together as a group can overcome more talented opposition. Momentum and chemistry can be one and the same. Once things start rolling for you, the little glitches that take away from the team seem to disappear."

This has been why Gainey, who takes meticulous notes during games, has not felt the need to tinker much. The nucleus of a strong team was there last year, and once Gainey identified the areas of need -- a goalie and some defensive help -- he went out and got Belfour and Shawn Chambers.

Along the way, there has been a delightful bonus. This is a hockey team that a city without a hockey reputation can like. Think of these Stars as hockey's version of the 1996 Texas Rangers.

"I think it's a great team to watch," Gainey said. "They play at an emotional level that's easy to recognize. And I don't just think it's just a team for today. It's important not to simply dump everything into today."

In two months in Dallas, Keane has noticed that Gainey runs the the team like he played the game. Gainey was, after all, a winger who was known for his ability to play defense.

"When Bob was there, he didn't say a lot," Keane said, "but everyone took notice, anyway. If you lead on the ice, people will follow. He wasn't an outspoken guy, he wasn't a rah-rah guy, but everybody followed his lead.

"He doesn't take a lot of credit here, either. He spreads it throughout the players, and throughout the coaches, and I think that's the way he wants it."

Meanwhile, Gainey was up in his office. Back to the window. Alone. And on the telephone.

"He doesn't talk a lot about coaching," Hitchcock said, "but I know how competitive he is, and I would be surprised if Bob didn't miss it. Knowing how competitive he was as a player or coach or general manager, you don't like to be too far away from the action."

Bob Gainey is close enough.

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Distributed by The Associated Press