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PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE Saturday, October 31, 1998 Western Conference Finals re-run a test for Stars By C. BRYSON HULL Associated Press Writer IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Champ versus contender. North versus South. Saturday's much-anticipated matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and the Dallas Stars has many themes worthy of a metaphoric frenzy. But the simple explanation is that the game puts the two best teams in hockey together for their first time since an epic Western Conference Finals battle. Detroit prevailed, four games to two, in a playoff series that many said paralleled the NFL's NFC Championship games, in that the winner was invariably the eventual champion. But in that series, the Stars earned the respect of the league and raised expectations of their play this year -- to the point where many hockey pundits are predicting Dallas will beat the Wings in the 1998-99 playoffs. Dallas players, meanwhile, say Saturday is just another game day. "If we don't win, we don't lose the Stanley Cup, and if we win, we don't win the Stanley Cup, so we're just looking at it as another game," the Stars' Mike Keane said. Dallas' Craig Ludwig was of similar mindset, but acknowledged Detroit is the one to beat. "We feel that they're one of the teams we need to go through to get to where we want to be," Ludwig said. For the Stars last year, that didn't happen until the final meeting of the 1997-98 regular season. Dallas, with a healthy lineup, took a 1-2-2 record against the Wings into the postseason. But in the final 3-1 victory on April 15, Detroit was without captain Steve Yzerman. In the other four games, the Wings had played without contract holdout Sergei Fedorov. "I don't think our team looks at them any differently than they did all last year," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. "There's a lot of tough games, but then there are games that are fun to play, when you know you're going to get challenged every shift, and I think our group looks at it that way." From his perspective as coach, Hitchcock said that whatever the game's outcome, it will provide another chance to learn how to beat the Red Wings. "Leaving the game, you get a pretty good feel for what needs to be worked on and addressed with your group," he said. It'll be the first of just four chances Hitchcock and his team will have to learn how to beat Detroit before it really counts.   Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below: texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local Sports Texas Sports Copyright ©1998, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below:

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