Dallas Stars Have Made Their Point

The way the Dallas Stars are playing this season, nothing less than a Stanley Cup championship would satisfy them. The same could be said for the Philadelphia Flyers.

“We won the President’s Trophy last year, and we also advanced into the third round (of the playoffs),” general manager Bob Gainey said. “So in the spirit of trying to do more and better than last year, a trip to the finals would seem to be what we need to do.”

The Stars have the best record (27-9-7, 61 points) and the Flyers are second (24-10-10, 58) at the season’s halfway point as the league breaks for Sunday’s All-Star Game.

“We are a team that’s categorized as a Stanley Cup contender, and I think we’re earning that right to stay in that category,” Gainey said.

The Stars will have four players in the All-Star game at the Ice Palace. Center Mike Modano, defenseman Darryl Sydor and goaltender Ed Belfour will represent the Stars on the North America team, while defenseman Sergei Zubov will play for the World team.

The Flyers have two representatives on the North America team--center Eric Lindros and forward John LeClair.

The Stars are among a group of strong teams in the West that also includes the Phoenix Coyotes and Detroit Red Wings. Included among the Stars’ accomplishments this season is a 3-0 record against the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season.

“It is just an understanding that we can win in Joe Louis (Arena),” Modano said about his team’s sudden turnaround against Detroit this season. “That has been something that has weighed on our shoulders the last two or three years.”

Until winning twice within two weeks in Detroit this season, the Stars had lost six straight in Joe Louis Arena and were 1-17-2 in their 20 previous visits there.

The Flyers reached the Stanley Cup finals two years ago, then were swept by the Red Wings.

Philadelphia had a 15-game unbeaten streak this season before losing to Toronto last weekend. The Maple Leafs, one of the NHL’s surprise teams this season, lead the Northeast Division and have produced a league-high 152 goals.

The Ottawa Senators were expected to do well after a strong showing in last season’s playoffs, and a recent 8-0-3 run confirmed their strength.

The Red Wings, meanwhile, had four players voted into the All-Star starting lineup by the fans--but two have been knocked out of the game by injury.

Steve Yzerman, the starting center on the North America team, broke his nose Thursday night against Carolina, and will be replaced on the roster by Luc Robitaille of Los Angeles.

Defenseman Uwe Krupp, injured previously, will be replaced in the World team starting lineup by Teppo Numminen of the Coyotes.

Detroit’s Brendan Shanahan will be one of the starting forwards on the North America team and Nicklas Lidstrom will start for the World Team on defense.

Boston defenseman Ray Bourque will make a record 12th All-Star start. Other starters for the North American team will be defenseman Al MacInnis of St. Louis, forward Paul Kariya of Anaheim and goaltender Martin Brodeur of New Jersey.

The other starters for the World Team are goaltender Dominik Hasek of Buffalo, center Peter Forsberg of Colorado, and forwards Jaromir Jagr of Pittsburgh and Teemu Selanne of Anaheim.