Series Is on the Launch Pad

The Dallas Stars only had a couple of days to get ready for their second-round playoff series against the Mighty Ducks, but their playoff banter was already up to speed.

Star right wing Claude Lemieux went fishing Monday, casting out an accusation.

Since “Your mother wears army boots!” wasn’t going to work, Lemieux weighed in about Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s equipment. Game 1 was still 48 hours away when Lemieux cried foul.

“They’re too big,” Lemieux said to Dallas reporters, referring to Giguere’s upper body pads. “I don’t know what the regulations are or whatever, but his pads are way too big. It almost looks like two pads on top of each other.”

The reaction was hardly an angry one in the Duck dressing room.

Giguere smiled.

Duck right wing Steve Thomas laughed.

“I guess his job is to stir the pot,” Thomas said.

Giguere smothered the Detroit Red Wings in the first round, with a 1.24 goals-against average and .965 save percentage in the sweep.

“My pads are legal and that’s all I have to say about that,” Giguere said. “The game is played on the ice, not outside, I’m not going to get involved.”

Duck General Manager Bryan Murray said that Giguere’s equipment, like all goalies’, is checked regularly by NHL officials. The last time was before the Detroit series.

“I guess they have had too much time off too,” Duck Coach Mike Babcock said. “People have to say something. Whatever.”

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This will be a profitable summer for Giguere, as his contract comes up this summer. He made $900,000 this season and will move into the seven-figure area code in his next contract.

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The Stars had 39 power-play chances and scored on seven of them against the Edmonton Oilers in the first round. The Ducks were blanked on 14 power plays, making them the only team without a power-play goal in the playoffs.