Coach Hitchcock on Filling the Gap

(Thanks to Mark Stepneski, Andrew's Dallas Stars Page, excerpted)
9/13/2000

When the Dallas Stars signed center Shaun Van Allen in July they did so to help fill the hole left by the retirement of Guy Carbonneau. Put a big emphasis on help. Van Allen is just one of several players that will try to help offset Carbonneau's departure.

Van Allen, whom Stars coach Ken Hitchcock thinks is the definitive checking line center, is Carbonneau's on-ice replacement and nothing more.

"You can replace older players with ability. You're never going to replace the personality of Guy Carbonneau," Hitchcock said on KTCK-1310 The Ticket (Dallas) earlier this week.

So while Van Allen will take over Carbonneau's spot on the checking line, other players are going to have to take on that personality issue.

Mike Modano and Brett Hull are the two leading candidates and Hitchcock said Hull is going to have to make an adjustment to the way he looks at things.

"Brett's always been a person that's a short-term looker. What I mean by that is that he's a person who's always viewed today as the most important day. We need someone on that team to be a big picture guy. That's what Carbonneau was," Hitchcock said. "With Guy Carbonneau the lows weren't near as low as you thought they were and the highs weren't near as high. We needed someone to take over that responsibility.

Hitchcock recalled a moment from the first round of the 1998 playoffs when Carbonneau's leadership was key. The Stars had lost Joe Nieuwendyk in the first game and after four games the series was tied at 2-2.

"I remember when we lost a couple years back [1998] to San Jose and it looked like we were in trouble. The series was 2-2. We were pretty nervous about it," Hitchcock said. "And Carbonneau just stepped up and said 'Look, we're in control of this thing. This is what we have to do. This is the way we need to play.' And the players listened. Those things go a long way in building chemistry. Hull is going to have to accept that responsibility now."

And Hull is not the only one who will help fill the Carbonneau void.

"I think Hull is going to have to take part of if. And we've talked long and quite a few times with [Mike] Modano. [Joe] Nieuwendyk has a quality in his leadership that's very mature, very dignified," said Hitchcock. "We need a couple of guys to take over what Carbo did. I don't think we have one particular player, but we've asked Mo to step ahead and we've asked Hull to step ahead and hopefully both guys are able to do it."