Star Among Stars

The tempo is relentlessly fast, and each breath is precious.

As the Dallas Stars go through their practice paces, they are businesslike, serious. They practice as they play, precisely, purposefully.

Brett Hull, wearing the same tomato-red jersey as linemates Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen, patrols his wing dutifully. He is a cog in a machine that is almost dispassionate in its efficiency. But every so often, he displays a burst of speed or a wicked wrist shot, proving he hasn’t lost the flair that made him one of the NHL’s most electrifying players and prolific scorers.

Although Hull has submerged himself in the Stars’ defense-first philosophy, he isn’t merely another face in a crowd of superlative players. Besides adding depth to an impressive corps of forwards, Hull has brought spice and game-breaking potential to a team that had more skill than soul.

“I think he’s fooled a lot of people,” Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “There were a lot of people who thought Brett Hull didn’t like hockey. That’s so far from the truth. In the first place, he’s not just a good player that shows up and leaves, he’s there. He’s a really intelligent player, as far as knowing the nuances of the game, and he knows what the other team is doing, and not only in reference to himself, but in looking at the big picture.

“His biggest challenge, because he’s developed some leadership, is continuing to develop his two-way game and also not having valleys in his game. A lot of his valleys are from frustration. As a leader, you can’t do that. He’s got a responsibility on our team and . . . all the challenges that have been there from the start of the season, he’s done pretty well at meeting them.”

The merger of Hull and the Stars seemed a curious one when he signed a three-year, $17.5-million contract as a free agent last July.

The Stars were almost boringly bland. Hull is a free spirit who backed up his brash talk with 554 goals over 12 NHL seasons but paid little attention at his own end of the ice before Joel Quenneville became coach during Hull’s final seasons with the St. Louis Blues.

Yet, despite their differences, Hull and the Stars--they defeated the Ducks, 3-2, on Friday, with Hull contributing a goal, and will face the Kings tonight at the Great Western Forum--have been a good match. Hull, Modano and Lehtinen play against opponents’ top lines and Hull is expected to be diligent at both ends of the ice. Hull, 34, has risen to the occasion, having realized satisfaction isn’t always derived from numbers on a score sheet or paycheck.

“I’m really enjoying it,” Hull said. “It was a tough adjustment after almost 11 years in St. Louis, but in my wildest dreams, I couldn’t have imagined a place, an organization, fans or teammates who could have made it easier than they have here.

“I guess I’ve changed the way I play to fit into the style and attitude this team has, but I haven’t changed my personality, and I don’t think you can. I practice the same way I’ve always practiced. It’s hard to go through a practice without being focused. And the adjustments I’ve made, it’s not just defense, it’s the whole attitude this team has about the game.

“It’s not like going, ‘Brett Hull now plays defense.’ I played defense last year in St. Louis too. The defense with this team starts on offense, with the forecheck. I explain this team as like a football team. The longer we have the puck, time of possession, the better it will be.”

Hull had 20 goals in 39 games and was on pace for 37 goals, well off his customary numbers. But he averages only about 18 minutes a game, well short of the playing time he got during his glory days in St. Louis, where he scored 72, 86 and 70 goals to lead the NHL in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Once this season, he played only 11 minutes, yet had a goal and several other good chances. When asked to evaluate his play, he said that wasn’t enough time to get a good read, which was interpreted as a complaint by Hitchcock, among others. Hull insisted that was not his intent.

“We’re a four-line team,” he said. “The only guys who play more are the guys who kill penalties. I can live with that. I’d like to play more. If you don’t want to be out there more, you’re not much of a player.”

Had Hitchcock been wary of Hull, knowing that Hull’s outspokenness contributed to Mike Keenan’s departure as coach in St. Louis, it would have been understandable. But Hitchcock is learning to accommodate Hull, just as Hull has adjusted to Hitchcock’s strategy.

“When you’re in a place for a long time, you can get away with a lot,” Hitchcock said. “This is refreshing for him. It’s refreshing for us.

Merely being pursued by the Stars when he became a free agent soothed Hull’s ego, which had been battered in his bouts with Keenan and by the Blues’ refusal to give him a no-trade clause in the offer they later withdrew. To be courted by Dallas General Manager Bob Gainey, a Hall of Fame player who was voted the NHL’s top defensive player four times, was reassuring.

“After all the run-ins I had with Keenan, the stuff I said in the paper, I had such a reputation for not being a team guy, which is so stupidly far from the truth,” Hull said. “Knowing about Bob Gainey, and knowing the team and the attitude he had put together, I was honored.

“Here’s a team with a toe-the-line, don’t-stray-from-the-game-plan, work-110% attitude. For them to think I could be part of it was flattering.”

He may be what the Stars lacked the last two seasons, when they dominated the regular season but were disappointing in the playoffs.

“This is the best team I’ve ever been on,” Hull said. “I’ve played on teams with more skill, but it’s hard to believe there’s ever been such a close-knit group of guys that will sacrifice for each other.”