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Just a caveat that the rest the Stars are getting, while deserved and important, might not be all sunshine and roses.

There is a thing called rhythm in the schedule, and that may have been something the Stars discovered when they went on a roll through heavy parts of it. Getting that rhythm could be a challenge in this herky-jerky, stop-and-go March.

Wednesday morning, a few players said they felt refreshed and full of energy, but that they also were a little tentative having not played in three days. The Stars have three three-day breaks for the next three weeks and then follow that up with a four-day break March 23-26.

All of this scheduling stuff technically goes out the window when that first playoff game gets here, so maybe the Stars get out of rhythm now, and then get back into rhythm just before the playoffs start.

Still, March falls into the be-careful-what-you-wish-for category. Maybe too much rest isn't a good thing.

Onto the questions – and they are good ones. You outdid yourself this week.

Q: With the career year Niklas Hagman is having, what is the chance the Stars will be able to sign him in the off-season? Of the other free agents, who do you think stays and goes?

Thanks,

Toby

HEIKA: I think a lot of this depends on how much money Hagman wants and how badly he wants to stay in Dallas. Another aspect will be how he performs in the playoffs and if he develops chemistry with Brad Richards.

I think Hagman still is a $2 million to $2.5 million player at this time, but his price tag could be going up. If he decides to stay and sign in Dallas for under market value, I think the Stars jump on it. If he doesn't, I think they roll the dice with Loui Eriksson, Joel Lundqvist and some possible combination of Antti Miettinen, James Neal, B.J. Crombeen and Kostantin Pushkarev.

As far as unrestricted free agents, I think they will have some very tough choices on older players Mattias Nortsrom and Stu Barnes. I think Barnes has a better chance of sticking around because of the trade of Jeff Halpern. Miettinen, Hagman, Brad Winchester and Johan Holmqvist are all desirable players, but the money would have to fit.

The one fly in the ointment in committing for three seasons at $7.8 million to Brad Richards is that Mike Modano's contract counts against the cap even if he retires. In the new CBA, the league tried to prevent teams from spreading the cash out over long-term deals for retiring players. For example, giving someone a 10-year deal for $10 million, and having that deal loaded near the front of the contract. Thus, the cap hit would be only $1 million a year and the player could retire after two years and, in theory, have the contract come off the books when he retired. To plug that hole, any contract signed for a player over 35 years of age counts regardless of whether that player retires or not.

So, the big question for the Stars would be if Modano retires, they must carry his $3.45 million cap hit for two more seasons and still sign another player to fill his role.

Needless to say, the Stars would love it if Modano decides to play the final two years of his contract (where he will be paid $2.25 million a season in actual pay).

Q: With the recent acquisition of Brad Richards, do the Stars build the new team around him, moving pieces that don't fit for others that do? Also, although this may be jumping ahead to the off-season, do you see any of the prospects jumping in next season? And, if so, which ones? Will Dallas be active in the free agency market, making offer sheets for RFAs, or trading up in the draft this coming year?

Chris

HEIKA: In theory, the Stars must find a way to make the pieces fit around Richards' $7.8 million contract (three years remaining). However, they have so much balance and two very important players in Mike Ribeiro (five more years at $5 million) and Brenden Morrow (five more years at $4.1 million), that you almost want to say that those two are the key pieces.

Dave Tippett preaches scoring by committee, and maybe that's how the Stars have to continue to be built. I think what they are hoping is they can plug in several different wingers with Ribeiro and Richards, and those wingers will produce goals.

The Stars will be bargain hunters in the free agency market and will not make offer sheets for RFAs that are not their own. My guess is they may have to make tough decisions on their own free agents and then try to find great bargains to replace those players. Or they'll trust their kids and move in that direction.

They would love to move up in the draft, but they would have to give up current players to do so. I'm not sure exactly what the value for certain players is, but they could try to pare the payroll if they feel some players have good value in the NHL and that they could replace them with cheaper, younger players. They could then use those veteran players to get draft picks.

A lot will depend on how they do in the playoffs.

Q: Now that the Stars have three scoring lines for teams to deal with, who do you see are our toughest matchups in the playoffs? Physically, I could see them being San Jose and Anaheim (though we've had success against them this season). Defensively, I'm thinking Nashville and Minnesota? What say you?

Chris in Port St. John, Fla.

HEIKA: I do think San Jose and Anaheim are two very difficult teams to play against. They are both solid opponents with complete lineups and good goalies.

However, I still believe the toughest mental matchup for the Stars is Detroit. Dallas plays differently against the Red Wings, and I would say it would have a hard time winning games up in Detroit.

Other tough matchups are Vancouver (because of goalie Roberto Luongo and his ongoing rivalry with the Stars) and Colorado (because of the Avalanche's recent jinx against Dallas and because that is going to be one great power play in the playoffs).

Q: I continue to marvel at the job coach Dave Tippett has done this year and last with all the injuries to key players. I realize, as do most Stars fans and media/hockey pundits, that he's judged by how they do in the playoffs, but it truly is amazing how he's been able to put unproven kids in significant rolls and gotten pretty darned good results. I sincerely hope Tippett gets this playoff monkey off his back and gets what I think he is due this year – coach of the year. How far into the playoffs do the Stars have to go before you think he has a shot?

Jim

HEIKA: The Jack Adams Award for coach of the year is voted on by the hockey broadcasters and given for regular-season performance, so I think Tippett has a very good chance of winning it this year.

Detroit's Mike Babcock was an early leader, but I think he's slipping because of the way Detroit lost during its injury crush.

I would say Michel Therrein in Pittsburgh, Guy Carbonneau in Montreal, Bruce Beaudreau in Washington and Wayne Gretzky in Phoenix are also part of a very crowded race for the award.

Winning in the playoffs would help Tippett's image around the league and maybe help him win future awards.

Q: How do you think the Stars will do during the playoffs? Do you think they are a Stanley Cup contender after getting Brad Richards?

Melissa in Dallas

HEIKA: I definitely think they are a contender. They were before they got Richards. This is a very balanced conference (and league, really), so there are a lot of contenders. A lot will depend on the matchups they get, and the burden they will face in trying to get out of the first round.

Winning in the first round will be a very tough mental challenge because they have lost there three consecutive years. If they get that monkey off of their back, it will be very interesting to see how they respond. I think they could really take off.

Q: There's been a lot of talk about the acquisition of Brad Richards, but nothing about goalie Johan Holmqvist. What are your thoughts about him, and how do you see him fitting in with the Stars?

Wendy

HEIKA: Because the Stars are in preparation for the playoffs, and because the Pacific Division is so tight, I think Marty Turco will get the majority of the games, and it will be very difficult for the Stars to get a good evaluation of Holmqvist.

He is an unrestricted free agent in the summer, so the question will be whether or not he would be happy in Dallas as a backup goalie. If he is, I think he could be signed for somewhere around what he made last season ($1 million) and he would probably get 25 or so appearances. I think that would be a great option for the Stars, as I'm not sure Tobias Stephan is ready yet.

That said, Les Jackson loves to test his kids, so the plan may be to go with Stephan and see if he can handle the backup role. They did that with Mike Smith last season, and it worked out pretty well. It's something that will be decided in the summer, but I believe Holmqvist is a good goalie who would fit well in the Stars' system if that's what they decided to do.

Q: Is the Stars' minor league system becoming known as Goalie U.?

Mark K.

HEIKA: Not quite, but they do a fantastic job of finding and developing young goalies.

Among guys who have gone from the Stars are: Roman Turek, Manny Fernandez, Mike Smith and Dan Ellis. And, of course, the Stars have their own homegrown No. 1 in Marty Turco.

I'm not sure how Iowa goalie Tobias Stephan (34th overall pick in 2002) will do in the future, but he seems to have a chance to play in the NHL. He is 21-22-2 with a 2.61 GAA and .908 save percentage in the AHL right now. He also looked good in his only NHL game – a 2-1 OT loss against Chicago in which he had 38 saves. The guy people are really excited about is Richard Bachman (taken 120th in 2006). Bachman is a freshman at Colorado College and has a 21-5-1 record with a 1.71 GAA and a .935 save percentage.

Q: There's always talk of rules changes to make the game more exciting, but one rule change that I think would help the casual fan would be switching from three 20-minute periods to two 30-minute halves. This would eliminate one of the "halftimes". Has there ever been any discussion of that?

Brian

HEIKA: There has been, but it always runs into two problems.

One, there is a thought the ice quality would be horrible for the final 10 minutes of each half (including at the end of the game, when you would want to have the best ice quality).

And two, the sport has been played this way for more than 100 years, so the thought is that a change like that would be bending the game to fit the whims of fans in the United States. Hockey fans in Canada have no problem with the current set-up, so they would be against Americanizing the sport.

Q: I am just asking but: Would Richards' name actually make it on the cup given how late he joined the team?

Alex in Austin

HEIKA: Yes. The rule for inclusion on the Cup is half of the team's games during the regular season or one game of the Stanley Cup Finals, so Richards would qualify if he plays in the Finals. Basically, if you are a significant player in the playoffs, you get your name on the cup.

I believe "half the games in the regular season" is to give teams the option of placing injured players' names on the cup.

Q: With Brad Richards, Philippe Boucher and Sergei Zubov, Dallas appears to have a wealth of experience at playing the power-play point. Do you see all three playing the point in the playoffs, or with Zubov coming back to the lineup, will Richards be shifted down low? Will Stephane Robidas be pushed out?

Scott L

HEIKA: My guess is we may end up seeing Zubov and Richards on the first unit and Boucher and Robidas on the second. That would push Mike Modano down low.

But, as we've seen with this coaching staff in the past, just about anything can happen.

Q: I like the Brad Richards trade, especially given the fact that we didn't have to give up any of our young blueliners. However, I've read about Marty Turco's affinity for Mike Smith, and I can't help but wonder if his absence will be a serious detriment to the room in general, and Marty in particular. The last thing we need is for Marty to get knocked off the rails because his little buddy isn't cheering him from the bench anymore. Should I be concerned?

John in Dallas

HEIKA: To paraphrase Terrell Owens' former publicist, Marty Turco has 5.7 million reasons to play well down the stretch and into the playoffs.

That's cold-hearted, but that's the pain of being a professional athlete. They are not machines and they have to perform not only to their own standards, but against people who are also paid very highly to perform well. But they knew the job when they took it.

While Turco and Smith were close, my guess is both will find a way to get over it and find a new routine that leads to success for each. You might be just as worried about Brad Richards. Vincent Lecavlier and Richards are best friends and have played on the same teams since they were 14. That will be a challenging transition as well.

Q: Who is the odd man out when Sergei Zubov returns?

Thanks,

Billy O

HEIKA: That will be a very tough question for the coaching staff. If everyone is healthy, my guess is they go with:

Niskanen-Zubov, Norstrom-Boucher, Daley-Robidas

Your two healthy scratches would be Grossman and Fistric. But we'll see. The kids have been good this year, so there certainly has to be talk of playing them.

Q: I have two questions. 1. The Sharks have four games in hand over the Stars. How long will this be the case (i.e. when will they have played the same number of games)? 2. If a player is in the penalty box and the other team scores, does this affect his plus/minus rating?

Laura in Manhattan, Kan.

HEIKA: I believe the first date the two teams will have played the same amount of games is March 21. Ironically, they play each other in San Jose on March 27. At the start of that game, they both have six games remaining in the season. They also meet in the final game of the season April 6 in Dallas.

On the second point, no player in the penalty box ever receives a plus or minus. I believe they should receive a minus if a power-play goal is scored, but I guess that would make things even more confusing than they already are.

Q: How successful has the concept of co-GM's been for the Stars and how likely is it to continue next year?

Linda

HEIKA: I think it has been the perfect mix for the Stars this year. The two GMs are opposite personalities and have different strengths. Together, they have been able to help create an environment where the players feel they can excel – and that's a big deal, because much of the NHL is about team chemistry and a good feeling throughout the organization.

They also were able to come together to get the Brad Richards trade done, and early indications are that has great potential for success.

Much will ride on the team's performance in the playoffs. Another quick exit, and owner Tom Hicks might just decide to clean house. However, I believe the odds are the Stars will stay exactly as they are in the front office for next season.

I believe Hicks is a big fan of the co-GMs and is happy his plan is succeeding, despite the criticism he received when he launched the idea.