VANCOUVER, B.C. – Stars goalies Marty Turco and Mike Smith poked fun at Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo at Thursday's morning skate, wearing cardboard flaps on their pads to emulate flaps they feel Luongo uses illegally.

"We were just conducting an experiment," Turco joked about the flaps on which were written No. 1, Luongo's number.

However, NHL executive Kay Whitmore told the Vancouver Province that the Stars are serious about the concerns. They made the league aware of their concerns before Game 1 of the playoffs last season.

"It was one of their concerns after the pregame skate," said Whitmore, part of the league's goalie police. "I went in and inspected them. It's just the way Roberto chooses to wear it."

The flaps are on all goalie pads, but most goalies use the straps to hold them in place. Luongo chooses not to strap down the flaps.

"If we thought he was getting an unfair advantage having that protective flap sticking out the side, then we would definitely do something about it," Whitmore told the Province.

Turco said he was half serious, half joking.

"I don't like the idea of larger nets," he said on the serious side. "We're looking at a few ways so we don't have to have larger nets...We all have [flaps]. We all need [knee] protection. [Luongo's] knees are just a little bigger than others."

Whitmore said he has approved the flaps.

"To be honest, do you really think you could stop a puck with what sticks out there?" Whitmore said. "If Marty was real serious about it, I'm sure he'll give me a call."

Smith to get start: Smith has played only twice in the last 12 games and has lost both. He is scheduled to start tonight against the Calgary Flames. Smith said he learned last season how to keep himself in a game-playing frame of mind during long stretches of bench time.

"That's something you talk yourself through, and something I dealt with more last year," he said. "You go in with a plan and you keep it simple and you don't get too aggressive."

He said the only concern on game days is he seems to be more relaxed in the afternoon.

"I might nap a little harder," he said. "I'm a pretty tough guy to wake up, so I'll have to go with the three alarms for this one."

Briefly: Krys Barch played for the first time in nine games. Brad Winchester and Chris Conner were healthy scratches. ... D Mark Fistric joined the team and went through the morning skate. It was the first full practice he has had with the team this season. Fistric played his junior hockey with the Vancouver Giants. ... The Stars are 2-2-1 on the second half of back-to-back games this season. They were 13-3-1 last season. ... Jeff Halpern entered last night's game one point shy of 250 for his career.