The Hull Truth, and Nothing but . . . He’s Doubtful for Game 4

BUFFALO, N.Y. — In a rare show of honesty that will surely be condemned by his coaching brethren, Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock was frank about winger Brett Hull’s groin strain and again declared Hull a doubtful participant tonight in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals. However, he said Hull is expected to return during the series.

It’s the second successive injury Hitchcock has discussed, violating hockey’s unwritten rule of being vague or deceptive about such matters. He said center Mike Modano would play in Game 3 after a wrist injury that some reports said was severe enough to end Modano’s season, and Modano did play in the 2-1 victory over Buffalo that gave Dallas a 2-1 series lead.

“The only reason [Modano’s injury] was disclosed was because it was all over TV and Mike kept yapping about it,” Hitchcock said. “We wouldn’t have disclosed what it was except everybody saw what it was. But time-wise, I think in fairness to our team and in fairness to you people [reporters], we have to be up-front about whether the guy is a player. . . . These guessing games might be fun and they jerk around you [reporters]. But they also jerk around our team, because we read the papers, and I think it’s more important our players know definitively who’s in or out.”

Hull left Game 3 early in the first period after aggravating a condition he said had bothered him for a while. He hasn’t skated since, and he watched Monday’s practice from the bench. He’s awaiting word from the Stars’ trainers about whether he can take part in today’s morning skate.

Hitchcock moved defenseman Darryl Sydor up to the wing for most of Monday’s practice but also tried Modano at left wing with Tony Hrkac in the middle.

“That’s about the next best thing to that defensive right winger as you can get--a defenseman. Don’t you think?” Hull said.

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Modano wore an ice pack on his left wrist after practice but said it felt no worse than it did Saturday. He took several whacks from Sabre center Michael Peca in that game, and he expects more today.

“He can hack at it all he wants. It doesn’t bother me,” said Modano, who will again wear a protective brace on his hand.

Modano said the pressure today rests more heavily on the Sabres, who can ill afford to return to Dallas facing a 3-1 deficit.

“We could be in a real sweet position, one win away from everything, but [today’s] game will be the toughest,” Modano said. “If you get outplayed on your home ice in front of your fans, that can make you mad.”

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Dallas defenseman Craig Ludwig on how the Stars can improve their Game 3 performance, in which they allowed the Sabres to take 12 shots: “Eleven shots. Guys say, ‘We gave up 12 shots last time, let’s try for 11.’ ”

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Getting more shots through to Ed Belfour is the Sabres’ aim. While the Stars’ superb shot-blocking did much to keep the Sabres’ shot total low, the Sabres feel they can combat that.

“They did a very good job. They’ve done a very good job throughout the playoffs. We expect that,” Coach Lindy Ruff said. “But in the same sense, we feel we’re going to do a lot better job in the two areas of passing and skating. . . . One drill we tried to do was not go with the big slap shot, but just try to get [the shot] through.”

Ruff switched his line combinations in Game 3 to get left wing Miroslav Satan away from Dallas defensemen Derian Hatcher and Richard Matvichuk, and he may mix things up again today. Satan, who led the Sabres this season with 40 goals and 66 points, had one assist and two shots in the first three games.

“Yes, I do feel the pressure,” Satan said. “I tried to respond in the best way I can, but right now, they’re backchecking hard. There’s not too much room, not only for me, but the whole team has problems creating anything in their zone.”

Ruff may break up the Satan-Curtis Brown-Geoff Sanderson line to put Satan with Brown and Joe Juneau. “That line did well against Ottawa, and if that’s what it is, I have confidence,” Juneau said. “As a playmaker, it’s good to be on a line with a guy like Miro.”

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Dallas left wing Benoit Hogue, who sprained his knee in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, was cleared to play today. . . . Ruff wants his team to continue to be aggressive and play a physical game but to be more controlled. “We kind of went out of our way to keep hitting and wasted a lot of energy at times,” he said. “We want to finish our checks but we don’t want to be running from one corner of the rink to the other end.”. . . . The Sabres recalled three players from their Rochester (N.Y.) farm club and may play play veteran Randy Cunneyworth.

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Bobby Francis, a Boston Bruins assistant, will be the next coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, according to media reports.

The Arizona Republic and The Tribune, a newspaper serving suburban Phoenix, reported that Francis was offered a $1.05 million, three-year contract over the weekend.

The Coyotes declined comment on the reports, but confirmed that Phoenix assistant John Tortorella, considered the front-runner, would not be offered the job.

The team scheduled a news conference for Wednesday afternoon to introduce the successor to Jim Schoenfeld, fired May 25 after failing to get the Coyotes past the first round of the playoffs for the second time in as many seasons.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Stanley Cup Finals

Dallas leads series, 2-1

RESULTS

Buffalo 3, Dallas 2 (OT)

Dallas 4, Buffalo 2

Dallas 2, Buffalo 1

SCHEDULE

Tonight at Buffalo, 5

Thursday at Dallas, 5 p.m.

*Saturday at Buffalo, 5 p.m.

*June 22 at Dallas, 5 p.m.

* if necessary, all times Pacific