31.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said the decision to make left wing Rob DiMaio a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game had more to do with numbers than play.

32.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said the plan had been to bring Morrow, along with Roman Lyashenko, up around the beginning of February.

33.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said the play of his fourth line will be critical in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.

34.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said the problem was the players.

35.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said Turgeon could help himself by turning up his intensity level earlier in games.

36.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said yesterday that he is close to terms on a contract extension.

37.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock says the team discovered that it takes time to blend in new faces, new personalities.

38.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock was matter-of-fact about the subject.

39.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock was on the verge of filing missing persons reports on his two leading scorers.

40.   Stars coach Ken Hitchcock was unmoved.