Minnesota Wild coach Jacques Lemaire measures his words very carefully in all situations, so his recent evaluation of the Dallas Stars was downright effusive with praise.

	CHIRPIN'
	"I find myself going back to the bench after he scores and saying, 'Did he really do that?' For me, it has made playing hockey fun again." -- Minnesota center Cliff Ronning on 20-year-old scoring sensation Marian Gaborik.
	THE NUMBER
	6 The number of goals for San Jose center Patrick Marleau in the past seven games. Marleau just saw a six-game goal-scoring streak end.
	WHO'S HOT
	As Todd Marchant goes, it seems the Oilers do, as well. Marchant is on a five-game point streak, during which the Oilers are unbeaten (4-0-1). He has three goals and five assists in the span, after posting one goal and five assists in his first 18 games.
	WHO'S NOT
	Jarome Iginla continues to struggle as he has one goal and is minus-11 in the past 10 games. In that span, the Flames have fallen apart, going 1-9-0.
	THIS WEEK'S SIGN ...
	... the world is off its axis: Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher threw 11 shots on net in a 5-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. Hatcher's previous best was six in a game, but coach Dave Tippett is experimenting and gave Hatcher almost seven minutes of power play time.

"That's a good team, a very good team. And they played well, real well," Lemaire said after Dallas took a 5-0 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday. "Their top two lines are as good as any in the league and their other two lines can hurt you, too."

When asked if it was the best performance against his team this season, Lemaire answered: "Oh, yeah."

Patrick Roy said the Stars were Colorado's toughest opponent this season. San Jose coach Darryl Sutter matter-of-factly said: "Right now there's Dallas and everybody else."

It appears the transformation the Stars were looking for in the offseason has taken place. By changing coaches and goalies and adding several key free agents, Dallas is a new team.

"This team is playing great hockey," captain Derian Hatcher said. "It might be the best team I've ever played on at this point. Guys are clicking, we're rolling."

When cautioned that the team he played on in 1998-99 that won the Presidents' Trophy and the Stanley Cup was pretty good, Hatcher answered: "We didn't win games in this fashion."

Through 25 games in 1998-99, the Stars were 16-5-4 and had outscored opponents 70-52. This season, they are 15-5-4-1 and have outscored opponents 81-48. Not only has coach Dave Tippett's system allowed some offensive freedom and sparked a balanced attack that has seen Pierre Turgeon and Scott Young quietly add a second scoring line, the Stars also are getting better defensively. Marty Turco headed into the weekend ranked first in goals against average at 1.56 and first in save percentage at .938.

Tippett cautions that the team still has several areas on which it can work, but the Stars appear poised to continue their success, if not improve upon it. Dallas is 9-0-0-1 at home and plays five of the next six at home.

Canucks quietly moving up
While the Stars are destroying teams right now, they can't claim the title of "hottest team," that belongs to Vancouver. The Canucks entered Friday's game at Tampa Bay on a team-record eight-game winning streak. They are 10-1-0 in their past 11 with the only loss a 4-0 defeat in Dallas.

And while the Canucks have received some great luck in those games, overall good play is what seems to be creating those lucky breaks.

"Earlier on, we really seemed to be struggling with finding the right fit," said winger Trent Klatt, who has moved up and down the lineup. "But lately, we seem to be getting to the point where anybody can play with anybody else and it works out pretty well."

The Canucks are still led by the trio of Brendan Morrison, Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi, which could be the most dangerous line in hockey. However, improved play by Trevor Linden, Henrik Sedin, Klatt and Trevor Letowski have helped make up for the loss of Andrew Cassels to free agency.

The Canucks say they can get much better and need to stop relying so much on the strong play of goalie Dan Cloutier.

"If it wasn't for Danny, I'd think we'd lost both of (our last two games)," captain Markus Naslund said.

Flames digging ditches
GM Craig Button said he understands that with each loss, the Flames dig a deeper hole. Calgary is on a run in which it has lost nine of the last 10 and scored 10 goals in that span.

"I'm a real believer that you need to get 50 points at home and play .500 on the road to put you in (playoff) position. I believe that's the formula good teams have," Button said. "For us to get 50 (at home), we need to get 42 points out of our next 29 games.

"You talk about where we are right now? Those are the facts."

That pace would require a .724 winning percentage at home or approximately three wins for every one loss.

Fleury ready to play
Don't be surprised if Theo Fleury gives the kind of effort to the Blackhawks that he gave to Team Canada in the Olympics in February. Fleury is practicing with the team and could return any day, and if you read between the lines of his recent statements, he appears ready to do anything to payback Blackhawks management and his teammates.

"Looking back on the decision to come to Chicago, I couldn't have asked to come to a better situation," Fleury said. "All the way down the line they have been tremendous in their support. Not once did they ever mention, 'We need you back on the ice,' or 'We need you to play.' Their No. 1 thing was my well being."

Fleury was fantastic at the Olympics when he was able to focus and control his play, and the soft touch of the Blackhawks' organization (sound like an oxymoron, doesn't it?) could bring back that same focus.

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