Stars at a glance
	Camp schedule: Sept. 12: American Airlines Center, Dr. Pepper Star Center (Irving, Texas) Coach: Ken Hitchcock (7th season, 254-145-54-8) General manager: Bob Gainey (9th season)

The Stars are convinced they held on to far too much of the past last season, trying to live off the playoff success of 1999 (Stanley Cup) and 2000 (Finals loss).

So, they have let go of Brett Hull, Mike Keane, Grant Marshall, John MacLean, Grant Ledyard and Ted Donato. Replacing them will be: Pierre Turgeon, Donald Audette, Valeri Kamensky, Pat Verbeek, Rob DiMaio and Jyrki Lumme.

Now, it's up to the coaching staff to make management's moves pay off.

Chemistry experiment: Ken Hitchcock has to find the right mix in a lineup that has lost a lot of grit in the past two years and now leans more heavily to the skilled side. He already plans on pairing Mike Modano with Jere Lehtinen, Joe Nieuwendyk with Jamie Langenbrunner and Turgeon with Audette. The left side will be a juggling act -- something worth watching during the preseason -- and it will also be interesting to see how Hitchcock tries to make all three centers happy and tries to keep alive the Stars' philosophy of a balanced four-line attack.

It's all in goal: The Stars believe they have one of the best goalies in the NHL in Ed Belfour, but he showed a little rust in the playoffs last season, so he must prove he's not getting old at 36. Three things to watch concerning Belfour: How will he react to the pressure of fighting for a spot on Canada's Olympic team? How will he react to the pressure of becoming an unrestricted free agent when the season is over? How will he react to the Stars' desire to give 26-year-old backup Marty Turco more quality starts.

Kid watch: It will be difficult for even one youngster to find a spot in the Stars' lineup, so the preseason and training camp will be somewhat anticlimactic. With the addition of Verbeek and DiMaio and strong veteran fourth-liners in Shaun Van Allen and Kirk Muller, players like Jon Sim, Roman Lyashenko, Cameron Mann and Niko Kapanen will have to play in the minors. That might not be a bad thing as the Utah Grizzlies move into the AHL this season and the future of the Stars gets a chance to work on its own chemistry.

Stars 2001-02 preseason schedule
Date	Opponent	Time
Sat., Sept. 15	Florida	Canceled*
Sun., Sept. 16	at Chicago	Canceled^
Mon., Sept. 17	at Chicago	7:30 p.m.
Tue., Sept. 18	Chicago	8:30 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 20	Florida	8:30 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 21	Washington	8:30 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 22	at Colorado	9 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 27	Colorado	8:30 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 29	Phoenix	8 p.m.
*Rescheduled for Sept. 20 ^Rescheduled for Sept. 17