Brett Hull, left, scores on Colorado's Patrick Roy last season. (Reuters File Photo)

By Jaime Aron
Associated Press
Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999; 9:01 p.m. EDT

Brett Hull limped through the Dallas Stars locker room Thursday favoring the leg with the still-healing knee ligament and sporting a nasty green bruise across the back of the other thigh.

"The knee is fine," he said. "It's everything else that's killing me."

There's no time for rest now. The nine-month-long physical and mental grind that is the NHL season begins Friday night with the Stars opening their Stanley Cup defense at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

One-hundred-three days will have passed since Hull's foot-in-crease goal clinched the title in a triple-overtime thriller in Buffalo. While the time off is several years worth of vacations in the real world, it's extremely short for guys with pro sports teams, especially the brutal NHL.

"Players want more money, owners want money, the fans have to pay more money. As a result, we're getting less time off," Stars veteran Brian Skrudland said.

Grant Marshall, who tore a groin muscle, is the only Dallas player who won't play because of a lingering injury. But others are still feeling the effects of a 1998-99 season that came within 22 hours of covering all four seasons.

Hull's torn medial collateral ligament, disguised as a groin injury during the finals, isn't totally healed. Neither is Shawn Chambers' arthroscopically repaired knee. And even though Mike Modano's fractured wrist has healed, he still feels stiffness in the wrist and fingers.

The pain will disappear shortly before 7 p.m. Friday when the various trophies the Stars won last season are brought onto the ice. After a light and laser show that will include a video montage of last season's great moments, the first championship banner in franchise history will go up.

"I think there's going to be a lot of emotion," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I know for me it's going to be a proud moment when that banner goes up because I recognize all the hard work players past and present put into it."

One person in attendance who'll understand the feeling is Mario Lemieux, a two-time Cup winner for the Penguins and their new owner.

From his new perspective, Lemieux hopes his former teammates-turned-employees soak in the ceremony and envision being the guests of honor of a similar presentation this time next year.

"It's going to be exciting for everyone in the organization to be there and see all of the festivities and hopefully one day come back here and regain the Cup," Lemieux said.

The only other NHL game Friday night will be in Edmonton, where the Oilers and New York Rangers will hold a pregame ceremony in honor of Wayne Gretzky. The Great One's No. 99 jersey will be raised in advance of the league-wide retirement of his jersey.

The Dallas-Pittsburgh game pits one of the NHL's best defenses against an offense led by reigning scoring champion Jaromir Jagr, last season's league MVP.

The Stars have turned over their roster a bit to become younger, faster and more talented. Hitchcock has responded by emphasizing offense more, which means Dallas will be less likely to try sitting on 1-0 leads.

The new offense and Jagr's presence combined with opening-night jitters could result in a wide-open game.

"I don't imagine either team is going to be very conservative," Hitchcock said. "There's going to be a lot of energy in the building for both teams. It should be a pretty wild ride."