from Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News,
Sure, he's 65 now. Sure, the game has changed. Sure, this team is much younger than the one Hitchcock inherited back when "Macarena" was No. 1 on the charts.
But the signs of "déjà vu all over again" are all over the Stars.
Hitchcock came in and taught a highly skilled center named Mike Modano how to play two-way hockey, eventually seeing Modano earn votes as a Selke Trophy candidate.
Hitchcock came in and helped a veteran named Joe Nieuwendyk learn how to fit in as a No. 2 center, eventually seeing him win the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP in the playoffs....
It's easy to look to the past and try to rebuild the best hockey memories Dallas has ever known, but it also makes a ton of sense.
Isn't Tyler Seguin in the same place Modano was? The speedy center has had plenty of success and ranks fifth in NHL scoring since he joined the Stars in 2013 with 306 points (133 goals, 173 assists) in 305 games. But Lindy Ruff was so frustrated by Seguin's defensive play that he slotted the 25-year-old at right wing for much of the season.
Wouldn't Hitchcock be the perfect guy to mold Seguin into a two-way player like Modano or Patrice Bergeron?
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