- 15 hours ago
Robert Tiffin joined the K&C Masterpiece to preview the Stars’ physical first-round matchup against the Minnesota Wild. Tiffin discussed the team's adaptability under Glen Gulutzan, analyzed the crucial goaltending battle, shared his official series prediction, and more.
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00:00Robert Tiffin, good morning, sir.
00:03Good morning, guys. I don't think I've ever been called a purveyor in such a positive tone before.
00:07See? You know what? I'm always looking for new and exciting ways to do that introduction.
00:12And I'm always looking for new definitions to words that I don't know.
00:15Okay, well, there you go.
00:17Now, there's already some animosity between these two teams, between these two fan bases.
00:25How much does that amp up a level of a series that, on the surface, looks pretty even?
00:34Yeah, I mean, if you watched any of that last game between Dallas and Minnesota, what, a week or two
00:39ago,
00:40you saw a lot of it right then, including Meryl Haskin going off in the first period.
00:45So I know that the Stars were not happy about that.
00:49Not that anyone necessarily thinks it was, at least from my perspective, a super dirty hit.
00:53But any time you lose a big player this close to the playoffs, it's only going to amp up tensions.
00:58And with tensions already, it's pretty much at a boiling point between these two clubs for a lot of different
01:03reasons.
01:04Yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of intensity tomorrow.
01:07Would you like to see this start off just like the four nations with the United States and Canada?
01:12Yes!
01:12And let's just cut right to it.
01:16I don't know if I would necessarily.
01:19I suspect that Bill Guerin would.
01:21That's definitely kind of the Bill Guerin brand of hockey.
01:25So who knows?
01:26That might be more up to Minnesota than it will be up to Dallas.
01:29But we'll see.
01:30Glenn Goldson certainly wouldn't shy away from that either if that's what happened.
01:33This is a very different Stars team, as we've talked about, than the one under Pete DeBoer,
01:38even if a lot of the names are the same.
01:39Oh, man, that's actually, I have so many questions right now, but you mentioned Pete DeBoer and
01:44Gullitson.
01:45It always felt like, but DeBoer had this, he played a chess game that I just thought he
01:50played beautifully within a series.
01:52And he would gain information in game one and then attack you in game two.
01:57And it always just felt, I almost felt like I could predict the series a lot of times with
02:01him.
02:01And then game six and seven were kind of, okay, he's going to figure something out by then.
02:06And with Glenn Gullitson, what kind of, what kind of feel are you getting from how he plays
02:11the chess game?
02:11Because obviously this is the first round with him.
02:15Yeah, there's been a lot of adjustments that Gullitson has made throughout this year, like
02:19in-game adjustments from period to period, some of which he's been open about, others
02:23which he's been cagey-er about, as you can understand.
02:25I expect him to be only cagey-er as the playoffs go on.
02:29But that's our job, right?
02:30We're supposed to, you know, dummies like me are supposed to actually look at this stuff
02:34and try to figure out what's happening.
02:35That's why you're here.
02:38Yeah, but Gullitson, from what I've seen, look, the way the Stars went out last year,
02:43you know, Jake Ottinger was in all the headlines, but if you watch those last four games against
02:46Edmonton, it was not a fair fight, honestly, from a coaching standpoint.
02:53The Stars just couldn't find solutions to what the Oilers were doing, both in the forecheck
02:58and in the neutral zone.
02:59And they just couldn't score.
03:01They couldn't generate much.
03:02They couldn't possess the puck.
03:03And Edmonton just kept coming at them over and over.
03:05And that frustrated a lot of people.
03:07There were a couple of players last year that I talked to who felt like they just didn't
03:11have really a plan B or plan C in a lot of ways that the Oilers were kind of exploiting
03:16them.
03:17And Glenn Gullitson this year, I mean, we'll see, right?
03:20The playoffs are definitely where it all gets proven one way or the other.
03:25But so far this year, Glenn Gullitson has seemed more willing to adapt in-game, where I think
03:31you said it exactly right.
03:33Pete DeBoer was great at adapting maybe from game to game in a lot of those series.
03:37Edmonton accepted.
03:39But Glenn Gullitson seems more willing to adapt in-game.
03:43And the way he's talked about the phrase he uses, I think we even talked about the show
03:47before, road hockey.
03:48He wants his players to be able to make changes and even to be able to adapt themselves.
03:51It's a less rigid structure in a lot of ways than under DeBoer.
03:55And that means that if your players, if you have elite talent and the Stars certainly have
03:59a lot of that, then they should be able to do a lot of that problem solving themselves.
04:03And that'll be the goal.
04:03It has been seven years since the Dallas Stars won their first playoff game to start the first
04:11round.
04:12Do we have any hope on Saturday or will history just continue to break our hearts in the first
04:18game of the conference's first round?
04:22Well, in a weird way, Stars fans kind of have it good either way.
04:27Because if they lose, you can just say, yeah, that's okay.
04:29They do that all the time.
04:30Right.
04:31Nothing to worry about.
04:32This is status quo.
04:33And if they win, then everyone can say, all right, this year is going to be different.
04:37This is great.
04:38Then again, I would caution you because last year they did win game one at home against
04:44Edmonton.
04:44And then they lost the next four in a row.
04:46So yes, it's better to win game one than to lose it.
04:50It's better to win any game in a series than to lose it.
04:52That's the deep hockey insight.
04:54That's why we had you on.
04:57I'd change it.
04:58That is why we had you on.
05:00Yeah.
05:00But it's going to be a long series, I think everyone expects.
05:04So you can't get too high or too low after any single game.
05:07It's more about how you respond than how you start.
05:10And this is one of the things going into the playoffs.
05:12I appreciate that this feels like a big deal, getting to 50 wins in the regular season and
05:17doing that three years in a row.
05:18But does that matter?
05:21To me, it honestly does.
05:24Wins are different, you know, post-lockout.
05:26We have shootouts and stuff like that.
05:27There aren't ties like there used to be back when the 99 team was playing and stuff.
05:30So I always try to kind of take wins with a little bit of a grain of salt.
05:34But doing it three years in a row, I mean, we've said it over and over, I know.
05:40But how many teams go from winning six playoff series in three years, getting to the conference
05:45finals three years in a row, fire their coach, bring in a new coach who hasn't coached in,
05:50you know, the better part of a decade, been a head coach at least in the better part of
05:53a decade.
05:55And then you get right back to 50 wins again.
05:57You do it for a third year in a row and get to 50 wins.
05:59It's crazy.
06:01There's every reason in the world to think that Jim Nill would have come under heavy
06:04scrutiny if things hadn't gone well this year.
06:07And with all the injuries the Stars had, there are a lot of reasons things could have gone
06:10pretty badly.
06:11Instead, Glenn Golitson's group, both to his credit and to a lot of the players' credit
06:16too, they found a way to be a really high floor team.
06:20And even when things were rough, even when they had a couple of stretches where they were
06:23losing more than they were winning, the good far outnumbered the bad.
06:27You don't get to 50 wins by accident in this league.
06:30And for the Stars to do it three years in a row and in this year more than any other,
06:34it's really impressive.
06:35And, you know, the playoffs are what we're going to talk about, but it's been really
06:38impressive and fans shouldn't forget that.
06:40I want to ask which power play is going to be better in this series, but I guess maybe
06:46it'll be which penalty kill will be better because the Stars' most power play goals in the
06:51last 19 years.
06:52But then you look at Minnesota, since Quinn Hughes got there back in December, they have
06:57been rocking and rolling on that power play.
07:00I know you can look at every series and be like, oh, special teams will be important.
07:03And I get that.
07:04So I hope this is not a give up question, but it kind of feels like that could be the
07:09defining narrative of this series.
07:12I really think so.
07:13I mean, we saw it three years ago when the Stars faced Minnesota and the Stars' power play
07:17was what won that series for him.
07:18When Sagan had four power play goals, Rope Hintz had his best playoff series ever.
07:22He had 12 points in those six games against Minnesota three years ago.
07:26So obviously his absence to start is going to hurt.
07:29And even though the power play has continued to score without Hintz, it's better with him
07:34on it.
07:35So I do think, and when you look at the numbers too, like you mentioned, after Quinn Hughes
07:39arrived, and I think I saw since January or February, last time I looked, that the Wilds'
07:43power play has actually been a tick better than the Stars.
07:46Not by much, they've both been top five even since January 1st.
07:49But yeah, the two power plays are good.
07:51For me, that's where Meryl Haskinen is such a question, because Glenn Goldson has moved
07:55Meryl Haskinen onto the penalty kill this year, whereas Pete DeBoer didn't really have him
07:59as a bigger part of the penalty kill for most of the last few years.
08:03Goldson has put Haskinen there.
08:04So if Haskinen, we still don't know if he's going to be there to start the series.
08:07We, you know, the team says they hope he'll be there.
08:10But if he's not there, then that means players like Tyler Myers or, you know, Thomas Harley,
08:15even Leon Bischel, who's, what, 21 years old, going to have to step up and be on that penalty
08:19kill.
08:20And against that Wild power play, look, it'll either be a great story of some of those guys
08:25stepping up and being big factors in the penalty kill, or it could be a little like 2023 with
08:30the shoe on the other foot.
08:32And the Wilds are talking about how the main advantage is what propelled them to do something
08:36they haven't done in a decade, which is winning the first round.
08:38Robert, I know we kind of talked about the physicality we expect from the series overall
08:44early on in the segment, but the game is different from, you don't just send in the hitman anymore.
08:50You don't just have those, you know, that one guy that you're like, all right, go do that,
08:53go be the enforcer.
08:54But there is still a physicality in this game.
08:57Who do you look at on this team now?
08:59Because we've discussed Robertson's taking a tick up.
09:04Miko started this season saying, hey, this is how we're going to play and about like that.
09:08But who on this team do you expect that kind of does set that physical tone for this team?
09:15Well, it's funny.
09:16I think if you asked a lot of people who led the team in hits this season, I don't know
09:21that anyone would guess it if they weren't kind of following.
09:23And that's been Adam Ernie, of all people, who entered camp on a PTO.
09:26So I didn't even personally expect him to make the team when I first heard he was coming
09:30to camp on a PTO.
09:31But then a lot of things happened.
09:32Jamie Benn obviously suffered a collapsed lung and opportunity happened because of all
09:36the injuries the Stars have had.
09:37And Ernie seized it and kind of revived his career.
09:41It might be a little hyperbolic, but not by much.
09:42He was playing in the AHL a lot of last year and then had the same hip surgery Tyler Sagan
09:46did.
09:46And then he led the team in hits this year, even though he only played in, I think, 45 or
09:5050
09:51games.
09:52So when you see a player down the lineup like Adam Ernie leading the team in hits, when
09:57you see players like Maverick Bork in his second full year becoming a more physical player,
10:02when you even see players like Jason Robertson laying some hits, and whether it's a big reversal
10:07hit like he had a couple weeks ago, he's just been more physical in general.
10:12And Miko Rantanen, for me, I mean, we saw it at the end of that wild game with Rantanen
10:16basically jumping on top of Quinn Hughes after he was kind of holding him up along the
10:20boards as Rantanen was trying to go for the empty net.
10:22I think when it's flowing from the top of your lineup, I mean, Jamie Benn is always going
10:26to be Jamie Benn, but he's not a top line player anymore.
10:30He'll step up when they need him.
10:32We saw him drop the gloves.
10:33We'll see him do it again, I'm sure.
10:34But when you have skilled players like Miko Rantanen and Jason Robertson complementing
10:42the physicality of your bottom six players, that's when I think it really starts to become
10:46part of your identity. The phrase Goulton used, it's in the fabric of our jersey now.
10:51And it really feels like when the stars have been at their back this year, that's been
10:54the case. You've been able to see it. They've been wearing that physicality in every shift.
10:58It doesn't mean running around trying to chase guys down like Minnesota was doing three years
11:01ago, but it does mean not backing down and responding when they're challenged.
11:05And I think that can do a lot of good things for a team's psyche, especially in the postseason.
11:09In any sport, you can see when players start to get in their head, right?
11:13Whether it's in basketball, where a player goes cold, or in baseball, where a player
11:16suddenly, you know, there's a hole in their swing they can't figure out.
11:20You can see it when a player loses a little bit of confidence.
11:23And I think having that physicality as part of your identity can give everyone confidence
11:27because everyone can be physical.
11:29Even if you're not necessarily shooting your best, you can feel like, you know what, we're
11:33doing this right now. We're playing this kind of game.
11:35We can do it. And when you have that sort of confidence, I think it bleeds into a lot of
11:39the rest of your game, too.
11:40And honestly, I believe that's been a big part of the star success this season.
11:43Breakfast at Tiffin's is giving me chills right now.
11:46I'm getting so excited for tomorrow's game.
11:48Thank you for this part of it.
11:49Now, Kevin's, you know, tried selling me that Otter's still great.
11:53And I'm going to believe Otter's still great.
11:56We see a lot of fan techs that have questions about it, though.
12:01And I know, Robert, we talked earlier this year about kind of the strategy that Gullitson
12:08had for him to give him a little more rest heading into the playoffs.
12:12And I think that's one of the things I love about Gullitson coming into this, just with
12:15such an intelligent perspective on how to treat this team a little bit differently.
12:20But you're feeling whenever you say, that guy is going to be in the net for this team.
12:27For me, I think it was always the case going into the season that Jay Gottencher could only
12:33really disprove the doubters from last year in the postseason, right?
12:38It's like they always say about trauma.
12:39You could only heal wounds, suffered in relationship in another relationship, right?
12:43Yes.
12:44And for Otter, that relationship is with the postseason.
12:46So, we'll have to see.
12:49He didn't have his best regular season overall, but lately, and especially in some big games
12:54against Colorado and Minnesota, Otter was dynamite.
12:58He finished the year playing really, really well.
13:00And to me, if you're a player who's at the Four Nations, on the Olympic roster, didn't play
13:07in Milan, but has played in, you know, what, 10 playoff series, I guess, Jake Otter's played
13:13more if you count the little appearance he got in the 2020 bubble.
13:15So, this is a guy who's been there and seen it.
13:18I can kind of forgive him, much like we've seen with the Florida Panthers, for not necessarily
13:24going 150% all season long.
13:27It's a marathon, not a sprint, and you've got to save it for the playoffs a little bit.
13:31I don't think he would ever say that, and I don't think the team would ever say that,
13:35right?
13:35In hockey especially, you're supposed to give it all every single night, even though that's
13:40kind of a ludicrous expectation for human bodies, and we've seen the toll that it can take
13:43this year with the injuries.
13:44For me, Jake Ottinger is looking lately like a goalie who knows what he has to prove and
13:52when he has to prove it, and boy, this very first series will be that chance to prove it.
13:58If he's the better goalie, there's good goalies in this series.
14:01Honestly, all four goalies for both teams, any one of those four could actually end up
14:06being a big factor.
14:07Jake Ottinger, for me, is the biggest one, because if he plays as well as he can, there's
14:13every reason to think he'll be in the Minnesota Wilds' heads, as he's been in the past, and
14:17that could get them off their game quickly and give the stars an advantage that they don't
14:21let go of.
14:22Because Jake Ottinger owns the Minnesota Wilds, and I don't want people to forget that, but
14:27you just mentioned all four goalies.
14:30On the surface, it feels like Walstead had a better season for the Minnesota Wilds.
14:37Is it possible you could see different starters for them in this series?
14:44It's very possible.
14:45In fact, they didn't even admit yesterday, I think Coach John Hines of Minnesota was asked
14:49which goal they were going with, and he hasn't committed yet.
14:53He's kind of like, are you going to do a rotation?
14:55Are you starting kind of the prevailing thought going, you know, in the last couple weeks of
15:00the season was Philip Gustafson was going to be the guy.
15:03But remember back in 2023, when the stars and wild played in the first round, Gustafson was
15:08the young goalie, and Marc-Andre Flory was the veteran.
15:11And they made the wrong choice.
15:13And they made the wrong choice.
15:14They stuck with their rotation.
15:15Minnesota won in game one.
15:17You know, the Joe Pavelski, Matt Dumba hit, and then double overtime.
15:20And Gustafson was incredible.
15:22The stars should have won it in overtime.
15:24But Minnesota ended up winning game one.
15:25Then you go into game two, and Minnesota had a chance to grab a tool lead in the series.
15:30But they stuck with their rotation and put Marc-Andre Flory in instead.
15:33And I think the stars won 7-3.
15:36So he didn't start another game.
15:38That was the last playoff game Flory started in his career, actually.
15:41But Gustafson was the young goalie who they were like, you know what, they probably should
15:46have stuck with him and rolled with him.
15:48This year, Gustafson's the older player, and Walstead's the rookie who a lot of people are
15:52saying, you know, Walstead's been playing better lately.
15:55Maybe they should go with him.
15:56So given all the history, it's a fascinating decision for Minnesota.
16:01Because on the one hand, Walstead doesn't necessarily have that playoff experience.
16:05So some people put a lot of stock in that.
16:07And there's risk.
16:09And what if you go with a young guy, he's overwhelmed a little bit or doesn't look good
16:13for whatever reason in game one.
16:15Then you try to go back to the veteran.
16:17But the veteran knows that he has a shorter leash.
16:19And he's in his head.
16:20And what if he doesn't, you know, it can spiral really quickly.
16:24So it'll be an interesting decision for Minnesota.
16:28It's something that's a big luxury in the regular season of having two great starting
16:32goalies can suddenly be a little bit of a problem in the playoffs.
16:35And as much as you'd say it's a good problem to have, there's also a lot of ways it could
16:40go wrong.
16:41So, hey, that's why the coaches get paid the big bucks too, right?
16:43Yeah, and here's to me rooting for it to go wrong.
16:46I hope the Minnesota Wild pick poorly.
16:49I'll just go ahead and say that.
16:50All right.
16:50Real quick prediction for the series.
16:52What do you got?
16:54It feels like six games again to me.
16:57Everyone likes saying seven.
16:58But to me, this feels like game four.
17:02Whoever wins game four probably ends up winning this series.
17:05Just at that point in the series, whether it's someone equalizing at 2-2, some team failing
17:11to grab a lead at 3-1, I think whoever wins game four is probably the team that wins it.
17:17So six games seems likely to me.
17:19Ropey Hintz gives me pause, but my guess right now, it's just a guess.
17:24We do not know.
17:25But my guess is Miro Haskin will be back.
17:26So given that, I think the Stars roster is deeper, is a little better, and a little more
17:32proven.
17:32So I do think even with the Quinn Hughes factor, I think Stars and six is still where I would
17:39put my chips.
17:40But, you know, none of us really know.
17:41It's right.
17:42I like Tiffin's chips.
17:43Yes.
17:44Yeah.
17:44Love it.
17:45Good, sir.
17:47Sour cream and cheddar.
17:48There we go.
17:49Hey, I'm in on those.
17:50I love those, too.
17:52StarsThoughts.com for hockey and chip insight.
17:55It's Robert Tiffin.
17:56Thank you very much.
17:57As always, good, sir.
17:59You bet, guys.
18:00Enjoy it.
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