Come Monday, The Stars Vacated Frisco For The Summer

FRISCO _ Marty Turco noted how odd it was to be spending the day after the end of the NHL regular reason not making travel plans for a first-round series and focusing in on winning Game 1.

Steve Ott said he expects Mike Modano to spend a few months retooling, then coming back “ready to rock and roll.”

And goalie coach Andy Moog addressed some ‘tending issues, including Turco’s work load and the possibility of Swedish hotshot Jonas Gustavsson signing on.

Moog recently watched Gustavsson, the 24-year-old who led Farjestad to the Sweish Elite League title. Gustavsson is 6-3, 180 and will be an unrestricted free agent much in the mold of Fabian Brunnstrom a year ago. Moog said he didn’t actually speak directly to Gustavsson since he was in the middle of the league finals.

“He’s atypical of the majority of goalies going forward,” Moog said. “Big, blocking style. Plays, obviously, with a lot of confidence and great competitive spirit. I think it’ll be a very short adjustment to being an NHL goalie when he arrives. He’s not young or inexperienced. He’s a little older and a little bit more mature.”

Moog said money won’t be the big factor in which NHL club signs him. “It [contract offer] is going to be the same for all the teams. Now, it’s probably opportunity that’s going to dictate where he goes,” he said.

Brunnstrom has played with Gustavsson and, while he said he doesn’t know him terribly well, said he’s willing to make a call to pitch in on any signing effort. “He’s a great guy,” Brunnstrom said. “I hope he’s going to choose Dallas.”

As for whether Gustavsson expects to come in as a No. 1 immediately, Brunnstrom said, “That’s a tough question. Of course, he wants to be the first goalie. But at the same time, I think that he would understand that he can learn [from] a couple of years or so.”

Moog said he doesn’t believe Tobias Stephan, rarely used this season as the No. 2 and bumped recently in favor of Matt Climie, is out of the picture next season: “I don’t think we know who he is as far as NHL ability.” When asked if he thought Turco made too many starts this season (74 for a career high in minutes), Moog said, “I think the coach is in the best position to determine how many starts and how much to use the goalie. That’s always been a coach’s feel or a coach’s instinct. There’s got to be a magic number, but that would be a question for Dave Tippett.”