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MIKE MODANO'S PLAYOFF DIARY - JUNE 8 Stars feel good about chances 06/08/99 The bar keeps rising for us. We've taken every step knowing where we wanted to be, and this is where we wanted it to end. It's a long process from October to April. The expectations with each round just keep getting bigger and bigger. But to be one of two teams left is a good feeling. Dallas has really become a hockey town. You throw a couple of years like this in a row and people start getting the bug and start having fun coming to the games. In Dallas, if you're winning and you're recognized, tabs are paid for. If you're losing, they charge you, or they may charge you double. That's the type of town it is. It's a tough sports town, but it's a great town if you're winning. I've always said it's a tough game to watch on TV. But if you get a ticket and are able to watch a playoff game, then eventually, you'll probably be a season ticket holder. We've had three days off since the Western Conference finals against Colorado. The layoff can work both ways. But three days is perfect for us. That's about as long a layoff as you want. We found it a little bit tough coming back from the Edmonton series and having eight days off. We've heard people call our style boring. It doesn't bother us if people think our style is boring. I really don't think that we're here to put on a show. I think we're here to win, and we're going to stick to our style, which has given us success - and that's tight-checking hockey, clogging the ice. It's a frustrating style to play against, but Buffalo plays the same way. The winner will be the one who can fight through that the most and find the cracks when they do open up. We can't worry about Dominik Hasek because that's when you start thinking about making the perfect shot. That's when people talk about goalies getting into your head. You start over-analyzing your shot rather than just putting your head down and hammering it as hard as you can, and seeing where it goes. Like Patrick Roy, he covers the low part of the net very well and forces you to make a great shot up high. We had success against him the first game of the year with a lot of high shots and a lot of traffic. That's really the key. The harder time he has seeing the puck, the more opportunities you have for the second and third rebound. We feel good. A lot of the older guys on the team realize that this may be our last chance at getting the title and maybe their last chance of winning another ring. You get that taste of championships in your mouth and you want it every year. Michael Jordan had it. John Elway had it. Steve Yzerman had it. We've wanted to have it the last couple of years. Regular-season wise, we wanted to go out every night and prove ourselves over and over. It's tough to build a reputation in this league and it takes time. But it's a lot easier when you're winning championships. Mike Modano's diary, as told to Staff Writer Bill Nichols, will appear in The News during the playoffs.