ALTERED STATE

Funny how one loss can change the perspective in a playoff series.

Yesterday the view was from the driver's seat (And really, it still is) with lots of talk of how the Dallas Stars have followed through with the four-game sweep in each of the two previous times they've had their opponent on the precipice. Brooms were all the rage.

Today, instead of the conversation being about the Red Wings and this team's first Conference Final in eight years, there are a lot more people asking, "What are those odds again when a team is down three games to none?"

They are 148-2.

We all will focus on the 148 successful clubs.

The Sharks are using the other two as proof that it can be done.

So who are these teams that are resurrected like the 72' Dolphins every time a squad falls behind 0-3 in a best of seven Stanley Cup series?

The first to pull off the stunner were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. You be the judge as to whether their triumph has any relevance today. We're talking pre-Original Six NHL. In 42' there were seven teams. (The "Original Six" started the following season and consisted of Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and the New York Rangers) For crying out loud Brooklyn had one of the clubs in 1942. In that playoff series Detroit, who finished six games under .500 in the 48 game regular season, squandered the 3-0 lead to a Leaf team that played nine games over .500 during the year and was clearly the better team.

The most recent team to embrace the ultimate playoff rally monkey was the 1975 New York Islanders. That year they gave the Penguins' Syl Apps Jr., whose father ironically was captain of that 42' Maple Leaf club, a taste of the other side. With backup goalie Glenn "Chico" Resch now manning the Islanders pipes they completed the shocker with a Game 7 victory. Resch with the shutout -- Ed Westfall with the only goal.

At last check there is no one named Syl or Apps involved in this series.

Stars in six.