Ken Hitchcock was hired on January 8, 1996 as Dallas' coach, installing a defensive-minded system while requesting Modano to concentrate on his offense and using him more routinely - instead of the 15–18 minutes he played under Gainey, Modano routinely played 25 minutes with Hitchcock. Helped by new acquisitions Joe Nieuwendyk and Sergei Zubov, Modano led the Stars to the Central Division title in the 1996-97 NHL season. In the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs, with new goaltender Ed Belfour, the Stars reached the Western Finals.