IRVING - The plan was simple, on the surface.

"I told myself I wouldn't watch any of the games," Derian Hatcher said Thursday. "But I’ve watched all of them."

It was the kind of TV timeout Hatcher would rather not relive.

The Stars have won one of their four games on the new season. They played all of them without the big All-Star defenseman, whose absence created a big, big hole in the team fabric. Hatcher, at 6-5 and 225 pounds, is hard to miss, especially for opposing top lines.

But was Hatcher ever missed.

Many Stars breathed easier Thursday night, after Hatcher agreed to a two-year contract worth just under $5 million.

"It's a distraction that's gone," Stars defenseman Craig Ludwig said. "It's been on a lot of our minds, going back to June or July.

"I don't know if we missed Derian's size. I think we just missed Derian - his leadership and physical presence."

Negotiations had stalled with Hatcher's side and the club divided over $200,000 a year, which seemed a ridiculously trivial amount of money in pro sports terms. But not for the Stars, who were losing millions annually and do not expect that to change for several years.

On the surface, the Stars' defense has held its own. The team's total of eight goals points to offensive frustrations as the conspicuous flaw, camouflaging just how much the club missed Hatcher.

"He's larger than most human beings," Ludwig said. "I know that Derian was anxious to get back."

The Stars have finesse players on defense, such as Sergei Zubov and Darryl Sydor. But Hatcher defines defense. He is the defensive defenseman's defensive defenseman. Only the Zamboni rivals him in terms of sheer singularity of purpose. As to some of hockey's other fundamentals, well, nobody ever-said Hatcher could go out and win Skate America. He has his moments with the puck but not to the extent that he will be remembered for them.

Without Hatcher, the club missed a dimension of its game, particularly because of the Stars’ dependable style, unlike that of teams that increase their risk-taking in certain game situations.

"If we're down a goal or two in the second period, we don't change a lot," Ludwig said. "We like to stay with our system."

As a 30-minute player in a system that achieved the NHL's second- best record last season, Hatcher, the team captain, played with Richard Matvichuk against the best lines.

But Hatcher had the misfortune to have his negotiations fall at a time when nothing relevant happened among NHL signings to give him leverage. No big, young, unsigned defensemen were out there. Hatcher, 25, had wanted about $3 million a year.

Hatcher said watching his team play on TV left him with sensations that differed from those he experienced when injuries sidelined him in previous seasons. Not being under contract left him in a limbo that worsened with each game.

"It's hard to describe," he said. "You're so tense consistently, and it's really tiring mentally."

In assessing the 1-2-1 Stars, Hatcher hesitated to name spots where he might have made a difference. He noted that the "what if" style of second-guessing must take into account that an absent player might have made a difference on the negative side.

"The Stars played a solid game in the loss to St. Louis," he said of last Saturday's 2-1 performance in the home opener. "They're playing pretty good hockey. Obviously, they're not scoring a whole lot."

Hatcher's absence and the injury to Shawn Chambers, whose broken hand will keep him out several more weeks, combined to put some extra pressure on players such as Matvichuk..

Said Matvichuk: "Every time Derian steps on the ice, people know he's out there."

Hatcher, who will practice Friday morning, might not get to play against Chicago at Reunion Arena on Friday night.

He won't be in game shape for this homestand. But as it opens, the Stars can breathe a lot easier.

© 1997 The Dallas Morning News All Rights Reserved

Cathy Harasta / Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News, Hatcher's return icing on the cake., The Dallas Morning News, 10-10-1997, pp 6B.