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We'll talk to gold medalist Brenden Morrow and bronze medalist Jere Lehtinen this morning as they prepare for a difficult and compact schedule in March that includes games every other night. But Loui Eriksson was at practice on Monday.

He talked about the Olympic tournament overall.

“We played good in our group; we won all three games," Eriksson said. "I didn’t think we had the best game against Slovakia and we lost that one. It was a bad loss, but you have to win to make it to the semifinals, so it was an important game and we lost.”

Eriksson was able to some confidence in the process, though.

“I think our line, with [Nicklas] Backstrom and [Daniel] Alfredsson, we did real well," Eriksson said. "We had a lot of chances and we created a lot when we were on the ice. It felt good when I was out there.”

Stars coach Marc Crawford thinks the Olympics helped Eriksson.

“I think on the positive side, he’s shown that he’s amongst the elite players in the world now," Crawford said. "A lot of people thought that maybe he was the best player that the Swedes had in the tournament. I know in talking with him this morning, he comes back with such a favorable impression of people like Nick Lidstrom. It’s probably the first time that he’s had the ability to be around him, to be around the great Peter Forsberg.

"I know he talked to me today about how good [Nicklas] Backstrom is. It’s nice when you see your players start to have the realization that, ‘You know, I’m pretty good too.’ He’s a very humble guy, but he shows that he’s got the ability to play at that level, which is at the elite level of the world.”

Here are a few quotes from practice today (thanks to the Stars' PR staff for sending these). Let's start with Steve Ott, who agreed to a four-year contract worth $2.95 million per season. He is clearly excited about the deal.

It was pretty nerve-racking the last few months to not know if I was going to be traded or here," Ott said. "The commitment that the team has shown me is definitely a great feeling. I definitely believe in this team – I think we have a lot of great, up and coming young guys, with some great veterans. It’s a very exciting time for myself and it means a lot to be able to stay here.”

Ott said he's glad to be putting the talks behind him and focusing on hockey.

“Just not knowing, having uncertainty about where you’re going to be, or what’s going to happen in the last little while was a little bit mind-wrecking but I’m the happiest guy in the world right now," Ott said. "I get to stay in the town that I love. The fans and the community have been phenomenal. I can go down the list – my daughter was born here, so she’s here and she’s a Texan. This is where I want to continue hopefully after four more years as well and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Crawford is pleased that Ott will remain with the Stars for four more seasons.

“He’s a core guy in our group; he’s very popular," Crawford said. "You don’t find players that play with a passion like Steve Ott. When you have one, you certainly hate to lose them I know that Joe [Nieuwendyk] and Frank [Provenzano] worked hard with Steve and his agent to try and find some common ground, and obviously they found it, so I think it’s really positive for us moving forward. He’s a very popular teammate.

"He’s the kind of guy that if you get into a playoff series, he’s going to be most effective at that particular time because in those series, if you’ve got to keep facing him, he is kind of agitating like a hangnail. He’s also a very good player. He’s intelligent, he can play on the power play, he’s smart enough that he can kill penalties, he digs in for faceoffs, and he has a lot of push back in his game. So he’s a guy that you want to move forward with, and I’m real glad that Joe and Frank Provenzano were able to get the deal done.”

BTW:

* Jere Lehtinen and Karlis Skrastins are expected to be at Tuesday's morning skate along with Brenden Morrow.

Exclusively for ESPNDallas.com, ESPN analyst Matthew Barnaby looks at the keys for the Stars -- just one point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference -- now that the NHL is back from its break during the Winter Olympics.

Steve Ott's new four-year contract means the 27-year-old is with the Stars for the forseeable future. And it's a continuation of general manager Joe Nieuwendyk's plan to identify and cultivate the core of this team and then go about putting pieces around them. And he's trying to do that at prices that make sense. Ott at around $3 million per season makes sense (at $3.5 million, probably not).

Ott is part of that core. He is that unique player that has the raw toughness that can alter a came with sheer physicality along with the ability to generate offense. That's an important element on any team. Ott will stand up for his teammates, put his body on the line and, quite frankly, really irritate the opponent. And he does that not only verbally and physically, but with an offensive spark too.

"That’s been my goal is to identify which guys we can build a real, good core with," Nieuwendyk said. "When I go through my checklist after games in my own mind about our team and what I like is, 'Are we a hard team to play against?’ A guy like Steve Ott clearly makes us a hard team to play against."

I agree. And it's why the Stars needed to get this signing done.

Keep in mind that Nieuwendyk won't have a ton of extra cash to spend this summer. He's going to be paying for raises to Ott, James Neal, Loui Eriksson and Stephane Robidas for starters. So he'll have to get creative. But he's also got a solid core group of folks tied up that he can build around.

It's not an easy question. The next Olympics are in Russia, where the time change will certainly play a factor in ratings and interest in North America.

Does the NHL want to put its season on hold for two weeks and compress its schedule to make it happen? I think those players who have competed in the Olympics will say yes. But from a front office perspective, it can't help the momentum of selling tickets to have no hockey for two weeks locally.

The other side of the issue is what the Olympics does for the overall appeal of the sport internationally. That gold medal final on Sunday between the U.S. and Canada was entertaining and watched by many folks who aren't really hockey fans. Will some of them show up at an NHL game because of it? Probably. It's tough to say how many.

So I'll ask you: Should the NHL send players to the 2014 Olympics?

First, congrats to Team Canada. The country has been pointing toward this moment for years and to do it in that building and in overtime against the United States has to be especially sweet.

Congrats, too, to Brenden Morrow. I can tell you from talking to Morrow before the team was selected and then chatting with him after he was picked to join the club that this is a very big deal to him. He knew what it meant to play on Team Canada in Vancouver for the Olympics. And with all the pressure that comes with that, Morrow played well and will wear a gold medal.

Some other thoughts:

* Sidney Crosby sure knows how to seize the moment, doesn't he? Wow. The guy is a champion and he showed it again on Sunday. His young resume now has a Stanley Cup and a gold medal.

* Kudos to former Stars general manager Doug Armstrong and former Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock, who were a part of the staff that put together Team Canada.

* Ryan Miller sure looked emotional after the game. But he was phenomenal for Team USA throughout the entire tournament. And he was great in the gold medal game, too.

* I know Marc Crawford was joking, but how great would it be to have Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on the Stars with Morrow. I'd sure like to watch that line in the month of March with the challenge that faces the Stars.

* If the Stars get the Morrow that played like a demon around the net during the Olympics, it should be a very interesting 21 games in 40 days.

* I'd like to see if this tournament and the fact that the U.S. and Canada played such a great gold medal final, which needed overtime to decide it, will help ratings for hockey as the NHL resumes. The Stanley Cup playoffs are right around the corner and so many of these players on both sides will be in the postseason.

* The United States was the youngest team in this tournament. They played extremely well and, should the NHL continue to send players to the Olympics, they have a bright future in Olympic play.

* It was cool to hear everyone singing the National Anthem of Canada after the medals were given out. I may be biased (having lived in Montreal my final two years of high school), but I think it's a great anthem.

This has been so much fun that we'll get some extra time to enjoy it. Give the U.S. team some credit. They were down 2-0 in the second, but got one goal toward the end of the second and then the tying goal amid a scramble in the third.

Wow. Zach Parise gets the tying goal with Ryan Miller sitting on the bench for an extra skater.

Team USA certainly has the momentum, but it's still Team Canada's crowd. A fun, entertaining and tight game goes to overtime. That's how it should be.

Canada had a 2-0 lead, but the United States managed to score to close the gap to one-goal, the same as it was at the end of the first period. Some thoughts:

* Big goal for Team USA. It was starting to look like Canada had all the momentum and might put some more distance between themselves and the U.S., but Ryan Kesler re-directed a puck past Roberto Luongo to make things very interesting for the third period.

* I agree with the announcers that Luongo doesn't look 100 percent sharp. The U.S. needs to keep peppering him with pucks and maybe take a few more chances behind by a goal with just one period left.

* Good, physical play at times for both teams. Look for more of that in the third. The U.S. need to get ultra-aggressive on the forecheck and try to create some chances.

* Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry sure have played well during this tournament. Brenden Morrow has played with a lot recently, certainly helping the duo.

* I still think Team Canada will hang on. But this should be a fun third period.

Canada leads it 1-0 and has outshot the U.S., 10-8. Some thoughts:

* Isn't it great to watch hockey without any commercials during the period? Not only is the game played faster, but it sure seems like the players can still get enough short breaks on icing and penalty calls, yet the flow isn't interrupted.

* That crowd seems loud even on TV. Lots of red and lots of exciting folks now that Canada is up, 1-0.

* I know that a lot is made of scoring the first goal, but I think it was very critical for Canada. The crowd is into the game and now you force the U.S. to answer. Canada is 4-0 in this Olympics when scoring first. That was a big one and it came off a mistake by the U.S.

* Good penalty kill for the Americans shortly after that first goal was scored. The U.S. will likely get a power play chance in this second period. We'll see if they can take advantage.

* Brenden Morrow got some power play time for Canada and he was in his customary spot -- right in front of the net. Morrow has played better and better throughout these Games. I can't wait to see how he does in March for the Stars.

* Ryan Miller and Roberto Luongo are into the game now. It's not going to be easy to score goals.

The game everyone wanted to see is finally here. Team USA and Team Canada will square off at 2:15 p.m. Dallas time on NBC for the gold medal.

Before you do anything else, be sure and read Pierre LeBrun's column on Brenden Morrow.

ESPN.com has you covered for the game, which includes a live chat and blogging throughout. LeBrun and Scott Burnside look at what gold would mean to both teams. Here are the keys to the game for the U.S. and Canada. One thing noted on the Canadian side is the leadership. The squad has nine NHL captains, including the Stars' Brenden Morrow.

Here's a column about some of the sacrifices families made to get their sons to the NHL and, consequently, to the Olympics. And finally, another preview on the game itself.

Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas interviews Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas as the Olympic break comes to a close.

FRISCO -- Stars forward Steve Ott, who is returning to the ice from an appendectomy and expects to be ready for Tuesday's game with Los Angeles, talked about the confidence the team gets from the way Marty Turco is playing in goal.

"Marty has played extremely solid for us," Ott said. "It gives ourselves a chance to win and it gives the guys a lot of confidence. It gives our young defensemen confidence that they can do what they need to do and that he’s going to make the saves and the forwards can react to the defense. It seemed to all be clicking just before he break. We have a lot of home games and we’ve had success at home, so it’s going to be an interesting run the rest of the way and a lot of fun in doing so."

Ott talked about the need to build upon the team's recent success and how critical it was to be playing well going into the two-week hiatus.

"I think you want to have a break where you can get relaxed and rejuvenated, but it’s also nice to have it with confidence in hand and smiles as well," Ott said. "You never want to go into a break on a downer, on a losing streak because you’re always thinking about it. You’re thinking negative rather than positive. When you can take the positive aspects out of it, you come into the next games with confidence. Hopefully we can pick up right where we left off and continue to roll."

Alex Auld will head to New York to give the Rangers some depth at goalie behind No. 1 netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Auld is excited about joining his new team, but also sad to leave Dallas. His thoughts:

“It’s exciting,” Auld said by phone. “Obviously, you want to play for an NHL team and that’s what I’m getting here. I look forward to going there and seeing if I can help them get in the playoffs any way I can. They have one of the best goalies in the league there in Henrik Lundqvist, but whatever they need from me, I’ll do. I’ve known throughout my career that there are many ways to contribute.”

He appreciated the way the Stars handled the situation.

"The fact that Joe Nieuwendyk was open and honest with me from the minute they got Lehtonen, that helps too," Auld said. "I didn’t feel like I was left out there wondering what might happen. He said there was a possibility that they’d have to move me. I knew after the Olympic break that something was going to happen. In a short time we fell in love with the area here in Texas, so it’s tough to move on. At the same time, I’m looking forward to a new and exciting challenge. But the way the organization handled things with class made a tough situation easier."

Goalie Alex Auld was claimed of re-entry waivers by the New York Rangers. That means the Rangers and Stars will split Auld's remaining salary, approximately $250,000.

Auld, 29, played 21 games (19 starts) for the Stars and was 9-6-3 with a 3.00 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage.

Here's hoping he plays well for the Rangers.

He's the subject of this story on NHL.com, talking about how he's found his role. In fact, it's basically a Q&A with Morrow. A few of his thoughts:

Q: What were you thinking during those last few minutes as Slovakia tried to come all the way back?

Morrow: They threw everything at the net. They worked the puck down low and it got a little hairy there at the end. We would have liked to protect the puck a little bit better. But, it was do-or-die for them and you have to give them some credit because they had a lot of battle in them.

Q: Your line has been good for the past two games. What makes it work so well between you and Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry?

Morrow: I think that (our) line complements each other pretty well, grinding pucks low, cycles, strong on pucks. As long as we are not making those hope-for passes and are winning our one-on-ones, we are a pretty capable line.