National Hockey League: Mike Modano says Red Wings or retirement
On the first of July, Mike Modano became an unrestricted free agent after the Dallas Stars announced that they would not be signing the 40 year old centre for another season. Mike has played with the Dallas Stars for most of his 20 season career.
Since July a mild interest in the veterans has developed that appears to be peaking now. It was not always clear if Mike will continue his career at all but now it seems that he will and it will be with the Detroit Red Wings.
Red Wings’ General Manager, Ken Holland, wants Mike badly for his team and to that end he invited Mike first to lunch and later, took him and his parents to the Tiger’s game this Tuesday. What could Ken have said to Mike, I cannot really say but he must have been very convincing because by the end of the evening Mike had made up his mind about the Red Wings. Mike said that there is no other team for him and that if he does not play for the Red Wings, he will not be playing in the next season at all. “I think it's narrowed to that,” he said.
That is of course if he wants to continue playing at all. Mike has had an extraordinary career. He has to his credit, more goals than any other American in NHL history. He has his spot in the Hall of fame, won the Stanley cup with the Dallas Stars in 99, he has nothing more to prove and, at 40, playing professional hockey will not be easy for him. Mike perhaps realized it and that is why he did not definitively say anything about playing the next season or not. He is apparently still making up his mind.
“It’s totally up to me,” Mike said. He said that he and Ken talked about the possibility of playing with the Red Wings, what will be Mike’s position in that event. Mike said that the idea of playing for the Red Wings seemed more enticing after discussing the possibilities with Ken.
But that does not mean that the Red Wings will sign him. There are still glitches to work out, most notably the Detroit Red Wings shrinking Salary Cap. The Red Wings just have slightly more than 4 million in their cap. The most they could offer the player would be around 1.5 million dollars; anything more will rob Detroit of other options. But Mike is a Detroit local and from what Holland has been saying, it is more than just his hockey skills that interest the Red Wings. This will almost certainly be his last season and retiring in his home town suits not only Mike but will be a welcome outcome for the Red Wings too. “Now it’s a little unique in the sense that this is his hometown; this is where he was born and raised and his parents live here,” Holland said. He said that playing for the Red Wings will be an opportunity for Mike to end his career in front of family and friends.
As for his value as a player to Detroit, of course he is a good player and a useful centre, but Detroit is not short of centres. On the contrary, Detroit has five dedicated centres. The need for another centre, even one as talented as the Veteran Mike Modano, is not immediately obvious. In addition, Detroit has also made offers to all four of their forwards who are currently restricted free agents. Perhaps Detroit will pull out of one of those deals for Mike, if he decides to come home to Detroit.
Detroit fans will undoubtedly be elated, but the Dallas fans might not be. Mike has been with the Dallas Stars since the 1993 season. He scored his career best of 50 goals and 43 points in his debut season with the Dallas Stars. Then and there he had laid the foundations for his fan following which intersects the most with Dallas. If he eventually decides to play for the Red Wings and confronts his former teammates, his fans will be the ones in a real dilemma.
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