One of the hockey greats Mike Modano to be inducted into US Hockey Hall of Fame on 15th October
Former Dallas Stars’ player and a legendary figure in the National Hockey League (NHL), Mike Modano would be inducted into US Hockey Hall of Fame on 15th October 2012, for his services for the game.
The American international player started his career in a best possible way as he was drafted in the first round of the 1988 NHL Draft, first overall by Minnesota North Stars.
Modano says that he wanted to play college hockey at the age of 15 but he was not eligible to play that until he was 17 years old. He was very eager for some action so he decided to join the Western Hockey League (WHL), a junior hockey league.
Talking to NHL.com, Modano revealed that playing in the WHL was one of his wisest decisions and a decision which changed his life, as he said,
"College was still two years away. I had to wait until I was 17 to be recruited. I was 15 at the time. I didn't want to sit around and wait. I wanted to go play, see where I stood, get some good competition, get away from home, see how that worked out. I
didn't want to stick around Detroit for two more years and play. I felt it was a good decision."
The 42-year-old great player had three good seasons with Prince Albert Raiders. In total he played 176 games in three years and scored 118 goals, 176 assists for a total of 294 points, before making his NHL debut in 1989.
Modano played four years with Minnesota North Stars for four years but after that Minnesota merged into Dallas Stars. He played 16 seasons (excluding 2004-2005 locked out season) with Dallas Stars and stayed there for a long period of 17 years.
The Livonia, Michigan native left Dallas Stars for the last year of his career and signed with Detroit Red Wings for just one year. On 23rd September 2011, Modano announced his retirement but he was given an honorary one day contract by Dallas
Stars to let him retire as their player, the team that he did so much for and played for 16 years.
Modano played 1499 NHL games in total and scored 561 goals and 813 assists for a total of 1374 points.
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