Now that he has chose to hang up his skates after a lengthy and prolific career, the debates about his legacy will begin. With seven All-Star nods and one Stanley Cup on his resume, he has the hardware to back up his impressive stats for a Hall of Fame bid. One thing we know is certain is that Modano had an All-American career.
Lets hope that the most lively debates will revolve around where he ranks among the best American born players in NHL history. As far as sheer quantity, Modano is unmatched (although Chris Chelios has the most games played, with 1,651). Modano tops all U.S.-born NHL players in points (1,374), goals (561), playoff points (145) and all forwards in games played (1,499).
Much like Steve Yzerman, Modano drew praise for becoming more defensively responsible in order to help the Stars win that Stanley Cup in 1999. He also compiled those staggering stats without many seasons alongside a high octane winger, which shows off just how special he was and how dedicated Modano was to the game.
Aside from an impressive first season after the lockout (77 points in 2005-06), Modano’s production dropped off significantly beginning in the 2003-04 season. Last season was probably the worst campaign of Modano’s incredible career, as he managed just 15 points in an injury-marred 40 regular season games with the Detroit Red Wings, who often made him a healthy scratch during the playoffs.
It wasn’t a great ending for Modano, who opted against his storybook conclusion with the Stars to end the 2009-10 season. That shouldn’t take away from his outstanding career, which helped build the Dallas Stars into a successful team – and some might say a rebuttal to the claims that the NHL cannot work in “non-traditional” markets. And people can continue to gripe and harp on saying the timing was horrible and he should have ended with the Stars but yet he didn’t! Either way Modano made an impact on the league and in the eyes of most in the NHL Community he deserves to go into the Hall of Fall.
We wish you all the best in the future and hope to see you continue to help the NHL grow and grow; Mike Modano.