In nearly 1,500 career regular-season NHL games, star center Mike Modano carved out a Hockey Hall-of-Fame legacy for himself. And in this cover story from THN's Nov. 1, 2010 edition, writer Bob Duff profiled Modano in his final season – as a member of his home-state Detroit Red Wings.

The Detroit Red Wings are enjoying a surge in the NHL standings this season, but in this cover story from THN’s November 1, 2010 edition (Vol. 64, Issue 8), contributing writer Bob Duff chronicled a homecoming of sorts for a Michigan hockey legend – Hockey Hall of Famer, Mike Modano.

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By the time he joined the Red Wings in 2010, Modano was 40 years old, and he was clearly near the end of his stellar career. In the 2010-11 campaign, he appeared in only 40 games – infamously being healthy-scratched by then-Wings coach Mike Babcock so that he fell one game short of the 1,500-games-played mark – and he managed just four goals and 15 points. But the opportunity to play in his home state was a golden one for Modano. It made him feel young again, and at 40, that’s no easy feat.

“It’s a new beginning, a fresh start at things,” Modano told Duff. “There’s a lot of jitters; just getting comfortable with the guys off the ice, getting familiar with a whole new dialogue as far as team systems on the ice. It’s been a crash course of learning the last few weeks, but I think once we get into the rhythm of the game, I’ll be fine.”

After winning a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999, Modano slowly but surely got into a battle with Father Time, his game chipped away at by all the wear-and-tear of being a superstar and constant target of the opponent’s defense. He eventually retired as a member of the Stars for one day, but his time in Dallas did not initially end very well at all.

“The last few years in Dallas were very draining,” Modano said. “I was emotionally drained at the end of last season. If Detroit hadn’t come calling, I felt I was done, I’d retire. But from Day 1, after talking to (Red Wings GM) Kenny (Holland) and Mike (Babcock), it lit a fire under me.”

As per Duff’s reporting, Modano was pursued by the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks in free agency, but the chance to play at home was too attractive to pass up, even as he wrestled with his mind and body being in NHL-caliber shape.

“I knew if emotionally I couldn’t do it, the body would soon follow,” Modano said in regard to what went through his mind before he signed with Detroit. “But as you get to the middle of July and early August, you get excited again because you know camp is close…It’s nice to play with (Wings stars Pavel) Datsyuk, (Henrik) Zetterberg and (Nicklas) Lidstrom, rather than against them.”

Modano rose to the occasion in his first game with Detroit, scoring a goal against Anaheim in a 4-0 victory for the Wings. The top U.S.-born scorer in NHL history with 561 goals and 1,374 points over 21 seasons, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014. But at that moment, he wasn’t concerned with his legacy, instead simply savoring the joy that came in winning, and contributing meaningfully to that win.

“First game, first win as a Wing,” he said. “You get that first goal. It’s a good feeling.”

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN

By Bob Duff

November 1, 2010

Head tilted down toward the winged wheel darting across the front of his sweater, Mike Modano stared for the longest time.

He’d found himself in Joe Louis Arena many times before, too many long nights on the wrong end of the score line to want to remember, but never had it felt this accommodating – and this unusual – all at the same time.

Here he was, standing in the center of the Detroit Red Wings dressing room, about to embark on his 21nd NHL season – and his first for his hometown team.

Officially, Modano has been a Red Wing for a couple of months, but as far as he’s concerned, it didn’t become a reality until he hit the ice Oct. 8 for Detroit’s season-opening 4-0 victory over Anaheim.

“Up until now, it’s kind of been a warmup,” Modano said on the morning of that tilt. “It feels a lot like my first (NHL) game.”

At an age when most are packing for a mid-life crisis, Modano, 40, is encountering a joyous sense of rebirth. A Minnesota North Star/Dallas Star since being drafted by that organization with the first overall pick of the 1988 draft, Modano, a native of Livonia, Mich., signed as a free agent with Detroit in the summer and feels like a rookie again.

“It’s a new beginning, a fresh start at things,” he said. “There’s a lot of jitters; just getting comfortable with the guys off the ice, getting familiar with a whole new dialogue as far as team systems on the ice. It’s been a crash course of learning the last few weeks, but I think once we get into the rhythm of the game, I’ll be fine.”

The prodigal son, an enemy of the state during his two decades starring for the Stars, Modano was welcomed by the Detroit crowd with a thunderous ovation during opening-night ceremonies, something Modano wasn’t necessarily expecting.

“It was really nice to hear that they supported the Red Wings’ decision to bring me here,” he said.

Modano waited all of 5:35 to send the well-wishers a thank-you card. After receiving a drop pass in the high slot from Dan Cleary, Modano used his new linemate and Anaheim defender Brendan Mikkelson, who were tangled up in the high slot, to block the view of Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, snapping a wrist shot top shelf.

“It was a great play by Dan to hold a couple of guys off and I was able to get a good shot off a good screen,” Modano said of his first tally with the Wings. “I think Hiller had a tough time picking it up. It was nice to get it early. The excitement of the start of the game, the crowd was still in it. It was nice to get that out of the way.”

During the summer, Modano felt like the Stars were looking to get him out of the way. So much so that Modano was mentally preparing to call it a day, to hang up his blades for good.

“The last few years in Dallas were very draining,” he said. “I was emotionally drained at the end of last season.

“If Detroit hadn’t come calling, I felt I was done, I’d retire. But from Day 1, after talking to (Detroit GM) Kenny (Holland) and (Wings coach) Mike (Babcock), it lit a fire under me.”

Modano’s family stoked those flames. His wife, actress Willa Ford, and his parents, Mike Sr. and Karen, encouraged him to sign with the Wings, to come home and show the Stars the error of their ways.

“It’s a chance to prove everyone wrong,” Modano said. “(Willa) wanted me to play, especially in Detroit, because she knew they were a big rival and it would be a chance to stick it…”

Modano paused in mid-speak, opting not to finish his sentence, but you can fill in the blanks.

As much as he embraced the call to arms from his hometown team, Modano admitted that even in his quietest moments over the course of his playing days, he’d never permitted his imagination to dream up such a scenario as him skating in a Wings uniform.

“Not in a million years,” he said, acknowledging he never figured to fit into Detroit’s scheme. “As deep as this team is all the time, as tough as it is to fill positions, they seem to do it every year.

“There’s a good crop of young players always regenerating every four or five years with this team. It was a little odd to get that call from Kenny to see if I wanted to do it, but it worked out.”

Talking with Detroit over the course of the summer, Modano waited until August to ink the deal. Even though he was also pursued by the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks, he was certain he’d soar with the Wings or settle down to life after hockey. Modano wanted to be sure his mind and his body could endure the grind of an 82-game season.

“In reality, that’s what the delay was,” he said. “I knew if emotionally I couldn’t do it, the body would soon follow. But as you get to the middle of July and early August, you get excited again because you know camp is close. I’m really excited to get started here.

“It’s nice to play with Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Lidstrom, rather than against them.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by the Detroit stars who were so often asked to shut down Modano over the years.

“It is different, seeing him wearing a Red Wing uniform,” said captain Nicklas Lidstrom. “I’m used to playing against him, so I kind of like having him on our side.”

While the naysayers like to insist the Wings are too old for their own good and that adding another 40-something to the mix could potentially spoil their recipe for success, Holland follows a certain game plan when it comes to team building. He believes in suiting up a roster consisting of one-third veteran players, one-third players in the prime of their careers and one-third young prospects.

“Most of the older players we’ve had were superstars in their day and in their prime were so much better than everybody else,” Holland explained. “They may not be as dominant, but their skills, relative to other players, are still very good.”

Coming to Detroit, these veteran performers aren’t expected to carry the load every game.

“The thing about being an older player, if you go to a bad team, you’re going to be awful because it’s going to wear you down,” said coach Mike Babcock. “You come to a team that’s exciting and you win all the time, you can play longer because you’re playing with good players. We’re hoping Modano gets excited and plays like he can.”

Modano is already a significant upgrade at the point on Detroit’s second power play unit over last season’s option, Jason Williams. The Wings also have Modano, who produced 14 goals and 30 points in 59 games last season, skating on the third line with Cleary and Jiri Hudler, the latter back in Detroit after a year’s hiatus playing in the Kontinental League. “We all have different elements of skill that we bring,” said Cleary, who is of the opinion the line could produce three 20-goal scorers, since much of the attention of the first two forward lines and defense pairs are sure to focus on the Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg trios. “To be honest, I don’t think we’re going to see the top-end players. The best defense is pretty much going to be against ‘Pav’ and ‘Z.’ We have to go out and take advantage of the situation that we’re going to be put in. We have to work harder than the other guys.”

One NHL scout is convinced the Wings quietly pulled off the steal of the summer free-agent season by scooping up Modano, feeling he was miscast and, thus, downcast in Dallas in recent seasons.

“They dropped him to the fourth line, they used him as a checker, they took away the ‘C,’” the scout said. “They cut the heart out of him.”

Like Cleary, the scout is certain that playing on a talented line against second-tier players will only lead to a larger offensive output from Modano, who has averaged nearly a point per game (.93) over his career.

The top U.S.-born scorer in NHL history, the three-time Olympian and seven-time NHL All-Star Game participant may be just one of many superstars in the Detroit dressing room, but he’s the only one with a stall at Joe Louis Arena who also has a local arena named in his honor. The Westland Sports Arena was rechristened the Mike Modano Ice Arena in 2003.

Modano admits a boyhood crush on the Wings, but there was another team that found a way into his heart as well.

“Obviously, Detroit, that’s all that was covered,” Modano said. “Being part of Little Caesars, we’d come to the games in the mid-to-late 1970s, first at Olympia and then at Joe Louis Arena. But Hockey Night in Canada was obviously big, too. We were able to get that on TV back in the day, so I was a big Maple Leafs guy, too.”

As a kid playing for the Little Caesar’s minor hockey program run by Wings owner Mike Ilitch, Modano played and practised at Joe Louis Arena, and sheepishly admitted he’d sneak into the Detroit dressing room every so often to touch the hockey sticks of his NHL heroes.

“I had him as an amateur,” Ilitch said. “He helped me win our first midget national championship (in 1985). We’ve only had two other Detroit boys (Lee Norwood and Derian Hatcher) here. We couldn’t have written a better script.”

A script the Red Wings aren’t necessarily billing as a farewell tour. Modano is taking things year-by-year, but Holland hopes that circumstances lead to an extended stay in Motown.

“He’s motivated,” Holland said. “We think it’s a great fit.”

Like a glove, so far.

“It feels good, feels great, to be at the Joe skating again,” Modano said.

When he came back to the dressing room following his Detroit debut, Modano found a surprise souvenir waiting for him on the shelf of his locker.

His goal-scoring puck.

“I think someone got it for me,” Modano said, his smile widening. “I saw it was in my stall after the game.”

Even after all the goals, all the magical moments – a Stanley Cup, a World Cup – through a career that will undoubtedly end with a Hall of Fame enshrinement, it was clear that this latest bauble held a special place in Modano’s heart.

“First game, first win as a Wing,” he said. “You get that first goal. It’s a good feeling.”

A feeling you can only get from a good old-fashioned homecoming.

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