Mike Modano

At 53 years old, Mike Modano has this physical status:

Michael Thomas Modano Jr. (born June 7, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player, who played primarily for the Minnesota/Dallas Stars franchise.

He spent the final season of his NHL career with his hometown Detroit Red Wings. He is the all-time goal-scoring and points leader amongst American-born players in the NHL, as well as the last active player in the NHL who played for the North Stars when the team was in Minnesota.

Modano was drafted first overall by the North Stars in 1988, and after the team moved to Texas he helped the Stars win the Stanley Cup in 1999. Modano is considered one of the most influential figures in popularizing hockey in Texas and the southern United States.

Modano was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 17, 2014.

In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players.

Early life

Modano was born in Livonia, Michigan, the third child and only son of Michael, Sr. and Karen Modano. He grew up in Highland Township, and due to causing problems at school with his mischievous behavior, a friend of his father suggested to put Modano in a team sport to get him controlled. Michael, Sr. was a fan of hockey, and decided to teach ice skating to seven-year-old Modano. He learned it well, and six months later was put in local hockey teams. As a youth, he was part of a Detroit Red Wings team in the 1982 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. To spend his minor hockey career with the Detroit Little Caesar's Triple AAA Hockey Club, the Modano family moved to Westland. He made the Midget Major team at the age of fourteen when his teammates were two to three years older. In the 1984–85 season, Modano scored 50 goals and 50 assists on the way to win the USA Hockey National Championship in 1985. As a child Modano decided to pick the number 9 for his jersey in an homage to both Ted Williams, an idol of his Boston Red Sox fan father, and the Red Wings' own Gordie Howe.

Personal life

During his tenure with the Raiders, Modano started dating Kerri Nelson, sister of his teammates Jeff and Todd Nelson. In October 1999, he proposed to her, but eventually they ended the engagement in February 2000.

On November 30, 2006, singer/songwriter Willa Ford announced that Modano, her long-time boyfriend, had proposed to her during the weekend of Thanksgiving, 2006. Modano and Ford were married in a small ceremony in Athens, Texas, on August 25, 2007, where Brett Hull and Darryl Sydor attended as Modano's co-best men. Ford was asked by the NHL to blog the Stars' 2007 playoff series; her posts were well-received, and her support of her husband quite vocal. In August 2012, Ford and Modano announced that they were divorcing.

Modano married professional golfer Allison Micheletti, daughter and niece of former NHL players Joe Micheletti and Pat Micheletti, respectively, on September 1, 2013. They have twins (Jack and Kate), born in 2014 as well as a daughter, Reese (born 2016) and son, Luca (born 2018).

Modano is the founder and current Vice President of the Mike Modano Foundation, Inc., which raises awareness and funding for organizations offering education and assistance to children and families affected by child abuse, acts with canine rescue and has also united with the Wounded Warrior Project. Moreover, since the start of his NHL career, Modano has affiliated many times with both charitable organizations and the Texas community in general. He has also had his own clothing line during the 1990s.

On January 21, 2007, the NHL announced Modano as the Special Ambassador to the 2007 NHL All-Star Celebration, thanks to his numerous contributions towards bringing the 55th National Hockey League All-Star Game to Dallas and also for his contributions to Dallas hockey as a whole. Modano, the Stars' all-time leader in several statistical categories and a member of the franchise for the entirety of his 17-year career, appeared at selected All-Star events and dropped the puck in a ceremonial face-off prior the game on January 24, 2007.

Modano was one of a number of sportsmen to feature in a series of vignettes for WWF superstar Mr. Perfect, with Perfect playing as a goaltender saving every shot including Modano's.

Modano made a brief cameo appearance alongside then-teammate Basil McRae in the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks. Modano received a membership voucher to the Screen Actors Guild for the role.

Modano is an avid golfer, having met his second wife on a golf course, and playing in some tournaments after retirement. On Mike Modano Tribute Night, both the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks organizations presented him with golf packages, one of which was for the course at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland. His golf partner is often former Stars teammate Brett Hull. In the 2nd round of the 2021 American Century Celebrity Golf Championship on the 18th hole, Modano hit a double eagle (albatross) for the first time in the history of the event. The result of his shot going in gave him a tie for lead with John Smoltz going into the 3rd and final round.

Hull and Modano ran a Dallas restaurant, Hully & Mo Restaurant and Tap Room, from 2008 to 2012. In 2003, the town of Westland, where Modano lived during his minor hockey career and his parents still reside, renamed their ice rink as Mike Modano Ice Arena.

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Playing career

Coach Rick Wilson of the Prince Albert Raiders invited Modano, a 16-year-old boy, to come to Regina to join the Western Hockey League team in 1986. Modano scored a hat trick in his first game, and by his second year, he was a member of the WHL All-Star Team. The Minnesota North Stars selected Modano as the first overall draft pick in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, four days after his eighteenth birthday. After Brian Lawton in 1983, Modano became the second American to be selected first overall in the draft. Modano is out for one more season with the Raiders due to his contract difficulties.

Modano was signed by the North Stars on Christmas of 1988 and he joined the team for the 1989–90 season. He scored his first NHL goal against Glenn Healy of the New York Islanders in his rookie season, making him a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2009. Sergei Makarov, 31, had already played in the Soviet Championship League for more than a decade, and he had to hit a age barrier of 26 for Calder candidates from the previous year to present.

Despite the good start, Modano was often chastised in Minnesota as an underachiever who did not perform well enough to Trevor Linden, the 1988 top-two pick. Modano barely recalled his objectives and assists during his second season with the North Stars, but he reacted angrily defensive style against coach Bob Gainey. Modano was the team's highest-paid employee until 1992, earning $2 million a year. He had his best season up to that point, scoring 93 points in the 1992–93 NHL season and winning his first NHL All-Star Game invite.

The North Stars migrated to Dallas to become the Dallas Stars prior to the 1993–94 NHL season. Modano considered the relocation to Texas as a fresh start, but with different hopes from followers and the media, Modano decided to accept Gainey's plans to become a more effective player and perform more attacks. Modano scored 93 points on his first 50 goals and then scored 93 points. He quickly became a celebrity in Dallas, becoming the player who sold the most jerseys and received the most letters. Modano lowered his goalscoring and sustained significant injuries over the next two seasons - a concussion, a knee injury, and torn ankle ligament rupture, but he improved his defensive skills. Despite that, the Stars failed to qualify for the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Gainey stepped down as head coach while remaining GM.

Ken Hitchcock was hired as Dallas' coach on January 8, 1996, as a defensive-minded method, instead of the 15-minutes he played under Gainey. Modano led the Stars to the Central Division championship in 1996-97, with new acquisitions Joe Nieuwendyk and Sergei Zubov. With new goaltender Ed Belfour, the Stars advanced to the Western Finals in the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Modano won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999, despite breaking his wrist in the second game. Modano was involved with the Stars' final five goals of the season, including both in Game 5 and Game 6, as well as the final goal. Led the Stars had 23 points in the playoffs, with all seven of them having assists. In 2000, the Stars defeated the New Jersey Devils in the finals. Modano scored the overtime goal that gave the Stars a victory in game 5, but the Devils ended up 4–2 in Dallas game 6.

Modano averaged 78 points per season from 1996 to 2002, making him one of the top forwards in plus/minus over the NHL for the second time in 1997 (and second only to John LeClair's +44 mark). Modano has six (2–4–6) against the Anaheim Ducks, marking his highest point in a game, and he has seven career hat tricks. Rod Brind'Amour's first fight in his career was against him. He was also a candidate for the Frank J. Selke Trophy (2001) and the Lady Byng Trophy (2003).

He has scored over 1,000 NHL points and was named the Stars' captain in 2003 as the long-serving face of the Dallas franchise. Modano considered joining the Boston Bruins in the 2005 offseason, but after owner Tom Hicks got involved, he decided to stay with the Stars. Modano will sign a five-year contract extension with Dallas on August 5, 2005. Brenden Morrow was fired as the Stars' captain on September 29, 2006; Modano served as an alternate captain from that time to 2010, a position in which he had previously served from 1995 to 2003.

Modano scored his 500th regular-season goal on March 13, 2007, with 10:24 left in the 3rd period of a regulation victory over the Philadelphia Flyers' Antero Niittymäki with assist from Antti Miettinen and Jon Klemm. He is only the 14th goal scorer to score 500 goals with a single squad and the 39th player to reach 500 goals.

Modano's 502nd and 5203rd goals in a 3–2 loss on March 17, 2007, defeating Joe Mullen's NHL record (502) for most goals scored by an American-born player.

Modano also holds the all-time record for most points scored by a US-born player. He set the record, which had previously belonged to Phil Housley, by scoring two goals in the first five minutes, with the record-breaker being a short-handed goal against the San Jose Sharks. President George W. Bush spoke to him for a few minutes about the record that night amongst his congratulatory phone calls.

Modano's "Mike Modano Tribute Night" at American Airlines Center on November 21, 2007, where Modano was lauded by the franchise for his contributions to US hockey. Brett Hull, Joe Mullen, Phil Housley, Phil Housley, and Stars owner Tom Hicks were among those who attended the pre-game service. Modano continued to score the game-tying goal and a shootout goal in a 3–2 Stars victory over the Anaheim Ducks, caping off an emotional night.

Modano's employment decreased from 2007 to 2010, and he did not continue to work out the terms of his deal, which ended after the 2009–2010 season. Modano was honoured with a video tribute and a standing ovation in the game's first game of the season (coincidentally played in Minnesota, where Modano began his pro career), and named the game's first star, skating around the ice wearing a Minnesota North Stars jersey, sporting a Minnesota North Stars jersey.

Modano will not be re-signed to a deal for the 2010-2011 season, according to the Stars, who revealed it on June 29, 2010. Modano has signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings after contemplating retirement or signing with the Detroit Red Wings (in his home state) or with the Minnesota Wild (in the state where he began his NHL career), and in the state where he began his NHL career). As the no. 1, we can't. The Red Wings had 9 jerseys out, but Modano went for no. Rather, the 90s were replaced by 90. With Dan Cleary and Jimbo, coach Mike Babcock expressed a desire for Modano to center Detroit's third line.

Modano took a pass from Cleary and defeated Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller for his first goal as a Red Wing at 5:35 of the first period of Detroit's 2010-11 home opener on his second shift.

Modano's time with the Red Wings came to an end when Babcock made him a healthy scratch for his upcoming 1,500th regular-season game in the NHL. Modano played in 1,499 regular-season games during his career.

Post-playing career

Modano officially announced his retirement from hockey at a press conference in Dallas on September 23, 2011. Modano was the last active player to play in the 1980s, as well as Mark Recchi, as the last active player to play for the Minnesota North Stars. Modano's contract with Modano has been a one-day deal, allowing Modano to leave as a Dallas Star. Modano became the Stars' alternate governor and executive advisor in January 2013. He referred to his role as "the company's side," attracting the participation of local businesses to the team as well as increasing fans to Stars games.

Modano was hired by the Minnesota Wild in 2019 to act as an executive advisor in the front office.

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