Mike Modano
history| birth_place = Livonia, MI, U.S. | draft = 1st overall | draft_year = 1988 | draft_team = Minnesota North Stars | career_start = 1989 | website = »mikemodano.com }} Michael Thomas Modano, Jr. (; born June 7, 1970, in Livonia, Michigan) is an American professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the all-time goal-scoring and points leader amongst American-born players in the NHL, and the only player on the Stars roster, or in the NHL, that played for the franchise's previous incarnation, the Minnesota North Stars, having been drafted 1st overall by the franchise in 1988. He is generally regarded as one of the best American-born NHL players in history.
Playing career
The North Stars selected Modano as the first overall draft pick in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft at the age of 18, an honor shared by only five other Americans: Brian Lawton (1983), Bryan Berard (1995), Rick DiPietro (2000), Erik Johnson (2006), and Patrick Kane (2007). Modano scored his first career NHL goal against Glenn Healy of the New York Islanders.
Modano won the Stanley Cup in 1999 with the Stars, putting together consecutive seasons of over twenty playoff points in 1999 and 2000. He has also played in the 1991 and 2000 Stanley Cup Finals. Modano has also been a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy (1990), the Frank J. Selke Trophy (2001), and the Lady Byng Trophy (2003). He controversially lost the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the year's best rookie, to 31-year-old Sergei Makarov, who had already played professionally in the Soviet Championship League for over 12 years; this led to an age barrier of 26 for Calder candidates the following year to the present day. Modano's best statistical seasons were in 1992β93 and 1993β94, as he scored 93 points in each of those seasons. During the latter campaign, the franchise's first in Dallas, Modano recorded a personal-best 50 goals. His career high for points in a game is six (2β4β6) against the Anaheim Ducks. Modano has seven career hat tricks. Modano's only career fight was against Rod Brind'Amour. The long-time face of the Dallas franchise, he has recorded over 1,000 NHL points and became the captain of the Stars in 2003. During the 2005 offseason, Modano contemplated signing with the Boston Bruins, but decided to stay with the Stars after owner Tom Hicks got involved.
On August 5, 2005, Modano signed a five-year contract extension with Dallas. On September 29, 2006, Brenden Morrow replaced him as the Stars' captain; Modano is now an alternate captain, a role in which he had previously served from 1995 to 2004.
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 scored his 500th career regular-season goal on March 13, 2007, with 10:24 left in the 3rd period in a regulation win against Antero NiittymΓ€ki of the Philadelphia Flyers with assists by Antti Miettinen and Jon Klemm. He is only the 14th goal scorer to score 500 goals with a single team and the 39th player to reach 500 goals overall.
On March 17, 2007, in an away game versus the Nashville Predators, Modano scored his 502nd and 503rd career regular-season goals in a 3β2 loss, thus passing Joe Mullen's NHL record (502) for most goals scored by an American-born player. The Predators organization drew criticism from around the league after failing to mention the breaking of this record.
Modano also holds the NHL all-time record for most points scored by a U.S. born player. He broke the record, which previously belonged to Phil Housley, on November 7, 2007, by scoring two goals in the first five minutes, with the record-breaker being a short-handed goal on a breakaway, against the San Jose Sharks. That night, amongst his congratulatory phone calls was one from Air Force One, U.S. President George W. Bush spoke to him for a few minutes about the record.
November 21, 2007, was "Mike Modano Tribute Night" at American Airlines Center, where Modano was honored by the franchise for his achievements in U.S. hockey. Those who spoke in the pre-game ceremony included Brett Hull, Joe Mullen, Phil Housley, and Stars owner Tom Hicks. Capping off an emotional night, Modano later went on to score the game-tying goal in a 2β1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks.
Modano has indicated in interviews that he intends to play out the duration of his current contract, which expires after the 2009β10 season. After doing so, he will take his career on a year-to-year basis, move into a front office position with the Stars similar to Brett Hull, or move on without hockey altogether.
On November 30, 2006, Willa Ford announced that long-time boyfriend Modano 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. 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. 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. Modano made a brief cameo appearance alongside then-teammate Basil McRae in the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks. He only had two lines in the movie, in which he said to Emilio Estevez, "I heard you were a farmer" and "take it easy." Nonetheless, Modano still received a membership voucher to the Screen Actors Guild for the role. Modano is an avid golfer. 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 2008, Hull and Modano founded Hully & Mo Restaurant and Tap Room in Dallas.
- East First All-Star Team (WHL) - 1989
- NHL All-Rookie Team - 1990
- NHL Second All-Star Team - 2000
- NHL All-Star Games - 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003 (as the Western Conference team captain), 2004, 2007 (as the Special Ambassador), 2009
- Stanley Cup champion - 1999 (Dallas)
- Goals by a player born in the United States (543)
- Points by an American born player (1329)
- Playoff points by an American-born player, career (149)
- Games played by an American-born forward (1400)
Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars
- Games played, regular season and playoffs (1400, 174)
- Goals, regular season and playoffs (543, 58)
- Assists, regular season and playoffs (786, 87)
- Points, regular season and playoffs (1329, 145)
Career statistics
{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" width="90%" style="text-align:center"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! colspan="5" | Regular season
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! colspan="5" | Playoffs
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season
! Team
! League
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1985β86 || Detroit Compuware || MNHL || 69 || 66 || 65 || 131 || 32 || β || β || β || β || β
|-
| 1986β87 || Prince Albert Raiders || WHL || 70 || 32 || 30 || 62 || 96 || 8 || 1 || 4 || 5 || 4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1987β88 || Prince Albert Raiders || WHL || 65 || 47 || 80 || 127 || 80 || 9 || 7 || 11 || 18 || 18
|-
| 1988β89 || Prince Albert Raiders || WHL || 41 || 39 || 66 || 105 || 74 || β || β || β || β || β
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1989β90 || Minnesota North Stars || NHL || 80 || 29 || 46 || 75 || 63 || 7 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 12
|-
| 1990β91 || Minnesota North Stars || NHL || 79 || 28 || 36 || 64 || 65 || 23 || 8 || 12 || 20 || 6
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1991β92 || Minnesota North Stars || NHL || 76 || 33 || 44 || 77 || 46 || 7 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 4
|-
| 1992β93 || Minnesota North Stars || NHL || 82 || 33 || 60 || 93 || 83 || β || β || β || β || β
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1993β94 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 76 || 50 || 43 || 93 || 54 || 9 || 7 || 3 || 10 || 16
|-
| 1994β95 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 30 || 12 || 17 || 29 || 8 || β || β || β || β || β
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1995β96 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 78 || 36 || 45 || 81 || 63 || β || β || β || β || β
|-
| 1996β97 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 80 || 35 || 48 || 83 || 42 || 7 || 4 || 1 || 5 || 0
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1997β98 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 52 || 21 || 38 || 59 || 32 || 17 || 4 || 10 || 14 || 12
|-
| 1998β99 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 77 || 34 || 47 || 81 || 44 || 23 || 5 || 18 || 23 || 16
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1999β00 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 77 || 38 || 43 || 81 || 48 || 23 || 10 || 13 || 23 || 10
|-
| 2000β01 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 81 || 33 || 51 || 84 || 52 || 9 || 3 || 4 || 7 || 0
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2001β02 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 78 || 34 || 43 || 77 || 38 || β || β || β || β || β
|-
| 2002β03 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 79 || 28 || 57 || 85 || 30 || 12 || 5 || 10 || 15 || 4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2003β04 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 76 || 14 || 30 || 44 || 46 || 5 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 8
|-
| 2005β06 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 78 || 27 || 50 || 77 || 58 || 5 || 1 || 3 || 4 || 4
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2006β07 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 59 || 22 || 21 || 43 || 34 || 7 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 4
|-
| 2007β08 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 82 || 21 || 36 || 57 || 48 || 18 || 5 || 7 || 12 || 22
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 2008β09 || Dallas Stars || NHL || 80 || 15 || 31 || 46 || 46 || β || β || β || β || β
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | WHL totals
! 176
! 118
! 176
! 294
! 250
! 17
! 8
! 15
! 23
! 22
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 1400
! 543
! 786
! 1329
! 896
! 174
! 58
! 87
! 145
! 128
|}
Played for the United States in:
- 1988 World Junior Championships
- 1989 World Junior Championships
- 1990 IIHF World Championships
- 1991 World Cup of Hockey (Silver medal)
- 1993 World Championships
- 1996 World Cup of Hockey (Gold medal)
- 1998 Winter Olympics
- 2002 Winter Olympics (Silver medal)
- 2004 World Cup of Hockey
- 2005 World Championsh
- 2006 Winter Olympics
International statistics
{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3" CELLSPACING="0" |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM |- ALIGN="center" | 1988 | USA | WJC | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 8 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1989 | USA | WJC | 7 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 12 |- ALIGN="center" | 1990 | USA | WC | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1991 | USA | CC | 8 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 |- ALIGN="center" | 1993 | USA | WC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1996 | USA | WCH | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |- ALIGN="center" | 1998 | USA | Oly | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2002 | USA | Oly | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 |- ALIGN="center" | 2004 | USA | WCH | 5 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2005 | USA | WC | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 |- ALIGN="center" | 2006 | USA | Oly | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | Senior int'l totals ! 57 ! 14 ! 27 ! 41 ! 24 |}
- List of NHL statistical leaders
- List of NHL players with 1000 points
- List of NHL players with 500 goals
- List of NHL first overall draft choices
- »Mike Modano's U.S. Olympic Team bio
- »Mike Modano's Official Website
- »The Mike Modano Foundation
- »Mike Modano Ice Arena
- »Hully & Mo Restauarnt and Tap Room
- »New NHL order: Stars, Wings struggling
title = Dallas Stars captains| years = 2007β08 NHL season | after= = incumbent