Mike Modano Weekly Wrap-Up: Tuesday, February 4, 2003
Only one regular season game was on tap during the past week due to the NHL
All-Star Break. The Stars entered the break as the top team in the NHL and
Mike Modano was among the league’s top five scorers. Modano was named
Captain of the NHL Western Conference All-Stars and made his presence felt in
both the Skills Challenge and game itself.
Wednesday, January 29 vs. Calgary (W, 4-1)
Stat line:
Two assists
Plus/minus: +1
19:50 of ice time, 22
shifts
• 1:54 power play
• 1:31 shorthanded
8 of 17 faceoffs
won (47%)
Two shots on goal
Notes:
• Modano vs. Calgary, career: 48 games, 20 goals, 26 assists,
46 points
• Played on a line with Pierre Turgeon and Bill Guerin as
Stars coach Dave Tippett continued his recent trend of mixing and matching
lines.
Quotes:
“What a great long way Mike has come as a player and a leader and
now being recognized by the hockey community for all his
contributions.”
Stars president Jim Lites on Modano being named
All-Star Captain
“He likes open ice. I mean, what can you say, (Mike) was made for
All-Star games.”
Stars teammate, Sergei Zubov
“The All-Star Game is fun and it’s especially an honor to go as a
starter. It makes a difference, for sure.”
Modano on playing in
the NHL All-Star Game
Saturday, February 1 and Sunday, February 2 at NHL All-Star Weekend
Skills Challenge Notes:
• Modano did not participate in the Shooting Accuracy competition, but
he and Anaheim’s Paul Kariya served as “puck delivery men” to their Western
Conference All-Star Team participants.
• In the Pass & Score
competition, Modano teamed up with Mathieu Schneider of Los Angeles and Ray
Whitney of Columbus against New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur and the trio was the
only one in the competition to score three goals (on three attempts). The
most scored by any other trio was one goal.
• In the Breakaway Relay
event, Modano was the sixth of six players attempting to score on a breakaway
against Brodeur in a total of 45 seconds. With only five seconds or so
left when his turn came, Modano turned on the jets and scored on a beautiful
move prompting ABC announcer Darren Pang to comment, “Modano was the best
looking guy in that one—great move!”
NHL All-Star Game Notes:
• Modano scored the second goal of the game for the Western Conference
with 11:02 remaining in the first period on Nikolai Khabibulin of Tampa
Bay. Modano skated primarily on a line with Stars teammate Bill Guerin and
Ray Whitney of Columbus. In the third period, the lines were changed a bit
and he skated with both Paul Kariya of Anaheim and Teemu Selanne of San Jose and
then Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund of Vancouver.
• In overtime,
Modano skated 4-on-4 in the first group with Guerin, Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit
and Ed Jovanovski of Vancouver and nearly ended the game 30 seconds into the
extra period with a wicked backhander off the post behind Ottawa’s Patrick
Lalime.
Quotes:
“Everybody was gearing down at the end; they didn’t want to be the line that
got scored against – and that’s definitely against the norm for an All-Star
Game. The format is better, it kind of brings back a little bit of fire of
which conference is better.”
Modano, on the 2003 NHL All-Star Game
“A year like this changes your mind. Years like last year change your
mind, too. If you strung three or four years in a row like last year, then
you’d say, ‘What else can I do?’ These types of years you maybe take for
granted (when you’re younger). They don’t happen all the time. When
they do, you try and milk it for all it’s worth.”
Modano, comparing the
2002-2003 season to the 2001-2002 season
“I bet if they did it right now, Mike would be there.”
Jaromir Jagr
discussing the well-received NHL promo spot featuring legends Mario Lemieux,
Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr “passing the torch” to Jagr, Paul
Kariya, Eric Lindros and Pavel Bure.
“To me, (Mike) is one of the top one, two or three players in the world
today. He has every single component to be the best player in the
world.”
Jeremy Roenick of the Philadelphia Flyers
“After the Pat LaFontaine years, he’s the stamp. He’s the No. 1
overall. When he won the Cup, that put him on a pedestal. He’s a
wonderful player, and I can’t say enough about what he’s done for USA
hockey. He is the guy you think of when you think of USA
hockey.”
Doug Weight of the St. Louis Blues
The Week Ahead
Wednesday, February 5 vs. St. Louis (FSN, 7:30)
Saturday, February 8 at
Phoenix (KDFI-Ch. 27, 8:00)
Sunday, February 9 vs. Los Angeles (KDFI-Ch. 27,
6:00)