By JIM REEVES
revo@star-telegram.com
It seemed like the perfect penultimate column today, a guy with one foot already stepping out of the newsroom door writing about another with one well-sharpened skate hanging out the AAC door.
One rather large 6-foot, 3-inch problem with that concept.
Just because I’m merrily whistling zippety-do-dah on the way into retirement next week doesn’t mean Mike Modano, now and forever my favorite Stars player (like that’s unique), is ready for the recliner and a subscription to AARP.
So no, there will be no twin retirement announcements, which of course is wonderful news for Stars fans.
One big thing left on the agenda for Mo: Prove, over the next few weeks and months that he can still play and that there’s ample reason for the Stars to consider bringing him back after he wraps up the final season of his five-year contract this year.
This is what happens when you’re 39 and Modano understands that. Mo may be the record-holder for goals scored by an American player, but he’s at that point in his career when he has to prove himself every season. This one is no different and the case could be made that it’s more important than ever, considering he’s playing this year for a new general manager, a new head coach and coaching staff and with teammates to whom the Stars’ 1998-99 Stanley Cup championship is no more than a distant rumor.
That’s why Modano’s return to the ice Wednesday night at the AAC after suffering a rib injury in the season opener was both timely and important. The Stars need to find out what he’s still capable of doing, and Modano has to show old teammate Joe Nieuwendyk, the Stars’ first-year GM, and new bossman Marc Crawford that he still has what it takes to help a team get deep into the NHL playoffs.
"More times than not I’m thinking about playing more," Modano said after Wednesday’s morning skate and before taking the ice against the Calgary Flames. "There aren’t too many days when I say I’m totally sick of it and feel like moving on."
This is one of the things to love about Modano. He has never played games. He says what he thinks, sometimes to his regret. He’s honest enough to admit that there are days he wakes up and doesn’t want to climb into the pads, strap on the skates and force his sore and aching legs to push his tired body around the ice. So far, though, he does it anyway.
Why? Because it still makes him happy. He has yet to find anything that replaces the thrill of zipping down the ice, puck on his stick and with an opposing goaltender in his sights.
It actually helps that Crawford has brought a more wide-open philosophy of hockey that suits Modano’s free-flowing, smooth-skating style, and that there are younger players eager to play with him.
"It makes you feel useful when you have the types of skill we have and all the young guys around," he said. "It motivates you to be around their energy.
"There are still days when you’re tired and the travel gets to you, but the bad days don’t outnumber the other days and as long as I feel that way ... If things go well and I’m still playing well, I’d like to stick around after this season."
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