Jim Reeves 
Modano feeling like a youngster in playoffs
Star-Telegram staff writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- They crank the thermostat down to about 20 below at HP Pavilion this time of year to better keep the ice nice and slick, never mind the frost that starts forming on everyone's eyebrows.
Doesn't bother Mike Modano. The way he's made himself at home in the Shark Tank this season, you'd think he was basking in the hot tub on his back deck.
Modano seems to shed years when he steps onto the ice here and that's good, because for the Dallas Stars to advance past this second round series with the San Jose Sharks, they might need him to play like he's 27 instead of 37.
He looked like the Modano of old here again Friday night, spanking home a blistering one-timer during a second-period power play that tied the score at 1-1, helping launch the Stars to a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 1 of this Western Conference semifinal series.
Team captain Brenden Morrow scored twice after Modano broke the ice, including the game-winner on a one-timer from the right circle that squeezed just between the left post and Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov.
Seventy-six seconds after Modano's score, Mike Ribeiro and Morrow teamed up to give the Stars a 2-1 lead, when Ribeiro, who had two assists, took a wrap-around and passed cross-crease to Morrow on the other side.
But at that point, the Stars went into shutdown mode, sitting back in their zone, waiting on the Sharks, and crossed their fingers that Marty Turco could hold it.
He did all he could with 25 saves, but the Sharks' Jonathan Cheechoo shoved home the game-tying goal off a rebound by going over the top of Turco with less than 2 1/2 minutes to play and it was tied 2-2 after regulation.
Morrow gave the Stars the victory just 4:39 into overtime.
Unlike the Stars' first-round battle with Anaheim, this one promises to be more of a skater's series, with more speed, more open ice, more up-and-down action.
Now you know why Modano starts grinning as soon as the Stars' plane touches down at the San Jose airport.
"I don't know if it's the sight you have on the ice or the feel you get with the atmosphere and the fans," Modano said before the game. "Some buildings you just feel good playing in and this has been one I've felt comfortable playing in, seeing the ice and skating."
It was on this ice on Nov. 7 that Modano scored two goals, including a breakaway short-hander for the second, that broke Phil Housley's record as the all-time NHL U.S.-born points leader.
With no other pro sports teams in town, San Jose is definitely a hockey town. There are teal and white banners all over town, trumpeting the Sharks and their playoff run.
The fans here know and appreciate good hockey. When Modano broke Housley's record, they rewarded him with a standing ovation.
"It was nice to hear that," Modano said. "It says a lot about the fans and how they appreciate hockey and the growth of the game here. They've become pretty diehard fans here."
Diehard enough that, while they may appreciate what Modano has accomplished in his career, they still understand that he's the enemy. During the singing of The Star Spangled Banner Friday night, the fans booed lustily each time the singer said the word "star," mocking the cheers that Modano hears at home at the AAC.
Modano scored five of his 21 goals -- almost one-fourth -- this season against the Sharks. For him, the sight of teal is like putting chum in the water. He immediately goes on a feeding frenzy.
The Tank is his home away from home.
"We're here so often, there's nothing you can do but get used to the place, the area and the building," he pointed out. " We've been coming here for years.
"I've played a lot of games here. Usually they're just fun games to play in, a lot of speed and fun games up and down."
That, perhaps, more than the venue itself, may explain some of Modano's success here. The Sharks' style of play is similar to the Stars', and it suits Modano's strengths.
"We're carbon-copy teams," he said. "We like to skate and move the puck, too, and move it fast, get up and down the ice together as five.
"[The Sharks] skate well and sometimes when you're skating and moving the puck, you just can't get established in [the other team's] zone and their second and third guys can't get up in the zone and close the gap a little, so it's coming out of their zone before [they] can get any sustained pressure."
In other words, open ice, the two words Modano loves best in this world. Well, maybe next to Willa Ford, anyway.
The most recognizable face in Dallas Stars hockey history has two years left on his contract, through the 2009-2010 season, but admits there were moments during the grind of the regular season when he wasn't sure he wanted to keep doing this that long.
But the playoffs, especially getting out of the first round for the first time since 2003, have rejuvenated him, reminding him of why he plays the game in the first place.
"This time of year it gets exciting, and it's fun to play again," Modano said. "For six months you're kind of waiting around, waiting for this time.
"But it makes it worthwhile. This is the most exciting time to be a player and it's something you'll miss a lot when you're done."
There are times now when Modano sees a not-too-distant glimpse of what life will be without hockey for the first time in his life.
"I contemplate it, think about it a lot," he said. "What's next? What's going to happen?
"But right now I just try to enjoy the moment, get the most out of what I'm doing. You know it's going to be ending soon. When you leave, you want to leave on a good note."
And if he can hit that note by rolling back the years here in San Jose and help the Stars reach another conference finals so much the better.
Jim Reeves, 817-390-7760
