Mike Modano

Lore & Background

Modano was born in Livonia, Michigan, and grew up in Highland Township. After causing problems at school, a friend of his father suggested putting him in a team sport. His father, a hockey fan, taught him to ice skate at age seven, and six months later Modano was playing on local teams. As a youth, he played for a Detroit Red Wings team in the 1982 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. He later moved to Westland to play for the Detroit Little Caesar's Triple AAA Hockey Club and attended Franklin High School. At age fourteen, he made the Midget Major team with teammates two to three years older. In the 1984–85 season, he scored 50 goals and 50 assists, winning the USA Hockey National Championship in 1985. He chose jersey number 9 to honor Ted Williams and Gordie Howe.

In 1986, Modano joined the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League. He scored a hat trick in his first game and made the WHL All-Star Team in his second year. Four days after his eighteenth birthday, the Minnesota North Stars selected him first overall in the 1988 NHL entry draft, making him the second American taken first overall. Contract issues led him to play one more season with the Raiders. He signed with the North Stars on Christmas of 1988 and joined the team for the 1989–90 season. He scored his first NHL goal against Glenn Healy of the New York Islanders and made the NHL All-Rookie team. He was a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy but lost to 31-year-old Sergei Makarov, which led to an age barrier of 26 for future Calder candidates.

Modano was often criticized in Minnesota as an underachiever. In his sophomore season, the North Stars reached the 1991 Stanley Cup Final, but his point production dropped. He signed a four-year extension in 1992 making him the highest-paid member of the team at $2 million per year. He had his best season to that point in 1992–93 with 93 points and earned his first NHL All-Star Game invitation. Prior to the 1993–94 season, the team moved to Dallas. Modano recorded a personal-best 50 goals and again scored 93 points. He became an idol in Dallas, selling the most jerseys and receiving the most letters. Injuries affected his next two seasons, but he improved his defensive play. Under new head coach Ken Hitchcock, Modano played more minutes and led the Stars to the Central Division title in 1996–97. The Stars won the Presidents' Trophy in 1997–98 and again in 1998–99, when they won the Stanley Cup. Modano played the entire 1999 Final with a broken wrist and led the playoffs with 23 points. The Stars returned to the Final in 2000 but lost to the New Jersey Devils. Modano averaged 78 points per season from 1996 to 2002 and was a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2001 and the Lady Byng Trophy in 2003. He scored his 500th career regular-season goal on March 13, 2007, against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Reader's Guide

Modano is widely regarded as one of the greatest American-born ice hockey players of all time. He is the all-time goal-scoring leader among American-born players in NHL history. He is considered one of the most influential figures in popularizing ice hockey in Texas and the southern United States. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 17, 2014. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players. In 2019, he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. He led the Dallas Stars to two straight first-place regular season finishes in 1998 and 1999, and the Stanley Cup in 1999. He scored his 500th career regular-season goal on March 13, 2007, becoming only the 14th goal scorer to score 500 goals with a single team and the 39th player overall to reach that mark.

Did You Know?

• Modano was the second American selected first overall in the NHL draft, after Brian Lawton in 1983.
• His only career fight was against Rod Brind'Amour.