Modano joins elite company with Hall of Fame induction
As retirement parties go, Mike Modano's has been a doozy.
Since walking off the ice in 2011, Modano has had a tear-filled announcement in a Dallas hotel ballroom that ended his 21-year career, entry into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, number retirements for the Prince Albert Raiders and the Stars, and now the Hockey Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted on Monday night in Toronto.
"It's been a wild ride, but if you're going to end it, then this is the way to do it," Modano said. "This is the big one."
Modano said he fully understands the enormity of the Hall of Fame and is awed by the process. He was inducted with Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake, Dominik Hasek, the late coach Pat Burns and referee Bill McCreary.
Modano, who began his career with the Minnesota North Stars before the franchise moved to Dallas in 1993, was introduced by Hall of Famer and good friend Brett Hull. Also expected to join the festivities were Joe Nieuwendyk and Ed Belfour, who recently were inducted into the Hall off the 1999 Stars Stanley Cup team.
"I think that's the best part of it," Modano said. "To have your family there and teammates there, it just makes everything perfect. There's going to be a lot of tears, but there's also going to be a lot of great memories and looking back."
Modano, the first overall draft pick in 1988 by the North Stars, finished his career with 1,374 points in 1,499 games — the greatest NHL scorer born on U.S. soil.
HIGHLIGHTS
• CALLAHAN HAUNTS RANGERS: Ryan Callahan scored two goals in his first game against his former Rangers teammates, and the surging Tampa Bay Lightning rode another big offensive outburst to a 5-1 victory in New York. Callahan netted the second of Tampa Bay's two first-period goals and then closed the scoring with 2:51 left in the game for the Lightning, which leads the NHL with 71 goals in 19 games.
• BETTMAN DOWNPLAYS EXPANSION: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman insists the league does not have plans to expand in the near future. "All I'll do is continue to report on the levels of interest that are being expressed," he said. "There's no effort crying out for immediate expansion. But we are getting expressions of interest. Even if we decided tomorrow we're going to do it, it still wouldn't happen for two, three years." He said the board of governors would not hold a vote on expansion at next month's meeting.
• DUPUIS OUT: Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis will miss Tuesday's game at Montreal because of an unspecified injury. Coach Mike Johnston said Dupuis met with doctors and will not accompany the team for the trip.
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