It was meant to be a triumphant homecoming for Livonia, Mich., native Mike Modano, a longtime Dallas Stars forward who had battled the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs multiple times before signing a contract to play for his hometown team.
Things couldn’t have started better for Modano, who scored in his Red Wings debut at Joe Louis Arena in October 2010 against the Anaheim Ducks.
Unfortunately, Modano missed a large portion of what became his final NHL season after a teammate’s falling skate sliced a tendon in his right wrist in late November. He underwent surgery, was sidelined for several months, and didn’t return until late February.
His most productive years were well behind him at that point, and he ultimately scored just four goals in the 40 games he appeared in wearing the Winged Wheel.
He was recently a guest of the Ozzy and Keats podcast consisting of newly-retired FanDuel Sports Detroit host John Keating and former Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood, and he revealed that he was close to signing with the Minnesota Wild in the 2010 offseason before receiving a call from then-Red Wings GM Ken Holland.
“If anybody else was calling besides Detroit, I would have been like, ‘Thanks for the call, but I’m just going to pass and maybe call it a day,'” Modano explained.
As a youth, Modano played for the Detroit Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club before moving to Saskatchewan. Drafted first overall by the Minnesota North Stars in 1988, he remained the face of the franchise when the club relocated to Dallas and went on to become the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history and helped the Stars win the Stanley Cup in 1999 alongside future Red Wings forward Brett Hull.
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He recognized that his days with the Stars were numbered in 2010, and jumped at the chance to play for the Red Wings when the offer came from Holland.
“It was a chance to go home and play with some great players, be at home, play with the Wings,” he said. “I loved Kenny Holland at the time, we thought he was a great guy. I loved the Ilitch Family and what they did for us as far as our minor hockey with Little Caesars and what they did for me growing up there in that city. I thought I’d give it a shot and go back, and realized how out of shape I was.”
Modano’s unfortunate injury derailed a season in which he said he felt he was in the best playing shape he had been in over the previous two to three years.
“Probably around Thanksgiving, I felt I was about the best shape I’d been in in two to three years….but then I got hurt,” Modano explained. “If I didn’t get hurt, I think my idea, my feelings obviously and my whole demeanor would have changed. It was just a hard struggle to get back, it was a rare, crazy injury.”
“I figured I was done at that point…..it didn’t pan out well.”
Modano remained diplomatic when asked about the infamous decision by then-coach Mike Babcock to scratch him late in the regular season, a move that kept him from reaching what would have been his 1,500th career game.
“It was just an odd phone call, I just didn’t expect to get at that point, knowing I was so close. And then he dressed me in Chicago to end up with 1,499. It was frustrating at the time, I got to the rink and he just kind of let it be known that he brought me in to win a Cup, not get 1,500 games.”
“I didn’t play much in the playoffs, and I knew the writing was on the wall at that point.”
Modano retired following the season was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014, his first year of eligibility.
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