Mike Modano has called it quits. The 41-year-old has retired from the NHL after 22 seasons, a move he announced on Facebook Wednesday afternoon. He'll hold a formal press conference on Friday afternoon.
Mike Modano Retires From NHL, Will Hold Press Conference Friday
Modano played last season with the Detroit Red Wings, but by the time the Stanley Cup Playoffs rolled around in April, it was evident that Modano's career was slowing down. He was a healthy scratch for most of Detroit's playoff action.
But that's certainly not how we'll remember Modano, one of the best American-born players to ever play the game. He's the leading scorer among Americans in NHL history with 561 goals and 1,374 points. He won a Stanley Cup in 1999 with the Dallas Stars, the franchise he spent all but the final year of his career with.
It’s in that sense that it’s fitting that the Stars website will be streaming his press conference live on their website at 2 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon. Whether he’ll announce his after-hockey plans is yet to be seen, but he hinted in his announcement Wednesday that he’s still going to be around the game. Emphasis ours:
After a long summer of thinking about my future, I’ve come to the decision that it’s time to retire as a player from the NHL. There’s way too many people to thank here at this time and too much to say, so I have a press conference scheduled for early Friday afternoon. Check back Friday late afternoon for more. What a great ride it’s been!
Modano is the kind of guy you can see sticking around the game in some public capacity for the prolonged future. We’ll find out soon enough whether that’s in the cards. For more on Modano’s retirement from the game, check in with our Stars blog, Defending Big D.
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