Stars legend, Wild exec Mike Modano on a conflicting series: Its a little tough

DALLAS — Mike Modano has a lot of friends inside American Airlines Center.

He knows the names of ushers, ticket takers (or, more accurately now, phone-scanners), concession folks and locker-room attendants.

He can find his way through any corridor without asking for directions, and if you look at the rafters, his No. 9 hangs vibrantly in between old teammates Neal Broten and Jere Lehtinen.

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But Wednesday night, the Hall of Famer and all-time leading U.S.-born scorer slipped in and out of his old arena trying his best to be unseen.

He’s the all-time record holder in virtually every Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars statistical category, but he watched Game 2 from inside Suite 1143 with Wild owner Craig Leipold and general manager Bill Guerin.

“I’m just going to try to stay out of the way of everybody and just find my seat and sit up with Billy and Craig and just get away from everything and just try to enjoy the game and just kind of avoid any run-ins with past people,” Modano said before the Wild were smoked 7-3. “But yeah, it’s a little tough.

“People are having a field day with it on social media, but I haven’t even engaged anybody and haven’t made any comments. It’s tough because I started my career in Minnesota and now I’m back working for them and you’ve got to support the team that you’re getting the check signed from.”

Where Modano ranks in North Stars/Stars history

Modano, 52, was hired by the Wild in 2019 to be an executive advisor, mostly tasked with helping Leipold and president Matt Majka. But in the past few years, Guerin, Modano’s old Stars and USA Hockey teammate, has been trying to get the former star centerman more involved in hockey ops.

He scouts games in the Southwest and flies to Minnesota for parts of training camp and in advance of important dates like the trade deadline and free agency.

He’s always a phone call away. Soon, he’ll be a lot more than that.

Around June 1, Modano, his wife, Allison, and their five children are relocating to the Twin Cities so he can be more involved with the Wild on a day-to-day basis. Not only will he be continuing his business and marketing role, but he’ll be advising Guerin and assistant GM Chris O’Hearn upstairs and be more of a sounding board for coach Dean Evason, also a former Stars teammate.

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“We’re coming back there to raise the family and everything else,” said Modano, whose children range in age from 2 to 8. “With my role that’s changed, I felt it was important to be around more often and to be there. We’re excited to swing back around and start raising a family in Minnesota.

“It’s always kind of been on the radar to go back to the Midwest, certainly Minnesota and where it started, but being entrenched with the Wild, I think it made sense.”

On Hall of Famer and the highest-scoring U.S.-born player, Mike Modano, returning to where it all started for him #mnwild https://t.co/zbqxXuSI9D

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 24, 2019

Modano was looking forward to Wednesday’s game after being impressed by how the Wild, behind a 51-save performance from Filip Gustavsson, held on to beat Dallas in double overtime in Game 1.

Modano has won a Stanley Cup and played 176 career playoff games, and he knows what it’s like to be on each side of a win and loss after long overtimes.

“Those long ones are good to win,” he said. “You lose that one, you just come into the rink on the next day and you’re kind of dragging, you’re trying to regroup to come back on Game 2. But if you win it, you’ve got a little pep in your step. You’re not as tired. It doesn’t hurt as much the next day.”

Unfortunately for Modano, he didn’t see the best of the Wild. He watched them play way too loosey-goosey, not manage the puck well, give up breakaway after odd-man rush after breakaway and get a poor goaltending performance after the odd decision not to come back with their Vezina-caliber goaltender following such Game 1 brilliance.

Smith: The Wild’s stubborn goalie decision proves costly. Will it swing the series?

via @TheAthletic https://t.co/q6XIk1xvXL

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 20, 2023

But normally, Modano loves the defensive structure and hard-nosed style Evason and Guerin have put together.

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“They’ve kind of tightened up their whole team game,” Modano said (again: before the game). “They’ve created a perception and an identity the last couple years through Dean, the way he played. And it’s kind of trickled down to the players. And even with Billy, it’s how he played. They played a tough game with a little bit of flair and offensive side to it.

“This team has that, and they make it fun to watch because they have a no-quit attitude. They hang in there. They play a solid 60 minutes. I think just a change in mentality and attitude and everything else they’ve created the past few months, they’ve got a little bit of momentum and some confidence to them in this series.”

Modano loves a comment Evason made Tuesday: “Nobody pushes us around.”

“There’s this overall team toughness,” Modano said. “Everybody has each other’s back. They’re very supportive. They stick up for one another. That’s just a good sign of guys just really buying into a great team and an opportunity that they may have to extend their playoff season. It’s good to see. I think you feel good about yourself when you’re out there. You can push the envelope a little bit. You can walk that fine line of being overly physical and tough and knowing that everybody’s gotten each other’s back, and it makes it a little bit more to deal with out there.”

Modano is always watching Kirill Kaprizov, but the player who has really excited him lately is Matt Boldy, who had 14 goals in his final 16 games of the regular season.

“He took advantage of the time that Kirill was out, and he just had an amazing end of February and most of March,” Modano said. “He had just a great production and really stepped up and was that main guy. He’s probably the guy that actually carried them into that first round.

“They could have gone into a free fall and not won any games with Kirill out. But Matt was good. And I think that helped a lot of the team understand that they can spread the wealth around a little bit. He’s a big kid. He can control the puck a little bit. Kirill’s just really kind of crafty, just an all-out skill kind of guy. He sticks his nose in there. They both do. They both play with a little bit of a monkey on their back and a little snarl to their game so they’re not easily intimidated and pushed around. That’s a good sign.”

Hall of Famer Mike Modano’s sage advice to Kirill Kaprizov: ‘Be the hunter, not the hunted’

via @TheAthletic https://t.co/oOvZ3U2GEw

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) November 6, 2021

Both will have to be a lot better the rest of the series. Kaprizov has one goal and Boldy none on 14 shots. Boldy now has one goal and one assist in eight career playoff games.

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The other player who has impressed Modano is 20-year-old defenseman Brock Faber, who was never expected to start the playoffs in the lineup after signing out of the University of Minnesota the day after the Gophers’ national championship defeat.

“It just goes to show you how these kids develop at such an early age,” he said. “I mean, just to walk in there and just step in, he looks like he’s been there three or four years. It’s amazing how these young kids, they’re fine-tuned to just walk right in and make an impact. And it’s amazing, especially as a defenseman, to log some minutes like that in a pressure system and playing against a high-skilled team like Dallas. It speaks volumes for that kid. It’s amazing to see.”

#mnwild sign 2-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Brock Faber to 3-year, $2.775M EL contract.

$92,500 signing bonuses, can achieve $250K per in performance A bonuses (so basically one bonus)

Burns 1st year, will be on Wild’s plane to Chicagohttps://t.co/YwO9V3KVTl

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 9, 2023

Modano, despite his age, looks like he could strap on the skates now and perform at a high level. He, of course, disagrees, although at a minimum he could still help in the faceoff circle against the best team in the league in that department. Modano says the Wild will be OK, especially if they can get Joel Eriksson Ek back in this series.

“Huge loss,” he said. “Huge. Without Ek, it takes a village to help out on the faceoff dot. But more than that, it’s everything he does — best offensive center, net front on the power play, penalty kill.

“But I like this team and really think they can make this a good series and have playoff success.”

Modano didn’t get to see the best of the Wild on this night. The team that used to sign his paychecks, on the other hand? The team that lifted his No. 9 to the roof?

He saw the best of them. Then he got up, left the suite and tried to quietly leave his old arena unnoticed.

Outside viewers believed all Mike Modano cared about was offense. That wasn't true.

The reality was it was all about winning.@RussoHockey details the greatest American-born hockey player in history to date, No. 51 on The Athletic's #NHL99

— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) December 7, 2022

(Photo of Mike Modano: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

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