He has lifted the Stanley Cup.He has worn the letter C on his chest.
He is from Michigan. He grew up idolizing Gordie Howe.
He is 40. So is Nicklas Lidstrom. Both signed on to win because they believe they will in Detroit.
He has played for Mike Ilitch before. He has won a national championship with Mike Illitch before.I trust Ken Holland. I believe Mike Illitch.
He scored 14 goals and assisted on 16 others in 59 games last season. His new linemate, Dan Cleary, scored 15 times and tallied 19 assists in 64 games last season.His other linemate will be Jiri Hudler, the guy that posted 23 goals and 57 points for Detroit in 2008-09.
He transforms Detroit's third line into a puck possessing scoring threat, rather than a dump and chase and grind line. In other words, he protects and relieves pressure from the top two lines.He allows the top two lines to look like this:
#1: LW Holmstrom - C Zetterberg - RW Datsyuk
#2: LW Franzen - C Filppula - RW Bertuzzi
He allows line-o-tologist Mike Babcock to formulate a scary fourth line with pieces like Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader (who will be signed soon), Patrick Eaves, Kris Draper, and either Drew Miller or Mattias Ritola.
He reminds me of Joe Sakic. Wait, let me explain:Sakic captained the hated Colorado Avalanche through the years when we all hated the Colorado Avalanche the most. But who did you hate the most on that team? Go ahead, leave a comment below, make a most-hated list from these scumbags on the 1995-96 Colorado roster:
Joe Sakic
Adam Foote
Patrick Roy
Peter Forsberg
Claude Lemieux
Adam Deadmarsh
Mike Ricci
Hell, I'll throw Mike Keane, Stephane Yelle, Sandis Ozolinsh, Chris Simon, and Valeri Kamensky on that list, and Sakic would still be my least-hated Avalanche.
Like Mike Modano, I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Joe Sakic. Both guys were classy leaders. Both guys did things the right way. Both guys reminded me of Steve Yzerman.
Like Joe Sakic, I hated Modano's teams, but could not bring myself to despise the man. Modano's Dallas Stars were about as pesky and annoying as Sakic's Avalanche teams and were Detroit's second toughest Western Conference rival in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s. Big difference: Modano never beat the Wings in the playoffs. When you respect a player in the NHL you want him on your team, no matter how old he is. At 40 Modano still adds a dynamic to the Wings that makes everyone else better. In Detroit Modano has one last opportunity to raise the Stanley Cup. At 40 Modano still has the drive to do it.
Peace
