Is Modano to Detroit only a matter of time?

Detroit Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock told the NHL Website late last night that the Detroit Red Wings are close to signing the Stars Legend to a deal that would take him back to his home town. Growing up in nearby Livonia, Michigan.

Modano going to Detroit was something that I thought would really get his interest and with the team looking to get back to the Cup after having one of their worst seasons in 20 years, he would eventuality bring experience and leadership to a fantastic Red Wings team.

It would be really bizarre and weird to see him in a Red Wings uniform knowing the huge rivalry that the Stars & Red Wings have. Surprisingly I don't have a problem with him going to the Red Wings as that is his hometown and a chance to end his career and possibly win one last Stanley Cup Chance would be a great end to a historic career for the Stars.

Just a reminder everyone, the Stars play Detroit in the Team's Opener on October 14.

Here's part of an article written by George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press written earlier today. www.freep.com

Mike Modano is going to play for the Detroit Red Wings next season, and the season after that - at least if you believe Wings Head Coach.

"This is a no brainer for Mike Modano - the highest scoring American Player of all time to comeback to play for your hometown, play in Hockeytown," Babcock told the National Hockey League Website. "It's not about the cash, it's about the legacy and the fit. He'll fit, and he'll be excited to play. I look forward to him signing. I think that's inevitable. I think that's what is going to happen."

Of Course, Babcock could be 100% wrong. Modano, 40, is being courted by other teams, too.

"I think this is all going to work out; I'm pretty certain of that for us. But I've been around here before, and if you told me that Jiri Hudler was leaving for Russia, I wouldn't have believed it," Babcock said. "I've been wrong. Some people think I have the market cornered on being wrong."

Check this Link to see the Full Article: www.freep.com/article/20100716/SPORTS05/100716053/1354/Babcock-Inevitable-that-Modano-will-join-Wings

In addition to the Detroit Free Press Article, Jean-Jacques Taylor wrote about how Modano needs to keep his ego out of the Decision of finding out where he will play in the 2010-2011 season.

Here's part of the Jean-Jacques Taylor Article: www.dallasnews.com

Mike Modano should wear the hated Detroit Red Wings Red Sweater this season as long as he's playing because he can't imagine life without hockey - not because his ego needs some TLC. It's easy to see why Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk made the difficult, but correct, decision to inform Modano that he'd played his last season for the Dallas Stars.

Like most superstars, especially those who spend the bulk of his career with one team, Modano feels a certain sense of entitlement. Talk to enough people within the organization and they'll tell you that Modano, while still likable, has become a curmudegon over the last couple of seasons. In Dallas, he's the face of the franchise, the best player to ever wear a Stars Sweater. Here, every forward gets compared to Modano.

Here, he's the standard.

That's why Modano could never be a role player with the Stars. It's too hard on his ego. It's no different then why running back Eddie George took the same money in 2004 to be a backup for the Cowboys instead of the same role in Tennessee, where he had been the face of the franchise.

No former great player wants to hear ever wants to be told his role is changing. They always see themselves the way they always have been - and it doesn't matter whatever its Modano, Emmitt Smith, Ken Griffey Jr. or Michael Jordan.

The Great ones rarely believe their skill has diminished. Or they're not capable of dominating. They usually wind up complaining about the system or the coach in a never-ending quest to explain why their performance has slipped.

Still, just like Brett Farve, Modano has earned the right to decide whetever he wants to play another season, even if it'centerning the third line in Detroit between a couple of talented wingers such as Dan Cleary and Jiri Hudler on a team with six players at least 35. If Modano wants to play for Minnesota, San Jose or Anaheim, teams that have also expressed interest, that's cool too.

Frankly, players should never listen to fans or management tell them when it times to retire.

Fans are fickle, their opinions tend to sway based on the athletes last performance, and management always puts the team first. Every single time.

To see the Full Article: www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/hockey/stars/stories/071410dnspotaylorcol.1e0738c.html