The NEW Hockeytown... Better Than Ever With Mike Modano

     Once in a while when all of the stars align (pun intended) something big happens in a place that needs it the most. A place where the economy has caused families to move away, has broken several others, a state that has decimated its population of once proud Michiganders. Well I could be one of those people, but luckily I will speak on their behalf, in my optimistic outlook.

Our city was once talked of as the birthplace for the automotive revolution, the Motor City. Michigan is known for all 5 seasons, (people love the summers here and leave for the winter depending on their toleration) we are known for our sweet cherries, Mackinac (or Mackinaw) Island or Saunders Fudge, delicious home made Achatz Pies. Let us not forget these things, but we are also home to one of the Original Six. We are the reason the word "Hockeytown" exists (1996). 

We in Michigan love our sports, Nationally we have the Lions, god only knows why we still love them they are like family members, the Tigers, we stay fans through thick and thin. The Pistons, thank you Mr. Ilitch for keeping them here. Not only does he own our beloved Red Wings, and our Little Caesars (Hockey and Hot & Ready's). We are a town of die hard's. When we have a team such as the Red Wings though, who have won Three Stanley Cups in my life time, we forget that success is not guaranteed. We forget sometimes the work that went into that success behind the scenes. We found diamonds in the rough if you will, to build this team to what it is today. In the 90s we began the relationship between the former USSR, with our Russian 5. Now we are on to the Swedish Alliance. We look high and low, and we look for potential talent, not just talent. That is why we are a competitor for the cup every single season for this long.

Look at our other teams in which we support no matter what. When is the last championship any of them won? Then look at the stands at one of our games at the Joe. Where is the disconnect? Why aren't the seats filled? The atmosphere is what we need all season, the fans are the 7th man on that ice! It is intrinsic for a sports team to have a passionate following. We need to rekindle this old flame. The parts are there, the fans are definitely here, but we need to put it all together like a good car, it needs the gas sure, but the spark plug, oil, good wheels, etc. You get my point. We need all the parts again, not just the hockey team. Not just the coaching. We know they can do it. We are so close, and almost there!... Again.

What do we need to keep "Hockeytown" synonymous with Detroit? It needs two people from Michigan. Michael Modano, and Michael (Me) to write about it. Modano is going to come home to this team with the most experience of any center-man. He is going to fill a position and a role on the team that has been left in a void since our beloved Steve Yzerman has retired. Veteran leadership, hard work ethic, lead by example mentality. There are a few numbers that we all remember that share the letter 9. Our old number 9, 19, and soon we will remember 90. "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe himself #9, in the rafters. Steve "Stevie Y" Yzerman our Captain #19, in the rafters. Soon our own Mike Modano (#9 in Dallas) will be wearing the #90 in red and white. He will be importantly what Michigan needs, what Detroit needs, and also what the Red Wings need. It is much bigger than that.

He will show us all that no matter how late you think it is to follow your dream. That if we see the light at the end of the tunnel, go for it. Do not let anyone tell you what you need to do, ask yourself. I feel that what he feels inside is that he belongs on the Red Wings, and that he belongs at home in Michigan.

He has held Lord Stanley's Cup one time in 1999, but that is now ~11 years ago. He needs to touch that cup once more before he "hang's them up."

Even though times are tough here in the, Motor City, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A red light, that is flashing like after a goal down at the Joe... The impact this team will have is greater than just the game of hockey. If our talent keeps leaving this state, it will forever be disadvantaged as it is currently. We need to look at the bigger picture and stay focused on what needs to be fixed, moreover what has become of this state. We need to help our fellow neighbor and community. This all starts from within. This is what the Red Wings embody as an organization.

We need a guy like Mike Modano. (Not even a year after I was born he was drafted #1 overall into the Minnesota North Stars Franchise. One of 5 Americans to do so.) We all know new starts Erik Johnson (St. Louis) and Patty Kane of recent. Mike was the 2nd of 5, he is somebody that we all may have forgot about here in Michigan because we hardly see him. He has stuck with the Minnesota/Dallas Franchise until now. Again we now see that there is a void, and there is a role for him here. Babcock knows it, and now Modano knows it.

We also forget that he is the all-time leader of Americans in Goals/points active in the NHL. We forget that he is one of us, he grew up in Livonia, MI. Not far from all of our Metro-Detroit homes.

He is a beauty to the hockey world. 1995-2003 he served as Assistant Captain on the Stars, and then received the Captain role until 2006, where he then relinquished it to current captain Morrow.

I mean come on! Mike even made an appearance in MIGHTY DUCKS! (Our cult movie if you will).

Statistically he has been right around a point a game player if you average it out. in the NHL right on the dot 1 PPG, he is a natural. 

Hockeytown, do not wait for him to perform to get behind Mike. Be there from the drop of the puck until he lifts the Cup. It will happen if everyone, and I mean everyone, from the zamboni driver (AL!) to the guy selling programs, to the fan who goes to their first Wings game, to the veteran who has had season tickets since the Olympia. We need to rise up and get together and back up our reputation as "Hockeytown". We are the original, and will stay Hockeytown. We will get through this economic time, we will get through this "drought" of not having a cup in a couple years... We just needed one of our very own Mr. Mike Modano.

That is my take... What is yours?