Mike Modano Biography

Michael Thomas Modano Jr. was born on June 7, 1970, and is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played as a center and spent most of his career with the Minnesota North Stars and later the Dallas Stars franchise. After the team relocated to Texas, he led the Stars to first-place regular season finishes in 1998 and 1999, and won the Stanley Cup in 1999. The Modano family moved to Westland, Michigan, where he played minor hockey with the Detroit Little Caesar's Triple AAA Hockey Club and attended Franklin High School. In the 1984–85 season, he scored 50 goals and recorded 50 assists, helping his team win the USA Hockey National Championship in 1985. In 1986, at age 16, he joined the Prince Albert Raiders in the Western Hockey League after being invited by coach Rick Wilson. Four days after his eighteenth birthday, the Minnesota North Stars selected him first overall in the 1988 NHL entry draft.