One Mo’ Time
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
USA Hockey Magazine has an online article up on Stars center Mike Modano and his quest to take another run at the Olympics. It begins this way:
An Olympic mixed zone is a cross between a cattle drive and a mosh pit. Sweat-soaked players skate off the ice, sore and oftentimes steaming from what just happened on the ice, and file past TV cameras, flash bulbs and microphones held by hordes media sandwiched together like commuters on a Tokyo train in rush hour.
Unlike a typical NHL game, where players are given a few minutes to cool off, mentally and physically, Olympians are forced to navigate a gauntlet of questioners before they reach the sanctity of their locker room.
For Mike Modano, those few minutes he spent in the mix zone after the U.S. lost to Finland in the quarterfinals of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games are moments he wishes he could take back.
Stinging from a reduced role in a bitter, 4-3, loss in a crucial game, the all-time leading American scorer lashed out at anything and everything in what must have felt like the end to a brilliant international career. Two World Cups, three Olympics, three World Championships and two World Juniors removed, here was Modano griping because of perceived slights in travel arrangements.
“You get caught in the heat of the moment,” said Modano, who finished the tournament with two points. “I was a little upset and felt that we deserved better and should have played better. There were a lot of frustrations so I lashed out at a lot of things.
“Over time the smoke settles and you wish that you could have taken a couple of breaths after that game, but you still feel that you owe a lot to USA Hockey. They’ve given me tons of opportunities to play for them.”
The rest of the article is here.
