Mike Modano Jersey Card

The Dallas Stars overhauled everything they could this off-season: they let backup goalie Antti Niemi go and replaced him with two-time Vezina Trophy nominee Ben Bishop; they let oft-injured right winger Ales Hemsky test free agency (and, ultimately, sign with the Montréal Canadiens) and signed the Habs' best player, Alexander Radulov instead; they went and took Marc Methot - one of the best defensive defensemen in the game - off the Vegas Golden Knights' hands; they did not renew head coach Lindy Ruff's contract, instead picking up Ken Hitchcock, who was behind the bench for the franchise's lone Stanley Cup in 1999, with Ruff on the losing side of that, too; the only "not-win" they have on their summer report card is signing slow-footed Martin Hanzal essentially to replace Cody Eakin. Hanzal almost single-handedly cost the Minnesota Wild first place after a trade deadline deal last year, and didn't do much when they were eliminated in the playoffs either.

All those moves lead me to believe they might take a while to assimilate Hitchcock's system and gel, but that by entering the playoffs as a Wild Card team, they could do like the Nashville Predators last year and make their way to the Stanley Cup Final, perhaps even beating the Tampa Bay Lightning while they're there.

I like this team a lot more than I did the Cup-winning 1999 edition, who had players I didn't like too much at the time (Ed Belfour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Brett Hull, captain and bruising defenseman Derian Hatcher, Pat Verbeek, Mike Keane), but a few guys I did respect a lot (Mike Modano, Brian Skrudland, Jere Lehtinen, Darryl Sydor, Dave Reid, Craig Ludwig, Benoît Hogue), and one guy I loved (Guy Carbonneau). I did prefer the Stars winning over Dominik Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres, though.

This time around, there are so many players I like. Sure, the new guys Methot, Radulov and Bishop are awesome, but so is Cup-deserving veteran Jason Spezza, captain Jamie Benn, star center Tyler Seguin, bruiser Antoine Roussel, and defensemen John Klingberg, Dan Hamhuis, and Julius Honka.

If they want to, they can ask Modano for guidance at any time, because he works for the team as its alternate governor as well as in advisory role.

Despite playing out his final season with his hometown Detroit Red Wings, he'll always be the Original Dallas Star to me, which is why I'm such a big fan of card #M-26 from In The Game's 2012-13 Decades - The 1990s set and Game-Used Jersey sub-set:

It depicts him wearing the team's original (in every sens of the word) star-shaped jersey and features a fairly big white game-worn jersey swatch.

Mike Modano Jersey Card

Now a member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame, Mike Modano currently stands as the all-time goals and points leader among American-born players in the NHL. He spent all but one season with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise, save for a final go-round for his hometown Detroit Red Wings.

He was never a leading scorer and is thin on hardware (save for the 1999 Stanley Cup), but for most of his career, he finished with Selke, Lady Byng, and Hart Trophy votes, and was a Second Team All-Star in 2000, in addition to playing in 7 All-Star Games (once as team captain), making the All-Rookie Team in 1990, and suiting up for Team USA 11 times, winning one gold (1996 World Cup) and one silver medal (2002 Olympics), as well as a runner-up position at the 1991 Canada Cup. It's easily understandable why he was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He finished his NHL career at nearly a point-per-game pace (1374 points in 1499 games, plus 146 points in 176 playoff games) and also had a decent showing internationally, with 41 points in 57 games playing for the United States.

He also captained the Stars from 2003 until 2006, until management decided to pass the mantle onto Brenden Morrow - a decision I disagreed with, at the time, and still do; in my opinion, he remains the face of the franchise in Dallas to this day, and he uses that title in his current role as a team ambassador, attracting sponsors and business partners.

And so it's fitting that I feature him not just wearing the Stars' uniform, but their best and most memorable one, the star-shaped green and black jersey, on a card featuring two black game-worn jersey swatches, from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Artifacts collection:

It's a variant of card #66, and is numbered 50/125.

Mike Modano Jersey Card

Definitely one of the best American players of all time, Mike Modano retired at the beginning of the season when no team would offer him a contract. He spent all except one season as a member of the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise, with his lone season with another organization coming last year, his hometown Detroit Red Wings.

A staple of international competition, Modano played for Team USA 11 different times (which makes guessing which edition this jersey emanates from a useless endeavour), winning the silver medal at the 2002 Olympics as well as the 1991 Canada Cup, and gold at the inaugural 1996 World Cup (the Canada Cup's replacement). All this in addition to 2 Stanley Cup finals (one Cup, with Dallas, in 1999), an All-Rookie Team nod in 1990, and 8 All Star games.

This card is from In The Game's 2011-12 Canada Vs. The World set, the World Junior Grads insert sub-set (card #WJG-25). It is the Silver Version, but as with the Ryan Miller card, I have no idea how many were made.