52 replies to this topic

[13dangledangle]

Sorry if this has been covered already but I'm really confused as to why he was a healthy scratch 9 out of 11 games? It just doesn't make sence to me at all, Abby or Miller both could/should have been benched for Modano. He's just a different kind of player, goals were what we needed and Mo never had a chance to prove he was worthy. Is this Babcocks "American" dislike we have heard about? I just find some of the choices Babs made this year questionable is all.

[kook_10]

Severe hand injury?

[pvilleguru]

Severe hand injury?

looked good in game 6.

[eva unit zero]

Sorry if this has been covered already but I'm really confused as to why he was a healthy scratch 9 out of 11 games? It just doesn't make sence to me at all, Abby or Miller both could/should have been benched for Modano. He's just a different kind of player, goals were what we needed and Mo never had a chance to prove he was worthy. Is this Babcocks "American" dislike we have heard about? I just find some of the choices Babs made this year questionable is all.

You do realize that all three of Modano, Miller, and Abdelkader are not just Americans, but from Michigan right?

The flat benching of Modano in the playoffs may have been one of his better decisions this year. Modano was terrible all year outside of a span of about two weeks early in the season where he played like a good third-line center, which is what he was signed to be. With Franzen being injured, I can understand the argument to have Modano in the lineup because he was once a great offensive player. But that's it. Was. He's not any better offensively than Drew Miller, Justin Abdelkader or Kris Draper now and those guys all have a physical game Modano has never had and defense Modano only surpassed at his peak. Taking out one of those guys to put in Modano just hurts the team. Modano had two games playing alongside Pavel Datsyuk. Valtteri Filppula have no trouble scoring goals with Dats; and Flip doesn't even shoot. What Modano needed was to not announce his retirement before the playoffs, and to not play like he was already retired.

Of Red Wings players who played in the regular season, Modano would be #16 on my depth chart for forwards. He brought absolutely no value to the team.

[pvilleguru]

modano should have played instead of hudler in game 7.

[kook_10]

modano should have played instead of hudler in game 7.

That may be true, but I still think ultimately his long absence and recovery, in addition to his status as a short term rental, made it difficult for Babs to choose him to go into the lineup over guys who are more stable components of the team (even if they were playing like s***). I think he was looking for redemption out of his guys, and Modano was never really one of his guys.

[MGreenberg]

I really don't think he would have made any difference in any of the games aside from not injuring Cleary like Hudler did. Fact is no one showed up besides the Wings stars in game seven.

[kook_10]

BesidEs, he never conclusively showed he was better than anyone.

[Wombat]

I think Modano could have really helped out in Game 7. It wasn't that apparent at the beginning, but when the Wings lost 2 of their top six forwards to injury during the game, it would have been nice to be able to mix in Modano for some potential scoring touch instead of Abdelkader. But overall, I'm not upset he missed most of the playoff games, as I don't think he was consistently one of the 12 best forwards on the team.

[Doc Holliday]

Why didn't Modano play?

Hmm, maybe it had to do with the fact he wouldn't have been any good to the team.

Novel concept, I know.

[evilzyme]

Modano should've been played but he wasn't. He was only used when he was NEEDED to. In my own opinion he wasn't played because he announced that this was his last year of hockey. After that statement was released to the media you magically seen him gone from the rosters. I believe he wasn't played because he had the experience and everything. They knew Modano wasn't going to be there next season so they wanted to let others take advantage of the situation and expand on their chance. Experience is built on chances on these and obviously in my opinion they liked their younger, less experienced players get the chance to play these games to make them better in the long run, instead of someone who they already knew and announced their retirement practically.

[BigWillieStyle]

"My heart just isn't in it, anymore". Said 1 week before the playoffs. He's lucky to have seen the ice at all.

[cusimano_brothers]

If only he was on another team...

[sputman]

i watched him play in carolina shortly before the playoffs and he looked real bad. he's still got wheels but he couldn't hold on to the puck and he made turnover after turnover.

[VM1138]

Why does this keep coming up? He's not a goal scorer anymore. He wouldn't have added any goal scoring. THe guy had no drive and no desire, and you wanted to put him into an evenly matched grudgematch that required everyone to hustle, grind, and make twice the effort than usual?

He didn't play because Miller and Abdelkader had speed, grit, and heart. Modano did not. He really added nothing.

[sputman]

and not this kind

[cusimano_brothers]

He just doesn't have Hudler's body checking skills.

[13dangledangle]

It comes up over and over again that in the playoffs experience is a key factor from a savvy vet like Modano. I know he didnt have the best season, I know he had a severe hand injury and I know his comments came way to pre-mature. However I think we signed him for "playoff" depth and if he started from game one, round one he would have dug deep and been big for us. My "american" comments stemmed from JR talking about Cheli a while back, I dont believe that to be true but I do think Babs made some errors this post season.

[eva unit zero]

He just doesn't have Hudler's body checking skills.

You may be joking there... but it's true in real life also.

[Mors]

You may be joking there... but it's true in real life also.

Hudler homerism is starting to border on ridiculous now, did you guys grow up together?...Hudler's signing was just as unsuccessful as Modano's stint, he was useless for the majority of the season and failed to contribute anything during the most crucial series of the playoffs. If he manages to stay on this team another season, you'll be the only one celebrating .