Modano an All-star again

It would’ve been even more awesome if Joe Sakic hadn’t been injured and was voted to the team as well.

In my opinion, Mike Modano and Joe Sakic are the league’s two most respected veteran centers, and along with perhaps Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Martin Broduer, Sergei Fedorov, and Mats Sundin, they represent an era of the NHL that, while it might turn out be a branch between four of the league’s ultimate superstars (Gretzky and Lemiuex, Crosby and Ovechkin), still had its own superstars and players that were league favorites.

Modano, along with Chelios, Sakic, and perhaps Sundin if he has a strong rest of the season, is one of the ageless wonders that has managed to play successfully well after many players of the same age have retired happily.

Chelios may have finally lost a step, and should be looking towards retirement soon, while Sakic could play until 2010 or later if he manages to stay healthy.

Modano has had another strong season for Dallas so far, garnering 13 goals and 26 points in 38 games. He’s a veteran of the all-star game, and I’m glad to have a reason to watch the all-star game this year.

However, there’s another Stars player who I personally think should be in Montreal instead of, if not along with, Modano.

Think leading Stars scorer with 20 goals.

Think top-6 goal scorers in the league.

Loui Eriksson has not only led the Stars in goals this season, but particularly picked up the pace when other snipers James Neal, Fabian Brunnstrom, and Modano suffered slumps.

He’s also been one of few Stars players to remain on the plus side of things so far, currently owning a +5 rating. He’s also stayed away from the penalty box, only earning 6 PIM’s, and he’s second behind Kyle Wellwood in shooting percentage out of players who have scored 10 times or more.

So why hasn’t this future Stars leader been voted to the all-star game? Perhaps the same reason Keith Tkachuk (39 games, 14 goals, 27 points, -11) got voted over Patrick Marleau (39 games, 19 goals, 42 points, +15 rating). The world may never know…

3-2 Shootout Victory

Well, the game against Vancouver turned out better than I expected. The Stars came back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game behind the heroics of James Neal in the shootout.

Loui Eriksson and Mike Modano also scored in the shootout, while Neal assisted on Modano’s goal in the first period, and Mike Ribeiro scored during the second period to tie the game and eventually send it into OT.

I didn’t get to see much of the game, but apparently the Stars are definitely back in top shape these days because it’s been a rare occurence to see the Stars win the second game of back-to-back games.

For now, the Stars have a quick break, and we’ll see if they can keep up their momentum in the next game.