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30 Modano put on skates, and "the switch went off when I skated. I could go a hundred miles an hour, blow off some steam playing hockey, and that was it. We got into orga- nized hockey about a year later. Nine years old, I got hooked up with the Ilitch's Little Caesars program," and that took Modano from 9-15. "The introduction changed my demeanor," Modano continued. "I got real shy, quiet, really subdued, better in school. No one understood it. Medical mystery." Modano has twin 5-year-olds, and a few years ago, he took his boy and girl to an ice-skating rink in Park City, Utah. They didn't take to it like Modano did, but a few weeks later, they wanted to go again. "It's good for kids," Modano said. "It's nonstop, you put your gear on, get on the ice, move around for an hour, just blow it out." 'It's Just So Special to Be Back' This great release was something Modano fell in love with and 10 years later he developed into the NHL's No. 1 overall pick. He loved his time with the North Stars, especially going to the Stanley Cup Final, where Minnesota held a 2-1 series lead before Mario Lemieux said, "Enough." Modano knew Minnesota would have gone "bananas" had the North Stars got it done. That experience and taste of winning was something Modano couldn't wait to experience again. Unfortunately, winning a Cup wouldn't come until 1999, and that's six years after the North Stars moved to Texas. After 1991, Modano said every- thing started to go south for the North Stars. "The next season was rough," he said. "The logo change, they got rid of the 'N' with the star. There was something going on in the back- ground as far as the business part about what was going on with us. The writing was on the wall that we were going somewhere." He said taking the North Stars out of Minnesota was "like taking the Yankees out of New York. You just don't take a professional hock- ey team out of Minnesota. That's like crazy to everybody. Someway, somehow we all thought this will get done, something will be finished, we won't be moving any where. Then all of a sudden at the end of that (1993) year, we're relocating, and, 'You've got two months to go down Russo's Rants M H J ON L I N E . C O M | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0 Photo / Ronald Martinez/Getty Images to Texas and find out where you're going to live and see you at camp in September in Irvine.'" He said he went from the ulti- mate high in his second NHL season to an upsetting third and fourth year. "Real disappointing," Modano said. "Still to this day we all just kind of wonder how did that not get fixed and work out." He loves the Twin Cities and was heartbroken when the North Stars relocated. But now Modano's back, and he is beyond thankful for that. Modano comes in and out of town for three or four days at a time. The Wild put together his schedule weeks in advance, and his goal is to eventually move to Minnesota full- time with his wife and three kids. If you see him around town, don't be shy. Go up, introduce yourself to the always-smiling, affable Modano, and you won't regret it. "It's just so special to be back," Modano. "It means a ton." Michael Russo writes for The Athletic. He enters his 15th season covering the Wild and 25th covering the National Hockey League. He co-hosts the Russo-Souhan Show on talknorth.com, can be heard weekly on KFAN (100.3-FM) and seen throughout the hockey season on Fox Sports North. Follow Russo on Twitter at @RussoHockey. To subscribe to The Athletic at a 40 percent discount ($2.99 per month), go to theathletic.com/iknowrusso. If you're a student, you can get 50 percent off ($29.99 for the year) at theathletic.com/student. P R E S E N T E D B Y "The switch went off when I skated. I could go a hundred miles an hour, blow off some steam playing hockey, and that was it. … The introduction changed my demeanor." – Mike Modano