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Mike Modano a healthy scratch tonight against Phoenix

Tomas Holmstrom, Mike Modano

When Mike Modano signed with Detroit in the offseason, it was clear that he wanted to continue his career and do so in front of his family and friends back home in Michigan. There was also the allure of playing in the playoffs and making another run at a Stanley Cup that appealed to Modano and you can’t blame him for that.

Modano might be feeling a bit down today, however, as the Wings kick off their series with Phoenix at Joe Louis Arena tonight and rather than helping the Wings try to win on the ice, he’ll be sitting in the press box watching the game as a healthy scratch.

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press hears from Modano about being sat down and he’s understandably disappointed.

“It’s tough,” he said. “I just need to continue to do what I’m doing and you wait for the call, and then hopefully you take advantage of it.”

Instead of Modano playing, the Wings will roll with Darren Helm, Kris Draper, and Patrick Eaves on their fourth line against the Coyotes. The twist on this is that Modano made the claim before the playoffs that if Detroit was able to just reach the Stanley Cup final, he’d likely retire at the end of the playoffs.

While that might’ve worked to be an added motivation for some of his teammates, it did draw some odd attention to the team and perhaps amped up the pressure unduly for Detroit. The Wings will need to be tenacious in this series against Phoenix as the Coyotes will play it tough and defensively tight. Modano’s seen enough of those kinds of games from his days in Dallas while playing for Dave Tippett and having him out of the lineup tonight against Tippett’s Coyotes seems odd. There’s a reason Mike Babcock’s been to three Stanley Cup finals and won it all once, he’s smarter than we are. We just wonder what he’s got up his sleeve here.