|
Modano pines to get off the pines
By
BRUCE GARRIOCH, QMI Agency
|
  
|
|
DETROIT -- Mike Modano doesn't want it to end this way.
The Red Wings centre was ready to retire when he was asked last summer to come home to Detroit to try to win a Stanley Cup.
But Modano never envisioned being a scratch in the playoffs.
Trailing 2-0 to the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference semifinal, it doesn't appear that Modano, 40, will be in the lineup Wednesday at Joe Louis Arena, with the Wings making changes.
"At this time of the year this is the one thing you've been waiting for all season long," Modano said Tuesday. "Granted I was injured so I missed a big chunk of time, but I felt the (past six weeks) I was back to where I was before I got injured.
"But other guys are playing well. It's tough to disrupt the lineup. That's the way it is. If this is the last go-round, it's a tough way to end it."
Modano isn't going to push.
"The campaign days are over," he said. "If they need me I'm ready. That's (coach Mike Babcock's) decision. When you're going through a little adversity, your thought is always that things could change."
Modano said he can still contribute.
"It's about what can you do for us now," Modano said. "You still feel ... you can offer something with some hockey sense out there, some offence and create some plays. I will just have to wait and see about that."
