Modano should have retired a Star

Glen Cuthbert, Hamilton, Ont.

Mike Modano has let me down. When he came out on the ice for a farewell lap at the Xcel Energy Center wearing a North Stars jersey, he had me and most of the hockey world believing that he had played his last NHL game.

It was the storybook ending.

Modano was a model of loyalty, much like Steve Yzerman before him. He had stayed with the franchise that drafted him through the good and the bad.

But now he decides to ruin it.

When Brian Leetch was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, he had no choice but to leave the Rangers. Modano had a choice to finish his career in Dallas, but instead he chose to sign in Detroit.

Players who play their whole career for a single organization are rare and Modano had to a chance to be a member of that elite club.

You blew it, Mike, you should have stayed a Star.