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Mike Modano part of official Stars ownership group

Image (1) Modano5-thumb-200x300-8941.jpg for post 879

Last week we reported on what turned out to be an erroneous report that Mike Modano was involved with a potential ownership group with Wayne Gretzky and Brett Hull. Modano responded by calling the report “bullsh*t”, and it seemed that the original story was mainly based on speculation and maybe a blind hope and a prayer that three hall of fame players would be involved in owning the same team.

Today, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News breaks the news that Mike Modano is indeed involved in a potential ownership group. The official group, however, involves former Stars team president Jim Lites and local business man Billy Quinn. They have been reviewing the finances of the team (that should be depressing), and are said to have already been vetted by the NHL as a potential ownership group.


“There is a lot of pride in this organization and where it’s been and where we want it to go, and we think that if we can do this with a local group, that’s the best way to accomplish things,’' Modano said. ``I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. It’s the first step in this process, and we all know it could very complicated, but I think we can do this. It would be great for us and great for the team.’'

Heika has a number of good quotes from Modano, Lites and Quinn, so be sure to check out his story.

Modano also states that while he could be a minority owner, he’s not adverse to playing next season as well. That would certainly be an interesting situation, as we’ve thought all along that Modano returning next season was based on whether the Stars decided they wanted him back, and/or could afford to pay him for a season or two of play. If Modano is the boss, who’s going to say no?

In our opinion, this is perfect group of businessmen to form an ownership group for the Stars. Quinn is a local oil tycoon who was born and raised in Dallas, and knows how important the Stars are to Dallas and just what sort of ties the team has in the area. He would be the main financial brawn behind the deal, and would be the perfect ownership lead for a team that has grown stale financially with Tom Hicks at the helm.

Jim Lites was president of the team during the 1990’s and was instrumental in building the sport of hockey in North Texas. He knows what makes hockey work in Dallas, and is the right man to get the Stars back into some semblance of relevancy in a town that seems to have forgotten the team -- aside from the die hard fans that show up night after night.

This is just the start. Don’t expect any formal news on a sale until later this summer.

With all the reports last week of Brett Hull desperate to be part of an ownership group (although he did deny it), you wonder if he could be involved in the future at some point.