Canada may be the land of Hockey, but the United States has produced some excellent players too.  Mike Modano retired today as the the man who holds the record for the most Goals, Games Played, Playoff Points and Points scored by an American born player.

Modano also goes down as the all time leading scorer for the Dallas Stars franchise.  The Multi-time All Star never won any Individual trophies, but was jobbed out of the Calder when Sergei Makarov (who had already played for years in the Soviet Union) won the annual award for the best Rookie in the NHL.  He also had the honor of winning the Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999.  In regards to Dallas, Modano is credited by many for popularizing the icy sport to Texas.

Modano will retire in the top 25 in career scoring, but has done so without hitting the century mark, and only topping 40 goals once.  Without a dominant season, he may not be considered a first ballot entry, but he is likely to find enshrinement in Toronto eventually.

NHL training camps are in full swing, and Pittsburgh Penguins superstar, Sidney Crosby is not among the participants.  He has yet to fully recover from the concussion suffered at last year's Winter Classic.  We have seen what concussions have done to athletes in various sports, and it is possible that Crosby will never be the same again. 

Hypothetically, if Crosby is finished, is he a Hall of Famer?  He has already won everything worth winning, capturing the Hart Trophy, the Stanley Cup and the Olympic Gold Medal.  Let's say he comes bacl and is just an average player for the nexy ten years; is that a Hall of Fame career?

Hall of Fame aside, what of the state of Hockey marketing?  Here is what we mean....beyond Crosby, the only major star is Alex Ovechkin.  Sure Steve Stamkos is an amazing player, but he is largely anonymous to most casual sports fans.  Clearly Hockey is looking at the Sidney Crosby situation as a catalyst to help prevent concussions.  Hopefully this also sparks them to try to market their stars.