As of late, the Dallas Stars have been hit with a publicity storm.
On Nov. 18, Tom Gaglardi who owns Northlands Properties which includes Sandman Hotels, Denny’s restaurants, Moxie’s Classic Grills, Shark Clubs and the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League, was formally introduced as the new owner of the Stars.
And to add to the Stars publicity, former captain Mike Modano may take an office role with the team.
“Just kind of waiting and see how everything works itself out. I think Tom went out on a couple golf trips with his dad so when he gets back we’ll kind of revisit if I have a future with the Stars as well,” Modano said on HOCKEY CENTRAL at Noon on Friday.
“We talked about two and a half years ago when (Gaglardi) was first interested,” Modano mentioned when asked about his knowledge of the new owner.
In a way, Modano acted somewhat of a consultant through the Gaglardi buying process.
“In the process I think (Gaglardi) just asked a lot of questions, what I thought of personnel, who was there running the deal and the coaching changes and everything like that,” said Modano.
The team lost $38 million during their last fiscal year and $92 million over the past three seasons.
“I think when the economy went down that one summer that was kind of the nine-year lease expiration on a lot of the suites in the arena. A lot of people didn’t want to do renewals on that,” Modano said.
While the Stars have been dominant on the ice this season, it hasn’t been the same case off the ice. The team sits at the bottom of the NHL standings in attendance, averaging around 10,000 per night.
“It’s the fourth or fifth biggest market in the U.S. Hockey has worked (in Dallas) in the past, I think it just needs to be mended a little bit and if the performance on the ice continues I think eventually we can get (the fans) back in the building,” Modano said.
“I certainly hold a lot of love for the town of Dallas, for the fans and for the Dallas Stars.”
Modano wants to help mend the existing relationships, bring the season ticket holders back to the games and hopefully increase the attendance level with new fans.
