Mike Modano scored 6 points (5 goals and 1 assist) in his last 6 games. His sudden burst of youthful energy comes right after he was not selected to play on his 4th USA Olympic Hockey Team. I believe that Modano was pacing himself the first half of the season hoping to still have enough punch to make it through the grueling Olympic schedule and still be able to contribute to the Dallas Stars’ end of the season run. According to Modano, “It’s all because Marc (Coach Crawford) has let me rest, pace me in spots all season long and now I am just feeling really well-rested and looking forward to the Olympic break.” The other answer is that Modano has once again stepped forward to take up the slack for center Mike Ribeiro, who is out indefinitely with a severe throat injury. Speaking of Ribeiro, the most talk around trade deadline involved a $5 million dollar forward leaving Dallas for a $5 million dollar defenseman who may be the one who just got traded to Toronto (not in the same Western Conference).

Thursday, the Stars face the Blue Jackets in Columbus (6 p.m. on FS-SW). On January 30, Columbus tried starting Goalie Mathieu Garon to break an eight-game losing streak and it worked. The Blue Jackets aren’t the greatest team, but the Stars can’t be lazy here. Saturday, they have a rematch with Dave Tippet’s Coyotes in the AAC (5 p.m. on FS-SW). The good thing is the Stars are at home and Mo is doing awesome in the AAC. Hopefully, the Stars will feel like they have something to prove to their ex-coach who defeated them just last week. Tuesday, the Stars are back out on the road to meet with the Blackhawks (7:30 p.m. on FS-SW).