Despite a splendid career which has included an IIHF World Championship gold medal (1998), a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2004) and Olympic gold (2006), Fredrik Modin is one of the least conspicuous members of the Triple Gold Club, currently at 24 members. But the numbers tell the true story. Apart from collecting the three biggest team prizes in hockey, Modin played 898 NHL games, scoring 232 goals while adding 230 assists. He also represented Sweden in the IIHF World U20 Championships (silver in 1994), the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and in three other IIHF World Championships, where he added the 2001 bronze to his 1998 gold. Modin also took part in the Vancouver Olympics last year, and along with 21 other Triple Gold Club members was officially honored and inducted during an unforgettable ceremony on February 22 in the House of Hockey. […] His trade mark was the booming shot, one of the hardest and most precise in the business. “It is not an easy decision to make,” said Modin to the Swedish Dagbladet newspaper. “But it the right decision for the future. The most important thing is to be healthy and my back has been hurting for a while now. After all, I am soon 37 and things don’t get any easier.” Modin looks proudly back on his career: “It’s amazing to be mentioned among the other players who are on the Triple Gold Club. It’s nothing you think about when you are playing, but now when you are reminded and you think about it, it’s a fantastic thing,” said Modin, who ranks the Stanley Cup win as his greatest achievement. […] Fredrik Modin is the 16th Triple Gold Club member to retire. The still active ones are: Jaromir Jagr, Nicklas Lidström, Chris Pronger, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson, Eric Staal and Jonathan Toews.
Modin played great for the Kings after Lombardi nabbed him from Columbus in one of my favorite Lombardi trades ever. You may recall that Lombardi sent the Blue Jackets a conditional 7th round pick, the condition being that they get the pick (which would have been literally the last pick in the entire draft) if the Kings win the cup.
I recently went back to look at the Kings playoff highlights from the Vancouver series, and saw a lot of Freddie Modin. he led the team in playoff goals (3), and was third in power-play PTS/60, tied with Alex Frolov, behind Handzus and Brown. The absence of Modin and Frolov, maybe even more than the absence of Kopitar, is the striking difference between this year’s playoffs and last year’s.
Thanks, and good luck, Fredrik Modin.