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By DAMIAN CRISTODERO and SHARON GINN
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 3, 2001
DENVER -- Lightning left wing Fredrik Modin will use a very simple strategy when he takes the ice tonight at the Pepsi Center for the Hardest Shot competition.
"I'm going to do everything I can to shoot the puck as hard as I can," he said.
Modin, who will play in his first All-Star Game on Sunday, is one of the favorites to win the event, part of the NHL's SuperSkills competition. He cranked a 102.1 mph blast in December during the team-by-team competitions, second only to a 103.4 mph shot from Dallas' Mike Modano.
Lightning general manager Rick Dudley gave Modin the edge.
"Freddie's shots are the norm," he said. "Modano must have really gotten into one."
Not that Modin needs any help, but with Blues defenseman Al MacInnis injured and out of the competition, his chances are that much better. MacInnis won his fourth consecutive competition last year, and sixth of the past nine, with a 100.1 mph shot.
Modin, who has a career-high 24 goals, joked that he has done no extra workouts to get pumped up, and he is not tampering with his stick to get a little more pop.
He will, however, have to deal with a few butterflies.
"I'm going to be nervous, that's for sure," Modin said. "I'm looking forward to the whole weekend. It should be fun."
IT'S A JOB: Actor/comedian Denis Leary -- not to be confused with comedian/football analyst Dennis Miller -- will appear in the broadcast booth for ABC, which will televise the All-Star Game at 2:30 p.m. Leary, who, coincidentally, stars in ABC's upcoming new show The Job, will join Gary Thorne and Bill Clement in the second and third periods.
Whereas Miller is no football player, Leary has been playing hockey since age 3. His farm in Connecticut includes a 120-by-70-foot hockey rink. But he won't be auditioning for a regular gig.
"I'm just going to be there to shake a few hands, get some laughs and push my show," Leary said.
The game also marks the debut of Trakus, a digital technology that will enable viewers to see a player's speed and distance skated, among other things. Four players will participate by wearing a helmet that includes a tiny radio tag.
UNITED STATES 3, CANADA 2: Karyn Bye scored a third-period goal to lift the U.S. women. Bye took a pass from Julie Chu and scored from the right circle at 13:05. The game, part of All-Star weekend, was watched by 9,562, a record for a women's game in the States by more than 2,000.
LIGHTNING MOVES: To make room for the addition of forward Matthew Barnaby and defenseman Grant Ledyard, Tampa Bay sent defensemen Craig Millar and Kristian Kudroc and forward Matt Elich to the IHL's Detroit Vipers.