Dein erstes Forum » Modanos colleagues from his playing career to disc

PARIS -- Looking to bounce back from the humiliation of last years wooden spoon, France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has made the risky move of choosing an untried halves pairing for Saturdays opening Six Nations match against England. Announcing his team Thursday, Saint-Andre went for scrumhalf Jules Plisson alongside flyhalf Jean-Marc Doussain. Both are 22 years old, and Plisson makes his international debut while Doussain has played only five times for France. He also picked lock Alexandre Flanquart -- who has won only two international caps -- to play alongside Pascal Pape in the second row. "Jules has a lot of variety in his game, he had to start one day," Saint-Andre said. "Jules is fully focused. Everything will be easier for him if his teammates make an impact going forward, if the forwards win their battles. So its up to our pack to make things easier for our halves pairing, which is young and talented." Saint-Andre will give the kicking duties to Doussain, adding that Flanquarts selection is a strategic one because of his understanding with Pape, his Stade Francais teammate, and his ability to counter England in the lineouts. More surprisingly still, is that Saint-Andre has left out flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc from his squad, even though Trinh-Duc was arguably Frances best player in the corresponding fixture last year. France looked good for a win at Twickenham last year, leading 10-9 at the interval before being overpowered and losing 23-13 with Trinh-Duc taken off early into the second half. Wesley Fofana and Mathieu Bastareaud give France a powerful midfield in what is expected to be a physical battle at Stade de France. But the deciding factor is once again likely to be who comes out on top in the forwards. "We know from experience that the English have a powerful scrum. We know what to expect. Every time Ive played against them the scrum has always been a big combat zone," said veteran prop Nicolas Mas, who is set to win his 66th cap. "Last year we took them on well in the forwards, and we even thought we could win at Twickenham because we unsettled them so much." Englands young squad is growing in self-belief and experience under Stuart Lancaster and will want to make amends for a 30-3 defeat to Wales last year that cost the title and a Grand Slam. "We had one day in Cardiff when it didnt go as we would have wanted, but since then the focus has been on us improving," lock Joe Launchbury said. "Hopefully we showed where we are in the autumn and well continue to do that." While France has injury problems -- inspirational captain Thierry Dusautoir and flyhalf Remi Tales are both out injured, while prolific winger Vincent Clerc is still lacking full fitness after a long-term knee injury -- England has selection problems. Lancaster pleaded with flyhalf Toby Flood to stay home for club and country, but had to axe him from his squad because Flood, with 60 caps has decided to leave English champion Leicester, which he captains, for Toulouse after the season. The uncapped George Ford replaces him in the squad, while Lancaster handed debuts to outside centre Luther Burrell and wing Jack Nowell for Saturdays game. Burrell has impressed throughout the season for Northampton, and starts ahead of Brad Barritt. Nowell has benefited from injuries to Marland Yarde and Christian Wade to seize the right wing spot from the axed Chris Ashton. France is favourite to win the battle of the forwards, however, with a front five that can mix it with the worlds best on their day, and England are braced to withstand an early onslaught in the scrum. "Id say weve removed any lingering doubt over our physicality, but the question will continue to be asked," Launchbury said. "We went to Argentina and played well there. We had three tough autumn matches and I dont think anyone could say we lacked bite in those matches." -- France: Brice Dulin, Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Maxime Medard, Jules Plisson, Jean-Marc Doussain; Louis Picamoles, Bernard Le Roux, Yannick Nyanga, Pascal Pape, Alexandre Flanquart, Nicolas Mas, Benjamin Kayser, Thomas Domingo.Reserves: Dimitri Szarzewksi, Yannick Forestier, Rabah Slimani, Yoann Maestri, Antoine Burban, Damien Chouly, Maxime Machenaud, Gael Fickou. England: Mike Brown, Jack Nowell, Luther Burrell, Billy Twelvetrees, Jonny May, Owen Farrell, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw (captain), Billy Vunipola.Reserves: Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola, Henry Thomas, Dave Attwood, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson, Brad Barritt, Alex Goode. James Patrick Jersey . This is not some token job for a prominent, popular former player. All of those areas need a lot of work, so Molitor is going to be busy. 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Schafer already was rounding third when Schafer bobbled the ball.Tonight, the Dallas Stars will be raising No. 9 to the rafters in honor of Mike Modano. The festivities begin this afternoon at 4:30 with an arrival event and “Green Carpet” ceremony in true Stars fashion and the ceremony itself begins at 6:00. The Stars have also released a book with limited quantities entitled "Nine: A Salute to Mike Modano" with 1,000 special edition copies personally autographed by Modano that have already sold out. We reached out to several of Modanos colleagues from his playing career to discuss their experiences with him. Bill Guerin, two-time Stanley Cup winner, four-time NHL All-Star and U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist: “Ive known Mike for a long time. We played in the World Juniors when we were 18 and were teammates in three Olympics and two World Cups. It was Mike in the middle, Keith Tkachuk on the left and myself on the right. Mike is the greatest American to ever play the game. He is an amazing hockey player and an even better person. We first met when I was playing in Springfield and he was playing in St. Albert and I couldnt believe the skill level of a player that age could be that high. He was better than everyone else, but so humble. It was amazing that he could be so great and also so grounded. Mike IS the Dallas Stars, so its fitting that they are retiring his number” Craig Button, TSN Scout and former Dallas Stars Director of Scouting (1992-98) and Director of Player Personnel (1998-2000): “Watching Modano raise the Stanley Cup over his head, the exhilaration and the emotion that you could feel was phenomenal. At that time, he was only the fourth first overall pick (since the universal draft began in 1970) to win the Cup with the franchise that had drafted him. Only Guy Lafleur (1971), Denis Potvin (1973) and Mario Lemieux (1984) were those who had donee it to that point.dddddddddddd Ironically Lemieux and Modano faced off in 1991 when it was going to happen for the third time. There is an expectation that when you are selected first overall that you can change the fortunes of a franchise. Mike did that and his moment when he raised the cup I think embodied a lot of satisfaction in being able to do it.” Mark Janko, Dallas Stars Director of Hockey Administration and Director of Public Relations from 2005 to 2008. “The thing that people dont understand is how generous he is with his time with people. Hes been pulled in so many different directions over the years. We asked him to go to hospitals, kids carnivals, so many different things and he always stayed longer than he was required. He would stay for an hour when he was asked to stay for 10 minutes. He was the perfect athlete to sell the game to Dallas. The fans love him and he still lives in Dallas to this day. He wanted to sell the game in Dallas and did whatever he could to do it. People need to know how sensitive he is. He cares so much about others and about winning. He had tears in his eyes during his last game in Dallas, when he won the Stanley Cup and when he retired as a member of the Dallas Stars. He has such a tender heart, but also a warriors spirit. He cared so passionately and deeply about the type of person and teammate that he was. He came back from injuries faster than expected because he worked so hard to do it. He had God-given ability and worked effortlessly to perfect it.” Theres no shortage of great sentiment when it comes to Modano and theres no doubt about whether tears will be shed tonight during this incredible honour. These reflections about Modano are great, but none of them compare to the greatness of his hairdo and babyface on the day of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. 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