DALLAS -- With Derian Hatcher taking his hard-hitting style to Detroit, the Dallas Stars on Thursday named Mike Modano their new captain.

	Modano

Modano is the franchise leader in every meaningful statistical category and an obvious replacement. A two-way force, he's already viewed by many as the face of the team. Now he'll have the C on his sweater, too. He's been an alternate captain for years.

"It's certainly going to be a great honor and privilege -- a lot of pressure, I guess, and expectations," said Modano, who has the most goals, assists, points, game-winning goals, short-handed goals and games played in team history. "But as a person and player, I don't think anything's going to change as far as my approach to the game and what I do."

Hatcher was the captain for nine of his 12 seasons with the Stars, having received the honor in February 1995 after Neal Broten was traded.

When Dallas won the Stanley Cup in 1999, Hatcher became the first American-born captain to hoist the trophy. His tenure as captain was by far the longest in franchise history.

"It's going to be tough, it's going to be difficult and different without him here," Modano said. "We'll miss him, but he did what's best for Derian Hatcher at this point in his career."

The Stars were interested in re-signing Hatcher, but not for five years. General manager Doug Armstrong said he offered $18 million over three years, telling Hatcher, "all I want to do is get you to the next fencepost, and then we'll do it again in a couple of years."

But Hatcher declined and last week the Stars said they would let him go into free agency. He hit the market Tuesday and had the deal he wanted within two days, signing with the team he watched while growing up in a Detroit suburb.

"I don't blame anyone for looking at $30 million and saying yes," Armstrong said. "I can understand his decision and I wish him the best."

With Hatcher gone, Modano and Richard Matvichuk are the only remaining players who moved with the franchise from Minnesota to Dallas in 1993.

The bigger loss, though, is the intimidation and nastiness the 6-foot-5, 235-pound defenseman brought to the ice. Matvichuk, Philippe Boucher, Darryl Sydor and Sergei Zubov are all quality players on the blue line, but their styles are different from Hatcher's.

"We're certainly not going to fill Derian's void with one player," Armstrong said. "It's going to have to be a group effort."

Hatcher's departure also continues the reshaping -- and budget-cutting -- of a team that last season didn't live up to its payroll, which was among the league's highest.

The Stars had the most points in the Western Conference, then were eliminated by Anaheim in the second round of the playoffs. Armstrong has since sought to move high-priced players Pierre Turgeon and even Bill Guerin, last summer's top free agent signee.

Speaking with the optimism expected from a captain, Modano vowed the team will absorb Hatcher's departure.

"It'll be a different look to our team, but I think something that in the long run is not really going to have a major effect on us," Modano said. "Everybody's responsibility will pick up, especially our defensemen. ... But I think, in general, as a team we can continue how we've been playing, go after another division title and hopefully go a little deeper in the playoffs."