Modano might well have been tied up in the NHL play-offs
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Ice hockey's World Championship begins in Vienna on 30 April, featuring more of the sport's stars than usual.
The ongoing NHL lockout, which wiped out the entire season, means many of the 16 teams taking part have a larger choice of big names to choose from.
Canada are favourites to win their third straight crown, but new European champions Russia are a major threat.
The USA have a younger, stronger team than in 2004 when they won bronze, and Sweden are also expected to do well.
The Americans, coached by Peter Laviolette of the Carolina Hurricanes, open against Slovenia on Sunday. Canada play Latvia on Saturday.
Canada's general manager, Steve Tambellini, admits it will be tough to win a third consecutive title because of the lockout's impact.
"I'd expect that with the European teams, 95% of their players will have played the entire season," he said.
"The hardest-hit teams will probably be Canada and the United States in terms of getting up to speed."
The US team has two big stars who didn't play last year: Mike Modano of Dallas and Doug Weight the St Louis.
Modano, who will captain the team, has been one of the NHL's top scorers for nearly two decades, recording 1,106 points in 1,101 games in 16 seasons.
Weight is one of the NHL's best playmakers, with 224 goals and 604 assists in 912 games.
Key Russian players include Alexander Ovechkin, 19, and Evgeni Malkin, 18, last year's top NHL draft picks.
Sweden will be missing former NHL MVP Peter Forsberg who broke his wrist and sustained a concussion in the Swedish League.
Markus Naslund, the NHL's leading goalscorer the past three seasons with Vancouver, declined to play after a disappointing play-offs in Sweden.
Five-time NHL scoring champion Jaromir Jagr and Tomas Vokoun, one of the NHL's top goalies, head the Czech Republic team.
Slovakia, champions in 2002, have several NHL stars, including Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara of Ottawa, Zigmund Palffy and Jozef Stumpel of Los Angeles, and Minnesota's Marian Gaborik.
Finland may be hardest hit by no-shows, with several of their top NHL players missing because of injuries and family reasons.
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MMIX
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This tournament is going to get a lot more attention this year
