Steve Yzerman steps down as GM of the perennial Stanley Cup favorite Tampa Bay Lightning on the eve of training camp. He will honour the final year of his contract by staying on as an adviser, but will not commit to the organization beyond that at this point.
The question begging to be answered is: Stevie, why?
At this stage we have to take him at his word and he wants to be with his family more. Although you have to wonder why he wouldn't have a long term contract to remain with the organization in place upon this announcement.
It seems clear to me that the organization could not get Yzerman resigned and feared he is leaving the organization at the end of the season. Couple that theory with the need to retain Julien Brisebois - the new GM and long considered GM candidate - especially with French markets Ottawa and Montreal in disarray. The organization could not risk losing both.
So what is next for Steve Yzerman?
The immediate thought is Detroit. Could Yzerman be returning to the organization he starred with on the ice? They are in a rebuild, though GM Ken Holland, Yzerman's mentor, is still in place. The Red Wings likely would have made this move by now if this was really happening.
Fact is Steve Yzerman is so highly regarded as a manger that he could work wherever he wants to. Stepping down in Tampa Bay while still on the cusp of accomplishing the final goal of winning the Stanley Cup makes no sense unless it's Detroit. He is forever a Red Wing regardless where he works off the ice.
I have to wonder if the prospective Seattle ownership group has made a play here. If not, they should. The challenge of building a team truly from the bottom up - not to mention Yzerman's ties with Seattle CEO and president Tod Leiweke - could entice him.
One day we will find out the whole story. Probably someday relatively soon.
Heroic. Unselfish. Intelligent. Leader. Complete. These are just a few of the adjectives used to describe Hockeytown's Steve Yzerman.
Once he was scoring machine that used to single-handedly destroy the opposition with mind-boggling individual efforts night after night. Later he became forever remembered as the grizzled veteran captain that puts the team ahead of himself and accepts responsibility for all situations on the ice.
Steve Yzerman is a winner.
Stevie Y came out of junior hockey straight into the Detroit Red Wings camp in 1983. The Nepean, Ontario native was an outstanding center with legendary junior coach Dick Todd and his Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, from 1981 to 1983. He had 91 points in 56 games in his second year with the Petes, but his numbers were far from what a future NHL phenom would have had because Peterborough skated four lines, each having equal playing time.
Jim Devellano, the Wings GM at the time, had originally set his sights on Michigan native Pat LaFontaine for the 1983 draft, but his plans were foiled when LaFontaine was taken 3rd by the Islanders. With some disappointment, the Red Wings were left with the small Yzerman with the 4th overall pick. (Brian Lawton and Sylvain Turgeon went 1 & 2, respectively.)
Any notion of disappointment or concern about his size quickly disappeared. Yzerman arrived at training camp in 1983, "he immediately was our best player," said Devellano, who opened camp already deciding Yzerman would return to Peterborough. Instead Yzerman jumpstarted the Motor City, immediately giving the Wings hopes that finally they had found the player that would lead them back to respectability. In his rookie season, Yzerman scored 39 goals and 87 points and announced to the hockey world the Y-man had cometh.
Steve's great play would continue, but it was in the spring of 1987 when Yzerman first began is catapult to superstardom. That year he led the Wings deep into the playoffs, scoring 18 points in 16 games. He followed that up the next season by registering his first 50 goal and 100 point campaigns, and he did that in only 64 games.
The following season saw his point totals explode to the level that only Gretzky and Lemieux dared to enter. In 80 games Stevie Y scored 65 times while assisting on 90 others for 155 points! All three of those stats are Red Wing team records. For his efforts, Yzerman was voted by the players as the best player in the league that season, winning the Lester B. Pearson Trophy.
Proving that the previous season was no strange fluke, Yzerman duplicated his scoring feats by registering 62 twine-twisters with 65 assists for 127 points.
Despite the incredible offensive output by the Cranbrook, BC-born superstar, Yzerman never once made either the First or Second All Star Team. Nor did he win an Art Ross as the scoring leader. That's what happens when Gretzky and Lemieux were also around in their primes. No one, not even Stevie Y, could obtain their status or touch their trophies. Once you include the great Mark Messier as well, players as great as Steve Yzerman were unthinkably left off of Team Canada's national teams at Canada Cups.
Back in Detroit, despite being the one-man highlight film, the Red Wings had little playoff success to speak of.
This one man show of offensive fireworks would continue until the 1993-94 season when something happened in Yzerman's career. He sacrificed his own scoring exploits to become one of the best two way players in the history of the game.
While this transformation coincided with the arrival of Scotty Bowman, who gets much of the credit for the reworked masterpiece, it was Yzerman who deserves full credit. Dating back to his junior days he was always a solid two way player. Now he opted to focus his gifts equally all over the ice as opposed to just on offense. Stevie Wonder would turn from a rather one-dimensional offensive machine into one of the greatest two way players in the history of the sport.
Yzerman became perhaps the most complete player of the 1990s, continuing his offensive production, though at a lower rate, while dominating his defensive zone with vigor. In the process, Yzerman became a leader. He knew that becoming a more complete player was what was necessary for him to succeed and the Wings to win. His example spurred great things in Hockeytown.
Soon after this transformation, the Wings have began a mini-dynasty. Three Stanley Cups in five years, including back-to-back championships.
In 1995, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup finals series, the first for the team since the 1960s, but they were swept by the New Jersey Devils. In 1996, Detroit finished with an NHL record 62 regular season wins but they lost in the Conference finals to the eventual champions Colorado Avalanche.
In 1997, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup in 42 years by sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in 4 straight games. The following year Detroit repeated the feat, taking four in a row from the Washington Capitals. Yzerman's leadership and 24 points earned him the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. In an act of class, Yzerman handed the Cup first to the paralyzed Vladimir Konstantinov, a Red Wing defenseman who had been injured severely in a car accident just six days after the Cup victory in 1997.
Playoff frustrations would haunt the Red Wings in the following years, but they would regain the silver chalice in 2002. That year Yzerman turned in one of the most amazing seasons by any player in NHL history. Due to a hobbling knee injury, Yzerman, almost literally playing on one leg, led Canada to its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years before leading the Wings to their 3rd Stanley Cup championship in five years.
Steve Yzerman is no longer the high scoring one-man show of the Detroit Red Wings. Instead he is one of the game's most complete players ever. He is one the greatest leaders the ice has ever known. And most importantly, he is the captain of the 3 Stanley Cup Championships.
One of the NHL's true all time greats, Steve Yzerman is what hockey is all about.
The 41-year-old Yzerman is a Detroit sports icon, the longest-serving captain in NHL history (19 seasons). He and Gordie Howe are widely regarded as the greatest players in franchise history. Yzerman ranks seventh on the NHL's career list in goals (692) and assists (1,063) and sixth in points (1,755).
Heroic. Unselfish. Intelligent. Leader. Complete. These are just a few of the adjectives used to describe Hockeytown's Steve Yzerman.
Once he was scoring machine that used to single-handedly destroy the opposition with mind-boggling individual efforts night after night. Later he became forever remembered as the grizzled veteran captain that puts the team ahead of himself and accepts responsibility for all situations on the ice.
Steve Yzerman is a winner.
Stevie Y came out of junior hockey straight into the Detroit Red Wings camp in 1983. The Nepean, Ontario native was an outstanding center with legendary junior coach Dick Todd and his Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, from 1981 to 1983. He had 91 points in 56 games in his second year with the Petes, but his numbers were far from what a future NHL phenom would have had because Peterborough skated four lines, each having equal playing time.
Jim Devellano, the Wings GM at the time, had originally set his sights on Michigan native Pat LaFontaine for the 1983 draft, but his plans were foiled when LaFontaine was taken 3rd by the Islanders. With some disappointment, the Red Wings were left with the small Yzerman with the 4th overall pick. (Brian Lawton and Sylvain Turgeon went 1 & 2, respectively.)
Any notion of disappointment or concern about his size quickly disappeared. Yzerman arrived at training camp in 1983, "he immediately was our best player," said Devellano, who opened camp already deciding Yzerman would return to Peterborough. Instead Yzerman jumpstarted the Motor City, immediately giving the Wings hopes that finally they had found the player that would lead them back to respectability. In his rookie season, Yzerman scored 39 goals and 87 points and announced to the hockey world the Y-man had cometh.
Steve's great play would continue, but it was in the spring of 1987 when Yzerman first began is catapult to superstardom. That year he led the Wings deep into the playoffs, scoring 18 points in 16 games. He followed that up the next season by registering his first 50 goal and 100 point campaigns, and he did that in only 64 games.
The following season saw his point totals explode to the level that only Gretzky and Lemieux dared to enter. In 80 games Stevie Y scored 65 times while assisting on 90 others for 155 points! All three of those stats are Red Wing team records. For his efforts, Yzerman was voted by the players as the best player in the league that season, winning the Lester B. Pearson Trophy.
Proving that the previous season was no strange fluke, Yzerman duplicated his scoring feats by registering 62 twine-twisters with 65 assists for 127 points.
Despite the incredible offensive output by the Cranbrook, BC-born superstar, Yzerman never once made either the First or Second All Star Team. Nor did he win an Art Ross as the scoring leader. That's what happens when Gretzky and Lemieux were also around in their primes. No one, not even Stevie Y, could obtain their status or touch their trophies. Once you include the great Mark Messier as well, players as great as Steve Yzerman were unthinkably left off of Team Canada's national teams at Canada Cups.
Back in Detroit, despite being the one-man highlight film, the Red Wings had little playoff success to speak of.
This one man show of offensive fireworks would continue until the 1993-94 season when something happened in Yzerman's career. He sacrificed his own scoring exploits to become one of the best two way players in the history of the game.
While this transformation coincided with the arrival of Scotty Bowman, who gets much of the credit for the reworked masterpiece, it was Yzerman who deserves full credit. Dating back to his junior days he was always a solid two way player. Now he opted to focus his gifts equally all over the ice as opposed to just on offense. Stevie Wonder would turn from a rather one-dimensional offensive machine into one of the greatest two way players in the history of the sport.
Yzerman became perhaps the most complete player of the 1990s, continuing his offensive production, though at a lower rate, while dominating his defensive zone with vigor. In the process, Yzerman became a leader. He knew that becoming a more complete player was what was necessary for him to succeed and the Wings to win. His example spurred great things in Hockeytown.
Soon after this transformation, the Wings have began a mini-dynasty. Three Stanley Cups in five years, including back-to-back championships.
In 1995, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup finals series, the first for the team since the 1960s, but they were swept by the New Jersey Devils. In 1996, Detroit finished with an NHL record 62 regular season wins but they lost in the Conference finals to the eventual champions Colorado Avalanche.
In 1997, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup in 42 years by sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in 4 straight games. The following year Detroit repeated the feat, taking four in a row from the Washington Capitals. Yzerman's leadership and 24 points earned him the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. In an act of class, Yzerman handed the Cup first to the paralyzed Vladimir Konstantinov, a Red Wing defenseman who had been injured severely in a car accident just six days after the Cup victory in 1997.
Playoff frustrations would haunt the Red Wings in the following years, but they would regain the silver chalice in 2002. That year Yzerman turned in one of the most amazing seasons by any player in NHL history. Due to a hobbling knee injury, Yzerman, almost literally playing on one leg, led Canada to its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years before leading the Wings to their 3rd Stanley Cup championship in five years.
Steve Yzerman is no longer the high scoring one-man show of the Detroit Red Wings. Instead he is one of the game's most complete players ever. He is one the greatest leaders the ice has ever known. And most importantly, he is the captain of the 3 Stanley Cup Championships.
One of the NHL's true all time greats, Steve Yzerman is what hockey is all about.
The 41-year-old Yzerman is a Detroit sports icon, the longest-serving captain in NHL history (19 seasons). He and Gordie Howe are widely regarded as the greatest players in franchise history. Yzerman ranks seventh on the NHL's career list in goals (692) and assists (1,063) and sixth in points (1,755).
Steve Yzerman played 1514 games in a Detroit Red Wings jersey. He saw a lot of hockey from his unique vantage point, allowing him to make some astute observations about some of the games' greatest players.
One of the greatest players he ever saw was his own teammate, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. Many compare Lidstrom favorably to Ray Bourque. Some even dare to mention him in the same breath as Bobby Orr.
Yzerman, however, has a very different comparable for Lidstrom.
“He’s Roger Federer,” Yzerman said. “He’s graceful, and because they’re so technically sound, it looks effortless at times for them.
“You can ask anyone who played with him, anyone who coached him, anyone who knew him — Nick was the most low-maintenance player in the history of the game.”
Nicklas Lidstrom returns to Detroit this week as the Red Wings will raise his number five to the rafters of Joe Louis Arena. Lidstrom will join Steve Yzerman’s 19, Gordie Howe’s 9, Sid Abel’s 12, Ted Lindsay’s 7, Alex Delvecchio’s 10 and Terry Sawchuk’s 1 high above the ice.
“He played so many minutes in all situations, and did everything right,” Yzerman continued. “From the first time I saw him play, I knew he was something special. He looked like a 10-year veteran when he was 21 years old. He had a lot of great attributes, and one of them was the intelligence to step in right away and look at home."
Home for Lidstrom means a return to Sweden. The family has built their dream home in Vasteras. Though his four sons have been largely raised in America, he always insisted that Swedish was the dominant language at home. They all play hockey, keeping Lidstrom busy. After a lifetime of sacrifices to the game that has given him so much, family is the only thing that he's really interested in these days.
Nicklas Lidstrom's Top Five Hockey Memories:
“1997 Stanley Cup, because it was our first Cup in four decades.”
“1998 Stanley Cup, because it united all of us after the terrible accident from the summer before.”
“2002 Stanley Cup, because we were like an all-star team, and the way we rallied after being down 2-0 against Vancouver in the first round.”
“The 2006 Olympics, winning the gold medal for Sweden, scoring that goal, I’ll always remember that.”
“Being named captain of the Red Wings in 2006, after Steve Yzerman retired, that was incredibly special.”
May 15th, 1996: Steve Yzerman scores one of the most memorable goals in playoff history. Yzerman's double overtime goal gave the Red Wings a 1-0 victory in game 7 of their series with the St. Louis Blues.
In the March 19th, 2012 issue of The Hockey News, columnist Ken Campbell closes the magazine with an article entitled Arrested Development. He argues in favor of Steve Yzerman's idea to allow any three season veteran of the WHL, OHL or QMJHL to start playing in minor pro leagues like the AHL at age 18.
Currently the NHL and Canadian junior leagues have an understanding that any 18 year old who does not make the NHL is returned to junior. It allows junior franchises to keep star players, build teams and connections in the community, and, most important of all, sell tickets.
But the NHL would rather see exceptional young talent developed on their farm teams. They argue there are a number of players every year that are too good to continue playing junior, but not physically mature enough or not quite ready to play in the NHL as an 18 year old. Rather than let them allegedly stagnate back in junior, or waste away playing a few minutes a game in their rookie NHL season, NHL teams want to be able to apprentice their future stars in the minor leagues.
You can not blame the NHL for this. Just like you can not blame the junior franchises for seriously opposing this motion. But, as Campbell points out, there really is nothing the CHL can do. They have no bargaining power at all with the NHL, except for the public relations front.
Campbell also points out that "Yzerman is taking a bullet for a lot of GMs on this proposal." The NHL knows this will be met with a lot of resistance from the junior leagues and possibly Hockey Canada. Hockey Canada might have the strongest voice in all of this, as they oversee development of youth hockey in Canada from TimBits through the World Juniors Program of Excellence. Hockey Canada has no real influence on the junior leagues, but it should be voicing its concerns loudly.
Why would Hockey Canada get involved? The Canadian junior leagues, major and otherwise, are already over-taxed. There are too many teams, taking too many kids away from home too early, hindering their hockey development let alone the impact on the kids as people. By removing more top players from the CHL early the junior leagues will raid lower levels of junior and midget hockey. Diluting the junior leagues makes for inferior hockey development. That certainly is not in Hockey Canada's best interests. Nor should it be in the NHL's, but they are too short-sighted to see the long term implications of this move.
I asked Kamloops Daily News sports editor Gregg Drinnan about this movement. Drinnan has followed the Western Hockey League closely for years. Needless to say, he thinks the idea is a terrible one for junior hockey.
"I don’t think the Yzerman proposal will come to pass, but I have learned never to say never." says Drinnan, who has an excellent hockey blog called Taking Note. "From the standpoint of a major junior operator, a rule like that would be a disaster. I shudder to think how many players the NHL would move into the AHL under that rule."
Drinnan pointed out several struggling young NHL players who should have been back in junior hockey this season, including Nino Niederreiter of the New York Islanders, Ryan Johansson of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and, interestingly, Brett Connolly of Yzerman's Tampa Bay Lightning.
"These kids are playing six to eight minutes a game. How can that be better than playing 30 minutes a game in all situations in junior. The Connolly situation was especially devastating to Prince George. With him in the lineup, the Cougars, I would suggest, could be second in the B.C. Division. Without him, they won’t make the playoffs and it just might be that that will be the death knell for the franchise in that city."
Drinnan went on to lament that there are too many junior teams in Canada, and not enough focus on skill development. He believes Canada is on the verge of another dark period .
"There are far too many teams, not just in the WHL, but too many junior teams. I’m talking MJHL, SJHL, AJHL and BCHL," said Drinnan. "I would also suggest there are too many midget AAA, junior B, etc., teams. We need fewer teams and more skill development. Boy, I don’t see a whole lot of skill in the WHL games that I watch. There is far too much chip and chase."
" I would suggest that we (Canada) are going to get kicked in the next World Junior Championship and maybe even the one after that and the one after that. We need to re-examine our coaches and the lack of skill development. This is going to become a huge story over the next while, both at the national junior and NHL level. I just don’t see high skill among WHL players, especially forwards."
Hockey Canada has no direct power over all of these junior leagues, but it needs to re-examine how much influence it can have. If Drinnan is right about the upcoming Canadian drought at the World Juniors level, you can expect this to be a big story for years to come.
The NHL`s Yzerman-led proposal may be a small part of a more systemic problem for Hockey Canada. But in the immediate future Hockey Canada President and CEO Bob Nicholson needs to get on board to keep as many players in junior as possible. He has the most influential voice, and he has the ear of Yzerman.
The NHL knows this, and maybe that is why they have Yzerman heading up this cause. After all, Yzerman and Nicholson teamed up to deliver Olympic gold in Vancouver at the 2010 Olympics, and they will try it again in Sochi 2014. Perhaps the NHL is hoping their amicable relationship can diffuse Nicholson's influence. It will be an interesting to witness the debate between the two.
If the NHL wins this battle, it is a bad thing for hockey in Canada. In the long term it will be a bad thing for the short-sighted NHL, too.
Meanwhile Hockey Canada has some bigger concerns about junior hockey looming.
Heroic. Unselfish. Intelligent. Leader. Complete. These are just a few of the adjectives used to describe Hockeytown's Steve Yzerman.
Once he was scoring machine that used to single-handedly destroy the opposition with mind-boggling individual efforts night after night. Later he became forever remembered as the grizzled veteran captain that puts the team ahead of himself and accepts responsibility for all situations on the ice.
"I was only 18 years old and just drafted by the Red Wings, and casually, I remember Gordie just walking down the hall at Joe Louis Arena. Obviously, I recognized him, every Canadian would recognize Gordie Howe. He was just down to earth and said, 'Hi, how are you doing?' For me, I was very nervous meeting him and somewhat intimidated because I knew who he was forever, so it was just a shock to see him in person. He's very humble and a very easy person to be around. You're intimidated by the name initially, but as soon as you meet him he makes you feel comfortable."
One of the most interesting teams to watch this post season is the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have been interesting in the past, but only because they were ridiculously dysfunctional. But now stability appears to have arrived thanks to a new owner, Jeff Vinick, and a new general manager, hockey legend Steve Yzerman.
It is with a great curiosity that we watch Yzerman embark on his new career. He was mentored by some of the best in the business in Detroit - Ken Holland, Jimmy Devellano, Jim Nill and others - and expectations were only heightened with his fantastic showing with Team Canada at the 2010 Olympics.
Yzerman talks a lot about establishing stability and a Red Wing style family-setting for the franchise. That will take a few years to pioneer, and Yzerman knows he will need patience and vision to make this main goal happen.
But on the ice he seems almost in a hurry to turn things around. This is partially because he knows he has some nice pieces in place already. Vincent Lecavalier needs to regain his form, but a year and a half ago he was arguably the best player in the league. Young Steven Stamkos already co-led the entire NHL in goal scoring last season. Martin St. Louis shows no signs of slowing down and remains the heartbeat of the team, but he isn't getting any younger. And they still have high hopes for young Victor Hedman on the blue line.
Yzerman's hurry may also indicate new owner Jeff Vinik's mandate, too. He wants this mess cleaned up and a once promising sun-belt hockey market restored as quickly as possible.
Yzerman has taken risks many first time general managers would not dare to take. He immediately acquired Guy Boucher as head coach. Boucher has no NHL experience, although his track record has him as the hottest new coaching prospect in years. Will his 3-1-1 forecheck work in the NHL?
Yzerman also took a big risk at the draft, selecting injured Brett Connolly with the 6th overall selection. I've seen Connolly play and I can personally attest that he is a special player. But his future is uncertain with his bad hip. Most other first time managers would have taken a safer pick.
On the free agency front Yzerman's key addition so far has been goaltender Dan Ellis. He probably could have had Chris Mason - a proven starter although more of a tier-2 type goalie - for less money. Ellis has higher potential. He and Mike Smith will undoubtedly push each other.
Yzerman has also added defenseman Pavel Kubina, bring back the big Czech after a four year hiatus. Yzerman clearly wants to bolster the Bolts' weak back end. Kubina and Brett Clark will help, but more work needs to be done. He has cap room, and although the Bolts are operating under a "loose budget."
Five weeks into the job Steve Yzerman has shown that he is not afraid of taking risks and that he is in a hurry to turn things around in Tampa Bay. This should only reinvigorate Vinny Lecavalier and the rest of the Lightning players and undoubtedly bring back the fans.
I think everyone realized that in order to become a NHL general manager, Steve Yzerman would have to leave Detroit. When that expected day came, it still came as a shock. Steve Yzerman no longer a Red Wing, but the new general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning
Yzerman will do an excellent job there. As a colleague suggested to me today, he can only bring that franchise up. The Lightning have redefined dysfunctional in the last couple of seasons. Circus act is almost too kind of a description for the anarchy there.
Hopefully the damage inflicted in Tampa Bay the last couple of years can be overcome. Tampa has shown to be one of the better sunbelt markets, especially when the team was strong. The team needs a whole new fresh start, and Yzerman can deliver that. At the same time key names like Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and now Steven Stamkos still form a strong and familiar nucleus to not only build around on the ice, but off of it as well.
Paul Kariya might look good in Tampa Bay, although I suspect Yzerman's immediate on-ice focus will be better stocking the system and bringing in some proven depth players. He will need to fill off-ice vacancies in management and especially behind the bench first. Once he has picked a coaching staff then everyone will have a better look at his vision for next season. Then he can begin plugging the on-ice holes for next season and perhaps beyond.
As always, join me for more thoughts and conversation on Twitter @HockeyLegends
When Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal to give Canada perhaps it's greatest victory relief, not enjoyment, was the key emotion for Team Canada boss Steve Yzerman.
“It was incredible relief. So I can't say this experience was enjoyable but it was rewarding, for sure, and it's one I will really treasure. I think I understood what I was getting into. I loved it, but it was very stressful," Yzerman told Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun.
Stress? Winning Olympic gold on home ice in a country where anything else would be considered failure and cue years of second guessing? Yeah, okay. That's stressful.
He could move on, immortalized now as a manager as much as he was a player. But when asked if he would do it again, his answer was an emphatic yes.
“As far as my participation, Hockey Canada tries to develop young coaches and managers so they may want to give the opportunity to someone else. But given the opportunity to be in charge, if somebody offered it to me, I wouldn't hesitate again."
He also took the opportunity to campaign for NHL involvement in Sochi 2014.
“Hopefully NHL players will be involved again. I think it's good for our game but I do understand there are a lot of issues the NHL has concerns with. Hopefully, they can work them out because when you watch a game like this, it's great for the game of hockey.”
There are lot of great memories of Steve Yzerman in his Hall of Fame career.
I will always remember the offensive one-man wizardry early in his career, and the transformation into the grizzled Stanley Cup champion later on in his career.
But for me, the 2002 season was the most amazing season in Yzerman's career. He was horribly hobbled by a bad knee that at season's end would have to go under major reconstruction, with no guarantee of success. Yet he put off that surgery to chase Olympic gold and Stanley Cup silver.
His NHL regular season was not great by his standards. He only played in 52 games, and scored just 13 goals. But at the Olympics and in Stanley Cup playoffs, when the games counted most, Yzerman came through brilliantly. Despite playing almost literally on just one leg and in obvious pain, he willed his teams to victory.
You could simply not watch Yzerman that year and not cheer him on. It was one of the most amazing displays of hockey in the history of the game.
It is that passion for hockey that earned him his spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It is that passion driving Yzerman to excel off the ice, too.
While everyone in Canada will be celebrating Yzerman this weekend, attention will quickly turn to focus on Yzerman's new role as Canada's general manager for the 2010 Olympic games. Enjoy this weekend Steve, as you will be in the Olympic hot seat again on Tuesday, with it getting hotter by the day.
The Detroit Red Wings will honour Steve Yzerman by retiring his familiar #19 jersey on Tuesday, January 2nd.
Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio and Ted Lindsay will be among the Red Wings on hand Tuesday night for Steve Yzerman's jersey retirement ceremony. The game will be televised across Canada on a special weeknight edition of Hockey Night In Canada.
Heroic. Unselfish. Intelligent. Leader. Complete. These are just a few of the adjectives used to describe Hockeytown's Steve Yzerman.
Once he was scoring machine that used to single-handedly destroy the opposition with mind-boggling individual efforts night after night. Later he became forever remembered as the grizzled veteran captain that puts the team ahead of himself and accepts responsibility for all situations on the ice.
Steve Yzerman is a winner.
Stevie Y came out of junior hockey straight into the Detroit Red Wings camp in 1983. The Nepean, Ontario native was an outstanding center with legendary junior coach Dick Todd and his Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League, from 1981 to 1983. He had 91 points in 56 games in his second year with the Petes, but his numbers were far from what a future NHL phenom would have had because Peterborough skated four lines, each having equal playing time.
Jim Devellano, the Wings GM at the time, had originally set his sights on Michigan native Pat LaFontaine for the 1983 draft, but his plans were foiled when LaFontaine was taken 3rd by the Islanders. With some disappointment, the Red Wings were left with the small Yzerman with the 4th overall pick. (Brian Lawton and Sylvain Turgeon went 1 & 2, respectively.)
Any notion of disappointment or concern about his size quickly disappeared. Yzerman arrived at training camp in 1983, "he immediately was our best player," said Devellano, who opened camp already deciding Yzerman would return to Peterborough. Instead Yzerman jumpstarted the Motor City, immediately giving the Wings hopes that finally they had found the player that would lead them back to respectability. In his rookie season, Yzerman scored 39 goals and 87 points and announced to the hockey world the Y-man had cometh.
Steve's great play would continue, but it was in the spring of 1987 when Yzerman first began is catapult to superstardom. That year he led the Wings deep into the playoffs, scoring 18 points in 16 games. He followed that up the next season by registering his first 50 goal and 100 point campaigns, and he did that in only 64 games.
The following season saw his point totals explode to the level that only Gretzky and Lemieux dared to enter. In 80 games Stevie Y scored 65 times while assisting on 90 others for 155 points! All three of those stats are Red Wing team records. For his efforts, Yzerman was voted by the players as the best player in the league that season, winning the Lester B. Pearson Trophy.
Proving that the previous season was no strange fluke, Yzerman duplicated his scoring feats by registering 62 twine-twisters with 65 assists for 127 points.
Despite the incredible offensive output by the Cranbrook, BC-born superstar, Yzerman never once made either the First or Second All Star Team. Nor did he win an Art Ross as the scoring leader. That's what happens when Gretzky and Lemieux were also around in their primes. No one, not even Stevie Y, could obtain their status or touch their trophies. Once you include the great Mark Messier as well, players as great as Steve Yzerman were unthinkably left off of Team Canada's national teams at Canada Cups.
Back in Detroit, despite being the one-man highlight film, the Red Wings had little playoff success to speak of.
This one man show of offensive fireworks would continue until the 1993-94 season when something happened in Yzerman's career. He sacrificed his own scoring exploits to become one of the best two way players in the history of the game.
While this transformation coincided with the arrival of Scotty Bowman, who gets much of the credit for the reworked masterpiece, it was Yzerman who deserves full credit. Dating back to his junior days he was always a solid two way player. Now he opted to focus his gifts equally all over the ice as opposed to just on offense. Stevie Wonder would turn from a rather one-dimensional offensive machine into one of the greatest two way players in the history of the sport.
Yzerman became perhaps the most complete player of the 1990s, continuing his offensive production, though at a lower rate, while dominating his defensive zone with vigor. In the process, Yzerman became a leader. He knew that becoming a more complete player was what was necessary for him to succeed and the Wings to win. His example spurred great things in Hockeytown.
Soon after this transformation, the Wings have began a mini-dynasty. Three Stanley Cups in five years, including back-to-back championships.
In 1995, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup finals series, the first for the team since the 1960s, but they were swept by the New Jersey Devils. In 1996, Detroit finished with an NHL record 62 regular season wins but they lost in the Conference finals to the eventual champions Colorado Avalanche.
In 1997, Yzerman led Detroit to its first Stanley Cup in 42 years by sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in 4 straight games. The following year Detroit repeated the feat, taking four in a row from the Washington Capitals. Yzerman's leadership and 24 points earned him the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. In an act of class, Yzerman handed the Cup first to the paralyzed Vladimir Konstantinov, a Red Wing defenseman who had been injured severely in a car accident just six days after the Cup victory in 1997.
Playoff frustrations would haunt the Red Wings in the following years, but they would regain the silver chalice in 2002. That year Yzerman turned in one of the most amazing seasons by any player in NHL history. Due to a hobbling knee injury, Yzerman, almost literally playing on one leg, led Canada to its first Olympic gold medal in 50 years before leading the Wings to their 3rd Stanley Cup championship in five years.
Steve Yzerman is no longer the high scoring one-man show of the Detroit Red Wings. Instead he is one of the game's most complete players ever. He is one the greatest leaders the ice has ever known. And most importantly, he is the captain of the 3 Stanley Cup Championships.
One of the NHL's true all time greats, Steve Yzerman is what hockey is all about.
The 41-year-old Yzerman is a Detroit sports icon, the longest-serving captain in NHL history (19 seasons). He and Gordie Howe are widely regarded as the greatest players in franchise history. Yzerman ranks seventh on the NHL's career list in goals (692) and assists (1,063) and sixth in points (1,755).
It used to be Gordie Howe was the undeniable king of hockeytown. I don't know, I think Steve Yzerman is sharing that throne nowadays. The Red Wings have featured a lot of NHL greats in recent years, but also throughout their long NHL history. Here's a look back at some of the all time greats and other notables in Red Wing history.
Pete Babando - Pete Babando Stanley Cup heroics have stood the tests of time. His double overtime goal in game 7 of the 1950 Stanley Cup finals is still talked about to this day.
Alex Faulkner - The first "Newfie" to leave the island and play in the National Hockey League, Alex Faulkner will always be Newfoundland's favorite hockey playing son.
Danny Gare - This Buffalo sparkplug teamed with Don Luce and Craig Ramsey on the Sabres' other great line during the 1970s
Paul Henderson - A solid though ordinary player, Paul Henderson became forever a hockey immortal thanks to his 1972 Summit Series heroics
Gordie Howe - Forget about Gretzky or Lemieux. Old time hockey fans will insist Gordie Howe is the greatest of all time, with great merit. Mr. Hockey could do it all
Syd Howe - Before Detroit Red Wings fans had ever heard of Gordie Howe, Hockeytown was celebrating the greatness of the unrelated Syd Howe.
Red Kelly - A superstar defenseman with the Detroit Red Wings, he later became one of the most cerebral centers in hockey history while with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Tony Leswick - This undersized pest made a big name for himself as a defensive specialist. He was particularly well known for his battles with Rocket Richard.
Dale McCourt - One of the most important figures in NHL draft history, McCourt was a bit of a bust in the National Hockey League.
Bucko McDonald - Nearly forgotten as a hard hitting stay at home defenseman, Bucko McDonald's claim to fame may be the fact that he coached Bobby Orr as a youth and was instrumental in his development.
Bob Probert - Hockey's ultimate tough guy rarely lost a battle on the ice. Unfortunately he's lost more than a few off of it.
Marcel Pronovost - A fearless, rugged rearguard with Detroit Red Wings and later the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pronovost won 5 Stanley Cups
Terry Sawchuk - Though modern fans will likely choose Patrick Roy or Dominik Hasek, veteran fans will tell you Terry Sawchuk is the greatest goaltender of all time.
Norm Ullman - Even though he was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame, Norm Ullman remains one of hockey's most underrated stars.
Steve Yzerman - What more can be said about Stevie Wonder? He was one of hockey's greatest players and classiest people.
