Red Wings raise Yzerman’s jersey to the rafters
By Aaron Bell
It was classic Steve Yzerman.
On Tuesday, the Detroit Red Wings hosted a special ceremony before their game against the Anaheim Ducks to honour one of the greatest players to ever play the game. But for Yzerman, the occasion wasn't about him as much as it was about his former teammates and coaches, the Red Wings' ownership and management and the outstanding support that he received from the fans in Detroit and around the league.
"I hope when you (fans) come back in the future and you look up there (at his retired jersey), give yourself a pat on the back because I really feel you are a huge reason why that jersey is up there," Yzerman said during the ceremony.
"I just happened to be the person who wore it, but I think we all contributed to why it's up there. That number up there doesn't represent what I did; it's what we've represented as an organization for the last 23 years."
For his former teammates and coaches, it wasn't a surprise that Yzerman preferred to put the spotlight elsewhere. He was like that throughout his entire career. Many athletes say that they would trade personal success for team success any time. But that's exactly what Yzerman did.
Yzerman was an outstanding offensive talent when he was drafted fourth overall from the OHL's Peterborough Petes in 1983. He arrived in Detroit as the savior of a floundering franchise. It was a tall order for any player, let alone an 18-year-old fresh out of junior, but Yzerman rose to the challenge.
He scored 21 goals and 64 points in 58 games as a rookie with the Red Wings in 1981-82. In 1987-88, he reached the 100-point plateau for the first time and in 1988-89 set career highs with 65 goals and 155 points. That year, he won the Lester B. Pearson Trophy as the top player in the league as voted by his fellow players. Yzerman certainly would have also won scoring titles and MVP awards had he not been playing in the same era as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
But when Scotty Bowman arrived in Motown in 1993, Yzerman began a transformation that took him from scoring star to battle-tested leader and champion. He blossomed as one of the top two-way forwards in the game and helped the Red Wings win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998.
During Tuesday's ceremony, Yzerman graciously turned the spotlight to his former coach and encouraged the fans to recognize Bowman as the architect of their championship teams. Bowman was visibly moved by the sentiment of his former captain.
"That's the way Steve is," said Bowman, who coached the Red Wings for nine seasons and also guided them to the Stanley Cup in 2002, his final year behind the bench. "He really didn't want to take the credit that he really deserves. This is a wonderful reception that he got.
"I was appreciative of what he said naturally, but the man that was responsible for the turn around of this franchise was Steve Yzerman because he shoes to play a two-way game. He wanted to win a Stanley Cup and he won three."
The legacy that Yzerman leaves behind in Detroit is that of a champion on and off the ice. The number of former teammates and coaches that were on hand during the ceremony was a testament to his leadership on the ice, but also to his character in the dressing room. Former Red Wings like Brett Hull, Danny Gare, Mike Vernon, Vladimir Konstantinov, Igor Larionov, Bob Probert and Joey Kocur were there along with former greats like Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio.
His current teammates wore replicas of Yzerman's jerseys with the Red Wings, Petes and Team Canada during the ceremony, which was hosted by former OHL and NHL goalie Darren Pang, who played minor hockey with Yzerman in Nepean.
Yzerman retired with 1,755 points, the sixth highest total in league history and second among Red Wings to Gordie Howe. He was the captain of the Red Wings for 19 seasons, the longest serving captain in the history of the league.
"Steve is like a member of our family," Red Wings' owner Mike Ilitch said on Tuesday. "Steve is the kind of role model that all athletes should strive to be."
Photo courtesy Detroit Red Wings
