The Sporting News article
November 6, 1989
by Keith Gave

Ten games into the 1989-90 season, Steve Yzerman was worried that he wasn’t carrying his weight with the Detroit Red Wings after the club made him the third millionaire in the history of the National Hockey League. But that’s typical of Yzerman, the soft-spoken captain of the Red Wings who says little but carries a very big stick.

“I don’t think I’ve played all that well yet,” Yzerman said. “I’m trying hard. I just don’t think it’s there yet. I’ve missed a lot of good scoring chances. Too many.

“I’ve never really been a good starter. Usually, it takes about 10 games or so to find a groove. Statistically, I’m all right, I guess, but I’m looking to get a lot better and stronger.”

While Yzerman may not have been satisfied, Coach Jacques Demers was.

“The one thing you can’t take away from Steve Yzerman is that he comes to play every night,” Demers said. “There are some great players in this league who can’t say that.”

Despite being double-teamed by every opponent, Yzerman was averaging nearly two points a game. After 10 games, he had seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points, which put him on a pace for 56 goals and 144 points. Last season, the fourth of a seven-year deal paying him about $ 400,000 per year, he finished with 65 goals and 155 points.

That prompted Wings Owner Mike Ilitch to tear up Yzerman’s old contract and write a new one that put the 24-year-old center in the same neighborhood with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, who are reportedly pocketing $ 2 million a year from the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively.

After weeks of sensitive though private negotiations, Yzerman agreed to a deal that would pay him $ 1.2 million a year base salary for five seasons and give him a chance to earn bonuses that would increase the total to about $ 1.8 million.

Even though negotiations dragged through the summer and into training camp, Yzerman never voiced the frustration those near him knew he was feeling. And neither Yzerman, Toronto agent Gus Badali, General Manager Jimmy Devellano nor Ilitch would ever discuss details of the negotiations publicly.

As training camp drew near, Yzerman considered all his options, one of which was to hold out until he got his new deal.

“There’s one big pro, or positive, about holding out on a team, and that’s that you can get more money,” he said on the opening day of training camp. “But I also came up with about 20 cons. I just felt that in my situation, it wasn’t the right thing to do.

“It seems that there are always a lot of scars that linger a long time after players do that. And it creates a bad image.”

Around the NHL, Yzerman’s image is that of an emerging star whose team will go as far as he can carry it. But his own self-image is of a player who must be able to look his employer in the eye when he picks up his paycheck. It’s important for Yzerman to know he’s earning his keep by playing his best, regardless of his statistics. And those were his first thoughts in the hours after he agreed to the five-year deal.

“It will kind of shift some of the pressures from one area to another,” he said. “I can relax a little bit financially. But I’ve got to play a little harder to earn it, to prove I’m worth it.

“I can’t guarantee that I’ll be worth the money I’m getting, but I’ll try. They made a commitment to me by offering me that contract. I have to make a commitment to them now. It’s not OK if I don’t.”

With his sudden wealth, Yzerman said he planned no special purchases or celebrations.

“Absolutely nothing,” he said. “We’ve got to get organized financially, get everything straightened out over the next year or two. Pay some bills. Then we can start to enjoy it a little more.”

But life for Yzerman is much more than hockey and big pay-checks these days.

He had a busy off-season after helping Team Canada win a silver medal in the World Championships last spring in Stockholm. He was married to Lisa Brennan, his hometown sweetheart, and the two built a beautiful home in the wealthy suburb of Grosse Pointe, Mich., on a slice of what used to be the estate of the Dodge family.

Yzerman entered the season with no goals other than getting the most from himself.

“I don’t know how many points I’ll get,” he said. “Maybe 50, maybe 150. I’m more concerned with playing well and doing the things I want to do properly.”

But if Yzerman wasn’t living up to his own high expectations in the season’s first month, there was at least one reasonable explanation. He was playing with one hand tied behind his back. He was missing his longtime linemate and best friend, Gerard Gallant, one of the NHL’s best left wings.

Gallant served a five-game suspension for a match penalty he received after slashing Vancouver’s Garth Butcher. At the time he began the suspension, Gallant was among the league leaders with seven goals, but he also had a league-high 46 penalty minutes.

In the next four games, Demers tried four different combinations, using Adam Graves, Bernie Federko, Shawn Burr and Petr Klima on Yzerman’s left wing. Klima, perhaps the team’s most explosive scoring threat, was the most effective, but Yzerman seemed to miss Gallant’s mucking in the corners.

“It’s hard to get into a groove,” Yzerman said. “Gerard and I play basically a simple game. You get into a habit with a guy, and it’s an adjustment without him.”

Coincidentally, Gallant was one of the first beneficiaries of the escalating salaries of more pedestrian NHL players. Even before Yzerman agreed to his deal, Gallant — a second team NHL All Star last season — walked into Devellano’s office seeking a little more for his effort and wound up doubling his salary to about $ 430,000 a season for four years.

At Yzerman’s right flank, Demers had tried a number of soldiers, starting with newcomer Marc Habscheid, the free agent from Minnesota. Habscheid lasted less than a game. Rookie Brent Fedyk didn’t last much longer. Dave Barr, who enjoyed a career season last year with 27 goals and 59 points, played a few games there, too.

Enforcer Joe Kocur wound up winning the job for obvious reasons: Demers had seen enough of the team’s meal ticket being roughed up by would-be checkers.

“I’m sick and tired of that,” Demers said, “and it’s got to stop.”

Kocur’s reputation is well known around the league. He’s enjoying the new assignment, on the club’s top scoring line, but hasn’t gotten carried away with it.

“It’s a nice change, that’s for sure,” Kocur said. “But I still know my job, and that’s to keep the flies away from Stevie.”

The double-teaming of Yzerman is to be expected, Demers said, but the constant hacks, whacks and punches behind the play are unnecessary.

“Stevie is double-watched every game. He’s paying the price like Gretzky and Lemieux,” Demers said. “But the abuse. It’s very visible, and eventually it will take its toll.

“I’m not saying Steve Yzerman can’t take care of himself. He’s no pushover. And he’s very mean out there when he has to be. But I also believe you protect the people who put bread and butter on your table. They earn it for you.”