The Dallas Morning News article
May 10, 1999
by Keith Grave
His wife was within a few days of giving birth to their third daughter, and he knew he should have been home caring for the first two. One of them was sick. He still grieved over the loss of a friend and former teammate who was laid to rest a day earlier, and he was frustrated he couldn’t be there.
Instead, Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman managed to overcome myriad emotions Sunday and play a sensational hockey game. He celebrated his 34th birthday on Mother’s Day by scoring his team’s first two goals en route to a 4-0 victory over Colorado at McNichols Arena. That gave Detroit a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 Western Conference series with the archrival Avalanche as it moves to Joe Louis Arena.
It was in between shifts that Yzerman found solace in thoughts of others too far away. Like Lisa, his pregnant wife. Like former Detroit defenseman Steve Chiasson, who died in a car accident a week ago. Like his mom, who spent so many years shuttling him to practices and games when he was a youngster.
“You’d be surprised what goes through your mind during the game as you sit there,” Yzerman said. Mother’s Day, he said, and his birthday were a big deal at his house, at least to 5-year-old daughter Isabella. But it was his inability to attend Chiasson’s funeral Saturday in Peterborough, Ontario, that made the weekend most difficult. He went so far as to inquire about getting a private jet to get him to the funeral and back in time for Sunday’s noon faceoff, but logistics made it impossible.
“I just wish the world could be stopped for one day so I could have been there,” Yzerman said. He couldn’t, so he just played.
“His focus, his concentration are just incredible,” said linemate Brendan Shanahan, Yzerman’s best friend. “It’s all part of his package. He can do it all.”
