NHL.com article
June 14, 2002
by Shawn P. Roarke

The Stanley Cup is not won without heart and it’s hard to imagine any player with as much heart as Steve Yzerman.

So, it was only fitting that the 37-year-old Yzerman was the first Detroit player to touch the Stanley Cup after Thursday’s Game 5 victory against Carolina that decided the series.

As Detroit’s captain, history demanded that he accept the Cup. This postseason, however, common sense could have just as easily been the determining factor in Yzerman’s honor.

There is no arguing that Yzerman has been the shining star on a team full of all-stars; legends brought together with Thursday night’s championship ceremony in mind.

Despite the laundry list of greats — goalie Dominik Hasek, defensemen Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom, forwards Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull, Igor Larionov and Sergei Fedorov — there is no denying this Detroit squad is Yzerman’s team.

And, Yzerman was quick to share his moment with the Stanley Cup. Handed the trophy by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Yzerman almost immediately handed the chalice to Scotty Bowman, who announced his retirement right after the game.

Bowman, on skates, took a last lap with the Cup and then handed it back to Yzerman. This time Yzerman passed the Cup off to Hasek, enjoying his first Stanley Cup championship.

All season long, the club has taken its cue from this selfless leader, the longest-serving captain in the NHL.

“It’s tough to measure what he means to our team because he means so much on the ice,” said Kirk Maltby, who has played with Yzerman since joining the club from Edmonton in 1996. “He’s always in the right place, and he always makes the right play.”

While that may be expected of every player at this level, it should not be expected of a player essentially competing on one leg.

Yzerman’s right knee is a shambles; has been since before the Olympic Break in February. Most people believe that he will have to undergo major surgery this summer to repair the accumulated damage in the joint. But such speculation is for another day, not the crowning moment of Yzerman’s career.

This postseason, the injury did not slow Yzerman down. The lure of a third Stanley Cup was strong enough to deaden the constant pain in his right leg, a pain that made it hard for him to get up every time he crashed to the ice. Each attempt to right himself, often using his stick as a fulcrum, was a profile in courage.

He insists it was nothing special, just something that any of his teammates would have done to make their Stanley Cup dream become a reality.

“Everybody at some point in the series had to step up with a big play or a big game,” said Yzerman. “It was a tremendous team effort. [Bowman’s] attitude is the only focus is on winning and how important winning is. You have to find a way to be effective and find a way to contribute. Everyone does that.”

Few, however, did that as well as the captain this postseason.

Yzerman, the top-line center between Shanahan and Fedorov, scored six goals and 17 assists in 23 postseason contests. Only Colorado’s Peter Forsberg, who had 27 points in 20 games, has scored more points in the 2002 playoffs.

But as key as his on-ice contributions have been for the Wings in their march to destiny this spring, his off-ice demeanor has been just as important.

“Off the ice, he leads by example, unless something needs to be said, then he’ll say something,” said Maltby.

The soft-spoken Yzerman rarely feels the need to exhort his experienced teammates. He is the calm beacon that keeps his team pointed in the winning direction. With so many successful players on the team, Yzerman usually just lets the room take care of itself.

“It has been kind of an enjoyable year [in] that everybody has played pretty hard and played competitively,” Yzerman said before Thursday’s game. “Guys have gotten along very well to this point and remained pretty well focused on trying to win this thing.”

When that focus did waver, Yzerman wasn’t shy to speak up. And, when Yzerman speaks, the Red Wings listen — more so because he always backs his words up with actions on the ice.

Detroit’s road to the 2002 Stanley Cup championship hit an early pothole against Vancouver when the eighth-seeded Canucks stole the first two games at home. Then, with a few choice words, Yzerman righted the cart back in its proper direction.

It also helped that Yzerman put up eight points in the series. The next bump in the road came against the hated Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals. Detroit fell into a three-games-to-two hold before pulling it out with back-to-back wins. Yzerman had three assists in those two elimination games.

In the Finals, Yzerman added four more assists, including a pretty pass on Brendan Shanahan’s game-winner on a second-period power play Thursday night. He also assisted on Shanahan’s empty-net tally with 45 seconds left that sealed Thursday’s deal.

The emotional twirl with the Stanley Cup that followed capped an amazing year for the 19-year veteran.

In February, he served as the alternate captain for the Team Canada squad that captured the gold medal at the Salt Lake City Games, beating the Americans in a memorable final game.

In retrospect, it was a year that only the biggest of hearts could handle. Fortunately for the Red Wings, Yzerman was up to the tasks at hand.