London Free Press article
February 27, 2003
by Ryan Pyette
There are a lot of good phrases used to describe Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman.
Great leader. Skilled centre. Stanley Cup winner. Olympic champion. Future Hall of Famer.
Time to add one more to that list: medical marvel.
Personally, I thought a Stevie Y NHL return was as likely as a Bill Gates bankruptcy.
BBC Sport article
February 25, 2003
by Mark Barden
Steve Yzerman’s return for Detroit has given the Stanley Cup holders a boost as they bid to retain the trophy.
The long-serving Red Wings captain made his comeback from injury in Monday’s 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
It was his first game of the season after an osteotomy - a realingnment procedure - on his right knee in August.
USA Today article
February 25, 2003
by Kevin Allen
When Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman opted for an osteotomy to repair severe knee damage last summer doctors told him to set his goal at being able to carry his kids instead of an NHL team.
“I think a lot of people thought he would never play again,” Detroit coach Dave Lewis said. “He’s proved them wrong before, and now he’s back in the lineup. I never thought (he was finished). I know his character.”
Yzerman, 37, made that clear Monday when he played 13:17 in Detroit’s 5-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings. His return came almost seven months after he had a bone realignment procedure that is done primarily on older patients suffering from severe arthritis.
Detroit Free Press column
February 25, 2003
by Mitch Albom
What they did to Steve Yzerman last summer, you wouldn’t wish on a prisoner. They cut his leg bone with a saw, then chiseled it until a path was opened. They wedged that path wider with a fork-like device, then inserted a steel plate, then tightened that plate with screws, then packed it with spare bone material. Then they woke him up.
They call this medicine.
“Osteotomy” is its official name, and if you’re lucky and you fully recover, you have less pain as you walk your grandkids to school. You are not supposed to resume an NHL career.
“We didn’t do it so Steve could return to playing hockey,” his surgeon, Dr. Peter Fowler, told the Free Press. “We did it so Steve could return to walking without pain.”
But what the good doctor may not understand — and what Red Wings fans know all too well — is this: If Yzerman walks, he walks to the rink. If he steps, he steps onto the ice.
Canadian Press article
February 24, 2003
The Detroit Red Wings have their captain back.
Steve Yzerman returned to Detroit’s lineup in Monday’s 5-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings. It marked Yzerman’s first action following offseason surgery on his right knee.
“I really enjoyed being back on the ice,” Yzerman said. “I was curious to see how I would feel.”
Yzerman was on the bench for the opening faceoff. When he took to the ice just 54 seconds into the first for a faceoff in Los Angeles’s zone, Yzerman received a rousing ovation from the Joe Louis Arena faithful. And it didn’t take long for Yzerman to contribute. He won the first faceoff he took.
Washington Post article
February 22, 2003
by Jason La Canfora
Another grinding practice was winding down last week when Dave Lewis, coach of the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, handed his team over to its venerable team captain. Steve Yzerman, the heart of this organization for the last 20 years who is days away from completing an unprecedented return from knee-realignment surgery, could have let the club rest for the next night’s game, but opted for a session of sprints instead.
For 15 minutes, one of the NHL’s oldest teams sweated and panted as Yzerman and his tender right knee led them from end line to blueline to redline to blueline to end line. Yzerman’s presence on the ice was itself a medical wonder — some doctors advised him to retire last summer and spare his shredded knee further damage — and the mere sight of him spurred on his teammates. No one dared complain about the extra work, and the next night the Red Wings, who will face the Capitals at MCI Center tonight sans Yzerman, emerged from a slump with a 6-2 thrashing of Atlanta.
“We had already had a full practice but Stevie skated them hard and we ended up having pretty good success the next night,” Lewis said. “That’s just one little example of what Steve Yzerman means to this team. He demands and commands as much of his team as he commands and demands of himself. And Stevie has pretty high standards.”
