ESPN.com column
April 19, 2006
by Scott Burnside
There will be one player who will be the team’s hero and there will be another who will crush the other team’s dreams. Here’s a look at the Heroes and Villains of the first round. …
HERO — STEVE YZERMAN
Back for one more kick at the Stanley Cup can, Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman appears to have saved just the right amount of gas in his Hall of Fame tank to make a difference for a talented, disciplined Red Wings team with another Cup on its mind.The longest-serving captain in NHL history, Yzerman has the innate ability to change the course of a game through a key faceoff win, blocked shot or crucial pass or goal. When Yzerman went down with an eye injury in the second round of the 2004 playoffs against Calgary, the Wings never recovered, losing in six games.
People point to Yzerman’s diminished ice time this season as a reflection of the inevitable decline in his game, but in the past 10 games he’s regularly logged over 15 minutes a night, and you can expect that number to grow as the playoffs go along.
What makes Yzerman’s contributions down the stretch more inspiring is the fact many had written off the almost 41-year-old early this season, some going so far as to suggest he was on the verge of retirement. Not yet.
“He’s just playing excellent,” one top pro scout said on the eve of the playoffs.
