SI.com column
July 27, 2006
by Michael Farber
I don’t necessarily want to start a tribute with bathroom material, but this story must be told:
A short time after Detroit Red Wings general manager Jim Devellano had trudged up to the podium to announce that he was pleased to select Steve Yzerman with the fourth pick in the 1983 entry draft, he was in a restroom at the Montreal Forum muttering imprecations about the hockey gods and the New York Islanders, who, one spot ahead of the Red Wings, had snatched an honest-to-goodness Detroiter, Pat LaFontaine, the perfect fit, a man-child seemingly capable of resuscitating his moribund hometown franchise. (Over the years Devellano has steadfastly denied that the Wings preferred LaFontaine to Yzerman, but I was in the room. I was, er, privy to his thinking.)
The Hockey News article
July 23, 2006
by Bob Duff
For much of his speech, Yzerman was even able to smile.
The man who first brought Yzerman to Detroit felt that was the way it should be.
“I don’t look upon this as a sad day,” said Red Wings senior vice-president Jimmy Devellano. “This is the celebration of a tremendous career.”
A career that may never be repeated.
Sport Express Daily article
July 14, 2006
By Slava Malamud
Up to a point, Detroit was a place relatively little known in Russia, and one might wonder now whether it is still remembered as fervently as just years ago. Try to find out and you will see it is known not only – far less, for that matter - for being the U.S. carmaking center than for one thing people might think is only for insiders – Detroit Red Wings.
Despite rising interest recently in the resurgent and aggressively marketed Russian ice hockey league, many people still remember the Red Wings as the most loved hockey team of their teenage years, and still wear winged-wheel baseball caps bought from some mysterious and doubtless counterfeit seller in a downtown undercrossing. They stick to red and white when they watch hockey, drink to Vladimir Konstantinov’s recovery and remember their first “hey, they also have Red Wings overseas” astonishment.
Admittedly, this is mostly because the Wings’ Russians – Vyacheslav Fetisov and Igor Larionov who, together with Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, and Vyacheslav Kozlov, formed The Russian Five greatly revered for the sporting pride they brought to Russia – were the first to raise the Stanley Cup on Red Square. Well, you might also think it was because the first Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova’s name was also somehow associated with Detroit… To be sure, a Russian could hardly like Detroit without being a hockey fan. This is a not a “show city” – it is a mass of concrete and iron, a city that works.
Now it’s time to learn more about Detroit’s true sporting idol. No, not the Russians. Not even the Detroit longtimer Scottie Bowman but the man who was not there for a show. The man that worked. The man whose nickname was the same as his job description – The Captain – and whose retirement last month marked the end of an era which many Wings fans call Stevie Time. Steve Yzerman.
NHLPA.com article
July 14, 2006
“We’ve been through a lot together. There’s no place to play that you get this kind of treatment, respect and adulation.”
– Steve Yzerman
When a player that has recorded nearly 1,800 points announces his retirement, you would expect a collective cheer from his rivals. Not so when the player in question happens to be Steve Yzerman.
For three decades, he made even the best in business look like amateurs, scoring goals, setting them up, or preventing them in every conceivable fashion.
So why, some 22 seasons after his National Hockey League career began, are fellow players sad to see Yzerman hang up his skates?
Because few NHLers in the history of the game are as beloved as the class act from Cranbrook, British Columbia.
Sports Illustrated has made 300,000 copies of a special commemorative edition honoring Steve Yzerman and released them today (Thursday). These copies will be made available in Michigan, Ontario, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This $6.99 feature is 84 pages long and includes:
Stevie’s Wonder Years: In his 22 seasons in Detroit, Yzerman was the consummate franchise player. Captain Kid: Five years into his career, Yzerman was firmly established as the leader of a surprising Detroit team. A Career In Pictures: Snapshots from No. 19’s exceptional 22-season run. Wild Ride: Between 1997 and 2002, the Red Wings won three Stanley Cups and Yzerman led Canada to an Olympic gold medal. The Captain By The Numbers: How valuable was Stevie Y. to the Wings? Let’s count the ways. Out Of The Darkness: Yzerman arrived in Detroit as a shy, 18-year-old center and left as the hero of Hockeytown. The Last Word: From kid to captain, former teammate Dave Lewis describes how Yzerman learned to become the unquestioned leader of the Red Wings.
Assuming that this edition is similar to the one for Lance Armstrong last summer, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. You can get it at Barnes and Nobles, Borders, Target, Walgreen’s, 7-Eleven, Meijer, Wal-Mart, and Kroger.
Can’t seem to get a hold of a copy? You can always order the cover from Sports Illustrated online for $19.95 and even get it framed (for $69.95)!
This part of the Steve Yzerman Tribute is all about the photos and video clips. I have uploaded all of my saved Yzerman photos to a webshots account, which you can view here. If you have any photos you would like to submit, please drop me an email.
Both the photos and videos will be added as they come in. I am adding video clips to YouTube right now, but it takes awhile to upload everything.
Video Clips
The quality is a bit off (specifically the transitions), but it’s still a nice tribute video.
Photo slide show with music by Aqualung, “Brighter Than Sunshine.”
Yzerman’s 2OT Goal vs. St. Louis Blues
Yzerman fights
No. 19 and Ozzie joking around
The Wings joking around and playing paintball, golf, and basketball.
Interview with Yzerman during Game #4 vs. Oilers in 2006 playoffs
Red Wings Weekly after the lockout / segment on No. 19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oho_LcN0DbA&eurl=
Yzerman in a Ford 1989 commercial
CBC tribute to the 1998 Stanley Cup champs
Detroit Free Press column
July 5, 2006
by Michael Rosenberg
Ty Cobb was once voted the best baseball player of the first half of the 20th century — ahead of Babe Ruth.
Gordie Howe is often called, matter-of-factly, the best all-around hockey player.
Barry Sanders was arguably the best player ever at arguably the most important position in football.
Isiah Thomas is considered the best little man in NBA history.
Steve Yzerman only made the All-NHL first team once.
And yet, when we speak of Detroit sports icons, Yzerman is right near the top of the list.
ESPN.com column
July 5, 2006
by Scott Burnside
Before the Detroit Red Wings won their first of three Stanley Cups in six seasons back in the spring of 1997, captain Steve Yzerman was in Las Vegas during the offseason playing craps.
Two elderly gentlemen from Detroit’s Canadian neighbor, Windsor, Ontario, sauntered by and noticed Yzerman.
“Let’s go play somewhere else. There’s no luck at this table,” the one said to the other.
Yzerman told that story after the Wings’ Cup victory in 1997, the first in 42 years, not with smugness or a sense of self-righteousness, but rather to illustrate the sometimes imperceptible line that separates stardom from being a champion.
Detroit News article
July 4, 2006
by Vartan Kupelian
The rookie walked out of the restaurant at the team’s New York hotel with a befuddled look. That’s not all that unusual for a teenager making a first foray to the Big Apple.
He walked head down toward the bus, his attention riveted on the coins in the palm of his hand. He counted the change carefully, but couldn’t make any sense of what had just happened.
Just then, the late Sid Abel, at the time color analyst for the Red Wings and former general manager, coach and Hall of Fame center for the team, appeared from around the corner. Abel spied the young man’s predicament.
Steve Yzerman, the rookie, was trying to sort out how it could have cost him so much money out of his $20 bill to have breakfast. He muttered something about two eggs, toast and coffee — and a $14-plus tab, before the tip.
Detroit News article
July 4, 2006
by John Niyo
He spoke softly, as he almost always did, collecting his thoughts and measuring his words before sharing them.
But try as he might, when it came time Monday for Steve Yzerman to say the one word he’d been avoiding for so long, the stoic face of the Red Wings’ franchise finally cracked.
“Today, obviously, I’m here … to let everyone know I’ve decided to retire,” Yzerman said, the last two syllables getting stuck in his throat as he announced he was calling it a career after 22 seasons in the NHL.
