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.
A post at The Cheap Seats
by Rob Visconti
After 22 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman retired Monday from the National Hockey League. He leaves hockey with a sparkling resume and the utmost respect of the players with whom he shared the ice and the fans who watched him play, and he leaves Detroit–the city as well as its hockey franchise–with a gaping hole, located just a little bit below the “C” that adorned his jersey for the past 20 seasons.
On a personal note, his announcement didn’t leave me feeling sad. It just left me feeling just a little bit older, having seen the last of an extraordinary group of athletes whose careers started when I was a kid, guys who I grew up watching and admiring, guys who played their entire careers in Detroit. One by one I’ve watched them hang ‘em up–Sweet Lou and Tram, Joe D. and Isaiah, Barry Sanders and, finally, last, but certainly not least, The Captain.
It was, by any measure, an extraordinary career.
Detroit News article
July 4, 2006
by Eric Lacy
When Steve Yzerman was drafted by the Red Wings in 1983, he received a gift from then-general manager Jimmy Devellano that became a precursor for the remainder of his illustrious career.
It was a team media guide, one full of pages about Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and other greats.
“I went through it and immediately became excited about being a Red Wing,” Yzerman said. “I knew at the time I was joining a proud franchise with great players and a winning tradition.”
Some of those legends praised Yzerman at his retirement announcement Monday at Joe Louis Arena.
Detroit News column
July 4, 2006
by Bob Wojnowski
Maybe it was so hard for him to leave — and so difficult for many to let him go — because everyone knew what it meant. More than a hockey playing career ended Monday when Steve Yzerman retired. One of the great runs in Detroit sports, and one of the special runs in all of sports, was consigned to the pages of history.
This is a tough one, not because of all that Yzerman won, including three Stanley Cups, or all he endured, including numerous surgeries, or how long he played, all 22 seasons with the Red Wings.
The impact is found in what Yzerman represented, the qualities that made him the leader of a winning team and the face of a city. He was stoic, tough and determined. He was how Detroit hopes to be perceived, at its best. He was understated to the end, choking on his words a few times during the generally upbeat news conference.
Detroit News article
July 4, 2006
by Vince Ellis
It was finally a little too much for Steve Yzerman.
After keeping it together for the first 25 minutes of his farewell to the Detroit Red Wings as a player, the emotions finally overcame Yzerman.
He paused. He lowered his head. A few tears fell, but then he gathered himself and steeled himself to take questions from the assembled media horde.
Detroit News article
July 4, 2006
by Bob Wojnowski
Two faces. Two franchises. Two identities.
Gone in a day.
Whoa. And woe. Welcome to a strange new world, considerably less recognizable in the aftermath of the Dizziest Day in Detroit sports history.
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman is off to a well-earned retirement after 23 seasons, the largest name removed from Detroit’s playing fields.
Detroit Free Press editorial
July 4, 2006
There are many kinds of leaders - loud, rah-rah types, intimidators, canny motivators and superstar performers. Perhaps the most consistently effective are those who lead by example of preparation, effort, loyalty, teamwork and honorable conduct. Combine those traits with natural talent honed to superior skills and you have the rare leader indeed.
Actually, you have Steve Yzerman, as classy an athlete as ever graced this sports-mad community, and, as of Monday, retired after 23 years with the Detroit Red Wings and a National Hockey League record 20 as team captain. Soft-spoken and self-effacing but a tireless worker and competitor, Yzerman is a rarity among professional athletes today, a real role model.
Detroit Free Press column
July 4, 2006
by Mitch Albom
From the day he was drafted, a shaggy haired kid with a soft, nervous voice, he promised to do his best, even though, as he warned a TV interviewer, he sometimes tried to do too much. Who knew that sentence would be an understatement? He did so much for his team and his town that in time it became immeasurable — and impossible to reproduce. Steve Yzerman, the man, will get up today as a retired hockey player and go on with his life.
But Steve Yzerman, the idea, is likely gone for good.
Captain Forever has hung up his skates, officially now, after months of speculation, and we will not see the likes of him again: A guy who plays more than two decades in one city, who leads the team practically the entire time, who comes to embody the uniform, the building, the halls, the very ice itself. It is no lie to say his face could have been imprinted on our city limits, and his jersey has been worn by more Detroiters than any shirt, shoe or tie. If you live in this town you know where you were when Steve Yzerman hoisted that first Stanley Cup over his head at center ice, flashing the gap in his teeth. You remember him waving in the parade car. And it didn’t matter where you were Monday afternoon — at work, at home, Up North for the Fourth of July holiday, even overseas (as I am while writing this column) — when you heard the news, it hit you the same way.
Detroit Free Press article
July 4, 2006
by Helene St. James
For years, teammates sat in the same locker room as Steve Yzerman and watched this superman. Like the man of steel, Yzerman seemed invulnerable, able to eclipse the limits of human endurance. In Yzerman’s case, able to will his team to victory.
Yzerman’s legend was nurtured through a 22-season career that befits a man who will go down as one of hockey’s greats: three Stanley Cups, an Olympic gold medal, trophies that recognize his immense contribution to the Red Wings.
“He’s meant everything to this team,” goaltender Chris Osgood said. “Just from watching him from afar and being here, it’s his presence in the room. He always makes the team better. Guys just naturally work harder when they’re around him. His leadership will be missed huge.”
Yzerman announced his retirement Monday, nine weeks to the day after he played his last game. The finale was vintage Yzerman: He had a torn oblique muscle and shouldn’t have played, but his team trailed the Oilers, 3-2, in the first-round series, so he gave it a go. The Wings lost the game, but not before Yzerman set up a goal, squeezing one last play out of his worn hands.
MLive.com article
July 4, 2006
by Ansar Khan
Steve Yzerman always envisioned a scenario where he would hoist the Stanley Cup one more time for the Detroit Red Wings and then bow out from the game that made him a legend, much like former coach Scotty Bowman did in 2002.
It never came to fruition — that kind of Hollywood ending rarely does in professional sports.
Yzerman’s exit on Monday wasn’t nearly as glorious as planned, but it was just as graceful. And his timing was impeccable. He left on his own terms, which many players don’t get the opportunity to do these days.
But, Yzerman has always done the right thing.
