As many of you know, I had the honor to attend Tuesday night’s Steve Yzerman Jersey Retirement Ceremony as an early birthday present. I sat in section 114 row 10 placing me directly above the zamboni pit and it turned out to be a great place for photos as all of the players and coaches (aside from the current team) had to walk right underneath where I was sitting. This post will be a recap of everything I can recall from the night’s events.

If you would like to check out the many photos my dad and I took from our seats, you may view them here. Depending on your internet connection, it may take awhile for the page to load due to the amount of images on the page.

Before the ceremony…
I arrived outside Joe Louis Arena at 5:15pm (gates opened at 5pm). I walked in and bought the program, which included the Nineteen book by Bob Duff for $20. I then went to the giveaway table where my dad and I both received a replica banner and a commemorative player card set. My dad has graciously offered to give away his banner and card set to a BtJ reader. For more information on how to win these special items, check out the bottom of this post.

We stopped by a “store” and bought a t-shirt, sweatshirt, and a ticket carrier. At 5:30pm, the concourse was packed and Yzerman gear was flying off the shelves and racks. All the jerseys that were being sold had a Yzerman banner patch on the top left making them collector’s items for sure. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we made our way towards our seats.

Employees were still making last minute finishing touches and members of the media were taking their places. CBC’s Don Cherry and Ron MacLean floated in and out of the zamboni pit. I was fortunate enough to be the last fan to get the book Nineteen signed by Don Cherry right before he went on the air. Bud Lynch told everyone to find their seats as the lights would go down in five minutes.

The Ceremony
I knew the ceremony was about to begin because the family members representing Sawchuk (his grandson) and Abel (his son) as well as players Lindsay, Howe, and Delvecchio all were gathering below in the zamboni pit. Each of them walked out toward the center of the ice when their name was announced and they all received a lot of cheers. Mr. Hockey had the biggest reception among the five. To honor these five, they re-raised their jersey numbers in front of a packed Joe Louis Arena.

Oh, Yzerman’s best friend Darren Pang was the master of ceremony and he introduced each person.

After the five jersey retirees were announced, we were introduced to former Yzerman teammates ranging from Bob Probert to Danny Gare to Brett Hull to Doug Brown to Vladimir Konstantinov to Steve Duchesne to Igor Larionov to Joey Kocur to Larry Murphy. I was pleasantly surprised to see Vladdy walking with the help of a walker. It was definitely an awesome thing to watch. Probie got a huge cheer and standing ovation from the crowd as well.

Once those players were finished, former coaches Dave Lewis, Barry Smith, and Scotty Bowman were presented. Members of the staff followed including GM Ken Holland, assistant GM Jim Nill, Wings president Jimmy Devellano, Ilitch Holdings president Chris Ilitch and his wife, and owners Mike and Marian Ilitch.

Once all those individuals had their seats, the current Detroit Red Wings team took the ice. Each player was wearing one of four Yzerman jerseys (his 2002 Stanley Cup jersey, his ‘81-83 Peterborough Petes jersey, Team Canada jersey, or his All-Star jersey). The team lined up on both sides of the red carpet, which stretched from the zamboni pit to the center of the ice. They then showed a variety of clips highlighting the wonderful career of Steve Yzerman.

At the conclusion of the video, Steve Yzerman and his family (wife Lisa and his three daughters) were introduced and walked toward the center of the ice with fans giving a standing ovation and plenty of cheering.

It was at this time that the ceremony truly began. Scotty Bowman, Jimmy D, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Mike Ilitch all gave very nice speeches honoring No. 19. At the end of Lidstrom’s short speech, he presented Yzerman a gift. The gift was a trip to see the Europe Cup in 2008 if I recall correctly.

Personally, I enjoyed Scotty’s speech the most because it seems so rare to hear such emotion and high praise for an athlete come out of Scotty’s mouth, which made the speech so much more memorable. There were plenty of funny lines from the evening, but I was not able to write them down so I’ll probably post some of them later this week from articles or by watching the ceremony that I recorded on my laptop.

They then presented the various trophies and awards that Yzerman had received throughout his career ranging from the Bill Masterton to the Selke to the Stanley Cup to the President’s Trophy to the Conn Smythe.

Finally, it was Yzerman’s turn to take certain stage. He stepped up to the podium and the JLA went crazy. The cheering, applause, standing ovation, etc. easily continued past five minutes and it became clear to me that Yzerman was touched, but wanted to get on with his speech. He finally just started talking and the crowd eventually quieted down.

You certainly wouldn’t have known that Tuesday night was honoring Yzerman by his speech. He thanked everybody - his family, his coaches, his teammates (both those who had not won the Cup with him and then those who had), the owners, the staff, and lastly the fans. At one point, he even said he was undeserving of the praises regarding his leadership. The crowd then booed and groaned in response. Once again, Yzerman displayed how humble he is and what a team player he was.

My favorite part of his speech was when he said something like Scotty Bowman has never been properly thanked for leading the team to 3 Stanley Cups. The crowd jumped to their feet and cheered on a very emotional Scotty Bowman. That moment gave me chills. As Yzerman’s speech wound down, my eyes started tearing up as he became more and more emotional. He finally thanked the fans and then exited the stage with another standing ovation.

With Yzerman and his family standing near the blue line, his jersey number banner was raised to the rafters amidst some cool smoke/fog effects. I recorded the raising of the banner with my camera as a video, but I won’t be able to post it until I figure out how to convert it for you guys.

After the ceremony…
Following the raising of Yzerman’s banner to the rafters of the Joe, the former teammates and coaches exited through the Wings bench while Yzerman and his family exited through the zamboni pit. Employees were quickly rushing about trying to dismantle everything and get ready for the game. The game was scheduled to start at 7:30, but did not begin until 8:30. During warm ups, my dad caught a puck that was sent over the net by an Anaheim Ducks player.

I was certainly disappointed in the crowd’s cheering during the game. It started to build towards the end, but it was nothing close to what we heard during the ceremony. Unfortunately, many people left after the ceremony or the end of the first period leaving a bunch of empty seats. I really don’t understand.

The game wasn’t the most exciting game ever, but the Wings managed to win the game for Stevie ending with the score, 2-1. Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg scored the two goals for Detroit. Anaheim’s lone goal came on a 5-on-3 power play in the first period.

More Yzerman posts
Want to check out more posts I made in the past about Steve Yzerman? You can check out the following…
- Steve Yzerman retires
- Steve Yzerman: Heart of a Champion
- Tribute to Steve Yzerman
- Tribute to Steve Yzerman (Part Two)
- Steve Yzerman Quote Sheet
- Behind the Jersey: No. 19