Aside from Steve Yzerman, there were three other individuals who received a standing ovation upon their entrance or sometime during the ceremony. Scotty Bowman. Vladimir Konstantinov. Bob Probert.
Probie had not stepped out on the JLA ice in 13 years, but he did so two nights ago to a roar from the crowd. Bob Duff of the Windsor Star has a really nice piece about Probie. The article includes Probie’s favorite Yzerman moments as well as why he and Joey Kocur sat behind the penalty box during the game and what he is doing nowadays.
Naturally, Probert maintains numerous fond memories of his days as Yzerman’s teammate. Not surprisingly, many involve fisticuffs.
“One that sticks out and it was a big thing, was when I fought (Belle River’s Tie) Domi, our second fight in New York,” Probert said.
“He had cut me over the eye in the first fight and did this thing with his hands, like he was wearing the heavyweight championship belt.
After the second fight, when I beat Domi, I looked over at our bench and there was Yzerman, standing on the bench, giving the heavyweight belt sign with his hands.
“Another time, Stevie was fighting this guy from Buffalo, (Kevin) Maguire, who was the Sabres’ tough guy and was on top of Stevie, really giving it to him.
“Now this is not something I would normally have done, but no one was going to pick on our captain, so I bent down on one knee and suckered (Maguire).
“I enjoyed my job, especially protecting guys like Stevie. He’s a great person.”
This is the fight with Maguire that Probie was talking about:
What I love about the video is near the very beginning, this girl just screams out. Pretty funny stuff if you ask me.
The Steve Yzerman jersey retirement ceremony two nights ago generated a rating of 7.7 (149,000 households) on FSN in the metro Detroit area. I wonder how the CBC ratings were across Canada for that night.
CBC had a 1.0 rating in Detroit. The game between the Red Wings and Ducks drew a 6.6 rating on FSN.
To put the rating in perspective, the average Tigers game last season drew a 7.1 rating. FSN Detroit spokesman Tim Bryant said the Yzerman rating was the highest for a non-game.
CBC.ca From the Pressbox article
January 4, 2007
by Elliotte Friedman
There were two Steve Yzerman tributes on Tuesday. One was held on the ice at Joe Louis Arena. The other came 90 minutes earlier in a nearby building, as politicians and fans feted one of the greatest in the city’s history.
In both ceremonies, one thing was clear: How uncomfortable such a humble person was in such a spotlight. One of the best pieces of advice I received early in my career was: when someone pays you a compliment, you shake their hand firmly and give a sincere, “Thank you.” That was Yzerman’s way as well.
Yzerman recognized that this was one of those rare occasions where he couldn’t just give a handshake and a thank you. This called for something more than that, and he delivered. Not that he wasn’t nervous. The HNIC cameramen twice captured terrific shots of his hand shivering as he tried to drink some water.
It was particularly impressive that he singled out Scott Bowman for so much praise. While Jacques Demers took the first steps in developing Yzerman as a two-way player, it was Bowman who really cracked the whip. Although Bowman downplayed it when I interviewed him before the puck drop, there was a time when it didn’t look like things were going to work out between them. Bowman was unafraid to get on Yzerman in front of the team, and Yzerman was unafraid to snap right back at them.
It was incredible to see Bowman, as stoic as they get, fighting back tears during Yzerman’s tribute to him. That was the highlight for me.
