Bob Duff at the Windsor Star talked to Yzerman about the upcoming World Junior hockey tournament.

Detroit Red Wings vice-president Steve Yzerman is slated to board a plane for the Czech Republic Christmas night to take in the World Junior hockey tournament, but admits it’s unlikely to tell him much about the draft-eligible players skating in the event.

“It’s really not a tournament for 18 year olds,” Yzerman said. “It’s a tournament for 19 year olds. The younger players, they don’t get much ice time.”

Yzerman recalled his own experience playing for Canada in his draft year at the 1983 World Junior in Leningrad, where his teammates included Mario Lemieux, the top player chosen in the 1984 draft, but Canada only won a bronze medal. “People look at that and wonder how we could have lost, but the truth is, Mario and I hardly got on the ice,” Yzerman said.