November 17, 2003
by Ansar Khan
I mean, the best thing for my knee, for anyone’s knee, is to never play again and retire. But I’m not going to do that.”
- Steve Yzerman
When doctors took a saw to Steve Yzerman’s right knee some 15 months ago, realigning the bones in a rare surgical procedure for a professional athlete, it was believed to be the beginning of the end for the Detroit Red Wings captain.
Instead, it seems to have led to a rebirth because Yzerman doesn’t resemble a player on his last leg.
From his winning goal with 1.7 seconds to play in the season-opener against Los Angeles to his clutch third-period game-tying goal at Minnesota on Saturday, Yzerman has been perhaps the team’s most valuable player, certainly its best forward. Had he retired after last season, this club might be in dire straits right now. But a long summer apparently is just what he needed to re-energize.
“Maybe he’s got some of Igor Larionov’s red wine,” Wings coach Dave Lewis said, referring to the beverage the former Wing often cited as his fountain of youth. “(Yzerman) has such inner strength and inner focus, when he comes to the rink he comes to play. He has such a high standard that anything else is unacceptable.”
SI.com article
March 6, 2003
by David Vecsey
You know Steve Yzerman’s comeback from knee surgery was improbable. But do you know really just how improbable?
Let’s put it this way: The doctor who perfomed the osteotomy on Yzerman’s 37-year-old right knee in August said it was the first time he had ever heard of a pro athlete having the procedure done. Much less an active pro athlete.
The operation was to realign the bones in the knee. The six-month recovery usually implies getting people up and walking normally again. Not playing in professional hockey games.
“I had never heard of one before last June,” Yzerman said. “It’s pretty common, although they had never done it on a competitive athlete. What they did was, in my tibia right below right knee, they sawed 9/10ths of the way through and bent it a little and put a wedge in it. It made me a little more bowlegged. When you’re knockkneed, I guess, you bear more weight on the outside of your knee. And when you’re bowlegged, you bear the weight more on the inside. Since I have a healthier surface on the inside of my knee, they made me more bowlegged.”
London Free Press article
February 27, 2003
by Ryan Pyette
There are a lot of good phrases used to describe Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman.
Great leader. Skilled centre. Stanley Cup winner. Olympic champion. Future Hall of Famer.
Time to add one more to that list: medical marvel.
Personally, I thought a Stevie Y NHL return was as likely as a Bill Gates bankruptcy.
BBC Sport article
February 25, 2003
by Mark Barden
Steve Yzerman’s return for Detroit has given the Stanley Cup holders a boost as they bid to retain the trophy.
The long-serving Red Wings captain made his comeback from injury in Monday’s 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
It was his first game of the season after an osteotomy - a realingnment procedure - on his right knee in August.
Detroit Free Press column
February 25, 2003
by Mitch Albom
What they did to Steve Yzerman last summer, you wouldn’t wish on a prisoner. They cut his leg bone with a saw, then chiseled it until a path was opened. They wedged that path wider with a fork-like device, then inserted a steel plate, then tightened that plate with screws, then packed it with spare bone material. Then they woke him up.
They call this medicine.
“Osteotomy” is its official name, and if you’re lucky and you fully recover, you have less pain as you walk your grandkids to school. You are not supposed to resume an NHL career.
“We didn’t do it so Steve could return to playing hockey,” his surgeon, Dr. Peter Fowler, told the Free Press. “We did it so Steve could return to walking without pain.”
But what the good doctor may not understand — and what Red Wings fans know all too well — is this: If Yzerman walks, he walks to the rink. If he steps, he steps onto the ice.
Canadian Press article
February 24, 2003
The Detroit Red Wings have their captain back.
Steve Yzerman returned to Detroit’s lineup in Monday’s 5-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings. It marked Yzerman’s first action following offseason surgery on his right knee.
“I really enjoyed being back on the ice,” Yzerman said. “I was curious to see how I would feel.”
Yzerman was on the bench for the opening faceoff. When he took to the ice just 54 seconds into the first for a faceoff in Los Angeles’s zone, Yzerman received a rousing ovation from the Joe Louis Arena faithful. And it didn’t take long for Yzerman to contribute. He won the first faceoff he took.
Washington Post article
February 22, 2003
by Jason La Canfora
Another grinding practice was winding down last week when Dave Lewis, coach of the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, handed his team over to its venerable team captain. Steve Yzerman, the heart of this organization for the last 20 years who is days away from completing an unprecedented return from knee-realignment surgery, could have let the club rest for the next night’s game, but opted for a session of sprints instead.
For 15 minutes, one of the NHL’s oldest teams sweated and panted as Yzerman and his tender right knee led them from end line to blueline to redline to blueline to end line. Yzerman’s presence on the ice was itself a medical wonder — some doctors advised him to retire last summer and spare his shredded knee further damage — and the mere sight of him spurred on his teammates. No one dared complain about the extra work, and the next night the Red Wings, who will face the Capitals at MCI Center tonight sans Yzerman, emerged from a slump with a 6-2 thrashing of Atlanta.
“We had already had a full practice but Stevie skated them hard and we ended up having pretty good success the next night,” Lewis said. “That’s just one little example of what Steve Yzerman means to this team. He demands and commands as much of his team as he commands and demands of himself. And Stevie has pretty high standards.”
AmericaJR Online article
January 13, 2003
Steve Yzerman, captain of the Detroit Red Wings is ready for a comeback after his surgery on his knee.
He has been traveling with the team to Chicago and Colorado. Yzerman has begun to skate and practice with his team. The captain is planning on returning to the game soon.
On Aug. 2, 2002 he had an osteotomy which is a re-alignment procedure on his right knee. Yzerman admits, “The doctors said that generally people that go through an osteotomy feel better after six months, and February will be six month.” He adds, “I feel better and I’ve improved what I’m trying to do each week.”
Associated Press article
Steve Yzerman is one small step closer to wearing a jersey and skates on game days rather than a sport coat and loafers.
The future Hall of Famer is on the road with the Detroit Red Wings for the first time since the defending Stanley Cup champions traveled to Carolina in June. He’s not healthy enough to play Wednesday in Chicago or Thursday in Colorado, but he wants to practice in and away from Hockeytown.
After having an osteotomy — a realignment procedure — on his right knee Aug. 2, Yzerman is eager to push himself in practice.
“The doctors said that generally people that go through an osteotomy feel better after six months, and February will be six months,” Yzerman said.
Associated Press article
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, using crutches as he recovers from knee surgery, says he won’t return to the NHL if he’s unable to overcome the intense pain from the injury.
Yzerman, 37, underwent knee surgery last Friday. The operation to correct the alignment of the right knee, performed by Dr. Peter Fowler of London, Ont., was said to be a success.
Yzerman chose the realignment procedure rather than reconstruction of the knee. He led the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup title despite the injury.
“The approach I have is, take the steps, do the rehab, see how it feels,” Yzerman told the Detroit News.
Yzerman acknowledged that it was possible he had played his last NHL game but remains committed to making a comeback.
“I’m concerned, but I’m not spending a lot of time worrying about it,” he said. “We did this with the idea of skating and not hurting any more, and there’s a chance that won’t happen. We really don’t know how I’m going to feel, but I’m not going to sit around and think negatively.”
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