The South End article
January 11, 2007
by Bruce Mason
One by one, they entered Joe Louis Arena with eager anticipation. The same fans. The same ushers. The same vendors. All there again on this night.
But this time it was different. This time Steve Yzerman would not be fully equipped and walking out of the tunnel. This time he would not be skating. This time he would not be providing heroics. This time he would be saying goodbye, as his No. 19 would be raised to the rafters forever.
Images from his glory days were displayed on the Jumbotron screen hovering above the center ice stage. Pictures from draft day in 1983. The knee injury that nearly ended his career in 1988. The 500th goal versus Colorado. The 600th goal versus Edmonton. The Cup moments. So many exciting, and classic, moments.
When the ceremony began, former coaches and teammates were fittingly introduced by Yzerman’s life-long friend, Darren Pang. They reflected on a magnificent career, the array of milestones, Cups, awards, and all of the great memories provided by The Captain for the past 20 years.
Denver Post article
January 9, 2007
by Terry Frei
Link to article
They both wore No. 19 and the captain’s “C.” They both were more noted for their leadership by example than oratory.
And despite some frequently acrimonious encounters involving their teams, they could converge, talk to the referees about the imminent barrage of penalties, then appear as if the next words out of their mouths were going to be: Hey, how’re the kids?
Much about the Red Wings- Avalanche rivalry has been toned down over the past few years, but tonight’s first meeting of the season between the teams at the Pepsi Center will be unprecedented for something other than the degree of enmity - or lack thereof.
Packer487 @ The Blog That Yost Built wrote about a story he has of Steve Yzerman and which he was reminded of during the jersey retirement ceremony.
As for Yzerman’s speech: What can you say? He talked for awhile—I’d say at least 15 minutes, and had nothing written out. No notecards, no cheat sheet, no nothing. It was straight from the heart. I love listening to that man speak. I don’t know where you would have to go to find a better athlete that is more humble than Steve Yzerman. He seems almost embarrassed by his success.
To emphasize what a great guy he is—and in honor of the occasion—it’s time for another story time. …
They all worked their way out to the bus. A few minutes later, Yzerman, Osgood and Cheveldae walked by. As an 11 year old, I was really excited, sprung up from my chair and exclaimed “Mr. Yzerman!!” failing to notice that they were obviously in a hurry. Yzerman didn’t brush me off though. He told the other two to go ahead and came back to sign an autograph for me. As it turns out, he missed the bus. I don’t THINK I caused it, since Osgood and Cheveldae didn’t make it either, but the fact that he was willing to stop and sign an autograph for a young Wings fan, even though he was late for the team bus to the rink has always stuck with me.
Detroit News’ opinion article
January 5, 2007
by Lynne Meredith Schreiber
My first memory of Steve Yzerman is when I was 14 and he was a 19-year-old recruit. I’d been attending Red Wings games since I was 4. We were Red Wings groupies before, during and after the “Dead Wings” years and as a teen, all I could think about was Stevie Y.
Tuesday night, I sat beside my dad at Joe Louis once again, as one after another person sang the praises of my hockey idol. They raised his jersey No. 19, never to be worn again by another Red Wings player.
They lauded Yzerman for his integrity, his sportsmanship, his teamwork — all the things I always loved about him. The way he married his high school love and stayed married. His humility. The way he took little, if any, credit for his great, great talent on the ice, instead sharing his night of honor, his career highlights and his Stanley Cup wins with all those around him, from the front office and locker room alike.
These used to be standard American characteristics quality, integrity, character. That’s changed, big-time. Now, the words most often used to describe our nation are divorced, obese and lawsuit-happy.
SI.com column
January 5, 2007
by Darren Elliot
This week the calendar flipped from 2006 to 2007 and in Hockeytown they turned the page on an era neither the city nor the NHL is likely to witness again.
The Detroit Red Wings raised Steve Yzerman’s number 19 to the rafters of Joe Louis Arena in honor of his league-record 20 years as the team’s captain. Precious few players spend their entire careers in one city, performing for a singular fan base, answering to the same owner — never mind wearing the ‘C’ for two decades. Yet, almost inconceivably, that is precisely what Yzerman did during his days on the ice in Detroit.
The details of the career molded the man who is now the VP of the club. Yzerman the player and Yzerman the person grew up simultaneously under the scrutiny of a demanding fan base. Standing and addressing the adoring faithful last Tuesday night, Yzerman acknowledged as much, however doing so with his personas fully formed and long ago melded. No longer was there need for distinction between the man and the player. He had grown up before their eyes and, as he said, everything they were bestowing upon him personally was a reflection of what they had achieved together — he, the fans, and the organization — from Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch to all the players he’d played with.
No, there was no separation at all. Steve Yzerman was one of them… now and forever.
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.
ESPN Magazine article
January 3, 2007
by Eric Adelson
Link to Article
The little boy held on to that Vic hockey stick even before he knew what it was. The piece of wood was too small to ever use to play, but Braxton Davis wedged it in his pudgy fist as if it were a security blanket, or his dad’s pinkie. How the boy wailed when the nurses took the Vic away. Brant Davis wanted so badly to tell his only son that the stick would be waiting for him after surgery. But Braxton wouldn’t understand. He wasn’t even a year old.
More than 10 years later, Brant Davis still looks at that stick every day.
Detroit News article
January 3, 2007
by John Niyo
For all his amazing talents, there always has been one skill we overlooked when it came to Steve Yzerman: He always knew the right thing to say, and he always knew when to say it.
Tuesday night, before a packed house at Joe Louis Arena unlike any we’ve seen here since 2002 — the last time Lord Stanley’s Cup paid a visit — it wasn’t so much the timing that mattered, though.
No, it was the simple, understated way Yzerman — now officially The Captain forever, as his No. 19 jersey climbed to the rafters at the end of a stirring tribute — managed to soak it all in and sum it all up, this city’s love affair with one of its most cherished sports heroes.
“My first game in Detroit was in October of 1983 against the New Jersey Devils and it was a thrill for me just to step on the ice,” he told the fans, smiling sheepishly after he’d waited out a standing ovation — and chants of “Ste-vie! Ste-vie!” — that lasted nearly 2 1/2 minutes. “Now here we are 23-plus years later, and once again, you never disappoint me.”
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