Y's Time

Tonight, another one of the NHL's greats and a link to its vibrant and skillful past gets his number retired:

Face of the Franchise

A few personal recollections on his career:

In his early years, it was clear he was head and shoulders above the Red Wings' "stars" of the time, John Ogrodnick, Ron Duguay and Reed Larson. How he was given the captaincy in the 1986-87 preseason, following a year in which the Wings finished an NHL-worst 17-56-7 and where Yzerman missed action from the end of January to the end of the season with a broken leg, is still a mystery to me. Whatever GM Jim Devellano saw in the 21-year-old obviously were the same qualities that bloomed and kept him captain and leader for the next 19 seasons.

From the late 1980's through 1994, every time he faced the Flyers he'd make at least two or three spectacular plays: Like the 1989 game at the Spectrum where he dipped through four Flyers in the offensive zone, held the puck for 20 seconds himself before scoring, or the February 1990 game in Detroit where he just terrorized Philly on every shift of a 9-6 win, or a 1992 7-3 tilt at the Joe where he made Jimmy Carson look like a Hall-of-Famer and the Flyers defense and goaltending look like a junior team.

Probably the most unexpected great moment of his career came in the opening shift of double overtime in Game 7 of the 1996 Western Conference Semifinals against the St. Louis Blues. In a scoreless deadlock between Blues goaltender Jon Casey and Wings netminder Chris Osgood, and about to leave the ice for a shift-change, Yzerman uncorked a blast from just outside the St. Louis blue line on a hard dump-in intended for the next shift to chase down. Instead of going high and over the net to bounce around the end-boards, the shot fooled Casey, dipping just before it nicked the crossbar and rippled the net. The captain, who had turned his attention away from the play to skate towards the bench, erupted in a display of emotion few had ever seen (until Detroit's subsequent Cup win the next season). It was an expression of utter shock, relief, and unbridled joy for a man who might have been on the wrong end of a second-round flameout for a team which won an NHL-record 62 games that season.

He earned bonus points in my book for steering clear of the madness that permeated the Detroit-Colorado rivalry during its 1996-2002 heyday. He and Avs captain Joe Sakic solidified their positions as elder statesmen-superstars by infusing those heated battles with the same respect, dignity, and savoir-faire as the lone Trojan and Greek did in their personal meeting amidst the murderous battle for Troy.

I'm not sure his most stunning gambit was as heroic as those connected to the game of hockey have made it out to be. Sometime in the dog days of the 2002 season, Yzerman suffered a pretty nasty leg injury, whose effects were obvious on his play. Still, he gamely suited up for Team Canada's Gold Medal winners in Salt Lake City, but traded that in for missing the rest of the Red Wings' season. Able to rehab enough for the playoffs to play without debilitating pain, Yzerman participated in every one of Detroit's 23 postseason contests - even while he brushed off suggestions that surgery to repair the damage be done before he returned to the ice. Every shift he took, Gary Thorne and Bill Clement painstakingly noticed, could bring a recurrence of the injury and the end of his career.

Still, he persisted - scoring 6 goals and posting 23 points as the Wings lifted their third Cup in five seasons. The resulting damage that did occur to the leg was such that offseason surgery, rest, and further rehab cost him all but 16 games the following season. Why did he put so little price on his future for one last shot at glory? He'd already won twice, and the 2002 Red Wings, winners of 51 games, had a star-studded lineup beyond their first two winners. All he had to do was suit up for one game and his name would be engraved on the Cup, and his winning shares were secure. Why couldn't he have been an effective locker room presence as non-playing captain? Even though the Avalanche presented the stiffest challenge (a brilliant 7-game Western Final), I'm certain his absence from those last two games would not have made a difference either in the room or on the ice. I know for sure that the Carolina Hurricanes would not have presented more of a challenge in the Cup Final without Number 19 prowling around. His days as an offensive force all but disappeared, it would have cost him nothing to play his part and preserve his body.

I found nothing heroic about his return, and the final two-and-a-stub years of his career presented nothing more than the building up of an Icon while that which got him to that point (his hands, skating ability and vision) declined considerably. I also found it very suspect that a man who played in all of 16 games in 2002-2003 won the Bill Masterton Trophy for dedication and perseverance. If I ever have a chance to meet him face-to-face, I would have no problem questioning him about his thought process and the implications of the whole deal. Detroit's first-round loss to Edmonton in last year's playoffs presented an Yzerman at his most impotent, a figurehead who became a defeated lightning-rod of controversy over something which he exerted little control.

Nonetheless, the first 19 years of his storied career far outshine the precipitous decline of his last seasons. In my lifetime, he was the third best skater (Mario Lemieux and Mike Gartner being the top two) I had ever seen, and behind Gretzky and Lemieux, the third-most purely overall-talented player. Unlike most superstars of the 80's and 90's, Yzerman survived by picking up nearly-unparalleled face-off skills and checking abilities in his later years.

Tonight's ceremony did him right - having most of the living Red Wing stars come back to honor him, as well as a pretty decent cross-section of his former teammates. The usual video montage showed his career highlights as well as some older random goals from deep inside the vaults - always good for the tearjerking quotient. Detroit's former GM spoke, as well as the team owner Mike Ilitch, but surprisingly, only Nik Lidstrom spoke on the players' behalf. When Yzerman finally got to the podium, it was 20 minutes which totally encapsulated both the player and the man. Quietly confident yet reserved, strong but emotional, classy with every beat of his heart. He'll be missed.

Still, one question dogged me throughout the whole proceedings: How did Darren Pang get to be Master of Ceremonies?