Steve Yzerman

At 59 years old, Steve Yzerman has this physical status:

Stephen Gregory Yzerman (born May 9, 1965) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former hockey player who spent his entire National Hockey League (NHL) playing career with the Detroit Red Wings and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He spent time as a player and then as the Red Wings' front office and then as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, as well as being executive director of Team Canada in two Olympics.

He currently serves as both executive vice president and general manager of the Red Wings. Yzerman was voted captain of the Red Wings and served for more than 2,000 games before retiring as the longest-serving captain of a North American major league sports team in history.

Locals in Detroit often refer to Yzerman as "Stevie Y" or "The Captain," after being voted the most popular figure in sports in the city for the first time.

In 1997, 1998, and 2002, Yzerman led the Wings to five first-place regular season finishes and three Stanley Cup championships. Yzerman received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the Lester B. Pearson Award (Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup playoffs), the Conn Smythe Trophy (Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup playoffs) in 1998, the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance in 2003.

He was a ten-time NHL All-Star in 2000 and a member of the All-Rookie Team in 1984. Yzerman officially retired from professional hockey on July 3, 2006, finishing his career as the seventh all-time leading scorer in NHL history, beating only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

Personal life

Yzerman and his partner Lisa Brennan have three children. They live in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. During his time with the Lightning, Yzerman lived in Hillsborough, Florida. As a result of his many years of living in Michigan, Yzerman has obtained naturalized citizenship in the United States.

The Nepean Sportsplex named one of its indoor ice surfaces the Steve Yzerman Arena in 1997 in his honour, not far from where Yzerman grew up. This is the home rink of the Nepean Raiders, a Tier II "A" team whose mother grew up during the 1980-81 season. The Oakland Raiders currently play in the Yzerman Division.

Yzerman and Larry Robinson, two of the CCHL's most prominent alumni, have been named the Robinson and Yzerman Divisions.

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Playing career

Yzerman was born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada. He competed in the 1977 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, a youth from Nepean, Ontario, with a minor ice hockey team. He attended Bell High School and competed for his hometown, the Nepean Raiders Junior A hockey team. The Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) drafted him after one season with the Raiders, and he appeared for the Petes from 1981 to 1983.

The 1983 NHL Entry Draft was Mike and Marian Ilitch, who had purchased the Detroit Red Wings in 1982. Jim Devellano, the Red Wings' general manager at the time, wanted to draft Pat LaFontaine, who had lived outside of Detroit and played his junior hockey in the area. Devellano "settled" on Yzerman, drafting him fourth as the New York Islanders selected him third overall.

During Yzerman's rookie training camp, the Red Wings were planning to send Yzerman back to Peterborough for one more year, but Ken Holland, the former Red Wings general manager, knew he was a good hockey player" after one (training camp) season, said. In his rookie season, the Yzerman scored 39 goals and 87 points and finished second in Calder Memorial Trophy voting. Since the current style was introduced in 1969, Yzerman became the first 18-year-old and youngest player to play in an NHL All-Star Game (18 years, 267 days). Jeff Skinner broke it by eight days, putting it as an NHL record for 27 years.

Jacques Demers, the Red Wings' head coach, named Yzerman captain of the team on October 7, 1986, making him the youngest captain in the team's history. Demers said he "wanted a guy with the Red Wings crest tattooed on his chest." Yzerman scored his then-career high 50th goal against the Buffalo Sabres on March 1, 1988. However, Yzerman sustained a knee injury in the same game, forcing him to miss the remainder of the regular season. Despite his absence, the Red Wings will win their first division title in 23 years.

Yzerman scored 155 points (65 goals and 90 assists) in regular season scoring behind Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky in 1988-1989. As selected by the National Hockey League Players' Association, he received the Lester B. Pearson Award, the MVP, and was a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy, the MVP, as voted by the NHL writers.

Yzerman chafed under Bowman's stern coaching style when he took over as head coach in 1993. Bowman, for his part, was concerned that Yzerman was not sufficiently focusing on defense; Bowman had hoped that his forwards would be good back-checkers as well. The two teams' friendships became so tense that the Red Wings seriously considered selling him to the Ottawa Senators at one point. However, Yzerman matured into a strong defender and was named one of the best two-way forwards in the game's history.

Yzerman led Detroit to its first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1966, but the Red Wings were swept by the New Jersey Devils in 1995. Detroit finished with an NHL-record 62 regular season victories and was strongly favored to win the Stanley Cup next season. Yzerman scored perhaps his best game of his career in the 1996 playoffs by stealing the puck from Wayne Gretzky and defeating St. Louis Blues goaltender Jon Casey with a slap shot from the blue line to advance the Western Conference Semifinals in double overtime of Game 7. The Red Wings also fell short of their ultimate goal, losing in six games to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals.

Detroit won its first Stanley Cup in 42 years in 1997, putting to rest all fears about his potential to lead a team to a championship. Detroit repeated the feat the previous year, sweeping the Washington Capitals and winning their second consecutive Cup title. As the playoff MVP, Yzerman received the Conn Smythe Trophy. Vladimir Konstantinov, a wheelchair-bound swimmer who had been seriously injured in a car accident just six days after winning the Cup in 1997, was awarded first prize.

Yzerman made history by scoring 600 goals on November 26, 1999. In 2000, he was on the NHL All-Star first team and took the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward.

Yzerman aggravated a knee injury in 2001-2002, causing him to miss 30 regular season games, but he also finished fourth in team scoring. During the 2002 playoffs, Yzerman's knee injury led the Red Wings from losing the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues, the third time the two teams met to determine the Western Conference Championship. Detroit defeated Colorado in a seven-game series and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to win their tenth Stanley Cup championship in their history. Rather than raising the Stanley Cup first, the Yzerman handed over the trophy to head coach Scotty Bowman, who announced his retirement following the game.

Yzerman underwent knee realignment surgery, identified as an osteotomy, during the offseason. He missed the first 61 games of the 2002-03 season, but he returned on February 24, 2003 against the Los Angeles Kings at home. The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance was awarded to Yzerman after the season.

In a playoff game, Yzerman was struck in the eye by a deflected slap shot by Calgary Flames defenceman Rhett Warrener, breaking his orbital bone and scratching his cornea. Following the crash, the Yzerman underwent eye surgery, and he was suspended for the remainder of the 2004 playoffs. In addition, the eye injury led Yzerman to miss the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Joe Thornton (then of the Boston Bruins) and Joe Sakic (Colorado), who wore the number 19 for their respective NHL clubs and who were now eligible to wear it for Team Canada due to Joe Smith's enforced absence, refused to wear the number out of respect for their injured countryman. Following the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Yzerman returned to the octagon in 2005-06 season wearing a visor.

Yzerman decided to join the Red Wings for one year on August 2, 2005; it was his last contract as a player. He scored his 691st NHL goal on March 31, 2006, beating Mario Lemieux for eighth place all time. In an interview before his triumph, Yzerman's humility was evident, saying, "I don't really know the significance." If anything, it shows how good [Lemieux] is; he played almost five years less than I did; it's a shame that he did not know how well [Lemieux] is; he played nearly five years less than I did." In a game against the Calgary Flames on April 3, 2006, he scored his second NHL goal, his 692nd of his career, on April 3, 2006. On May 1, 2006, Yzerman played his last competitive hockey game, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the 2006 playoffs and knocking Detroit out of the playoffs.

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman announced his retirement from the NHL. "Yzerman: A Salute to Stevie Y," Sports Illustrated's special commemorative edition devoted to Yzerman.

Yzerman holds the NHL record for the longest-serving captain of a single team – he played for 19 seasons and 1,303 games in the "C" nickname. Yzerman scored his eighth all-time in NHL regular-season goals and sixth overall, beating him for his eighth all-time playoff appearances and eighth in all-time playoff scoring. In virtually every major offensive category in Red Wings history, he ranks second, behind Gordie Howe, save for assists – Yzerman has 1,063 assists to Howe's 1,020. Only Howe (1,687 games) and Alex Delvecchio (1,550 games) had played more games as a Red Wing than Yzerman's 1,514. He is now fourth in games played for the franchise, behind Howe, Delvecchio, and Nicklas Lidström (1,564 games), who was his teammate for the first 12 seasons of his career.

Managerial career

The Red Wings named Yzerman team vice president and alternate governor on September 25, 2006.

Before a game against the Anaheim Ducks on January 2, 2007, the Red Wings retired Yzerman's jersey #19. The captain's "C" was stitched to the corner of his banner to forever honor him as "The Captain." Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, ESPN hockey analyst, and ESPN hockey analyst Darren Pang officiated the official retirement party, which featured such Red Wing luminaries as Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, and Scotty Bowman. Active Red Wings players wore Yzerman throwback jerseys from the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, Team Canada (Canada won gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games), the Campbell Conference All-Star team, and the Peterborough Petes were among the guests attending the event. Vladimir Konstantinov, a former teammate, was honored at the dinner for the first time without a wheelchair since his last game in the 1997 playoffs.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gave Yzerman the keys to Detroit by luncheon on January 2, 2007. Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm, another Canadian-American, visited Detroit and the Joe Louis Arena on January 13, 2007 and declared the day as "Steve Yzerman Day" in Michigan.

Yzerman was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame on January 11, 2008, when the Red Wings returned to Ottawa to visit the Senators. On February 11, 2008, Yzerman was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame for his second time.

It was announced on June 23, 2009 that Yzerman would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille, as well as Brian Leetch, were honoured over the weekend of November 6–9 induction weekend.

Yzerman had expressed his desire to lead a team through the latter part of his playing career, and he had extensive experience with running a team, assembling several rosters for Hockey Canada between 2007 and 2010. However, after general manager Ken Holland and assistant general manager Jim Nill received contract extensions, it became abundant that this was not going to happen with the Red Wings. The Detroit News revealed in 2016 that Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch tried to convince Holland to make room for Yzerman to serve as the team's general manager, but Holland denied the promotion.

Not long after Ken Holland's employment contract extension, Craig Leipold, the Minnesota Wild's new owner, and Jeffrey Vinik, the then-new Tampa Bay Lightning's general manager, began looking for a Yzerman as the general manager. Yzerman accepted the Lightning role and was named the team's new vice president and general manager on May 25, 2010, despite turning down the Minnesota job before the 2009–10 season ended. He re-signed Martin St. Louis, re-signed defenceman Patrick Kubina for his second stint with the team, transferred left-winger Simon Gagné to a two-year deal, and fired offensive agent Dan Ellis in a trade that saw Matt Walker and a fourth-round pick leave Tampa Bay in 2011. As the Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, he also traded for goaltender Dwayne Roloson in the middle of the season, just one year after the team had not qualified for the 2010 playoffs. Yzerman was nominated for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award, losing out to Vancouver's Mike Gillis for his part.

While the Lightning will miss the playoffs for the next two seasons, Yzerman Drafts Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, and Callan Foote have all signed undrafted players Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde, as well as Curtis McElhinney and Jan Rutta as potential future staple rosters. The team will advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2015, where they were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks. Yzerman received the NHL General Manager of the Year Award on June 24, 2015; he was the first Lightning general manager to be honoured. During the regular season, the team, which was built by Yzerman, set franchise records with 50 victories and 108 points, and also led the league with 262 goals and 32 home victories.

The Lightning finished first in the Atlantic Division and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Washington Capitals in the 2017-18 season. With just one year remaining on his deal, Yzerman confirmed that he would not be resigning as the Lightning general manager, but that he would remain with the team as a senior advisor. Julien BriseBois, the assistant general manager of Yzerman, was posted in his place.

The Red Wings announced on April 19, 2019 that Yzerman had been hired as general manager of the team, while Ken Holland, the team's current general manager, was promoted to a senior vice president position, but Holland would leave the team and become the general manager and president of hockey operations for the Edmonton Oilers.

Team Canada's general manager, Yzerman, was named in Moscow on January 30, 2007, where the team defeated Finland 4–2 to win the Championship on May 13th.

Yzerman was appointed executive director of the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2010 Winter Olympics on October 18, 2008. The Canadian team, which had been working together, went on to win the gold, the first gold medal won by a home team in ice hockey since the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team was in ice hockey. In 2014, Yzerman said he would consider returning to the Canadian team as the head coach. "I loved it, but it was really difficult," Yzerman continued. Given the opportunity to represent Canada and be the man in charge, I wouldn't hesitate the first time.

Yzerman was named executive director of the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in 2012. For the first time since 1948 and 1952, the Canadian team he put together won their second straight gold medal. They were also the first nation to achieve the feat after the Soviet Union/Unified Team won three gold medals in 1984, 1988, and 1992. Following Canada's 3–0 victory over Sweden in the gold medal game, Yzerman declared that he would not return to Canada for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

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Awards and achievements

• NHL All-Star Game Roster – 1984 (first 18-year old to be selected to the roster), 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2000;
• NHL first team All-Star – 2000;
• Lester B. Pearson Award – 1989;
• Conn Smythe Trophy – 1998;
• Frank J. Selke Trophy – 2000;
• Stanley Cup champion (as player) – 1997, 1998, 2002;
• Stanley Cup champion (as executive) – 2008;
• Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy – 2003;
• Lester Patrick Trophy – 2006;
• Seventh in NHL history in points, tenth in goals and ninth in assists;
• First in Red Wings history in assists; second in points and goals; fourth in games played; second all-time in seasons and seventh all-time in games played with only one NHL franchise;
• Longest-serving captain for a team in league history (19 seasons, 1,303 games);
• Number (19) retired with Canadian Men's National Team; (#19 later worn at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics by Joe Thornton)
• Named vice-president of Detroit Red Wings – 2006;
• Detroit Red Wings #19 retired on January 2, 2007;
• Named general manager of Team Canada – 2008;
• Was ranked sixth in The Hockey News "The Top 60 Since 1967 – The Best Players of the Post Expansion Era";
• Inducted into Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame – January 11, 2008;
• Inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame – February 11, 2008;
• Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame – 2008;
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame – 2009;
• Named general manager and vice-president of the Tampa Bay Lightning – May 2010;
• Inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame – 2014;
• Named to the Order of Hockey in Canada by Hockey Canada – 2014;
• NHL General Manager of the Year Award – 2015;
• Named on the 100 Greatest NHL Players list for the NHL's Centennial Anniversary – 2017;
• Named general manager and executive vice-president of the Detroit Red Wings – April 2019