Stephen Gregory (Steve) Yzerman   [1965]

Steve Yzerman is an amazing professional hockey player, playing for the Detroit Red Wings for 24 years, from 1983 to 2006. During his first year of play in the NHL, when he was only 18 years old, he scored 39 goals, and accumulated 87 points. During that first year, he also was selected to play on the NHL All Star team, being the youngest player ever selected to be on the All Star team. He is also an amazing leader, being selected as captain of the Detroit Red Wings for 20 years, from 1986 until his retirement in 2006, a record in the National Hockey League [NHL]. He officially retired from playing professional hockey in 2006, and will almost surely be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the future.

During his entire professional career in the NHL, Yzerman was a star scorer. For six years in a row, from 1987 to 1993, he accumulated over 100 points, and for five of those six years he scored over 50 goals. In his record year, during the 1988-1989 season, he accumulated 155 points and scored 65 goals during regular season play.

Under his captaincy, Yzerman took the Red Wings to four Stanley Cup playoff series. In the first one, in 1995, the Red Wings were swept by the New Jersey Devils. Two years later, in 1997, the Red Wings were again in the Stanley Cup playoff series, and won handily defeating the Philadelphia Flyers. And in the following year, in 1998, the Red Wings were again in the Stanley Cup playoff series, and won defeating the Washington Capitals. But that year was not the last Stanley cup for Yzerman. In 2002, the Red Wings made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes. Yzerman re-injured his knee that season, and was only able to play in 52 games, missing 30 games. But he still was able to score 13 goals during the regular season, and six goals during the playoff season. Over a period of five years, the Detroit Red Wings won three Stanley Cups under the leadership of Yzerman serving the team as their captain.

Yzerman won many awards for outstanding play in the NHL. In 1989, he won the Lester B. Pearson Award, in 1998, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy, in 2000, he won the Frank J. Selke Trophy, in 2003, he won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, and in 2006, he won the Lester Patrick Trophy. Between the years 1984 and 2000, Yzerman was selected to the annual All Star team 10 times, and he was selected as the First Team All Star Center in the year 2000.

Yzerman was born in Cranbrook, British Columbia on May 9, 1965. His family moved to Nepean, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa, during his childhood. When he was 15 years old, he began playing pre-professional hockey for the Nepean Raiders, a Junior “A” Hockey team. A year later, he joined the Peterborough Petes, a team in the Ontario Hockey League, a developmental league for potential future professionals. After two years of play for the Peterborough Petes, Yzerman was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round, fourth overall, of the NHL draft. First year draftees are usually automatically sent to the farm teams for development of their skills, and to gain experience playing against other professionals. Yzerman played so well during the pre-season that the team management decided to start him immediately on the regular team. And the rest is history.

Yzerman married his wife Lisa on June 10, 1989. The couple has three daughters, Isabelle Katherine, born in 1994, Maria Charlotte, born in 1998, and Sophia Rose, born in 1999. Yzerman officially retired from the Detroit Red Wings as a player on July 3, 2006. At the time of his retirement, Yzerman was the NHL’s sixth all time leading scorer.  In September 2006, Yzerman was hired by the Detroit Red Wings as a Vice President for team development.

 

REFERENCES

Steve Yzerman, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Yzerman

Steve Yzerman NHL Bio

 

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