Yzerman Ceremony Notes
Links and quotes from a variety of newspaper articles commemorating Steve Yzerman following last night’s wonderful ceremony.
Helene St. James at the Detroit Free Press reminds us of some of the quotes said during the ceremony:
Bowman’s next comment stirred the crowd to another round of applause.
“No player I ever coached,” Bowman said, “could play with a pain threshold like Steve Yzerman.”
…
Just before his jersey went up, Yzerman made a plea to fans.
“You look up there, give yourselves a pat on the back because I really feel you’re a huge reason, a big reason why it’s up there,” he said. “From the bottom of my heart, I am sincerely grateful to you all.”
…
Before the ceremony, assistant general manager Jim Nill described a scene from his trip to the World Junior Championships in Sweden last week. Yzerman, now a team vice president, was with Nill, as has become habit. Just recently the two were at a game in Windsor, where Yzerman needed a police escort to get out of the building. It wasn’t any different in Sweden.
“We’re in these small little rinks in Leksand and Mora, I figured, ‘Who’s going to know Steve Yzerman?’ ” Nill said. “Wouldn’t you know it, a couple of kids recognized him in about two minutes.”
John Niyo at The Detroit News emphasized Yzerman’s humility as he thanked everyone under the sun in his 20 minute speech.
From there he went about thanking everyone he could think of, beginning smartly — and sweetly — with his wife, Lisa, and their three daughters, all of whom joined him for a red-carpet entrance, with flash bulbs popping.
Nerves? Sure, Yzerman showed a few, particularly when his voice trembled as he addressed the fans at the end of his 20-minute unscripted speech.
“To all of you, I don’t know how I can thank you,” he began, before faltering and reaching for a bottle of water.
…
“He led without arrogance or self-indulgence,” owner Mike Ilitch said. “Steve Yzerman, you helped build Hockeytown.
Yzerman begged to differ. He took time out to honor the five other Red Wings greats he joined, three of whom — Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio — were seated behind him.
“The only way we could truly honor them,” he said, “was to play the way they did: with pride.”
…
“I’m less uncomfortable with all this than I was when you probably first met me,” Yzerman said earlier at a VIP reception where he was honored with more proclamations and plaques — and even a street sign with his name on it — than one man could carry. “But the reason for any adulation I get is because I played on a good team with good players and we won. So I just tried not to take myself too seriously.”
According to Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News, the plaque to commemorate Yzerman’s accomplishments had three spelling mistakes. Oops!
The words “consummate,” “synonymous” and “perseverance” were misspelled. The errors will be fixed before the plaque is put up, Wings senior director of communications John Hahn said.
Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press writes about the thanks Yzerman received from the city of Detroit.
It’s not that the man lacks ego, but he counteracts an immense level of self-assurance with an equal portion of humble, small-town Canadian perspective. He walked around Detroit Tuesday with a red face that matched the color of the hockey sweater he graced for 23 years.
He was embarrassed with all the pomp, joking about how he had gotten a key to the city of Detroit but still didn’t have a key to his new executive office at Joe Louis Arena. And the 200 or so folks that laced the three-tier circular concourse at the Wintergarden inside the GM Renaissance Center heartily laughed their approval at the quip.
…
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick presented Yzerman with a key to the city, saying he symbolized the heart and soul of a city whose work ethic represents its heartbeat.
And a little mist welled in Yzerman’s eyes as he listened to the mayor extol the virtues that mean more to him than any individual honor he ever earned.
“This is real people living real lives every day in Detroit,” Yzerman said. “It’s not the bright lights and big city and whatnot. People here work hard and for me, fortunately, they follow their sports teams very closely.”
Chris Silva, Helene St. James and Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press compiled quotes from the players about their reactions to the ceremony.
Ducks forward Teemu Selanne: “I actually snuck out a couple times to watch. I wasn’t supposed to but I did. 19, it was always great to play against him, and I watched him just because he’s a special player and a class guy, one of my heroes and a great story.”
Lidstrom, on seeing former teammate Vladimir Konstantinov come out onto the ice for the ceremony: “He actually comes in here every now and then, he usually sits in (Jiri Fischer’s) spot. It’s always emotional to see Vladdie. I thought it was great of them to have him out there on the ice, too. We’ve seen a lot of improvements in him. He really enjoys just coming in here and sitting here before we go out for our skate. He still recognizes me and some of the other guys in here.”
Robert Lang: “I think it was done first-class. Stevie had a great speech; I think it’s pretty hard to keep it together. It’s definitely an emotional night even though he retired awhile back. I thought it was a very nice night, and I’m happy to be part of it.”
Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press commented on some of the musical selections and random happenings during the ceremony or earlier in the day.
- Congrats messages were played on the big screen from people like Darren McCarty, Joe Sakic, Jarome Iginla and Wayne Gretzky. Fans at the Joe booed just one, the one from Bill Ford Jr.
- Brett Hull, telling FSN what he learned about Yzerman when they became teammates: “I was friends with Wayne Gretzky — I didn’t realize there was someone else that could carry themselves with such class. The one thing that may have been a little bit missing from my repertoire.”
- From the Wings players: a family trip to the 2008 European soccer championships in Austria. When they retire Nick Lidstrom’s jersey, will they send him to the World Series?
There was a little confusion when Cherry asked Yzerman about the gift on CBC. They seemed to be under the impression the European championships were in Australia instead of Austria.
- Most over-the-top moment: When they played “Also Sprach Zarathustra” — the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey” — as they re-raised the jerseys of Howe, Lindsay, Abel, Delvecchio and Sawchuk.
- Better musical choice: Yzerman walked out to “Simply the Best,” by Tina Turner.
Brian Cazeneuve of Sports Illustrated summarized Yzerman’s speech.
When Yzerman took his turn to speak, he did so without prompting or notes and often choked as he fought his words. He paid heartfelt tributes to his wife, Lisa (”my best friend and part-time psychologist”) and three daughters; to Bowman; to the other five Wings with retired jerseys (”the way we can thank them is to play the way they did and to respect the logo the way they did”), to management and fans, teammates such as Probert and Gare who never got to carry the Cup with him; and those who did. He even thanked the Anaheim Ducks for their patience in waiting out the hour-long ceremony.
“Steve never liked taking a lot of credit for himself,” Bowman said later. “He was so responsible in the dressing room, it was like having another coach.”
Eric Adelson at ESPN.com has a very touching story about Yzerman’s friendship with a boy who grew up battling two different cancers.
Yzerman told the boy to stick around and watch practice. Braxton did, and his eyes locked on the players as they whizzed by. Brendan Shanahan zipped over and handed Braxton a broken stick. Brant gasped, but Braxton hardly raised an eyebrow. “That’s cool,” he said. “But it’s not Steve’s.” Brant grimaced and looked around, hoping no one heard. But behind him, then-goalie Curtis Joseph roared in laughter. The next night, Yzerman invited Braxton to the Detroit locker room.
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