The man the Detroit Red Wings really didn’t want in 1983 is
the man in demand in 2019.
Mike Ilitch had purchased the NHL team the summer before (in 1982) from the Norris family, who had control of the club for half a century and had garnered
eight Stanley Cups in that span. However, since the last claiming of hockey’s Holy
Grail in 1955, the Wings had gradually fallen into a perennial also-ran on the
ice, and the move to Joe Louis Arena in 1979 was only made to keep the team
from following the Lions and Pistons north to Pontiac and “Olympia II.”
During that first season of 1982-83, Ilitch had to resort to
raffling off a new car at every home game in order to bring fans to the games,
and as the June 1983 NHL entry draft approached, the Wings were hoping that
local product Pat LaFontaine would still be available when they selected fourth
overall.
The first two choices were pretty clear cut: Minnesota would
tab New Jersey teen Brian Lawton with the first pick, while Quebec native
Sylvain Turgeon was to go to the Hartford Whalers. The defending Stanley Cup
champion New York Islanders had the choice ahead of Detroit, thanks to a deal
with the Colorado Rockies, and they apparently had dashed the Wings’ dreams by
selecting LaFontaine.
Trying to hide any disappointment, new Detroit General
Manager Jimmy Devellano, who was an assistant with the Islanders before coming
to the Wings, “settled” for what most area fans thought was a “little-known,”
smallish center from the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario League with a “weird”
spelling and sounding name of Steve Yzerman.
His play during training camp thwarted plans to send him
back to juniors, and as an 18-year-old, Yzerman finished second in rookie of
the year balloting. While playing under coaches Nick Polano, Harry Neale and
Brad Park, Yzerman became a solid forward, but one who appeared to have a glass
ceiling of development. The moves that made Yzerman successful as a junior were figured out quickly with the major leaguers, and it seemed as if he would be just good, but not great.
When Jacques Demers came to Detroit from St. Louis in the
fall of 1986, Yzerman blossomed. The coach had the captain’s “C” put on the
young player’s sweater, and Yzerman became one of the NHL’s top scorers in both
goals and assists. That continued through the Bryan Murray era in the early
1990’s, but as the Wings’ success appeared stunted with playoff setbacks,
Yzerman became the face of the fans’ frustration with their “underachievers.”
The arrival of Scotty Bowman in 1993 meant changes for
Yzerman, who compelled the forward to realize his defensive responsibilities
more, as well as what the “C” really meant in the locker room. That completed
the overall growth of the player, who became the true leader of the Wings and
proudly hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998 and 2002.
Yzerman apparently learned more from Bowman than just what
was seen on the ice. The player developed his hockey management skills watching
from what the Hall-of-Fame mentor was doing, and when Yzerman finally retired
in 2006, he was ready to move into the front-office.
He saw how Ken Holland operated as the team’s general
manager, and that experience, along with running Hockey Canada over a four-year
period, led him to take the general manager’s post with the Tampa Bay Lightning
in 2010. Over the next eight seasons, Yzerman built the Bolts into a perennial
league power, with the high point coming in 2015 when Tampa Bay lost in six
games to Chicago in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Last summer, with a year remaining in his contract, Yzerman
announced that he was stepping down as the Lightning’s GM and would fulfill his
deal as a team adviser through the remainder of his deal. At the time, he said that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
This immediately led to speculation that he was
preparing to come “home” to the Wings, as he maintained a home in the Detroit
area and commuted to Florida regularly during his tenure with Tampa Bay.
Yzerman was also linked with interests who successfully obtained a NHL
expansion franchise in Seattle.
Today, the Red Wings made it official, naming Yzerman as the
new General Manager with Holland taking a senior vice president role with the
team. The Wings moved quickly when the Lightning gave Detroit permission to talk with Yzerman once the Bolts were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs earlier this week.
Three years ago, it was reported that Ilitch had initially wanted to make this move
in 2010, but Holland blocked the move, apparently forcing Yzerman to take the
Tampa Job.
Ironically, this continues a trend that the Wings have had
involving their “legends.” Sid Abel, Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio – all of
whom starred on the ice in Detroit – also became general manager of the Red
Wings during the Norris era. It appears that Yzerman, whose number 19 hangs in
the rafters with those three men, will follow in their footsteps.
Abel, Lindsay and Delvecchio also
captained the Wings during their playing days, but it’s only Yzerman who has
the “C” on his number banner at Little Caesars Arena, while the greatest Red Wing
of them all – Gordie Howe – not only never was a GM, but he was given the “shovel”
treatment as a front-office figurehead by Norris after his first retirement in
1971 that led to Howe returning to action in the WHA and retiring as a Hartford
Whaler in 1980.
My media dealings with Yzerman during his playing days were
cordial; not overly friendly but not adversarial in nature either. He was
always measured with his responses, always aware that his words carried more
weight that what others might say. He probably “let his hair down” behind
closed doors, but in public, that side was rarely, if ever, seen.
By the way, LaFontaine's career was derailed by concussions, but not before it was successful enough to have him join Yzerman in Hockey's Hall of Fame, while Lawton is known now as a NHL Network analyst, and Turgeon's nephew Dominic had a brief cup of coffee with the Wings this season, is considered a bright prospect, and is slated to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins in tonight's AHL playoff opener in suburban Chicago against the Wolves.
Welcome back, Stevie Y!
Thanks!
