Steve Yzerman

Steve Yzerman

Stephen Gregory "Steve" Yzerman (/ˈaɪzərmən/; born May 9, 1965) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League. Yzerman played his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Detroit Red Wings and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Prior to the 1986–87 season at the age of 21, Yzerman was named captain of the Red Wings and continuously served for the next two decades (dressing as captain for over 1300 games), retiring as the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history. Once voted to be the most popular athlete in Detroit sports history, locals often simply refer to Yzerman as "The Captain." Yzerman led the Wings to five first-place regular season finishes and three Stanley Cup championships (1997, 1998, and 2002).

Yzerman won numerous awards during his career, including the Lester B. Pearson Award (Most outstanding player) in the 1988–89 NHL season, the Conn Smythe Trophy (Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs) in 1998, the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward in 2000, and the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance in 2003. He was a ten-time NHL All-Star, a First Team All-Star in 2000, and a member of the All-Rookie Team in 1984.

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman officially retired, finishing his career ranked as the sixth all-time leading scorer in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points (65 goals/90 assists) in 1988–89 which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Yzerman's #19 jersey was officially retired on January 2, 2007 during a pre-game ceremony at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. On November 4, 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. He also became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility, inducted alongside 2001–02 Red Wing teammates Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille.

On September 25, 2006, Yzerman was named as a Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings. He won a fourth Stanley Cup as the Vice President of Operations in 2007–08. He served as the team's Alternate Governor until he was hired away from the Red Wings to become the general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning in May 2010.

Yzerman has represented his country in several international tournaments as a member of Canada's national hockey team (Team Canada). In 2002, Yzerman won an Olympic gold medal, making him one of few players to win an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same year. Yzerman was the general manager of Team Canada for the 2007 IIHF World Championship, which they won. Yzerman was appointed Executive Director of Team Canada on October 7, 2008, for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Canada went on to win the gold medal by defeating Team USA.