Biography
Steve Yzerman is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player who spent his entire National Hockey League (NHL) playing career with the Detroit Red Wings. After his retirement as a player, he served in the front office of the Red Wings, and then as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while being executive director for Team Canada in two Olympics. He served as the executive vice president and general manager of the Red Wings.
Prior to the 1986-87 season, Yzerman was named captain of the Red Wings and continuously served for the next two decades (dressing as captain for over 1,300 games), retiring as the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history. He was voted to be the most popular athlete in Detroit sports history. 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 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 from professional hockey, finishing his career ranked as the seventh all-time leading scorer in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points (65 goals and 90 assists) in 1988-89, which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. On November 4, 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. He also became an honored member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2017, Yzerman was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.
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. Yzerman was again appointed executive director of Team Canada on March 5, 2012, for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Canada went on to win their second-straight gold medal after defeating Sweden.
