Steve Yzerman – Lots Of Heart But No Hart

To think that the Red Wings almost traded him away! Steve Yzerman is perhaps more representative of the Detroit Red Wings franchise as a whole than any other player in team history – including Gordie Howe. Without Yzerman, the Wings would not have won the Stanley Cup three times between 1996-97 and 2001-02.

In fact, it’s truly a shame on the National Hockey League that Steve never won the Hart Memorial Trophy during his career. Afterall, the Hart is not just for the NHL’s MVP but for the “player judged most valuable to his team”.

Junior Career

NHL Career

Front Office

Rookie Card

Career Stats

Steve Yzerman – Junior Hockey

Yzerman developed his gritty, yet talented style of play, full of quiet leadership, in the Ontario Hockey League with the Peterborough Petes. He played for the Dick Todd coached club in 1981-82 and 1982-83. Steve was taken fourth overall by the Petes at the 1981 OHL Priority Selection. Danny Quinn was taken first overall by the Belleville Bulls. Yzerman is one of four former Peterborough players to reach the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with Bob Gainey, Larry Murphy and Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky only played a handful of games with the club.

In his second year, 1982-83, despite playing just 56 regular season games, Yzerman was third on team scoring with 42 goals and 49 assists for 91 points. He finished directly behind Bob Errey. The two were once again teammates in the NHL when Errey was traded to the Red Wings midseason 1994-95 from the San Jose Sharks. He was then traded back to the Sharks midway through 1996-97, before he had a chance to hoist the Stanley Cup. That year in the OHL, Doug Gilmour led the league and was awarded the Eddie Powers Trophy, scoring 70 goals and assisting on 107 for 177 points with the Cornwall Royals.

1983 was also the beginning of an illustrious international career for Canada. Yzerman played for a talented Canada at the IIHF World Junior squad that was led offensively by Dave Andreychuk and Mario Lemieux. Steve added five points over the seven game round-robin only tournament held in Leningrad, Soviet Union. Canada came away with a bronze medal while the Soviet Union took gold and Czechoslovakia was runner-up. A young Dominik Hasek of Czechoslovakia was named the tournament’s top goaltender.

Steve Yzerman – NHL

Once again, Yzerman was the fourth overall pick. This time it was at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft and the takers were the Detroit Red Wings. Selected in front of Steve were Brian Lawton by the Minnesota North Stars, Sylvain Turgeon by the Hartford Whalers and Pat Lafontaine by the New York Islanders.

Yzerman played 1,514 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1983-84 and 2005-06, all with Detroit. Steve never played a single game in the minors. Over his career, he scored 692 goals and assisted on 1,063 for 1,755 points.

As of the end of the 2013-14 season, Yzerman and Jaromir Jagr were deadlocked for the sixth position for most points all-time in the NHL. Yzerman sits ninth all-time in the goals department, two ahead of Mario Lemieux and two behind Mark Messier. His 1,063 assists place him seventh all-time, just 13 ahead of Jagr. As far as games played, there are just thirteen players who have played more.

Steve also appeared in 196 Stanley Cup playoff games, scoring 70 and assisting on 115 for 185 points. All-time, he sits tenth for points, 16th for goals and tied for 13th with Larry Murphy for assists. Yzerman is 20th on the list when it comes to all-time games played in the playoffs.

Yzerman served as team captain in Detroit from 1986-87 to 2005-06. He replaced Danny Gare and was replaced by Nicklas Lidstrom. For six straight seasons from 1987-88 to 1992-93, Steve surpassed the 100 point plateau. He was a fifty goal scorer five times and reached 60 or more twice.

1988-89 was the pinnacle of Yzerman’s personal success. Over 80 games, he scored 65 goals and assisted on 90 for 155 points. 155 is the 14th highest single season point total in NHL history but the highest by a player that is not Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux. He placed third in goals behind Lemieux of the Penguins and Bernie Nicholls of the Los Angeles Kings. Steve also placed third for assists and points behind Lemieux and Gretzky. He was awarded the Ted Lindsay Award for MVP as selected by the NHLPA, perhaps a more valued award to a player than the Hart.

Steve has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup three times, winning with the Red Wings in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 2001-02. In 1997-98, Yzerman was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP in the playoffs. The Red Wings retired his number 19 in January, 2007. His is one of seven numbers retired by the club. In 2009, Steve was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

On the international front, Steve played for Canada on several occasions. Three times he played for his country at the IIHF World Hockey Championships. Twice, he was a member of the Canadian team at the Winter Olympic Games.

Steve Yzerman – Front Office

Yzerman jumped right into an office job after retirement as a player. From 2006-07 to 2009-10, he held the position of Vice President of Hockey Operations with the Red Wings. For the 2010-11 season, Steve took the I-75 south and took over the dual roles of General Manager and VP of Hockey Operations with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the job he holds today.

Steve continued to serve his country after he could no longer skate for them. Yzerman was the General Manager of Team Canada at the 2007, 2008 and 2013 IIHF World Championships. He was also GM for Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, coming away with two gold medals.

Steve Yzerman – Rookie Card

The Steve Yzerman rookie card appears as number 67 in the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee set. He, of course, is shown as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. The card has a book value of around $100 and it is, by more than double, the highest valued hockey card in the set. That book value would place it at around 500 times more valuable than a common card in the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee set.

That 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee set is full of outstanding rookie cards. Steve’s RC is one of five RC’s belonging to players that are now in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Along with Yzerman, there is also Doug Gilmour, Chris Chelios, Cam Neely and Pat Lafontaine.

Two other cards from 1984-85 are technically Steve Yzerman rookie cards, although not nearly as valuable as the main O-Pee-Chee card. In the 1984-85 Topps set, the Yzerman RC appears as number 49. In the O-Pee-Chee set, Yzerman is also featured on the number 385 card that honours the NHL’s rookie scoring leaders.

Steve Yzerman Career Stats

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1981-82	Peterborough Petes	OHL	58	21	43	64	65
1982-83	Peterborough Petes	OHL	56	42	49	91	33
1983-84	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	39	48	87	33
1984-85	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	30	59	89	58
1985-86	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	51	14	28	42	16
1986-87	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	31	59	90	43
1987-88	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	64	50	52	102	44
1988-89	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	65	90	155	61
1989-90	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	79	62	65	127	79
1990-91	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	51	57	108	34
1991-92	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	79	45	58	103	64
1992-93	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	84	58	79	137	44
1993-94	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	58	24	58	82	36
1994-95	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	47	12	26	38	40
1995-96	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	36	59	95	64
1996-97	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	81	22	63	85	78
1997-98	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	75	24	45	69	46
1998-99	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	80	29	45	74	42
1999-00	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	78	35	44	79	34
2000-01	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	54	18	34	52	18
2001-02	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	52	13	35	48	18
2002-03	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	16	2	6	8	8
2003-04	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	75	18	33	51	46
2005-06	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	61	14	20	34	18
	NHL Totals		1514	692	1063	1755	924