Steve Yzerman

Steve Yzerman was born on May 9, 1965 in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada. He played his minor hockey with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League and was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1983 as their first round pick, fourth overall. Yzerman made his NHL debut as an eighteen year old in the 1983-84 season with the Red Wings. He finished with an impressive 39 goals and 48 assists for 87 points and was second in Calder tropphy voting. The following seasons saw Yzerman continue to build on his spectacular rookie season and in 1986 at age 21 he became the youngest captain in Detroit Red Wings history. This added pressure would probably hamper the performace of many athletes, but that was far from the case with Yzerman. Even as the Red Wings were at best a mediocre team, Steve put together a string of six consecutive 100+ point seasons, including an incredible 155 points notched in the 1988-89 regular season.

Starting in the early 1990s the Detroit Red Wings began to turn the corner and Yzerman was upto the task, providing much needed leadership. In 1997 he led the Red Wings to their first Stanley Cup championship since the 1955 season. Yzerman and the Red Wings added another Stanley Cup victory the very next season and he won the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs. The Wings dynasty would continue to dominate as they won their third Cup in 2002. Even though Yzerman missed most of the 2002 regular season with a knee injury, he returned for his 20th NHL season in 2003. Steve Yzerman has also represented Canada in the World Junior Championships, Canada Cups and the Olympics. After the 2004 lockout, Yzerman decided to come back with the Red Wings and announced his retirement at the end of the 2005-06 season.

Here is a summary of Steve Yzerman's NHL accomplishments;

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



Trophies
Conn Smythe Trophy - 1 (1989)
Lester B. Pearson Trophy - 1 (1998)
Frank J. Selke Trophy - 1 (2000)


Championships
Stanley Cup - 3 (1997, 1998, 2002)