Yzerman signs one year deal with Detroit

Associated Press

8/2/2005 1:48:49 PM

DETROIT (AP) - Steve Yzerman will be back with the Detroit Red Wings for a 22nd season.

The 40-year-old captain signed a one-year deal Tuesday with the Red Wings, the only NHL team for which the centre has played.

"I'm very pleased to have Steve re-sign for another season with the Red Wings," Detroit general manager Ken Holland said. "I'm confident that he has a lot of great hockey left to play."

Yzerman led the Red Wings to three Stanley Cup championships in the past eight seasons and has been their captain since 1986. He is the longest-serving captain in NHL history and the league's sixth-leading scorer with 1,721 career points. Yzerman ranks ninth with 678 goals in 1,453 regular-season games.

In his final game before the lockout that wiped out last season, Yzerman had to be helped off the ice after a puck broke bones near his eye during the 2004 playoffs.

Yzerman, who also holds franchise playoff records of 70 goals and 181 points, trails only Marcel Dionne, Ron Francis, Gordie Howe, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky on the NHL's regular-season scoring list.

The Red Wings chose Yzerman with the No. 4 pick in the 1983 draft.

The year before, the team dubbed the "Dead Wings," gave away a car at each home game to spur interest and boost the number of season-ticket holders.