Yzerman will feel effects of layoff
August 3, 2005

BY GEORGE SIPPLE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

When Steve Yzerman re-signed with the Red Wings on Tuesday, one thing became clear. Fans won't have to blame a puck to the eye or the NHL lockout for ending the veteran's career.

Yzerman, 40, has had more than a year to rest after taking a puck to his left orbital in Game 5 of the 2004 playoffs against Calgary. He suffered a scratched cornea and multiple fractures to the orbital bone that surrounds his eye, and he experienced blurred vision.

The eye problem came after a groin injury had sidelined Yzerman for part of the 2003-04 season.

He also had knee-realignment surgery in August 2002. The procedure, called osteotomy, typically is done on older people whose legs have become bowed from degenerative bone disease. It helped redistribute weight in the knee to reduce pain. Yzerman is believed to be the first professional athlete to have the surgery and continue playing.

Red Wings team doctor Dr. David Collon did not return calls about how the long layoff would affect Yzerman. But Steven Karageanes, sports medicine specialist at Henry Ford Hospital, on Tuesday said, "The body gets used to not being beat up, the less-stressful lifestyle. It's hard to get that back again.

"The aging process goes on."

Karageanes said he fears that there will be many layoff-related injuries early in the NHL season.

Former Wings trainer John Wharton, who has relocated to New York, said he was glad to hear that Yzerman is returning for another year.

And he echoed Karageanes' concerns about the long layoff.

Wharton said: "It can either really help him or really hurt him. I just hope they don't expect too much from him early on."

Wharton said Yzerman's layoff was comparable to being in "semiretirement," but Wharton said he believed that Yzerman could return to game shape quickly enough.

"Knowing Steve and the way he conditioned himself and the way he takes care of his body, it shouldn't take much longer than a couple months," Wharton said.

Wharton cautioned that it wouldn't just be Yzerman who has to be careful in the early going.

"Kind of the same thing goes for all those guys," Wharton said. "They're all looking at the same boat. Sixteen months for any of them is going to pose a problem."

Yzerman's decision no doubt thrilled Wings owner Mike Ilitch, who last month said he was counting on seeing the Captain back.

"I know he didn't like going out -- and we stated we didn't like the way he went out -- with that cheekbone and that eye injury," Ilitch said July 14. "Just the kind of person he is, I got a hunch that he'll want to come back and maybe skate on a line with (Kris) Draper and (Kirk) Maltby, and I think that'd make a great line."

Ilitch's words have seemingly proved prophetic. Draper, Maltby and Darren McCarty formed the Grind Line, but McCarty's contract was bought out by the Wings last week. McCarty signed with Calgary on Tuesday.

Yzerman also skated with Draper and Maltby during the 2003-04 season.

Contact GEORGE SIPPLE at 313-223-4796 or sipple@freepress.com