Canadian Press

4/16/2006 11:42:09 AM

This is why Stevie Y came back for another year.

"I'm getting one more opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup so I'm pretty thrilled about that," says Yzerman.

The playoffs start next weekend and the Wings will be at home against the Edmonton Oilers.

A rejuvenated Yzerman will lead his Wings onto NHL playoff ice for the 20th time in his career. Yzerman, who turns 41 on May 9, seems to have found a new lease on his hockey life this season, especially in the second half.

"Even before the Olympic break, I don't know why but I felt quicker, probably just from playing consistently as opposed to the year off when I didn't play and didn't skate that much," Yzerman said in a recent phone interview. "Getting hurt and missing the first part of this season really set me back.

"It just took a while to get comfortable with the pace of play, and just getting back and playing the game without thinking so much."

With 14 points in his last 12 games, Yzerman appears to have enough game left to play at least another year, but he hasn't made that decision yet.

"I think I'll make a decision after the playoffs. Let's see how they go and go from there," said Yzerman, who has sat out the last two games to rest up for the playoffs.

In many ways, Yzerman is like the winner of the NHL's version of Survivor. Al MacInnis, Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, Vincent Damphousse and Ron Francis, among others, called it quits before the season. Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux and Dave Andreychuk followed suit early in the season. The new NHL wasn't for them.

Not Yzerman, his decision to come back is playing out as the right one.

"There were times early this year where I really questioned my decision to come back, but right now I'm really enjoying it," he said. "So, to this point, I'm pleased, and I'm really excited about participating in the playoffs one more time."

One more ring wouldn't hurt, either.

"I'd love to do it one more time. After winning in '97 and '98, we had a couple of disappointing playoff years. So '02 was a pleasant surprise to understate a little bit. It was like: `This is awesome, I'd like to do this one more time. I'll never get tired of doing this.'

"So one more, and we have a new group and something to prove, it would be pretty exciting."

There was a time Yzerman wondered if he'd ever win one Cup, let alone three. The 100-point Wings had those heartbreaking upset losses in the first round in 1993 (to Toronto) and '94 (to San Jose), the Cup final loss to New Jersey in '95 and the conference final loss to Colorado in '96, when the Wings put up a record 62 wins in the regular season.

"For a couple of years in the '90s, it was almost like: `This isn't going to happen,"' Yzerman said. "With some of my teammates, we'd say just to win it once we'd be satisfied, and then you win and realize you get into the next season and you don't lose your drive or your desire to win again.

"It stays. We won again in '98 but then we lost after that, and you're back to being just one of 29 other teams. Everyone enjoys being the champion, it's a great feeling."

It's about the Cup for Yzerman, whose team just won a fifth President's Trophy in 11 years as regular-season champions. The individual milestones? Forget it. He doesn't care.

"Particularly at this stage of my career, the individual stuff, the numbers really become irrelevant," said Yzerman. "They just don't have that much importance.

"It doesn't really matter to me."

He's two goals away from passing Messier (694) for seventh overall on the all-time list. He passed Gordie Howe for seventh all-time in assists earlier this season and sits sixth overall in all-time points.

"Kevin Lowe was here the other night at our game, and he's won six Stanley Cups," said Yzerman, who has 14 goals and 20 assists in 60 games this season. "So if you think you've done well, and you see someone who's done better, it kind of keeps you humble.

"Individually, I've really enjoyed the last 10 years of my career, our team has been successful and we've won the Stanley Cups.

"Now with my role - I'm not going to lead this team in scoring, I'm not expected to - for me the reason I stayed in Detroit over the last 10 years is because our team has been successful. It's really not because of any individual accomplishments. So I'm just trying to help out in any way to help this team win. The numbers don't matter to me."

It's a different role now for Yzerman, once among the top centres in the game along with Wayne Gretzky, Lemieux and Messier.

Now he's playing wing, instead of centre, he's no longer on the top power-play unit, he doesn't kill penalties, and he's down to 14 or 15 minutes a game.

Yet, he's still productive, and he still wears the C. No hockey player still in the game carries his aura.

Cherish it while it lasts hockey fans, there may only be two months left in one of the NHL's greatest careers.