April 29, 2006

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

Today could be Steve Yzerman's final home game. Ever.

We have no way of knowing, of course. The Red Wings might win this Edmonton series (with two home games left and the series tied, 2-2, they must be considered the favorite again). Yzerman might have already played his last home game -- he missed Thursday's Game 4 with an apparent back injury.

And Yzerman might come back for another season. But that seems highly unlikely.

I'm just saying it's possible. The Captain might take his final skate.

There is no ideal way for an athlete to retire. I suppose the best way for Yzerman to end his career is still possible: leading and contributing to a Stanley Cup champion, but knowing he has squeezed almost every ounce of hockey ability out of his body.

If Yzerman wants to come back next season, then more power to him. He has shown in the last two months that he still can be a force in this league.

This is not about whether Yzerman should retire. It's that he might. The uncertainty adds to the strange feeling: the last game, whenever it comes, will seem like any other Wings game in the last two decades, with Yzerman out on the ice.

When Yzerman made his Wings debut, Joe Dumars had two years left at McNeese State. Coleman Young was less than halfway through his tenure as Detroit's mayor. Gordie Howe was just four years removed from his last NHL game.

In the fall of 1983, the Wings were still in their Dead Things era. Many games were not televised. Tickets were easy to find. So maybe this is the best way to put Yzerman's Detroit career in perspective: In order to match Yzerman's accomplishments, Justin Verlander would have to become one of the best pitchers of his era, lead the Tigers to three World Series titles and pitch until 2028.

And even that wouldn't do it, because Verlander only pitches every fifth day. Yzerman was always in the lineup.

This might never happen again in our lifetimes: 20-plus years as the face of a Detroit team, gaining respect by the year, leading a revival of his team. In sports, greatness rarely lasts; the '84 Tigers never made it back to the World Series, and the Bad Boys Pistons missed the playoffs three years after winning their second championship.

The most logical Detroit comparison to Yzerman is Al Kaline, who spent almost 22 years in the Tigers' outfield. But Kaline did it before the free-agency era.

And precisely because Yzerman has been so exceptional, his endurance seems even more impressive. For many Detroiters, it is impossible to imagine the Wings without Yzerman. In the most temporary of professions, he has an aura of permanence.

Hey, any game could be the last for anybody. (Ask Jiri Fischer.) And we thought Yzerman's final game might have come two years ago, when he took that puck in the eye against Calgary, a horrible sight for anybody. He came back from that, and from knee surgeries that would have ended many Hall of Fame careers.

But someday, he won't come back any more.

That day might be soon.

The talk will be about whether the Wings can win, just as Yzerman wants it. But years from now, you might look back on April 29, 2006, as the last day you saw Steve Yzerman play at Joe Louis Arena as a Red Wing. Enjoy him while you can.