By Jacques Demers, as told to USA TODAY
Steve Yzerman is the greatest player I have ever coached. But in my opinion, he is going to announce his retirement soon.
Stevie, who turns 41 next week, is not the kind of guy who will hang around if he's not able to help the team. He obviously will talk it over with his wife Lisa and his three girls. But I believe that because of his age and his injuries, he will hang it up.

He has had one of the greatest careers that any athlete in Detroit has ever had. There have been a lot of great athletes there — Barry Sanders, Alan Trammell and Gordie Howe — but Stevie Y is among those elite.

Back in 1986, I was the one who named him captain, a position he has held to this day. I did it because of his leadership and his desire every night to be the best player on the ice. His character was immense. He had the ability to play big in big games and most importantly, he hated to lose. He did not accept losing. When I gave him the captaincy, he deserved it. He was 21, but he was very mature. I felt, as a coach, that if I was going to get that team out of the "Dead Wings" situation with 40 points the season before, I needed a leader.

He became my leader. He took his role very seriously. He was very consistent. He never cheated his teammates and the fans, and he wore that "C" with honor and pride.

But Stevie also had to battle injuries through his career. In 1987-88, my second season in Detroit, he suffered a serious knee injury on the night he scored his 50th goal. A lot of people thought that would be the end of his career. But he fought through everything. He never gave up on himself.

Why did he get the injuries? It was because he defied the opposition. He always went to the net with intensity as if to say, "Try to stop me." He didn't play the game on the outside. He played the game on the inside.

He can't do that today because the injuries and the age have caught up to him. That's the only thing that has changed. His heart is still there. He has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen. But time has caught up to him. He couldn't do the things he normally did, but he never stopped trying. He fought to the end. His makeup was like that.

The best thing about Stevie is he's not like other athletes who announce their retirement and get rocking chairs, other gifts and standing ovations as they go around the league. He will just announce his retirement sometime soon. The only sad part is that fans in Detroit, until the Red Wings raise his sweater, won't get a chance to see him for the last time.

His leaving the game saddens me, too. But, at the same time, I was lucky that I was able to coach a great player, and more importantly, a great person.

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