That's why the arena was filled with No. 19 jerseys sporting Yzerman's peculiar-looking name for two decades, and why the Red Wings demonstrated such stability all these years, because they unearthed a cornerstone player few franchises ever find.

That's why Hockeytown wonders today who will don the captain's "C" on his jersey next season -- possibly high-scoring defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom -- and becomes the first Red Wing other than Yzerman to wear it in 20 years.


That's why, through three championships and several unspeakable failures, the fans never stopped embracing Stevie Y.

He was 18 upon arrival and 41 when he wore the winged wheel the last time. In between, he crafted a career that only Gordie Howe, Al Kaline and Joe Louis can match for professional excellence, fan endearment and longevity among Detroit's sports icons.

Among the many greats just behind them, Barry Sanders, whose deftness as a running back may have provided the purest athletic performances Detroit has seen, left too much on the table with his premature retirement.

Ty Cobb and Bobby Layne failed the role-model requirement.

Jack Morris and Kirk Gibson defaulted by leaving to win championships elsewhere, and Alan Trammell defaulted by not winning without them.

Dave Bing and Bob Lanier didn't win enough, Isiah Thomas isn't exactly beloved in Detroit anymore, and Thomas Hearns lost even more spectacularly than he won.

All magnificent, all historic.

None Yzerman.

The classification into which Howe, Kaline, Louis and Yzerman fall has something to do with winning, and plenty more to do with dignity, humility and accountability.

Yzerman scored 34 points in his injury-shortened final season. With a couple healthy years he might surpass Howe's team scoring record. But that pursuit would be out of character. Besides, after years believing he would be the best player on the ice every night, "I no longer feel that way," he said.


As much as Yzerman looks forward to more time with his family and a role in the Red Wings' front office, playing on with diminished skills was the unabidable final straw.

He did not hang on too long, not by one day. The cancellation of the 2004-05 National Hockey League season threatened to leave Red Wings fans without a chance to say goodbye. But Yzerman thrilled them one last time, still the boy trying to please, by deciding the layoff wasn't so much to end his career.

The playoffs didn't turn out as hoped, as often was the case during Yzerman's career, although he finally skated with the Stanley Cup on the brilliant 1997 team, then showered with it that night. He won two more championships, in 1998 and 2002. History will recall, delicately, that he easily could have won more.

He was always hurt, and not always with little things. He smashed into a goal post late in the 1986-87 season, his first as captain, and suffered career-threatening torn knee ligaments. A herniated disc hobbled him during the mid-1990s.

Yzerman, more than anyone, was responsible for stamping out the lethargy within a franchise not-so-lovingly known a generation ago as the "Dead Things." He did it first through enormous scoring totals, when he challenged Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux statistically, and later by becoming one of the league's best two-way players.

He used his bully pulpit as team captain, but never in the public eye. And he accepted responsibility for defeat more often than for victory, even though he was responsible for far more wins than losses.

That classy era ended Monday at a not-too-teary press conference, with Red Wings royalty in attendance, and Howe, Ted Lindsay and team owner Mike Ilitch all looking like proud parents for very good reason.

That's all Stevie Y ever wanted.