Nobody could have predicted at the time what a monumental day it would turn out to be for the franchise. "I've always said it's sometimes better to be lucky than good,'' Wings senior vice president Jimmy Devellano, then the team's general manager, said.

More than two decades later, Yzerman ended a unique career, the likes of which the sport might never witness again, when he announced his retirement on Monday.

More liberal free agency and a hard salary cap lessens the chances of any player remaining with one organization for his entire 22-year career, let alone serving as captain for 19 seasons, as Yzerman did.

"Every player, when you're drafted, your first thought is, `This is the team I'm going to play my entire career for,' '' Yzerman said. "I was lucky. A lot of players have had much better careers than I have and have moved on to different organizations. The biggest reason I was able to remain here . . . I attribute it to being lucky.''

His talent had something to do with it, too. Yzerman ranks in the top 10 on the NHL's career list for goals (692, eighth), assists (1,063, seventh) and points (1,755, sixth). Those numbers will be difficult to match in this defensive-minded era, despite new rules that opened up the game.

"As a young player, he was as good as they got,'' Devellano said. "When Steve was playing in that era, he was going up against Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. For goodness sake, Steve had trouble making the (postseason) All-Star teams in those years with 155 points (in a season).

"But, he was right up there with them, and through the '80s he really was the franchise. He helped us sell tickets, lure other players here because people wanted to play with him. I think that helped bring Scotty (coach Bowman) here (in 1993), because he knew Yzerman's abilities and he could see that we were good.''

And with parity in the league -- this year's playoff semi-finalists were four teams that didn't even reach the playoffs the previous season -- what are the chances that another captain will be able to raise the Stanley Cup three times, like Yzerman did?

"When I introduced Steve Yzerman as our first pick, I said we would build our team around him, that he would be the cornerstone of the franchise,'' Devellano said. "And, of course, he filled that.

"We needed Steve to be a goal-scorer, a guy who could get points. We needed a colorful guy, offensively. The team wasn't very good. It was very important for him to become a superstar.''

Yzerman made an immediate impact as an 18-year-old in 1983-84, collecting 39 goals and 87 points and finishing second to Buffalo goaltender Tom Barrasso for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. He soon became a bona fide superstar, registering six consecutive seasons with more than 100 points -- scoring 50 or more goals in five of them -- from 1987-93.

"Steve was the second-best one-on-one player to (Pittsburgh's) Mario Lemieux,'' Wings general manager Ken Holland said. "I can still remember Steve going over the blue line on the off-wing -- he had the stutter step, the change of pace, he lulled you into thinking he was (slowing down) and then all the sudden he had another gear and he gets the defense leaning one way and -- boom! -- away he goes.''


Holland also marveled at Yzerman's ability to hang onto the puck.

"We talk about the Red Wings being a puck-possession team; Steve's always been puck-possession,'' Holland said. "He wasn't a guy who was going to flip it and chase it. He had the ability to handle the puck at high speeds, think at high speeds and make decisions at high speeds.''

As much as he was lauded locally, Yzerman was overshadowed nationally by Gretzky, who shattered NHL scoring records and won four Cups with Edmonton in the '80s, and then Lemieux, another megastar who led the Penguins to titles in 1991 and '92.

"He's played all his career in their shadows,'' Bowman said. "Steve was not that interested in individual honors, though. He worried about competing, about winning.''

Yzerman never won a scoring title or the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP and wasn't named to one of the NHL's postseason All-Star teams until 1999-2000 (first team center). But, he always had the respect of his peers.

"In my opinion, he's one of the top three or four players I've ever played against,'' former NHL defenseman Calle Johansson said. "The thing about him is he didn't wait for his opportunities, he made them come to him. He never took a shift off. I think he was one of the most underrated players in the game.''

But, despite Yzerman's offensive exploits, the Wings, after reaching the semifinals in 1987 and '88 under coach Jacques Demers, experienced a series of playoff disappointments. They won only one round in a six-season stretch from 1989-94.

Many questioned whether the Wings were capable of winning the Cup with Yzerman. He was nearly traded twice, in 1992 to Buffalo for LaFontaine, and in 1995 to Ottawa.

After initially clashing with Bowman, Yzerman realized the team would benefit more if he sacrificed some offense to become a two-way player.

"That transformation and his willingness to sacrifice for the good of the team ultimately (led) to our success over the last decade,'' Holland said.

Bowman has coached 22 players currently in the Hall of Fame and, by his estimation, another eight that will eventually get there, including Yzerman. The nine-time Cup-winning coach said Yzerman would have been even more dominant in his prime with the league's new rules limiting obstruction.

"He was tough to stop even when they were allowed to hook and hold and all that stuff,'' Bowman said. "When the league expanded, you needed players to do more than just play one way. That was the mark Steve left the last 10 years -- faceoffs, specialty teams, offense and defense, a complete player.''

His career was complete in 1997, when the Wings swept the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals to end a 42-year championship drought and Yzerman was finally able to lift hockey's holy grail. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP the following season when the Wings won the Cup again.

"Winning the Stanley Cup in '97 was something we were all dying for. It became an obsession for our entire organization, so that was a great relief,'' Yzerman said.

Yzerman's leadership ability was never more evident than during that first Cup run, when he called out the team during a fiery locker room address after Game 4 of the first-round series against St. Louis.

"When it was appropriate to say something he did,'' Holland said. "But, Steve wasn't a guy who got up and talked every day. He led by example.''

Yzerman battled injuries throughout his career -- a broken collarbone in '86, torn knee ligaments in '88, a herniated disc in '93, arthroscopic knee surgery in 2000, an osteotomy in '02, a broken orbital bone in the 2004 playoffs and a series of groin injuries during his final season.

Teammates and club officials marveled at his ability to play through pain. Kris Draper said Yzerman's playoff performance on a badly ailing knee during Detroit's 2002 Cup run best exemplified his will to win.

"After every game his knee was just swelling up and basically he had ice bags from his ankle to his hips to try to get the swelling down,'' Draper said. "You watch any of those 2002 videos of our Stanley Cup run, if he got knocked down he could hardly get up. That shows the character and passion of Steve Yzerman.''

Said Bowman: "Nobody could compete harder than he did. He's the ultimate competitor.''

Of all the players who've donned a Wings jersey, two stand out above the rest -- Gordie Howe and Yzerman. Only Howe has accumulated more goals (786) and points (1,809) as a Wing.

Fittingly, Howe had a front-row seat at Yzerman's farewell press conference.

"The pride and love he had for the game -- that's what stood out to me,'' Howe said.

For 22 years, Yzerman stood out among the giants in hockey.