January 3, 2007

BY GEORGE SIPPLE

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Kris Draper usually doesn't have trouble answering reporters' questions, but Tuesday he was stumped when asked for his favorite memory of former captain Steve Yzerman.

"I don't know, with the career that Stevie had, if you can pick out just one moment," Draper said.

Yzerman's No. 19 was retired in a ceremony before Tuesday's game against Anaheim at Joe Louis Arena.

The one memory Draper did share was of a players-only meeting Yzerman had during the 2002 playoffs.

"Probably one of the biggest things... was when we were down two games to nothing to Vancouver," Draper said. "Everyone had basically kind of written us off. We got into Vancouver and the next day kind of had a little practice. Stevie started talking to players only, just kind of saying how we were going to win this series."

According to Draper, Yzerman said "he believed in everybody in this dressing room to get the job done."

"Obviously, in 2002, everyone knows what happened," Draper said. "We ended up winning four straight against Vancouver and went on to win the Stanley Cup.

"The biggest impact of him addressing the team was what he was going through night in and night out to make sure he played. That was when he was on his bad knee after the Olympics. The stuff that he had to do to get ready to play a game just kind of inspired everybody."

MORE ON STEVIE Y: Yzerman kicked forward Dan Cleary out of a team dinner last year just for mentioning the name of goaltender Patrick Roy, a former nemesis on the Colorado Avalanche.

"At the end of the day, I've developed a good friendship with him," Cleary said of Yzerman. "For me, I only had the opportunity to play with him for one season, but obviously it's well-documented that he liked to jab and rib me a lot."

Even though Cleary has become a consistent offensive contributor this season -- his 11 goals led the NHL in December -- he still gets his share of abuse from Yzerman, now a team vice president.

"(He) finds ways to get to me, in a good way," Cleary said.