YZERMAN TALKS ABOUT THE WINGS
Did you get to watch the last game and what did you think?
I watched the game. I thought both teams looked tired. That could’ve gone either way. Quality scoring chances, I thought Calgary had more, but we certainly had plenty of opportunities to score to win a game. Guys played hard, but I felt both teams looked tired and the travel back and forth had really taken its toll. I felt that in Game 5 throughout it was close.
What went through your mind when Gelinas scored and the season ended?
The whole overtime period I was kind of holding my breath, hoping nothing bad happened, much like every fan sitting there, just helpless and just hoping that something goes right. I pretty much turned the TV off and was disappointed. I was really hoping and felt that we were good enough (to) compete for the Cup. (I) was just disappointed. Myself, I had expected us to get through this round somehow and get into the semis and myself I hoped to play later on in the playoffs. I was just hoping we’d played long enough to be back.
Does that mean you’ll be playing next year?
I knew that was going to be a big question when I came in today. At this point I’ll just say I’d like to play again. I’ve had some discussions with some people and expect my eye to heal. I expect that to get to the point where it’s good enough that it won’t impair my ability to play. I’d like to play again.
Was this injury the worst you’ve had?
It was pretty painful. The cheek bone will heal. My eye is a little bit of a concern, I do have some problems with that. We’ll get a real good idea in the next couple weeks.
It’s not your decision to make, but do you think Dave Lewis’ job is on the line?
We’ve been together since he came in 86-87. We played as teammates for a long time together and as an assistant coach we’ve been through a lot. I have a good relationship with him as a coach. I’m not sure what happens. There’s a lot of uncertainty for players and coaches and a lot people. I really enjoyed playing for him. He tried really hard to give us a boost in this playoff series.
Are you comfortable telling the Illitch’s what you feel and what your wishes are?
Mr. I and Mrs. I talk to Kenny and Jimmy D. a lot. It’s not my position to go to the owner of the team. I’ll talk with the coaching staff. I’ll talk with Kenny Holland. Over the years I’ve learned that if your opinion is asked, give it, like any other player. It’s not appropriate for a player to go in and force his opinion on anybody.
What do you think was the missing ingredient for this year?
What we lack is a hardness, the ability to wear a team down, to tire you out, kind of to punish you. We have a lot of players, and I am one of them, that are more skill-type, finesse. We try to go after the puck and create scoring chances. We don’t have a lot of guys that are straight ahead bangers. Over the years we’ve lost some of those players. I think up front we have to become a harder team. That doesn’t mean sign three big dummies that go out there and fight. With some of the players that we have, their amount of ice time will increase. I’d expect to see some more straight ahead guys that are bigger that are a little bit more physical, but are just hard guys, heavy guys, the big bodies that drive to the net, knock people off the puck. It’s two years in a row we haven’t scored a lot in the playoffs and I think that’s one element, in my opinion, that we need a better balance of. We have a lot of the same type of playmakers and offensive-minded players that are good defensively, but we need more guys that are straight ahead, pounding guys. Guys like Holmer, Mac, whether those guys play more or bring in players that are going to play 17-18 minutes a game that are real bangers, a couple more I think.
Can you talk about Cujo and his experience?
Yeah, for an individual player it’s one of the most bizarre years he’ll go through – up and down. A rollercoaster. Through the course of the season, I think his play really improved, which is accredited to him that he was able to take something good. For him as a goaltender it wasn’t a total loss. He was able to play well. I saw his style changed gradually over the year, the way he stopped pucks, the way his positioning was. It was gradually different and as a result I think pucks hit him more. I think he should feel good about that. I’m sure he has a lot of different feelings on playing here and the experience of this year. I really don’t know. With the CBA coming up, there’s so much uncertainty to who’s going to be here and who’s playing and that’s with every team in the league. Cujo handled this situation very well. He played really well. I’m sure he has inside things that he can’t say – I totally understand – he has some mixed feelings on his time here.
What’s your best guess on when the NHL will play next season?
My feeling is the earliest we’ll see hockey is next January with a potential for an entire season to be lost. I think that’s more realistic than a lot of people outside think. Players are quite prepared and are expecting, actually, there not to be a season next year. From my understanding the ownership throughout the entire league is preparing for that as well. In baseball, we watched how that last negotiation went in that last hour and they got a deal done. That leaves some optimism open I think. But we’re preparing for there not to be a season, quite frankly. I think because during the last lockout the league was able to have a contracted season and a full playoff and it worked reasonably well, I think it’s a no-brainer to think we could at the very least we could start the season in January. I think that’ll be the real hard deadline.
Do you think the players will ever go for a salary cap?
No. I really don’t. That’s the one issue right there.
Not even a soft cap?
No. I think we recognize there’s going to be change. You can debate on how much there needs to be changed and that’s an argument that will never be won by either side. I can understand the owners’ desire for one, but I also understand the Players Association they don’t want a cap of any sort. That’s not going to go into consideration. Baseball has a luxury tax, potentially that could be for the most part somewhat of a salary cap only it’s three or four teams. I think that would serve the same purpose. It’s something we’ll resolve at some point, but it’s going to take a long, hard negotiation over a long period of time. Both sides are going to lose a lot, before it finally comes to a point where something has to get done.
Can hockey compete as a big four sport?
A salary cap isn’t going to answer that question. The simple fact in the United States, the game has improved in popularity, but in a lot of parts of the country hockey’s not a popular sport and I don’t know that it ever will be. I don’t know that we should be worrying too much about that. The attendance is pretty good. Whether it’s dipped a couple percent, I don’t know that. The game is doing very well. Teams have a chance to win. A lot of arguments aren’t fair. There are some issues and I recognize ownership has real issues to address, but throwing a salary cap in there isn’t going to make the NHL a major sport. It’s not going to make it popular in San Antonio or a lot of parts of the country. It’s not going to and we have to accept that. Because it’s a winter sport, it’s a sport that hasn’t been played in lot of parts of the country. It’s going to be a 100 years until those people have an interest in it. It shouldn’t be bashed as a sport. It’s very popular in certain spots and that’s the way it’s going to be.
Do you think contraction is going to be a good idea?
In my opinion, yes. I believe we’re in some markets that are not hockey markets. They aren’t strong markets. The PA (Player’s Association) points this out a lot and it does make a lot of sense – Minnesota, the franchise that was struggling there. They fold that team and split it up and it goes into San Jose and Dallas. You get two excellent franchises out of that team that are thriving very well. Then five years later they go back into Minnesota with a franchise that’s doing extremely well. I think at this stage you can’t expect for all thirty teams to be doing well at the same time. This is an argument that I don’t want to get too deeply into. It won’t be long before I’m on the other side, being in some type of position, I think in management whether it’s here or there or whatnot. I’ll probably be arguing the other way. The salary doesn’t solve all the issues. Obviously it controls expenses and I understand owners wanting to control their expenses. I don’t know that it’s up to the players to dictate how things are run.
Can you tell us a little more about your condition?
Yeah, it’s been reported I had a scratch in my cornea. That’s really insignificant. That’s already healed. I have a tear in the iris, small tear in the iris which controls how your pupil dilates. This is all relatively new to me. I have some eye drops in there that almost temporarily paralyze my pupil to keep it open. The doctor explained it as sort of a cast to let that part of the eye heal. Over ten days it’ll come back. The only uncertainty is how much my pupil will expand and contract, so down the line I won’t know that. It depends on how I feel. How my eye may respond to bright light I might have some difficulty, just because my pupil may not contract in the future in bright light. I may have some difficulty seeing in bring light.
How was that whole weekend for you?
It was pretty soar. The swelling has gone down a lot. I just had pressure and a big, pretty wicked headache. It was a pretty slow weekend. I just laid around and slept. Yesterday was the first day I felt like I could move around a little bit, feel good. I woke up this morning, felt great and am able to move around without too much difficulty. Bright light, looking through it with this eye I get a headache. I think that will come back pretty close back to normal. I’ve got to go back and see the doctors Tuesday. For one week I had no exercise, no activity. I’ve got some bleeding in the back of my eye that has to clear up and stop and no activity for a week.
You don’t have any surgery left do you?
No.
How do you see now?
Everything’s blurry and the lights and brightness hurt, but I’ve got some drops that temporarily paralyze my pupil, so it’s really dilated. That’ll wear off in ten days. We’ll get a better idea of how my pupil is going to react in the future.
Is there a possibility that your injury could make the decision to play for you?
That’s a very remote possibility. I don’t think I’m going to have any significant, permanent loss of eyesight. Both eyes I was 20/20. My whole life I’ve never had an eye injury before. I don’t know if it’ll get back to 20/20 in my left eye, but I don’t think it’s going to get to a point where I can’t see.
What about the visor debate?
Sitting here today and even sitting in the hospital that night, I really wish I’d been wearing a visor. I’ve played 21 years and never had an eye injury. I really wished I had a visor on and in the future I plan on wearing one. I have three daughters that don’t play hockey, but if I had a son and he was going through juniors or whatever and he was turning into pro hockey, I’d want him to wear a visor. I don’t need an eye injury. This is the first one I’ve had. I’ve worn one for a different time because of a broken nose or what not. That was my biggest concern on the ice. My cheek bone really didn’t hurt at the time, it was my eye. That’s the first thing that went through my mind was, I don’t want to lose my eyesight. I really believe guys should be wearing them. I didn’t say that a week ago, but when I play again, I plan on wearing a visor.
I’ve worn one in the past. The biggest reason you didn’t like it is because I’m constantly cleaning it off, but it didn’t affect my play or my sight on the ice. This is the first eye injury I’ve had. I wish I didn’t have it obviously. A visor would’ve helped. It probably wouldn’t have prevented all the injury, but it’d definitely helped. I’ll probably wear one for sure.
Can you talk about what you think your future will be or is it too early?
At this stage, I’d like to play again. There’s just a lot of uncertainty. First of all, within our team losing quickly, there’s going to be some change and some adjustments. I’ll just say I’d like to play again and leave it at that. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the CBA. That’s going to be the biggest issue, not just for myself but for a lot of guys.
What’s the longest older players can wait before getting back into the swing of the NHL?
It depends on what guys do with their time off. The one thing about older guys that’s a disadvantage for them is that they have families so it’s difficult to take off to Europe and play. There are leagues here to play in. Depends on what you do, I guess. Guys will be skating someway. It helps you. It doesn’t help you when you’re 39 if you take a season off and sit on your butt and do nothing. Your conditioning is going to wear away quickly. Missing a year, guys can come back assuming you take really good care of yourself. I thing if it goes beyond that, it’s time to look to do something else.
What do you say to those that say you shouldn’t play because you don’t have anything else to prove?
My health is a big concern. My knee feels great and I don’t want to play until I literally can’t play anymore. I don’t want it to be totally shot. There’s a lot of things I want to do to be active for a long time. I want to go skiing...there’s a lot of things I plan on doing when I’m done playing. I’m not planning on crawling off the ice for the last time knowing I can’t play. My knee, I shouldn’t say I have no difficulties, but it’s way better than expected. I’ve had issues with my neck. That’s a concern for me. That’s something I’ll have to address in the future here. I had a spinal fusion back in ’94 and I’ve got certain issues with that. I don’t know what the final point is when I’m going to say that’s it.
But you’re not there now...
I’m not there today.
Would you play anywhere else next year?
Lisa and I talked a little bit about it. We’d like to go somewhere in Europe, find a good city there and do it as an experience for the kids and for us, but realistically I don’t think it’s going to work. I just don’t want to be moving them around from schools too much. So, no, if there isn’t a season here, I don’t plan on playing.
What if the WHA has a team here?
Going into this assuming there’s a lockout, I don’t foresee myself playing anywhere else next year.
So you’d have to get your general skating somewhere else?
Yeah, pretty much what we did during the lockout – the last one. I think three times a week we got together, all the guys, not just the Red Wing players, but the ones in the Detroit area, got together and skated. That got old pretty quickly. If it really drags past January, I’d plan on not skating any more after that.
People say this team needs to be torn apart, do you buy that?
No. It doesn’t need to be torn apart. There’s definitely some changes that need to be made, but just the simple facts that you got some darn good young players that aren’t going anywhere and some older guys like Hatch and Nick on defense that take them into the next few years. It’s not going to be torn apart but I would expect come September there will be five or six different players in the line up. Tearing it apart, no. I believe a significant change has to be made to the make up of our team. We’ve gone with too much of the same player up front. We need to bring in a couple more Martin Lapointe-type players, straight ahead, physically strong, guys who wear you down, who may get a good hard hit on you and you may separate your shoulder. Not that guys are going out there trying to hurt guys, but the kind that wear guys down in a playoff series. We’re not a team, up front anyway, that punishes you in your end of the rink, along the boards, up front. We’ve got a lot of good players, but that one element is where my assessment is of our team this playoff, last playoff. It’s not enough of that type of player. I think we’re a lot of similar type players a majority of the team.
