Yzerman proves toughest aren't always fighters

By Jerry Green / The Detroit News

The toughest guy in the NHL is not bellicose. He is not a fighter, and he never thumps his chest in self-adulation. He refuses to boast, and he has proven his toughness by defying scientific medical opinions at least twice.

The name, of course, is Steve Yzerman, whose mettle is admired by fans in two nations. And so as the Red Wings advance toward another April and another attempt to win the Stanley Cup, it is Yzerman’s grit that carries his team. They are tops in the league in a season of injury absences and goaltending turmoil.

Three times now he has been presented with the Stanley Cup and lugged it around the ice surface, a champion. The quest is for No. 4.

The toughness comes from some place within. We call it heart, I guess, but guts and courage would be other words to describe Yzerman in 2003-04.

He is still popping in goals and feathering passes to scoring teammates at a time when the naysayers said he would be done.

Two years ago, Yzerman willed the Wings to the Cup on a crippled knee. He skated when he could barely walk. It was after that season that he underwent radical surgery on his leg, a procedure surgeons call an osteotomy. In involves cutting into the knee and sawing on the bone and removing tissue.

As he healed last season and vowed he would play hockey again, there was a TV documentary about the procedure. I recall distinctly a doctor stating that Yzerman would never be able to play again.

Yzerman proved the medics wrong. He did come back to play late last season, appearing in 16 games, plus the four in the playoffs. It was difficult. The Wings were ripped by the Mighty Ducks in the first round, out in a week in defense of their 2002 championship.

A longer than planned offseason perhaps helped Yzerman’s renaissance. Coach Dave Lewis’ plan was to play Yzerman one game on, one game off this season. The plan quickly went into the trash bin.

Yzerman skipped one game early on due to his repaired knee. He missed another six when he was struck by the Wings’ epidemic of groin injuries. He has played in all the rest.

There are now Wings playoff records beckoning for him on this historic franchise of Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. Two week hence should Yzerman get one goal he would become the club’s all time goal scorer in Cup competition. He is heading into the postseason with 67 playoff goals, a record he shares with Howe.

When he plays his first game, he will set a record for most consecutive playoff seasons. The current record of 13 is shared with Lindsay.

Yzerman already holds the club records for most playoffs games, 181, and for most playoffs points, 175.

Through his 21 seasons, I have seen this toughest of Red Wings clench his fists and fight just once. Many years ago the Canadiens’ Bobby Smith went after him in a corner.

Yzerman cleaned Smith’s clock.