Will Yzerman retire or wait? He says it's too early to tell
February 17, 2005

BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

What are the plans of Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman? Why, it's hockey practice.

"I'm taking my daughter to hockey practice tonight," Yzerman said Wednesday afternoon. "That is my future plan. Apart from that, I don't have any. It's too late to try out for 'American Idol.'

"I can't say, 'Yeah, I'm coming back for sure,' but I can't say, 'I'm not coming back.' I don't have a plan for all this.

"I really don't know."

Earlier in the day, Yzerman listened to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman cancel the 2004-05 season. For a player who will be 40 in May, that could be a career-ending announcement. But while Yzerman said he hadn't made up his mind, teammates didn't see him being forced into retirement.

"I've heard him talk about waiting maybe up until the middle of next year," center Kris Draper said. "But that's something he has to re-evaluate with his family. For an athlete, it's easy to train when you're training for a certain date. We don't have that. For Stevie, for his career, unfortunately, it could be the end. I think that's a shame if his career ends on this note."

Despite Bettman's dour news conference, Yzerman hasn't given up on this season.

"I think it's another card being played by Gary," Yzerman said. "I don't believe this is a bluff, but I don't think you can't reverse course if something were to happen reasonably soon.

"The owners made a significant step in removing the ties to revenues, and the players' association offered a salary cap. Those are two significant steps in negotiations. Once that bridge was gapped, once that was done, I think there is a deal staring everybody right in the face."

Instead, now, Yzerman's comeback has been put on indefinite hold. He hasn't played since May 1, when he was struck in the eye by a puck in Game 5 of the second-round playoff series against Calgary. The Wings lost in six. Yzerman returned to the ice in December, traveling to Moscow to participate in Igor Larionov's farewell game.

Yzerman had been skating at Troy with a handful of teammates, but stopped last month. Now it becomes a matter of how long he is willing to wait for a new collective bargaining agreement.

"Come summer, if they are able to get a deal done and have camp in September, I think I would" be back, Yzerman said. "But so much goes into it. I really don't have a plan for all this."

Yzerman wants to stay in hockey, whether it is another season as a player or in a front-office job with the Wings. He hinted he might change his mind if something tempting outside the game came up, like, for example, a business venture with a friend or some such lark.

For now, he has a date March 4 to skate in a charity event near Toronto put on by former teammate Steve Thomas. Joining Chris Chelios and Derian Hatcher on the Motor City Mechanics apparently is out of the question.

"They turned me down," Yzerman said. "They saw me skate in Igor's farewell game."

Of course, no one in Detroit would turn down Yzerman. He has played in the Motor City since 1981, suffering through dreary years in the '80s and celebrating Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998 and 2002. However old he is when another season starts, the Wings most definitely will welcome him back.

"I don't think this is the way Steve wants to go out, and this is not the way we want him to go out," general manager Ken Holland said. "My hope is Steve will want to come back."

With so much progress seemingly made this week, it rekindled Yzerman's hope that everyone might come back this season.

"I'm disappointed that instead of seeing this as a sign of goodwill, Gary has chosen to interpret it as a sign of weakness by the union and taken another hard position, another take-it-or-leave-it position," Yzerman said. "That's what he's chosen to do at this final hour."

Have we seen Yzerman's final hour as a player? Probably not, if a new season begins in September 2005 or January 2006. But if it goes beyond that, daughter Isabella might be the only Yzerman skating in Detroit.