Got his autograph when he was a rookie. He was humble and surprised to be asked.... just like Mario. My fave player.

Batman is the Dark Knight of Gotham. Yzerman is the Red Knight of Detroit. Yzerman is the Blue Knight of Tampa. Yzerman is Superman of the NHL.

His name is Dutch and translates literally to 'ironman'. Pretty cool if you ask me

Game 7 2OT goal against the Blues scored from the blue line. What a player.

My favorite player of all time, and I’m from sweden! When people talks about teams having a rough time and wants to do a lot of trades I think of Yzerman who battled so many years before he gets the cup. That’s heart and soul for a team

I'm privileged to have watched Steve Yzerman play. Now I get to see him mold a franchise in a front office.

I lived thru all of this my fav player of all time yes I'm from Detroit

Great video, Stevie Y is definitely one of the best wings and probably up there in best of NHL. Thanks for the content :)

Yzerman is one of those stars that I never heard anyone dislike. Normally you always hear at least a few people dislike the guy but for whatever reason Stevie Y seems to be very likeable. He also seems to have one of those careers where if you would take a young player and show him how to have a succesful career in hockey even after he stopped playing, tell him to look at Steve Yzerman.

Thank you so much for this Shannon!!! My all time favorite player and to me the GOAT! LGRW!!

His 155 pts season he still got dwarved by the number Lemieux and Gretzky put up. Imagine that, putting up 155 points and coming in 3rd.

My favorite player ever. When I started following the game seriously, he was a scoring machine, but he was overshadowed by Gretzky and Lemieux. Didn't bother him. Bryan Murray became coach and GM, and Fedorov was Murray's boy. Didn't bother Yzerman. What bothered Yzerman was losing in the playoffs, so he sacrificed the goals, points, and his body, and became a legend.

Growing up a Wings fan during the 90s was simply amazing.

I remember having my mind blown when I heard it took Ovechkin as long to win his first cup as it took Yzerman. I couldn't believe Stevie hadn't won one earlier in his career, it just really speaks to how strong he was all the way until his last season. It'd be interesting to look more at his complete metrics from the time Bowman came in and really helped him become a Selke winner. His goals went down, but his two-way game got so much better.

Never had the privilege of watching The Captain play in person; would have been really cool. At least I get to watch him build the next great Red Wings cup winning teams

You should do the career of The Hockey Guy

Funny thing, but you mentioned Yzerman's knees. He had SEVERAL major knee surgeries over his career, and the first was in that wretched season of '85-'86. Someone once asked him what his career would have been like if he'd spent it with two good knees. Yzerman said that he really didn't know, because he didn't take things like training, conditioning, practice, or study seriously until he had that injury. Nearly losing his career that way made him recognize that it could be over at any time, and that he wouldn't be able to rely on speed, reflexes, or anticipation forever. You never know if he might have found another way to get there, but he said that first big knee injury was the moment when he decided to really dedicate his life to hockey.

Truly one of the greatest hockey minds of all time. Wonderful playing career and in the front office, he put together one of the best teams around and while they haven't won anything, they still look to be highly competitive. I'm confident he'll make the Red Wings return to glory, again...

The best Captain ever. I watched him for years living in Detroit. What a player!!!!!

Looking at my autographed poster of Stevie hoisting that 97 cup as I watch this. Absolutely remember that year and that moment when they finally brought home the cup after years of drought.

Phenomenal leader and genius GM

I’ll never forget the horrific eye injury Yzerman sustained during their 03-04 series against Calgary. It’s amazing he didn’t go blind in his left eye, let alone being able to play one more season after the lock out.

I remember when Scotty Bowman first came to the Red Wings. Within the first year or two, the Detroit Free Press put out an article about Bowman thinking about haing Steve Yzerman traded. For reference, even before they won their first Stanley Cup, Yzerman was a massive fan favorite in Red Wings fandom on par with Gordie Howe. The very next game, when Scotty Bowman got to the bench, he was greeted with a rain of boos from the Red Wings faithful for a couple of minutes. Scotty knew what the boos were for, and after the game in an interview he said "I got the point." Needless to say, Yzerman was not traded. I'm glad The Captain is back home in Detroit as GM. He has long been my favorite player, and the only jerseys I have with names on bear his 19 and captains C. One of the GOATs.

I once heard that Yzerman would've been sent packing to the Ottawa Senators for Alexei Yashin. Its good thing Mr. I nixed the trade and stuck with Yzerman, because they would not have back to back cups in 97-98. Its a better thing for the Wings to not make a trade for Gretzky after the 1987-88 season. Had the Wings traded for Gretzky, Yzerman would have to play 2nd fiddle to Gretzky and he would've definately demanded a trade. Sometimes the best decisions a team makes are the trades that don't happen. The Wings will turn around.

Yzerman is and will always be my favorite athlete. Immensely talented, a selfless leader, a true hero you can be proud of and a genuinely good man. My appreciation and adoration for Stevie Y will never wane.

My all time favourite player

'89, Gretzky wins the Hart, Lemieux wins the Art Ross, but Yzerman gets the Pearson. Really speaks to how great he was.

Blown knees and the only guy blocking shots some nights. What a player

Thank you for making this! My fav player of all time and epitome of an NHL captain. Played during Gretzky, Lemieux era.. never received the attention he should have.

I could have sworn you already did a Steve Yzerman career vid. Maybe I'm thinking of the Nik Lidstrom video though. Oh well I would watch it if you did it once a year.

Would love to see you break down his career as a manger

I went to the same public, middle & high school as Steve Yzerman but way later lol. My uncle went to the high school at that time that he did and played football with his brother apparently :)

Became a casual hockey fan in the 90s, Stevie Y was my favorite player.

Being a Red Wings fan myself, I've seen Yzerman play through the best of times and the worst of times. It was great to see him finally win the cup in 97, and again in 98 and 2002. I don't think the Wings would have won any of those cups without him; he was clearly the heart and soul of the team. BTW, Yzerman almost became an ex-Red Wing during the 95-96 season, when rumors surfaced that he might be traded to Ottawa for Alexei Yashin (the rumors occurred very early in that season and mainly died down after the 95-96 home opener, when fans gave Yzerman a loud standing ovation during the pre-game ceremony). Nonetheless, he stayed put, and the rest is history.

Strange .. I thought you had done one on Yzerman too ?? One of my favourite Centers ever, disliked Detroit during his reign, but man he was good. The comparison to Joe Sakic was apt, both stuck with the same team and had similar trajectories. Both started as goalscorers unable to drag their teams anywhere, both overcame that and won multiple Cups. Both were first ballot HoF, both became GMs for their mother-team. Cheers!

MAKE THE WINGS GREAT AGAIN!!!!

This Habs fan loves Stevie Y!

This was my hockey idol growing up in the 90"s and still my favorite player to this day. Excellent video Shannon!

Thank you for the greatest video you've done to date... huge Red Wing fan obviously... but honestly thank you for an outstanding video of the Detroit Red Wings captain.... sorry it took me so long to watch, I always enjoy watching your videos

My favourite athlete of all time.

It’s great watching your videos and then turning around and watching that emotion in the first cup he won. Really puts it into context

My favourite player of all-time. Heart of a warrior and nobody ever speaks down about him. He is the perfect unassuming leader and his tenacity is 2002 was something I will never forget. Never was about the accolades. He hated the spotlight. But he loves his team, his teammates and his transition to management speaks volumes because he is always respected. Atta boy. He is the Captain.

Love him or hate him-this guy was a beast!!!!

Fun watching these career videos. Grew up watching so many of rhese players. I remember when Yzerman came into the league and looked so young. Guys like him, Hawerchuk were so fun to root for.

Team loyalty at it's best. If he had the mindset of some of today's players, he would have requested a trade after ten years so he could play on a "contending" team. Not this guy. He was proud to wear THAT jersey.

my moms cousin babysat steve and they still talk occasionally

When I was a kid I didn’t know why my dad liked Yzerman so much, he didn’t seem that great to me. But I didn’t know at the time that he’d already been paying for like 18 seasons, lol. I figured he’d only been around for a few years.

Thanks for the video Yzerman is my favourite player. I couldn’t disagree with you more though about this coming season for Detroit. They still have a ways to go but I think they will surprise a lot of people and challenge for a wild card spot.

Fedorov’s sidekick Yzerman was a beauty

Yzerman and Lemieux are synonymous with their organizations. Two of my favorites, I'm glad I got to watch as a kid and a young man.

Excellent video! Obviously lots of details to unfold with Stevie Y. While currently you did the year end of the Oilers and talking about Leon Draisaitl playing in pain , Doctors literally Rebuilt Yzerman’s knee and leg so he could continue playing hockey and competing. Like Mr Hockey doctors couldn’t understand how #9 could even function with damage done to his body. Incredible stories of the Will to compete by hockey players!

Favourite player of all time, from a die-hard Leafs fan!

My all time favorite player!

My favourite player of all time

For me Its Messier Gretzky Yzerman My second fave team is Detroit. He was incredible. Such heart. Such talent. Incredible leadership. He willed himself to play in 2002. On one leg he was by far the best player on the ice. Love love love him.

The fact that the Red Wings wanted Pat LaFontaine before him

Quality content as always. Greetings from Finland Perkele.

My favorite rookie card.

I feel lucky I got to see Yzerman play in person. One of the best ever.

By far my most favorite player.

My Idol, He was my first favourite player in the mid 80s.

Real nice. Thanks for showing one of the best hockey player of all time.

One of the G.O.A.T with out a doubt.

Like WOW backwards. Cool vid guy!!!

Him and his family used to come to the Japanese restaurant I worked at at least a few times a month. We had private rooms but they always just sat with everyone else. Awesome tippers too. I actually cut my thumb pretty deep the first the first time I saw him come in, was nervous as hell. Grew up idolizing the guy.

Steve Yzerman, a real class act for the Detroit Red Wings

Who the best they often ponder, right now Stevie wonder!

From an Avs fan that witnessed the rivalry between the Avs and Red Wings, Yzerman is one of the greatest/classiest Captains in NHL history. I love Sakic more obviously. Buy Yzerman is the one Red Wings player I have never hated. He was always fun to watch and made the players on his team better.

Went waaaay back into your career videos....love them. Plz do more!!!!😊

There is no one of his generation that I would have rather had as captain of the wings!

Finally! You get an add to favorites and a like. Would be 1000. Haven’t even watched the vid yet but I know you’re gonna rock it. Thank you! #yzerman #LGRW

One of the greatest leaders in the history of sports, and an absolute worrier. One of the 20 greatest players ever. 2nd greatest Red Wing behind Mr. Hockey.

Well done 👍 Thank you !

People don't see things in historical context. Go read an article about Yzerman in the pre-Bowman days or about Michael Jordan in his first few years when he was out in the first round....and the common theme is that they "aren't winners" and were "all about stats". Now people see Yzerman as the consummate captain who is clutch and plays both ends of the puck. Essentially the opposite of what people used to say about him.

This is what i need

I'm not a wing's fan as such, but if I could build a perfect player I would use Yzerman as the prototype! When Bowman became coach he encouraged Steve to become more defensive, a more complete player. One of the all time greatest despite playing in the Gretzky-Lemeux era.

excellent video THG, really appreciate this as a red wings fan. team has been bad for awhile yet it's nice to see some acknowledgement about the great players DRW had. cheers from southern ontario 🍁

Didn’t Scotty Bowman challenge Yzerman to be a more complete player prior to Detroit’s first cup?

Definitely one of the best players that came out of BC

He was just a little bit better than most, but It never went to his head.. he played smart never gave credit to himself always gave credit to his teammates around him and his coaches the most modest awesome player to ever live Steve Yzerman makes me proud I am at the Detroiter

Steve Yzerman is the epitome of sports leader, and role model. Anyone who ever criticized this guy for not instantly propping up the comically god awful 80s Red Wings, is an idiot. There's just no two ways about it. I'm not even a Detroit fan, and actually hate the team, if I'm being honest, but Steve Yzerman was the one thing about that franchise, that I could never, ever dislike. Absolute legend in NHL history, from the moment he first hit the ice, in his first NHL game.

Thank you so much for this video. Truly appreciate it. LGRWS

I remember him beating my Canucks in the playoffs on one leg. As good as Lidstrom was that beating of my Canucks was all Steve Yzerman. As upset as I was I had to give him all the props.

Loved the video! One of my favorites of all time. Seeing this also reminds me of another former Red Wing I don’t think I’ve seen you do a video on, Chris Chelios. Definitely an interesting career and he played forever lol.

I have loved his art to play nord. work blocks shoot fight 👍🏻 top player

I'm loving this channel. Die Hard Wings fan, and I hope you do a Video on Brendan Shanahan. My favorite LW of all time. He put us over the top in 97, and his one year in Hartford is understandably underrated.

Well done 👍

stevie bong rip , one hell of a classy player

Is there an arguement for the best Captain ever in the NHL with Steve'y Y? What's everyone's views?

Pls do Slava Fetisov hes kinda unkown and underrated

I heard that Gretzky could've been a Red Wing if he wasn't traded to the Kings. He would've been swapped for Adam Oates, Joe Murphy and the Wings 3 first rd picks. Had this happened, they would've had a better record, but wouldn't be in a position to draft Fedorov, Lidstrom, and Konstantinov in 1989. Yzerman would have to play under Gretzky's shadow and would likely demand a trade. In that scenario Jacques Demers remains as coach which means Scotty Bowman may end up staying with Pittsburgh at that that time. Then I also hear that Yzerman could've been traded to the Senators gets Yashin. So there were two instances where Yzerman almost gets sent packing. Kudos to Ken Holland and Mike Illytch for sticking to Yzerman. The best moves you make are the players you stick with through thick and thin.

Brendan Shanahan,please!

Thank you Shannon for doing a Detroit centered video. How about a video about the Russian Five - you neglected to mention them during your history of the Wings. Go Wings. Go Stevie Y. Also Larkin is definitely a top ten center in the NHL right now.

Had the Minnesota North Stars taken Stevie Yzerman, first overall instead of Brian Lawton, who was probably the worst first overall pick in the history of the NHL, the North Stars may never had moved to Dallas!

My second comment on here which I usually don't do I just wanted to point out thank you for recognizing Stevie y my brother

I just watched a few of your videos on Red Wings favourites (Yzerman is my fav player, Konstantinov & Vernon) I don’t think Yzerman would have done as well without Scotty Bowman coming in 93-94 & influencing his game to be more of a 2-way player. Loved Stevie’s ability to score goals, but happy he was mature enough to know he may score less goals, but smart defensive play will help your team become a winner. It would be interesting to have a series of videos on prominent coaches or GMs, maybe not as a career…but for specific teams. Wings couldn’t win for years, Bowman comes in and gets played buy in and wins 3 cups in 8 or 9 years or so…

I remember calling him "Yazerman", after he was drafted for a shot bit, but it got to Yzerman soon enough.

Jon Casey still has nightmares of Stevie Y's double overtime goal behind the blue line in game 7 of the Western Conference semis in '96!!

Great open.

I'm sure you did a Stevie Y video before....I'm sure I watched it. Hmmm either way I'm fine with another one of a true Red Wings great and always be the captain :D