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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 3, 2009Steve YzermanDAVID KEON: We now have the second member of this year's group of skaters being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame next Monday. Steve Yzerman played his entire 22-year career with the Detroit Red Wings. He is eighth on the National Hockey League's all-time goals list with 692, seventh on the assists list with 1,063, sixth all time in points with 1,755. In 196 playoff games Steve notched 70 goals, 115 assists for 185 points, on the way to winning three Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP in 1998. He was Detroit's first choice, fourth overall in the 1983 NHL entry draft, and he retired on July 3rd, 2006. Thanks again to Steve for taking the time to join us and answer your questions. We'll open it up now for questions. Q. Getting used to playing Scottie's way when he got hired, wanted you to turn into the two-way guy, how difficult was that for you? How long did it take for you to get used to his way? STEVE YZERMAN: I don't know that it really took all that long. For a couple of years there, Scottie's first year was '94, we had a good year. We lost in the first round of the playoffs. Coming back the next season was a lockout year, it was only half a season, that's where the adjustment in that season was. I played pretty much on a line that entire year with Bobby and Darren McCarty. Didn't score much. Come off of neck surgery that off-season. It really didn't take long. The most difficult part is when you're not putting up a lot of numbers and there's question about your ability, there's two ways to look at it: You're effective in one way, but it's difficult when you've got to deal with or listen to he's not an offensive player, he's become expendable, when you're doing the things you're asked to do. Q. What about the trade rumors at the time, how did you handle those? STEVE YZERMAN: Trade rumors were actually the start of the '96/'97 -- I mean '95/'96, the next year actually. It was a very brief period. Initially when that happens, it is unsettling. But I recognized I really had very little control over the situation. It died out very quickly. We went on and played. There was not much to be said about it. It never really came up again. Q. You had a lot of injuries at the end. I spoke with Ken Holland. He said in the last game you ever played, you were still a very important player. Do you think you had more to give or did the injuries really sap a lot of what you had left? STEVE YZERMAN: I don't feel I had anything left actually physically. The desire to play was really there. What I had hoped coming out of the lockout, you know, when the season was canceled, a year off of training, rest for my knee, that it would feel better. It really didn't make any difference. It became a real struggle for me to try to do the things. I watched players around the league, teammates, know how hard they trained in the off-season, it became hard for me to train at a level and get ready for the season. Particularly my last year, I had a heck of a time to stay healthy to get in the lineup. I was playing on a team whose goal was to try to win the Stanley Cup. Really what it came down to is: Could I contribute enough to this team to help win the Cup. As much as I wanted to continue playing, I knew I couldn't keep up at this pace anymore. Q. Most guys, when they're going into the Hall of Fame, it's kind of time to reflect, look back. You're still shaping your legacy now as a hockey executive with the Olympic team, with the Red Wings. Does it feel strange to be called a Hall of Famer when you're still so heavily involved in the business of hockey? STEVE YZERMAN: You know what, not so much because I'm still involved, but, yes, it does feel strange. I'm not used to it. I guess officially I'm not really in there yet. It does feel strange to be considered a Hall of Famer because growing up and really being in the league, you run into the Hall of Famers, you would see them on TV, see the names, it's a pretty awesome group. So for me, yeah, I'm still not totally comfortable with it. I look forward to going in. I look forward to the weekend, being around all those gentlemen. I'm glad last year I went to Igor's induction, got a sense for what it's all about, the proceedings. I got a chance to see a lot of the former players, guys currently in the Hall of Fame, how much they enjoy the weekend, enjoy being a part of it. So for me I'm really looking forward to it. I'm still not comfortable with it yet. Q. The dual job with the Wings, the Olympics, so many guys in your front office that are involved with the Canadian team, do you allot time to talk Olympics or does it work itself out? STEVE YZERMAN: It really works into it. I'm very careful with Kenny and Mike. First of all, they have no trouble differentiating or appropriating time to talk about the Olympics. But their first priority and their first job is with the Red Wings. They make sure that is taken care of and done, all the attention and appropriate time and discussion is done on the Red Wings. You know Mike and you know Kenny. At this stage, they don't let things slip, their attention to detail is great. I don't think their involvement with the Olympic program has taken anything away from the Red Wings. We don't necessarily schedule things, although tomorrow we've got some things scheduled to talk about. It just kind of comes into the conversation. We flew home from Calgary after the game and the team played very well. I think everybody felt good about it. I was able to sit down with Mike for a little while and talk about some things. We're relatively organized. We certainly find time to talk about it. Q. I wanted your thoughts, Chris Chelios said playing on the 2002 Red Wings team was one of the most memorable years of his career. When you look at the guys you're going into the Hall of Fame with, did you realize as it was happening this was a Hall of Fame group, a special group of guys? STEVE YZERMAN: Not really. People talked about and we read how many potential Hall of Fame guys are on the team. But the players don't sit around ever and discuss, Well, I think we're going into the Hall of Fame. It never comes up in a conversation. We're just a group of players. There were a lot of guys on that team, very good players, that aren't going to go into the Hall of Fame. Nobody ever sat around thinking, This is where we're going, this is going to be our legacy, whatnot. I look back on it, it was really an enjoyable year. We had a good team. We had a successful season throughout. We did win the Presidents' Trophy. We had a lot of fun. It was Hullys first year there, Luc's first year, with Dominik. A lot of high-profile guys, strong personalities. Everybody just kind of got along, had fun. Scottie was in charge. He decided where you played, when you played, how much you played. We went out, had a good time, enjoyed it. Fortunately we were able to win the Cup. Q. How did adding Brett and Luc change the dynamic of that team? STEVE YZERMAN: It just gave us scoring depth. Over the course of a season, the more depth and scoring you can have, it just alleviates, allows, if a guy is injured, guys cool off for a while, somebody was always kind of picking up goals. It became particularly evident in the playoffs. I'm not sure of everyone's stats, but virtually you had Brett on one line, Luc on another, Sergei and Brendan on another, then you had the Draper, Maltby, McCarty line at the time. We really had balanced scoring. I think at the end of the day, that was the difference playing Colorado in the semis, then ultimately against Carolina. Despite winning in five, they were relatively close games. We were able to generate, get more production from all four of our lines. Q. Was there ever a point in your career where you realized the Hall of Fame might be a final destination for you? STEVE YZERMAN: You know, I never did. I don't believe players kind of sit around or at any point in their career think about that. You're obviously aware of guys going into the Hall of Fame each year at this time. As I got older, started being asked by the media on occasion about it. I never really thought that. It's something that you play your entire career, really it's something that gets assessed after. But I don't believe players themselves sit around determining themselves that they belong in or they don't belong in. Great to get the phone call last year. It was a real thrill for me. But up until that point, it was something that this isn't my decision. I don't really sit around thinking about it. Q. Who would you say is the best goalie you ever faced? STEVE YZERMAN: You know what, I did face so many over the years. I think goaltending has changed dramatically. I would say since maybe like '95-ish, right around there, the last 20 years, goalies play a completely different style. If I could give you early in my career, the two guys that really were dominant I thought were Grant Fuhr and probably Pelle Lindbergh at the time. That's going way back, 20 plus years. Kind of the new generation of goaltender, facing Patrick so many times, his success, his ability to play well in big situations, I think he and Marty Brodeur are the top goaltenders of the new era in the last 20 years. Q. You spoke of Martin Brodeur, the upcoming Olympics. Would you say that Fleury has the inside track to be your No. 1 goalie with the team with the way he played during last year's playoffs and his play so far this year? STEVE YZERMAN: You know, I won't say who I think has the inside track on being the starter because I don't think we'll -- first of all, we don't need to at this time. I don't think that's really determined. I think once we name our team in December, late December, over the course of the month of January, the six-week period before the Olympics, we can really focus on the three goaltenders that we name and really determine who will start based on how maybe they're playing in the month of January leading up to the Olympics. But I think in regards to Marc-Andre, he went to the Stanley Cup finals two years ago, to Game 6. He played two Game 7s in the finals. He has become a top goaltender. I think he's more confident than ever. I believe he's playing better now than he was last year. With his confidence and his ability rising, obviously it's really enhanced his position within the Olympic team. Q. Did you will yourself to play in the 2002 Olympics? Brian Leetch was talking about what made you so special. He said you weren't the fastest, but in a lot of ways you were like Gretzky, you made space for yourself with the way you were able to handle the puck. STEVE YZERMAN: Going back to the Olympics, I had my knee scoped I don't know whether it was three weeks before the Olympics, they took out some cartilage. I played two games prior to the tournament, one in Montréal and one in Minnesota. I felt fine. Wayne told me, Let me know, you decide how you feel. If you're comfortable in playing, let me know. So immediately after the game in Minnesota, I told him I felt fine, no problem, had no swelling. So we got to the tournament, and our first game was against Sweden. I started to feel, about halfway through that game, started to get sore. Then game two was against the Germans. After that my knee swelled up a lot, really became very painful. It just progressed throughout the tournament. It wasn't so much really that I willed myself. I just thought, Oh, boy, I made this commitment. I told them I'm fine. I can't bail out now. I'm going to have to work my way through this as much as I can. Q. With Brian Leetch saying that you're kind of like Gretzky, you created space... STEVE YZERMAN: I think my speed was reasonable. I wasn't one of the top-end speed guys like Sergei Fedorov, other players at that time. It was quickness. I felt like I could keep up. It was more the quickness, the change-of-pace stuff. Gretzky was the best at it. You couldn't tell which direction he was going. It was hard to hone in on him. You look at a guy like Patrick Kane today, he's a guy that's hard to pin down because you don't know what direction he's going. I felt my skating improved over the course of my career. I worked hard on it, trying to become more powerful. It certainly wasn't something that I relied on, outskating guys. Q. You played with a lot of Hall of Fame caliber players in your career. How do you think that affected the way you played? STEVE YZERMAN: You know what, first of all, it was really motivational. It was a challenge to try to improve. You talk about throughout my career, whether it be with the Red Wings or for Canada internationally, I got a chance to play with, alongside, and really watch the best players in the game. It was motivation for me. I was always trying to improve on something, whether it was the way Joe Sakic's wrist shot, the way Mark Messier came down the off-wing and shot the puck. I was always watching these guys, trying to pick up on things they did well and improve on. I think I played in a great era that allowed me really to improve a lot. I was fortunate to play in an excellent era. Q. How many Red Wings are going to stay behind after their game on Saturday in Toronto to share the moment with you on Monday? STEVE YZERMAN: As far as I know, the team is coming back. I can't remember. I think they play on Tuesday. But, yeah, as far as I know, the team is coming back. I think a lot of the staff is going to turn around and come back for the event on Monday. But I believe the team is going home. Q. Have you ever the thought what life would be like if the Islanders didn't take Patrick LaFontaine? STEVE YZERMAN: You know what, it's hard to predict. I wore No. 19 because I was a Trottier fan. Not that I cared where I was drafted, I was just excited about being drafted. Certainly the thought was there, Wow, I could go to the Islanders, get a chance to play on the team as Trottier and Bossy. They picked Pat, which wasn't a surprise to me. I never looked back and never really gave it any thought after that. Q. You got this role with Hockey Canada now, that's taking up a lot of your time. I know it's hard to look forward to that because there's so many things to be done, but do you think you are ready and would you like to step into a full-time manager's role? STEVE YZERMAN: In the right situation, it's something I would consider. I've been with the organization here in Detroit my entire career, as you know. I really enjoyed being a part of the management, working with our management group, being in the organization. It's important to me. But that's a goal I've always had. It's something that I would have to consider. For me, when I'm asked that, the decision ultimately will be, Am I content in the role I'm at here or do I want a challenge of going somewhere? That's a decision I'll have to make at some point. I'll get through this year with the Olympics and we'll worry about it later on. Right now it's not really on my mind. End of FastScripts |
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