19

Yesterday was a great but sad day. In a awesome ceremony, Steve Yzerman's 19 was retired, sealing his legacy and making him a legend in the world of sports. Probably one of the greatest professional athletes ever to enter any arena. Steve Yzerman was drafted as the 3 round pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 1983 at just 18 years old. He was 5'11" and 165 lbs soaking wet. The Red Wings Jim Devellano the GM at the time wanted to send him down to their farm club until he "grew up". It took just one day at training camp to see that Stevy had something special. In his first year Yzerman scored 39 goals and 87 points. Not bad for a 18 year old kid from Cranbrook BC. In 1986 just three seasons in the NHL, Yzerman was named captain and the youngest captain ever to be named by the Red Wings organization. Yzerman wore the captain "C" for 20 years. During that time he lead the Red Wings to 3 Stanley Cups, played in 1,514 games, scored 692 goals (8th in all time goals scored) 1,063 Assts., and 1,755 points. He played in 192 playoff games, in which he scored 70 goals, 155 Asst., and 185 points, included in that was a double OT goal against the St. Louis Blues to take them to the Stanley Cup Finals. That goal was my all-time favorite sports moment. You can watch it here. He was named captain of the 2002 Canadian Olympic Hockey team where he lead them to a gold medal. He is second only to Gordie Howe in all statistical numbers for the Red Wings franchise. He is said to be the best two-way player the game of hockey has ever seen. The world of Sports has never seen a greater role model and ambassadors of any sport than Steve Yzerman. The Red Wings will never be the same without him.