Sports
Steve Yzerman
born 1965 · ice hockey center, general manager
Hall of Fame center who played his entire 22-season career with the Red Wings, captained the team for a record 19 years, and led Detroit to three Stanley Cups.
- Born
Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada
age 61- Birth name
- Stephen Gregory Yzerman
- Also known as
- Stevie Y · The Captain
- Detroit years
- 1983–2006, 2006–2010, 2019–
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Drafted fourth overall by newly bought Red Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch in 1983, Yzerman was named team captain in 1986 at just 21, a post he held for the next two decades, longer than any captain in North American major-league sports history. Locals came to call him "Stevie Y" and "The Captain". He led Detroit back to the Stanley Cup Final in 1995 for the first time since 1966, and though the Red Wings were swept, he came back to win it all in 1997 and 1998 and again in 2002, when a badly injured knee didn't stop him from leading Detroit through Colorado and Carolina to the franchise's tenth championship. He retired in 2006 among the NHL's career-scoring leaders and stayed with the Red Wings as an executive before later serving as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning and returning to Detroit's front office in 2019. His number 19 was retired at Joe Louis Arena in 2007, the same night Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gave him the key to the city.
Highlights
- Played his entire 22-season NHL career with the Red Wings, 1983–2006
- Red Wings captain for 19 seasons, the longest tenure of any captain in North American major-league sports
- Stanley Cup champion in 1997, 1998 and 2002; Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 1998
- Number 19 retired by the Red Wings in 2007
- Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1983–2006
Joe Louis Arena
Demolished · 1979–2019
His home arena for his entire playing career, all three Stanley Cup wins and his 2007 number retirement; the arena's address was later renamed Steve Yzerman Drive in his honor. Demolished in 2019.