Title:
DETROIT RED WING exec Steve Yzerman. 6/6/2008, before parade

Description:
Steve Yzerman shows class in front-office role, stayed upstairs as Cup was awarded BY DREW SHARP • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • June 6, 2008 PITTSBURGH -- The emotions poured in equal ease with the sweat. A long night's journey reached its desired conclusion and unbridled revelry was the reward. Nicklas Lidstrom wouldn't surrender the Stanley Cup through the endless media interviews on the Mellon Arena ice. Never has carrying 35 pounds been so easy. Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch's eyes welled up when he spoke about how much another Stanley Cup championship could bolster a Detroit psyche beaten down through economic and political strife. General manager Ken Holland pulled out a victory cigar from his pocket. But there was a face missing among the revelers. Steve Yzerman stayed upstairs in the Wings' executive guest suite at Mellon Arena. Ilitch and Holland begged him to join the ensuing celebration on the ice, but the former captain-turned-team vice president declined. "It's their opportunity to get all the attention," he said. It was commendable. It was classy. Yzerman had his day. He had his time basking in the spotlight. This was Lidstrom's moment. Sure, it would have been a popular photo op: Yzerman and Lidstrom standing with the Stanley Cup, embellishing the transition of team leadership. But Yzerman thought it inappropriate. Nobody understands the special kinship that exists between player and prize better than Yzerman. He's only two years removed from his playing days, but his decision to distance himself from the celebration was a respectful recognition for those who truly waged the fight. "That moment belonged to them," Yzerman said. "It's theirs. And I thought it better that I kind of stay in the background. That's not to say that I'm not ecstatic over what the organization has accomplished. I'm as proud of this as any of the championships we had when I had played because we did this within a new financial system geared toward creating more parity." After Yzerman left the suite, he tucked himself away in the trainer's room just off the dressing room. It was just him and Chris Chelios. One of the deliriously happy younger players stormed into the room with a bottle of champagne, shaken and poised for firing. "Shoot it over there," Yzerman directed, pointing in the other direction. "Don't spray it on me." If you don't play, you don't deserve the spray. Isn't that part of the code? Yzerman wanted a different perspective of the unrestrained joy of a long march finally completed. There were no regrets that perhaps he should have delayed retirement. He has long since come to grips with the physical realities. He couldn't play anymore. He makes it clear he wasn't tormented. He's merely adapting to a new chapter. "I really enjoyed it, watching everything from up top," he said. "I just wanted to sit back and take it all in. It gives you a different perspective." Joe Dumars once told me it was more difficult for him to watch the Pistons' 2004 championship run as an executive than playing in their championships in 1989 and 1990. "There's definitely some truth to that," Yzerman said. It's difficult for the star when the light no longer shines upon him. But it's to his credit when he can happily accept a different, less-acclaimed role at a moment that was once exclusively his domain. Yzerman's self-appointed role Wednesday was greeting the victors as they eventually returned to the dressing room. "I'm so proud of these guys because they played with just unquestioned heart," he said. "There was all that nonsense about how the Europeans didn't want to win the Stanley Cup as badly as North American players. You know what? We're a European-heavy team. We don't look at the passport. We look at the player. Look at him." -- Yzerman pointed to Valtteri Filppula -- "He played with a bad knee, but that didn't stop him from getting the job done." Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Author:
gregtl1967

Tags:
2008, cup, detroit, nhl, red, stanley, Steve, wings, Yzerman,