Steve Yzerman got his start as an ice hockey center in 1980 with the Nepean Junior A Raiders and then spent the next two seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes. He was drafted by the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings in 1983 and spent twenty two years with the squad until his 2006 retirement, missing only the 2004-2005 season due to the league lockout. He spent nineteen of those years at the team’s captain, having been named to the position in 1986, which remains an NHL record for longest-serving captain on a single team as of 2010. Along the way he won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the league’s top player (1989), the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP (1998), the Frank J. Selke Trophy as best defensive forward (2000), the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for dedication to hockey (2003), the Lester Patrick Trophy for contributions to ice hockey in the United States (2006), and three Stanley Cup Championships as a player (1997, 1998, 2002). Internationally he won a bronze medal at the 1983 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, as well as scoring one goal in six games (but not reaching the podium) at the 1998 Winter Olympics. In 2002 he managed two goals in six matches. He now works as an executive with the Red Wings, joining them in celebrating another Stanley Cup victory in 2008, as well as serving as the general manger of the Canadian national team. In addition to having his number (19) retired with both the Detroit Red Wings and Team Canada he was inducted into the Ottawa, Michigan, and Canada Sports Halls of Fame in 2008, and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Canada