Christy’s coverage of the jersey retirement ceremony is better than anything I could produce so I’ll just say a few things rather than do a comprehensive write-up.
… The new banners for Terry Sawchuk, Sid Abel, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio and Gordie Howe look great. Nice to see them modernized.
… Scotty Bowman had a funny line about the Wings’ age. He said the team kept signing older players in order to keep Yzerman feeling young, because no matter how old he got, there were always a couple guys on the team that were older.
… Bowman also said Yzerman had the highest pain threshold of any player he ever coached. That’s saying a lot, considering he once coached Mario Lemieux.
… In typical Yzerman fashion, he deflected attention away from himself, even on his night, during his speech. Right from the start, when he talked briefly about his first game in Detroit, he was putting the focus on others. First, it was the fans, who he said made that first game so special.
Then, he thanked the Ducks for participating in the ceremony.
After that, it was his wife and kids, who have waited so patiently for him over the years and are still waiting as he has taken on other responsibilities.
He then thanked the Illitches and the Detroit front office for their patience and willingness to work with him over the years.
Then, he went into overdrive, spending a lot of time thanking and praising Scotty Bowman, who he said had never gotten a proper goodbye after he retired in 2002. Anyone tuning in at this point would have thought they’d stumbled across a ceremony honoring Bowman.
He then thanked his old teammates, especially those who had not been able to be on the Cup teams. He said they were responsible for setting up the Cup runs and deserved thanks even if their names aren’t on it.
On a similar vein, he thanked the players from the previous eras for building Hockeytown and giving it such a rich history.
Finally, he thanked the fans, though he said he didn’t know how. According to The Captain, it was our high expectations that provided him with the inspiration and drive to play as he did and he said we are a huge reason his jersey was being retired. For that, he said he was sincerely grateful.
… During his speech, Yzerman made a comment to the effect that he believes his image as a great leader is greatly overblown. Needless to say, the fans at the Joe let him know what they thought of that and when the crowd had quieted down, one fan spoke for all of us when he yelled, “You’re the best, Stevie,” loud enough for the TV mics to pick up.
… Good to see the Wings put forth a winning effort last night, though it wasn’t a memorable game except for a couple things:
- Homer’s no-look pass to Hank for the game winning goal.
- Some truly awful officiating in the first period. This hurt both sides, though the Ducks were able to get a goal out of it while the Wings weren’t.
… Lastly, Pavel Datsyuk has a groin injury and is likely to miss a few more games. Josh Langfeld filled in for him last night. Chris Chelios will not fly to California with the team because he has to deal with the deadly stabbings of two of his employees at his restaurant downtown. He also has a shin injury which has kept him out of the lineup. Apparently, he’ll fly out when he’s ready.
