By 1987, with Yzerman, now the captain following the departure of Danny Gare, joined by Petr Klima, Adam Oates, Gerard Gallant, defenseman Darren Veitch and new head coach Jacques Demers, the Wings won a playoff series for only the second time in the modern era.

In 2002, Yzerman won an Olympic gold medal, making him one of few players to win an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same year.

Yzerman was the general manager of Team Canada for the 2007 IIHF World Championship, which they won.

Yzerman finished third in regular season scoring behind Lemieux and Gretzky, won the Lester B. Pearson Award ( MVP as voted by the NHLPA ), and was a finalist for the Hart Trophy ( MVP as voted by the NHL writers ).

In 1997, Yzerman put to rest all doubts of his ability to lead a team to a championship as Detroit won its first Stanley Cup in 42 years by sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers.

In the 2002 – 03 NHL season, Steve Yzerman was injured for most the season and Fedorov led the team in scoring with 36 goals and 83 points in 80 games, and won the inaugural Kharlamov Trophy by the NHL.

At the direction of Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, all of the teammates who had never previously won the Cup would hoist it after Yzerman, with Robitaille being the third Red Wing to skate the Cup around Joe Louis Arena, after Yzerman and Dominik Hašek.

Detroit scored twice on power-play goals by Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman at 16: 57 and 18: 27 of the third period, as New Jersey won 5 – 2.

Narrowly edging out Lemieux, Gretzky won his ninth Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP, while Yzerman finished third in the balloting.

The Red Wings were prepared to send Yzerman back to Peterborough for one more year, but " after one ( training camp ) season, you knew he was a tremendous hockey player ," said Ken Holland, the current Red Wings general manager who was a minor league goaltender for the Wings during Yzerman's rookie training camp.

Steve Yzerman served as the captain of the Detroit Red Wings for twenty years ( 1986-87 to 2005-06 ) and 1303 games during that time, the longest term in the history of the NHL by both years and games.

Memorably, during the shootout in their semifinal match against the Czech Republic, Canadian coach Marc Crawford opted to have defenceman Ray Bourque shoot in the shootout instead of high-scoring forwards Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman.

He was honoured during the November 6 – 9 induction weekend alongside his former Red Wing teammates Steve Yzerman and Brett Hull, and his former Ranger teammate Brian Leetch.

National team general manager Steve Yzerman continued to express confidence in Phaneuf during a summer camp held in Calgary, but Phaneuf was not among the seven defencemen selected for the team.

In addition he contributed the most points during the Red Wings ' playoff run, in which Yzerman missed all but the final three games with a knee injury.

Continuing the shakeup of the Red Wings roster, the offseason saw the departure of Brendan Shanahan and the return of Dominik Hasek, while Steve Yzerman announced his retirement after a 23-season Hall of Fame career with the Wings, having played the third most games in history ( behind fellow Wings Alex Delvecchio and Nicklas Lidström ) all with a single team.

Yzerman played his entire National Hockey League ( NHL ) career with the Detroit Red Wings and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman officially retired, finishing his career ranked as the sixth all-time leading scorer in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points ( 65 goals / 90 assists ) in 1988 – 89 which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

Yzerman scored perhaps the most memorable goal of his career in the 1996 playoffs, stealing the puck from Wayne Gretzky and beating St. Louis Blues goalie Jon Casey with a slap shot from the blue line to win the Western Conference Semifinals in double overtime of game seven.

Upon the retirement of Steve Yzerman a month later, on July 3, 2006, Sakic became the league leader for most NHL career points scored among active players.

When Datsyuk began his NHL career for the Red Wings, his mentors – including Soviet stars Igor Larionov and Sergei Fedorov, as well as Detroit captain Steve Yzerman – helped him learn his way around the NHL.

During the 1994 – 95 NHL lockout, Gretzky and some friends ( including Mark Messier, Marty McSorley, Brett Hull, and Steve Yzerman ) formed the Ninety Nine All Stars Tour and played some exhibition games in various countries.

However, Gretzky, was passed over for the captaincy, along with several other Canadian veterans including Steve Yzerman and Ray Bourque in favour of the younger Eric Lindros.

The Petes have produced a record number of National Hockey League players, including Hall of Famers Steve Yzerman, Bob Gainey, Larry Murphy, Scotty Bowman and Roger Neilson.

The Petes have not retired any numbers, but they have banners hanging from the ceiling honouring past Petes including Bob Gainey, Steve Yzerman, Mickey Redmond, Larry Murphy, Dick Todd, Roger Neilson and Scotty Bowman.

Trottier was described as a forward possessing an all-around game including ruggedness, and there have been comparisons to Milt Schmidt, Gordie Howe, and Steve Yzerman.

Funeral services were held July 9, 2010 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and attended by several former teammates and opponents, including Dino Ciccarelli, Tie Domi, Gerard Gallant, Doug Gilmour, Stu Grimson, Joey Kocur, Brad McCrimmon, Darren McCarty, and Steve Yzerman, as well as Red Wings general manager Ken Holland and owners Mike and Marian Ilitch.

As a youth, he played alongside many future NHLers, including Doug Smith, Dan Quinn and Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman was voted by his fellow players as the NHLPA MVP, taking the Lester B. Pearson Award.

In Detroit, Federko re-united with former Blues head coach Jacques Demers, but he had to play behind Steve Yzerman and did not get his desired ice time.

In 1983 the Wings drafted Steve Yzerman, a center from the Peterborough Petes with their first-round pick.

In 1989, Yzerman scored a career-best 65 goals, but Detroit was upset in the first round by the Chicago Blackhawks.

But it was Demers, not Yzerman, who got the pink slip.

Yzerman was joined by Sergei Fedorov, who would be an award-winner and frequent all-star for the team in the 1990s.

Yzerman retired with the additional distinction of having been the longest-serving team captain in NHL history. Nicklas Lidstrom, the former captain of the Wings

Stephen Gregory " Steve " Yzerman (; born May 9, 1965 ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League.

Prior to the 1986 – 87 season at the age of 21, Yzerman was named captain of the Red Wings and continuously served for the next two decades ( dressing as captain for over 1300 games ), retiring as the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history.

Once voted to be the most popular athlete in Detroit sports history, locals often simply refer to Yzerman as " The Captain.

On September 25, 2006, Yzerman was named as a Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings.

Yzerman was appointed Executive Director of Team Canada on October 7, 2008, for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Yzerman was born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, but grew up in Nepean, Ontario ( a suburb of Ottawa, now a district in that city ) where he attended Bell High School and played for his hometown Nepean Raiders Junior A hockey team.

Jim Devellano, the Red Wings ' then-general manager, wanted to draft Pat LaFontaine, who had grown up outside Detroit and played his junior hockey in the area ; however, when the New York Islanders took LaFontaine third overall, Devellano settled on Yzerman, drafting him fourth.

Yzerman tallied 39 goals and 87 points in his rookie season, and finished second in Calder Trophy ( rookie of the year ) voting.