Steve Yzerman

Canadian hockey player, Hockey Hall of Fame inductee and general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Steve Yzerman, played his entire NHL career for the Detroit Red Wings. When he was 21 years old, he was named captain of the Red Wings and dressed as captain for 1,300 games. Steve retired as the longest serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history. Locals in Detroit simply refer to Steve as, “The Captain” and was once voted as the most popular athlete in Detroit history. Under Steve’s leadership, the Red Wings had five first place regular season finishes and three Stanley Cup Championships.

Steve’s awards included the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1989, the Conn Smythe Trophy for MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Selke Trophy as NHL’s best defensive forward, and the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. He was a member of the All-Rookie Team in 1984 and a ten time NHL All-Star, and a First Team All-Star.

After many successful years as a Red Wings captain, Steve Yzerman retired in 2006 and finished his career as the sixth all-time leading scorer in NHL history with 155 points; Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are the only two players to better this. In 2007, his #19 jersey was retired and the following year, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and was named an honored member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

Steve Yzerman was named Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings in 2006 and won a fourth Stanley Cup as the Vice President of Operations in 2008. Next, he served as the Alternate Governor before he was hired as the General Manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010. In 2012, Steve’s named Executive Director for the Canadian men’s hockey team at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Canadian team he put together went on to win their second straight gold medal.

As a member of the Canadian National Hockey Team, he won an Olympic Gold Medal, which made him one of only a couple players to win an Olympic Gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year. General Manager for Team Canada in 2007 for the IIHF World Championship, he was appointed Executive Director of Team Canada in 2008 for the 2010 Winter Olympics and again for the 2014 Winter Olympics where Canada became the first nation since the Soviet Union to win back-to-back gold medals. After the 2014 Winter Games, Steve was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.