MAY THE POWER OF STEVIE Y BE WITH US TONIGHT!
It's game 4, so this is D-Day for the Wings. I am currently sitting at my desk in my Yzerman jersey. Yup I brought out the big guns for game 4. This game is going to be a heart wrencher. It's kind of funny because during these big games in the playoffs I get anxiety, sweats and I scream. I am a super loud fan, one of those crazy ones at the game your like whoa?! I don't even know where it comes from but I just belt out stuff when I'm watching my team. I remember watching the Stanley Cup final at my folks house a couple years ago with my gf Sela. We went to watch it with my dad because he is a huge NHL fan and the whole reason I have a love and passion for this sport was from him. He took me to every Flames game growing up (he had season tix's with work) and I remember been mind blown by hockey. I was a Flames fan at the start and then a man by the name of Steve Yzerman stole my heart and took me to the wings, ever since then I followed them.. I loved them
So I remember watching this game and it was so intense because it was tied goal for goal all the way to the end and then Pens got up by one goal. I remember screaming at the screen on my hands and knee's praying for a goal to tie it up and all I heard was the ping off the posts, a sound that no hockey fan likes to hear (unless its your man in net). But after that game my mom told me I'm never allowed to watch a playoff game in the house because "I'm too loud". This should be really funny because I take possession of my house I own at the end of this month and its a nice townhouse, so I share walls with two other sides and I'm going to have to watch the games at the local pub because I don't want to get complaints to my condo board.
So in the spirit of game 4 and the magic of Stevie Y, I figured I'd share some facts about the Canadian Hall of Fame'er.
Yzerman won numerous awards during his career, including the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1989, the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1998, the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward in 2000, and the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance in 2003. He was a ten-time NHL All-Star, a First Team All-Star in 2000, and a member of the All-Rookie Team in 1984.
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 198889 which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Yzerman's jersey #19, was officially retired on January 2, 2007 during a pre-game ceremony at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. On November 4, 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. He also became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility, inducted alongside 200102 Red Wing teammates Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille (a day I will never forget).
Yzerman has represented his country in several international tournaments as a member of Canada's national hockey team (Team Canada). 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 was appointed Executive Director of Team Canada on October 7, 2008, for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Canada went on to win the gold medal by defeating Team USA. (I was very lucky because I met Yzerman in the Platinium box when he was scouting in Calgary on Halloween's game Wings vs Calgary).
n 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. The following year Detroit repeated the feat, sweeping the Washington Capitals and winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup title. Yzerman earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He handed the Cup first to the wheelchair-bound Vladimir Konstantinov, who had been severely injured in a car accident just six days after the Cup victory in 1997.
On November 26, 1999, Yzerman became the 11th player in NHL history to score 600 goals. In 2000, he made the NHL All-Star First Team and won the Frank J. Selke Trophy.
In 200102, Yzerman re-aggravated a knee injury, forcing him to miss 30 regular season games.[14] Yet, he still finished sixth in team scoring. Yzerman's knee greatly pained him during the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but this did not stop him from leading the Red Wings from an early 2-0 deficit in their opening round series to defeat the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues en route to Detroit's sixth playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche to decide the Western Conference Championship. Detroit defeated Colorado in a seven game series and moved on to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to win their 10th Stanley Cup championship in their history. Rather than raising the Stanley Cup first, Yzerman passed the Cup to coach Scotty Bowman, who announced his retirement following the game.
Yzerman has left his roots in the Wings and is now the GM of Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning are in the playoffs now, this is the first time the team has been in the playoffs since 2004 (where they beat Calgary Flames for the Cup).
So you see this man is my hockey hero for a reason, he plays with grace, style and love. He has been a leader for many, a man you can look up to and say "this man did NHL justice".
It's game 4, so this is D-Day for the Wings. I am currently sitting at my desk in my Yzerman jersey. Yup I brought out the big guns for game 4. This game is going to be a heart wrencher. It's kind of funny because during these big games in the playoffs I get anxiety, sweats and I scream. I am a super loud fan, one of those crazy ones at the game your like whoa?! I don't even know where it comes from but I just belt out stuff when I'm watching my team. I remember watching the Stanley Cup final at my folks house a couple years ago with my gf Sela. We went to watch it with my dad because he is a huge NHL fan and the whole reason I have a love and passion for this sport was from him. He took me to every Flames game growing up (he had season tix's with work) and I remember been mind blown by hockey. I was a Flames fan at the start and then a man by the name of Steve Yzerman stole my heart and took me to the wings, ever since then I followed them.. I loved them
So I remember watching this game and it was so intense because it was tied goal for goal all the way to the end and then Pens got up by one goal. I remember screaming at the screen on my hands and knee's praying for a goal to tie it up and all I heard was the ping off the posts, a sound that no hockey fan likes to hear (unless its your man in net). But after that game my mom told me I'm never allowed to watch a playoff game in the house because "I'm too loud". This should be really funny because I take possession of my house I own at the end of this month and its a nice townhouse, so I share walls with two other sides and I'm going to have to watch the games at the local pub because I don't want to get complaints to my condo board.
So in the spirit of game 4 and the magic of Stevie Y, I figured I'd share some facts about the Canadian Hall of Fame'er.
Yzerman won numerous awards during his career, including the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1989, the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1998, the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward in 2000, and the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance in 2003. He was a ten-time NHL All-Star, a First Team All-Star in 2000, and a member of the All-Rookie Team in 1984.
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 198889 which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Yzerman's jersey #19, was officially retired on January 2, 2007 during a pre-game ceremony at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. On November 4, 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. He also became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility, inducted alongside 200102 Red Wing teammates Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille (a day I will never forget).
Yzerman has represented his country in several international tournaments as a member of Canada's national hockey team (Team Canada). 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 was appointed Executive Director of Team Canada on October 7, 2008, for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Canada went on to win the gold medal by defeating Team USA. (I was very lucky because I met Yzerman in the Platinium box when he was scouting in Calgary on Halloween's game Wings vs Calgary).
n 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. The following year Detroit repeated the feat, sweeping the Washington Capitals and winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup title. Yzerman earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He handed the Cup first to the wheelchair-bound Vladimir Konstantinov, who had been severely injured in a car accident just six days after the Cup victory in 1997.
On November 26, 1999, Yzerman became the 11th player in NHL history to score 600 goals. In 2000, he made the NHL All-Star First Team and won the Frank J. Selke Trophy.
In 200102, Yzerman re-aggravated a knee injury, forcing him to miss 30 regular season games.[14] Yet, he still finished sixth in team scoring. Yzerman's knee greatly pained him during the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but this did not stop him from leading the Red Wings from an early 2-0 deficit in their opening round series to defeat the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues en route to Detroit's sixth playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche to decide the Western Conference Championship. Detroit defeated Colorado in a seven game series and moved on to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to win their 10th Stanley Cup championship in their history. Rather than raising the Stanley Cup first, Yzerman passed the Cup to coach Scotty Bowman, who announced his retirement following the game.
Yzerman has left his roots in the Wings and is now the GM of Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning are in the playoffs now, this is the first time the team has been in the playoffs since 2004 (where they beat Calgary Flames for the Cup).
So you see this man is my hockey hero for a reason, he plays with grace, style and love. He has been a leader for many, a man you can look up to and say "this man did NHL justice".