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At 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Steve Yzerman was not revelling in his gold-medal success as Canada's general manager at the 2007 world championship — he was watching one of his three daughters perform on the lacrosse pitch in a game involving seventh-graders.
Yzerman was only 48 hours removed from his latest accomplishment in the hockey world. And it has dawned on him that even though he has been lauded for a job well-done in Moscow and his name will surface for future general manager jobs in the National Hockey League, Stevie Y is not prepared to make the commitment to become a full-time GM.
"If there is one thing I have learned from this season is the tremendous amount of time needed to be a general manager," said Yzerman, who spent his first year of retirement from the NHL as an executive vice-president with the Detroit Red Wings, working with Wings GM Ken Holland and assistant GM Jim Nill.
"It's a major commitment, and I'm not ready yet because I have a young family," the 42-year-old continued. "I'm in no hurry. I'm enjoying what I'm doing right now. My schedule has allowed me flexibility to spend time with my family and to do the Hockey Canada thing this year."
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- Patrice Bergeron
- Pierre-Marc Bouchard
- Jay Bouwmeester
- Sidney Crosby
- Simon Gagne
- Ryan Smyth
- Steve Staios
- Jarret Stoll
What about his future with Hockey Canada? Is it possible we could see Yzerman in a Wayne Gretzky-like role as executive director for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver?
"Wayne Gretzky will likely be in the Wayne Gretzky-like role," Yzerman opined. "I haven't discussed anything further with [Hockey Canada president] Bob Nicholson. If any opportunities in the future come up and my schedule with the Wings would allow it, I would be open to it."
Gretzky has not been officially named for a third consecutive term as the men's Olympic team executive director, and who knows where and what team Yzerman will be running down the road. He doesn't even know how his future will play out. But he doesn't see himself as Detroit's next GM.
"I'm not sitting here waiting to become the next general manager of the Detroit Red Wings," Yzerman said. "Ken Holland [51] is a young guy and has been very successful. Jim Nill [49] is in the same situation. He will likely be the next general manager. I'm not looking over their shoulders, waiting.
"I don't really know what my long-term goal is. My initial plan was to take a year off and after that possibly getting involved. But Ken Holland encouraged me to stay involved right away," said Yzerman, who scored 1,755 points (692 goals) in 1,514 regular-season NHL games — all with the Red Wings.
"I've really enjoyed my time with Ken and Jim, learning how they handle a draft, how they handle a trade or negotiating a contract. After that, I have been asked for my input, when needed, on our own players and players around the league."
Yzerman will fly from Detroit to California Wednesday to rejoin the Red Wings for Game 4 of their Western Conference final series with the Anaheim Ducks Thursday. He will no doubt be asked to talk about Canada's success in Moscow.
He credits the country's third gold medal in five world championships and perfect 9-0 record in 2007 to head coach Andy Murray's experience at the international level and the way he prepared the team for each game, as well as the players' determination.
It was a remarkable performance from Canada considering at least eight key players — forwards Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron, Simon Gagné, Ryan Smyth, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Jarret Stoll, as well as defencemen Jay Bouwmeester and Steve Staios — did not join the team due to injury.
"After going through it and being around these guys, we had a really good bunch of players," Yzerman said. "There were no big egos. They really had fun with it and kept their sense of humour with the challenges of the tournament being in Moscow. They played really well under the circumstances and made the best of the situation."
