Bye,Stevie Y,Hello Mr.Yzerman...

being a fan of the Red Wings,i am saddened by the departure of Steve Yzerman,from the Red Wings' front office,after all of his Hall of Fame career with the Wings,and his work in the front office for the team... his work for Team Canada brought a smile to my face,because he was an alumnus of Red Wings University(my coinage of a term)... being a Red Wing was special,and to be remembered,in the same breath as Howe,Lindsey,Abel,Delvecchio(old time),and Lidstrom,Holmstrom,Datsyuk,and Zetterberg(present-day) is a deep honor... he played with the latter group,but was a Hall of Famer,in the truest sense of the word... never got to see Howe,and company play(even though did see Howe play once,as a Houston Aeros' player,of the WHA,in 1977)... Yzerman was the toughest player i ever saw play,period,playing one time,in playoffs,with a taped up,and twisted knee and leg,and still led his team to the promised land... that was pure Red Wings' toughness... he was "the Man",when he played,and showed Red Wings how to purely win,with his toughness,and he did not speak often in locker room,but when he did,they listened... he showed leadership on the ice,played his heart out,Red Wings' red... he will be always a Red Wing,in my heart,and in my soul... he showed class to the NHL,for his Hall of Fame career... as Tampa Bay Lightning GM,he will show what Red Wings are made of... i will not root for the Lightning,when they play Detroit,but it will be interesting to see how they will do,in years to come... tip of hat to Stevie Y.,and good luck to Mr. Yzerman... thank you from this true fan for what you have done,in Detroit...