Yzerman Needs A Cup Lord Stanley’s Goblet Would Be Fitting Touch For Detroit Star

For more than a decade, Steve Yzerman has been synonymous with hockey in Detroit. He’s as well-known for his sport here as his friend, Alan Trammell, is for baseball.

Yet there is one major difference: Trammell helped the Tigers win the World Series in 1984. The Red Wings during Yzerman’s time have never won a Stanley Cup.

There were many years, in fact, when they never won anything. Yzerman arrived in 1983 when they were known as the Dead Things.

All that could change if the Red Wings can win four more games.

Detroit won the Clarence Campbell Bowl as Western Conference champion, beating Chicago in five games. The Red Wings meet New Jersey, which won the East in six games against Philadelphia, in a best-of-seven series starting Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

“I think to be put in that special class of athlete, you have to do something extra special,” Yzerman said. “Look at Tram. His team won something.”

Paul Coffey, who has played on four Stanley Cup champions, agrees. Coffey recalls Wayne Gretzky’s axiom when they were in Edmonton.

“Geez, we were only 22-23 years old. But Wayne was wise way beyond his years,” Coffey said. “He used to say, ‘Nobody is ever going to remember me as a great player unless I win something.’ There are a lot of very good hockey players who have never won a Stanley Cup. Steve sort of falls into that category.”

The Red Wings haven’t appeared in the finals since 1966, when they lost to Montreal. The great Gordie Howe was still a mainstay. They haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1955, Howe’s seventh NHL season.

Yzerman was the Red Wings’ first draft choice, fourth overall, in 1983. In 1988 and 1989, with Jacques Demers as coach, Detroit won division titles, but lost each time to Edmonton in the conference finals.

“The setbacks make you wonder,” Yzerman said. “You begin doubting yourself.”

Demers was replaced by Bryan Murray in 1990, but the Red Wings continued to struggle in the playoffs. In the last four years, Detroit has been eliminated in the first round three times and once in the second.

“The last two years have been pretty disappointing,” Yzerman said. “So this is really exciting. … Sitting at home, you start to think about it and before you know it, your heart is racing.”

Things turned around this season in part because Scotty Bowman was given the power of both coach and general manager after Murray was fired. Bowman, who won five championships with Montreal and one with Pittsburgh, retooled the Red Wings into a patient team. That is the essence of playoff hockey.

As recently as two weeks ago, however, it looked as if Yzerman’s dreams might never be realized. He injured his right knee in the fourth game of a sweep of San Jose. But surgery got him back in time for Games 4 and 5 against Chicago.

“There is no way I’m going to miss this chance,” Yzerman said.