Steven Yzerman: NHL Hall of Fame Has Its Captain

The 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame class will be one Detroit Red Wings fan will remember forever.

The Hall opens its doors for four players, three of whom are former Wings. Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille, Brett Hull, and Steve Yzerman were all anounced as first ballot Hall of Famers yesterday.

With the exception of Leetch, the remaining three players all wore the winged wheel and played together when capturing the Red Wings' 10th Stanley Cup in 2002.

Wings fans should be happy for Robitaille and Hull as they enter into the Hall, but all eyes will be on the Red Wings captain.

Yzerman played over 1,500 games with the franchise and was the youngest captain in franchise history. He has a laundry list of accomplishments throughout his career, including three Stanley Cups, the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP, 2000 Selke winner, and 10 All-Star Game selections.

Above all these awards and accomplishments, Yzerman is remembered as the ultimate leader and captain.

He was a player who had increadible offensive talent and the numbers to prove it, but he was willing to put the personal achievements aside in order to help the team succeed.

After trade rumors surrounded Yzerman in the early '90s, the captain went on to lead the Red Wings to their first Stanley Cup in 42 years in 1997, and followed it up with another in 1998.

Many things will be remembered about Yzerman, but for Wings, fans the lasting image will be the 2002 Stanley Cup playoff run.

Going into the playoffs, the Red Wings captain had already missed 30 games due to a knee injury and it was apparent that things had not gotten better. As each series wore on, it became obvious he was not healthy and had the look of a man playing on one leg.

In the end, the Red Wings were able to lift the cup once again, but it was later reaveled that Yzerman would need complete knee realignment surgery. This led to him missing the first 66 games of the following season.

This is another special day for Hockeytown as our captain finds his rightful spot among the hockey elite in the Hall of Fame.

Fans will always remember his 65-goal season in 1988, his double overtime winner in 1995, raising the cup at Joe Louis in 1997, passing the cup to Vladimir Konstantinov in 1998, playing through pain in 2002, and even his last step off the ice in 2006 in Edmonton.

But most importantly, fans will always remember him for being Hockeytown's captain.