Strange Days: Detroit Red Wings Looking to Beat Steve Yzerman's Team on Thursday

If you're a Red Wings fan and you're anything like me, you've been looking forward to February 17, 2011 since the start of the season.

No, that's not the new trade deadline date, that's a couple weeks after.

And no, that isn't a marquee matchup with the Sharks or the Stars, though we'll see both a few days later.

No, Thursday, February 17th is the day the Wings visit the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Now, I'm fairly certain—in fact, I'm absolutely positive—that this will be the very first time in NHL history that anyone outside of the players playing the game will have considered a game between the Red Wings and Lightning a must-watch affair.

If that's not strange enough, the single reason this game is going to be must-watch TV is stranger still.

Although both teams boast two of the best offensive squads in the NHL, it's not the players on the ice that make the game so intriguing, but rather a single man—who on game day will be wearing a suit, in the press box, so far removed from the ice that he'd faintly hear anything transpiring on it.

This is the thing I was so looking forward to that, now that it's here, I'm having a tough time recognizing as reality.

For the first time in NHL history, the Detroit Red Wings will attempt to beat Steve Yzerman's team.

Until today—and frankly, still today—that looked like an oxymoron of a statement.

How in the world could the Red Wings beat Steve Yzerman's team?

For 23 years, the names "Steve Yzerman" and "Detroit Red Wings" were virtually interchangeable.

There could be no discussion of one without the other.

However, on May 25, 2010, that discussion changed forever.

When Steve Yzerman became the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, he didn't cease being a Detroit Red Wing in his heart—that, he will always be.

But he did sever a 27 year relationship with the team for whom he had done so much, and from whom so much was (deservedly) given.

The move itself was understandable, as Yzerman's dream of managing an NHL team wasn't going to be realized in Detroit.

However, the idea that Steven Gregory Yzerman is no longer employed by the Detroit Red Wings is still a difficult thing for me to get my mind around.

Predictably, Yzerman's presence in Tampa Bay has had an immediate impact.

From hiring first year coach turned Jack Adams candidate, Guy Boucher, to bringing in old teammates like Steve Thomas and Pat Verbeek to participate in player development and scouting, respectively, Steve Yzerman has quickly put his mark on the Lightning.

Little more than a basement dwelling farce just 12 months ago, the Lightning now sit atop the Eastern Conference standings and nearly perfectly mirror Detroit's record to date, going 34-17-5 through the first 56 games of the season.

Ask anyone how such a dramatic change can happen so quickly and the answer will always be simple—"Yzerman."

Steve Yzerman eats, sleeps and breathes like a champion.

Hell, I've never seen him put on his socks, but I'd bet he does that better than most too.

He's brought his personal commitment to everyday excellence to the Tampa Bay Lightning and they've had no choice but to respond in kind.

Today, the Tampa Bay Lightning are Steve Yzerman's team, through and through.

On Thursday, the Detroit Red Wings will try to beat them.

Man, that's going to take some getting used to.

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