Would we have won the Cup if Yzerman played?

[kindlwillbegreat 0]

we'll never know ........but i was watching a clip on yzerman on youtube and i just couldnt shake the thought .....man if he held out for one more year would we have won it all ??? and i cant help but think yes , yzerman would of played his heart out and everyone would of followed, he would of found a way to beat the ducks and we'd have beaten ottawa ....anyways thats it i just couldnt ge tthe thought out of my head

[ltgator333 3]

Well you can beat the what-if's to death, but I think not. Yzerman was done, he said some things last season that I thought I'd never hear out of him, and I knew it was comin to a close.

Maybe they would've though, but we'll never know.

[BringHomeTheCup! 0]

we'll never know ........but i was watching a clip on yzerman on youtube and i just couldnt shake the thought .....man if he held out for one more year would we have won it all ??? and i cant help but think yes , yzerman would of played his heart out and everyone would of followed, he would of found a way to beat the ducks and we'd have beaten ottawa ....anyways thats it i just couldnt ge tthe thought out of my head

I can't help but wonder why you are allowed to start threads.

No, the Wings would not have won it all. Stevie hung around one year too long as it was. He tried to will his way past Edmonton, and it didn't work. If you have Stevie in the lineup this offseason, others like Franzen, Cleary, Bert, Lang, FLIP, do not get the ice time to do anything.

Stop this nonsense posting. I'm starting to get a headache every time I see your name next to a thread title.

[BeeRYCE 2]

This world is filled with what ifs. What if Hitler lived until 100? What if Tu Pac was still alive? What if Vladdy played until 40?

I honestly can't say Yzerman's presence would have made a difference. He would have been effective, but it wouldn't have made too much of a difference. Maybe our powerplay would have improved, but that's about it. Who knows if he would have played on the PP. It wouldn't have made a difference. If the Yzerman of 1998 was there, yes, then again we wouldn't be able to afford the Yzerman of '98.

[Booster313 138]

. If the Yzerman of 1998 was there, yes, then again we wouldn't be able to afford the Yzerman of '98.

Yes we would have, we'd buy out lang, let Dat's go else where for his 6.7 million. If Stevie was still playing like 1998 we'd find a way to keep him...but the realiity of it is, we wouldn't have to Stevie would take a paycut to make sure we could afford him and whatever else we needed to compete for the cup.

[zata40 3]

the way he was playing in his last season, no.

his hart was still in the game but his body was calling it quits.

He may have had some impact in leadership, but not enough to win.

god do i miss Steve

[canadienhater 0]

Yes we would have, we'd buy out lang, let Dat's go else where for his 6.7 million. If Stevie was still playing like 1998 we'd find a way to keep him...but the realiity of it is, we wouldn't have to Stevie would take a paycut to make sure we could afford him and whatever else we needed to compete for the cup.

steve yzerman had the heart and will unfortunatelyhis body did not

[kindlwillbegreat 0]

I can't help but wonder why you are allowed to start threads.

No, the Wings would not have won it all. Stevie hung around one year too long as it was. He tried to will his way past Edmonton, and it didn't work. If you have Stevie in the lineup this offseason, others like Franzen, Cleary, Bert, Lang, FLIP, do not get the ice time to do anything.

Stop this nonsense posting. I'm starting to get a headache every time I see your name next to a thread title.

you dont like it dont read , simple as that i dont like seeing your little jesus thing either but i dont complain , just dont read

the way he was playing in his last season, no.

his hart was still in the game but his body was calling it quits.

He may have had some impact in leadership, but not enough to win.

god do i miss Steve

i agree with you , i just think he would of found a way to will us through , the year before it was just badluck we had to deal with roloson stopping everything , we were better this year , more determined i just think having yzermans leadership there would of made a difference maybe we would of found a way to win game 4 as we should of , he still had 4 assists in 4 games vs the oilers in the post season its not amazin stats but still a pt a game .......but again like most of you said to many if's , we'll never know .

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

No.

[stevie for president 42]

if bobby orr never got injured, would gretzky have set all the records he did?

im bossy never got injured, would he hold the nhls all time goals record?

if lemieux wasnt injured for 80% of his career, would he have beaten waynes records?

if yzerman didnt get hurt so much, would he still be playing, and would have won the cup?

if schneider and fischer and vladdy were on this team would we have won the cup?

if the ref doesnt call datsyuk for that "interference" in game 5 would we have won the cup?

if scotty really traded yzerman or if he never traded for shanny would we ever have won the cup to begin with?

there was an espn article that said the wings did as good as they did because yzerman and shanny were NOT on this team. and as blashphemous as that was, it made some good points.

[datsyukiandeke 0]

good post, come on guys, this isnt a totally ridicoulous what if. he's just asking for your opinion. and i think hell yes we would have won the cup. stevie was one of the best players last post season.

[Production Line 1]

Woulda, shoulda, coulda, we'll never know...His heart, mind and leadership was still there but the abuse on his body took its toll. He had to play balls out 100% no less. He would NEVER sit in back to back games and those western swings does'nt do a body good...He knew it was time to hang them up with NO regrets...

[Gordie Howe hat trick 110]

As much as I love the Captain, I think that he was not the most productive offensive forward that he used to be nor the defensive one that he once was. This is to be expected with age, but he wouldn't have tipped the scales in my opinion.

[BobRouse03 31]

As much as it pains me to say I dont think the Wings would have gone as far as they did with Yzerman. Besides the obvious factors, such as more ice time for guys like Franzen and Filppula, who played crucial roles throughout the playoffs, not having Yzerman (and to a lesser extend Shanny) allowed Zetterberg and Datsyuk to grow. If you looked at the Wings the past few post seasons it was as if the team was waiting for Yzerman to do something great, to carry the team and after '02 Yzerman physically couldnt handle that task any longer. I remember thinking the same thing during the playoffs against Nashville and Calgary back in 2004......the team did not press hard, they sat back and waited for Yzerman to do something and after that eye injury the team looked lost. Same can be said about their series against Edmonton last year. Unfortunately Yzerman is no longer in the picture, but with him out of the picture it was great to see how bright the future can be. If Yzerman continued to hang around I dont know if we would have really ever gotten to see that promising future. I wish it were '97 or '98 and I miss a lot of the players they had back then, but it is really important to focus on all the good this team accomplished this year. I know it has me excited for next season.

[betterREDthandead 58]

It's time to let go of Stevie as a player. In fact it was that time a year ago when Stevie announced his retirement. It's over. I'd have hated for Stevie to do that "I'm retiring wait no I'm not wait maybe I should wait no I love the game but I want to spend time with my family" bulls*** that Brett Favre and Roger Clemens are pulling. Attention whores. And no, I don't think the Wings would have even gotten past Calgary with Stevie in the lineup, and the reason is precisely this attitude:

i just think he would of found a way to will us through

That was half the problem against Edmonton. The team was waiting for that Stevie magic, because hell, he's Stevie, and his body just didn't have it anymore. With Yzerman out, it finally made the rest of the team realize they'd have to step it up themselves and not wait for Stevie to pull off another inspiring play or rah-rah speech.

Yzerman did absolutely everything he could for this team on the ice in 20-some years, and we should thank him for that....but we should also thank him for knowing when to hang it up and not making a sideshow of himself.

[Guest Crymson]

we'll never know ........but i was watching a clip on yzerman on youtube and i just couldnt shake the thought .....man if he held out for one more year would we have won it all ??? and i cant help but think yes , yzerman would of played his heart out and everyone would of followed, he would of found a way to beat the ducks and we'd have beaten ottawa ....anyways thats it i just couldnt ge tthe thought out of my head

Yzerman knew that he was no longer able to produce at a level he found sufficient.

Thus, take it from his own words: he wouldn't have made a tremendous impact, just like he wasn't able to win things on his own last year. Yzerman was not able to "will us through" anything in his career; he contributed greatly with his abilities, which were diminished by last year due to age and injury. He is seen as a legend, yes--but he was not superpowered.

FYI: Everybody on the team, sans Lang, DID play their hearts out. It did not take Yzerman in the lineup to make this happen.

the year before it was just badluck we had to deal with roloson stopping everything , we were better this year , more determined i just think having yzermans leadership there would of made a difference

Lidstrom is no shoddy leader himself. I doubt there is a more respected player in all the league, barring perhaps Joe Sakic.

It is not "bad luck" when the opposing goalie stops every one of your shots.

Edited June 22, 2007 by Crymson

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

Nope. He retired because it was time for him to and he had nothing left in him. Having him play another year wouldn't have done anything.

[Guest Crymson]

Nope. He retired because it was time for him to and he had nothing left in him. Having him play another year wouldn't have done anything.

[EstonianWingsFan#1 0]

Come on guys, Yzerman is gone, he is my favorite player, always will be and nothing will change that, but if a player decides to retire, he does it for a reason. I think Yzerman felt he cannot produce and play as earlier and that's his inner question. Let's respect that. If someone wants to play, despite the age etc, he will, like Chelios. I'm very happy about the fact that Stevie Y is in the system, so we know that he lives actively on inside the team. Yzerman was mainly a huge heart in the team, besides being a hockey genius. As far as I know he continues to work for the team, I'm not very sad. We all know Steve loves the Red Wings and we still have him. So let's move on, let's concentrate on the future, let's concentrate on building a new young team. But yeah, we never know. I'm telling you, we lost the cup because we didn't have Schneider. No wonder the Ducks are after him if Niedermayer really retires. What a shock, Niedermayer is quite young to retire for a defenceman of his caliber. That made me think, a player who has achieved everything isn't motivated enough anymore.

[interminded 1]

No.

And "what if" questions always remain "what if" questions...

[Guest DetroitIan]

Short answer: Yes

[puckbags 863]

This is kinda off topic but does anyone know what the record for most topic's started in one day on LGW.com is?

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

We will never know and I don't like saying or reading that one player is or will be "the ultimate difference maker" to lead a guy to the Stanley Cup.

In no way am I trying to diminish Yzerman's role in what he meant to the Wings. For example, without his big performance in the 1st round of the 2002 playoffs, getting past Vancouver would have been much harder. While he played a huge part in it, there were other players that stepped up those last 4 games as well...Fedorov had a big game 5, Hull a big game 6 with a hat trick, Hasek started to get going, etc.

In hockey, especially these days with less scoring, you need contributions from as many people as possible, not just your leaders or star players, which is why I don't like a phrase such as the one created and will say that Yzerman playing probably wouldn't have made enough of a significant difference to win it all, especially with his body condition.

As courageous and as mentally tough as Yzerman is, the body just eventually wins out. I don't care if it's him, or superman Chris Chelios who is defying logic right now it seems, the body will eventually wear out for Chris Chelios as well. The body wears down for everybody at some point in time where you just can't play or do the things you want to anymore at a competitive level.

[spydrwebb 0]

capital "N"

capital "O"

period

[OsGOD 3]

Aye, probably not, he quit because he no longer felt he was producti'e enough on the ice... Leadership wise or not we lost due t' lack o' production (as with e'ery year) he would not have made a diffrence in the outcome.

Edited June 22, 2007 by OsGOD