253 replies to this topic

[Buppy]

I just hope Tampa Bay's years of suck in the future won't destroy Yzerman's chances of becoming GM of a real team, haha.

I have no problem with Tampa Bay, and I guess he needed an 'entry-level' job, but I hope the circus down there stops before it damages his pristine reputation. And yes, this means Yzerman is gone for good. The odds of Holland retiring at the exact same time that Yzerman's contract comes up and Tampa Bay being a terrible embarrassing mess at the time is highly unlikely.

Bear in mind that GMs do have a fairly high turnover rate. 20 NHL teams have changed GMs since the lockout. Anything more than 6-8 years or so is considered 'long term'. Holland's contract wouldn't have to expire at the same time, he would just have to agree to step aside. Or maybe Steve could wait a year or two in a different role. Or maybe Holland goes before Steve's contract is up and we go with a temp GM for a year or two.

I believe he wants to be the GM of the Wings. I believe Ilitch wants him to be the GM eventually. The fans definitely want him. Assuming he doesn't fail miserably in TB, I have to believe he'll be back before too long.

[Opie]

Even if he fails miserably in TB I see the Wings welcoming him back in some role in a heartbeat.

No way if he goes to the org and says, I want back in do they say no to THE Captain!

[HankthaTank]

He comes back either way. He got his GM opportunity quicker with a franchise that has considerable work to do. But hey however you look at it he is going to a team is a Cup winner more recent than the Hawks were... I expect Stevie back some day regardless.

[GoWings1905]

Scotty left in '08.
88 goals left in '09.
And now Stevie leaves in '10.

I hope the Red Wings are done leaving for the rest of this off-season.

Disregard if named Jason Williams or Brett Lebda.

[Ram]

Just thought about a Wings/Lightning Cup Final. Man that would be rough.

[RockyMountainWingGal]

Wow - digging up the PASS videos. Brings back memories. My UM college roommate and I scraped together to buy PASS so we could watch ALL the Red Wings games....

[RockyMountainWingGal]

Good luck to steve. I'm going to miss him.
But I am worried, the lightning organization has a history of bad management. Remember when they fired that coach (I forget his name) only after a few games. The owners are are very impatient, the want results now, they dont give it some time. ...but i could be mistaken, I think that was the lightning.

Yeah the Bolts are a horrible organization. Who hires the mullet for a coach in the first place?

On one hand, it's a chance for Stevie to make an impact with a bad team. On the other hand, they are so dysfunctional maybe nobody can help. In that case, I hope he's back in Detroit. I wish him the best of luck though - would never want him to fail at anything. (although I can't say I was rooting for him in the Olympics, esp with Crybaby on his team).

Imo, Tampa shouldn't even have a franchise. Sure they won a Cup - freak occurrence just before the lockout, all the West power teams got knocked out. Waste of top draft picks going to a Fla team (why are there 2 teams in that state?). I guess it just irks me to reward repeated ineptness with high draft picks, but that's the way the system is set up - gotta live with it. Between the 2 teams, I'd leave the Bolts and dissolve the other team (Panthers? ). One of the forgotten teams of the NHL....

[FedorovGurl]

Yeah but are they still gonna leave Stevie on the "Pure Michigan" commercials?

[wmubronco420]

this really isnt a big deal, and i dont get why some people are feeling betrayed or soemthing. It happens all the time in sports. I'll probably get shot for saying this, but please people, stop actign like Steve Yzerman was a god or something. he didnt turn this franchise around by himself, in fact i think Lidstrom deserves more credit than Stevie.

Dont get me wrong, he was a huge part of it and was a great leader of the franchise.

[Ram]

Yeah but are they still gonna leave Stevie on the "Pure Michigan" commercials?

I thought Tim Allen does them? Is there a Stevie Y remix version?

Which gets me to think, I haven't been home in a while, is the Yzerman Mural still up in Downtown Detroit, the one that replaced Barry?

[TheDetroitRedWings]

this really isnt a big deal, and i dont get why some people are feeling betrayed or soemthing. It happens all the time in sports. I'll probably get shot for saying this, but please people, stop actign like Steve Yzerman was a god or something. he didnt turn this franchise around by himself, in fact i think Lidstrom deserves more credit than Stevie.

Dont get me wrong, he was a huge part of it and was a great leader of the franchise.

You must be really young. Or you have a terrible memory. Steve Yzerman absolutely turned this franchise around. We didn't even get Nick till 1990. Yzerman had already taken the "dead wings" from a bottom feeder, to a playoff team before we even drafted Lidstrom. Yzerman was a one man wrecking crew, and was just as good defensively as he was offensively (6th all time in points).

Yzerman deserves by far more credit than any other former or current Red Wing.

Edited by TheDetroitRedWings, 27 May 2010 - 02:50 AM.

[Reds4Life]

You must be really young. Or you have a terrible memory. Steve Yzerman absolutely turned this franchise around. We didn't even get Nick till 1990. Yzerman had already taken the "dead wings" from a bottom feeder, to a playoff team before we even drafted Lidstrom. Yzerman was a one man wrecking crew, and was just as good defensively as he was offensively (6th all time in points).

Yzerman deserves by far more credit than any other former or current Red Wing.

lol at the bolded part

Yzerman was either offensive star (early years) or defensive star (but significantly worse offensive player) later (Bowman). He was one of the most important Red Wings, obviously, but he does not deserve more credit (for the Cup wins) than Fedorov, Lidstrom or Shanahan. And Lidstrom then went to win another in 08. That means he was more important overall.

Edited by Reds4Life, 27 May 2010 - 07:38 AM.

[cusimano_brothers]

And he became the World Cup 2004 MVP if i remember correctly

[selkie]

Yeah the Bolts are a horrible organization. Who hires the mullet for a coach in the first place?

On one hand, it's a chance for Stevie to make an impact with a bad team. On the other hand, they are so dysfunctional maybe nobody can help. In that case, I hope he's back in Detroit. I wish him the best of luck though - would never want him to fail at anything.

That was the previous Tampa ownership group that was so good at driving away fans in the area that some people were convinced that OK Hockey was actually trying to pull a reverse Slap Shot and use the falling attendance as an excuse to move the team to Winnipeg/Hamilton. Every hockey fan in Florida was thrilled to see them sell the team to Vinik earlier this year.

The new ownership really does seem to want to see the Bolts healthy and strong in the Bay area for the long term, and thrilled to find someone who comes from the a culture of excellence and 'much will be given; much will be expected'. From today's SPT:

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/article1097857.ece

"Steve and I have had several conversations about how great it would be if 27 years from now he and I were still working here and working hard on the Lightning," Tampa Bay owner Jeff Vinik said. "I'm the owner, and he's the GM of a championship organization."

[Vladifan]

I don't see any need to compare Stevie's and Lids's contributions to the Wings. They've both been huge positive influences. But Stevie had to know he was taking a huge ego-step back when Scotty asked him to play a more defensive game. He knew his rep would take a hit. But even at a young age (?), he did it for the good of the team. How could he have known that ultimately, he'd be considered even more of a hockey god within the Wings' organization?

He's obviously a guy who is willing to test himself, to take chances. Holland's not going anywhere for awhile (and I appreciated Ilitch's candor about all that), and Stevie's ready to move on. I want to think that ultimately he'll be back as GM of the Wings.

[Seraph]

First of all, that PASS video is really cool. He actually says intelligent things compared to players today, which is nice.

Second, I highly doubt he'll be coming back people. If he goes to Tampa with the same attitude he used in approaching the Wings, he will create a winning culture there and commit to it. Plus, I highly doubt he'll want to displace is family and kids to Florida only to return to freezing cold Michigan. He's always said his time to the game is now taking a backseat to his family and kids.

[Hockeytown_Ryan]

Im shocked that there is no Photoshop of Anakin (Steve) and Obi-Wan (Holland) Only Holland should have a Red Light saber and Steve should have the Blue! for team color reasons only.. that would be Awesome!

Edited by Hockeytown_Ryan, 27 May 2010 - 05:36 PM.

[Doc Holliday]

this really isnt a big deal, and i dont get why some people are feeling betrayed or soemthing. It happens all the time in sports. I'll probably get shot for saying this, but please people, stop actign like Steve Yzerman was a god or something. he didnt turn this franchise around by himself, in fact i think Lidstrom deserves more credit than Stevie.

Dont get me wrong, he was a huge part of it and was a great leader of the franchise.

Lidstrom didn't have to be captain.

[SouthernWingsFan]

this really isnt a big deal, and i dont get why some people are feeling betrayed or soemthing. It happens all the time in sports. I'll probably get shot for saying this, but please people, stop actign like Steve Yzerman was a god or something. he didnt turn this franchise around by himself, in fact i think Lidstrom deserves more credit than Stevie.

Dont get me wrong, he was a huge part of it and was a great leader of the franchise.

While he definitely didn't "turn this franchise around" alone, he was the centerpiece and deserves the most credit. Lidstrom, bless his heart, wasn't even close if you are comparing in this situation. You are going to get criticized for this heavily.

When I read of this Tuesday morning, I was just totally shocked. I knew he was up for the job in Tampa Bay, but I barely pay attention to behind the scenes stuff, I had zero clue who the other candidates were, I could probably only ID maybe 2 or 3 GMs off the top of my head, etc. So most of Tuesday was a sour, sad day. You rarely ever get this loyalty in professional sports anymore or in any profession.

I wish Yzerman the best of luck in Tampa!

[Lidstromboli]

we should have traded yzerman for yashin so he could play with fedorov and dominate the league

we would have like 6 more cups