40 replies to this topic

[Stu in Israel]

Steve Yzerman will always be "The Captain" to Red Wing fans, and his jersey will always be in evidence at any Red Wings arena, but will he be "persona non grata" in the future?

Sports has very little sympathy. Players are traded as if they were "player cards," with no feeling for families or friendships; players are dropped or unsigned when the team feels their usefulness is over, etc.

Steve Yzerman's "loyalty" is now to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and even though he has said that he won't "raid" the Red Wings for players, he has already signed Pat Verbeek as a scout, and is interested in "capologist" Ryan Martin for Assistant G.M. It's for sure that Yzerman knows whom the Wings are interested in for the draft, will he now attempt to use that knowledge for the benefit of the Lightning?

Many people hope that Yzerman will one day return to the Wings, but in the interim, will he make himself "persona non grata," bearing in mind that sports has no sympathy and that a man's loyalty is to whomever signs his paycheck.

[Electrophile]

I can't ever see Steve Yzerman being treated as "persona non grata" and anyone that does do that.......is majorly effed up.

[Hank Dats 'N Homer]

Steve Yzerman will always be "The Captain" to Red Wing fans, and his jersey will always be in evidence at any Red Wings arena, but will he be "persona non grata" in the future?

Sports has very little sympathy. Players are traded as if they were "player cards," with no feeling for families or friendships; players are dropped or unsigned when the team feels their usefulness is over, etc.

Steve Yzerman's "loyalty" is now to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and even though he has said that he won't "raid" the Red Wings for players, he has already signed Pat Verbeek as a scout, and is interested in "capologist" Ryan Martin for Assistant G.M. It's for sure that Yzerman knows whom the Wings are interested in for the draft, will he now attempt to use that knowledge for the benefit of the Lightning?

Many people hope that Yzerman will one day return to the Wings, but in the interim, will he make himself "persona non grata," bearing in mind that sports has no sympathy and that a man's loyalty is to whomever signs his paycheck.

I think the obvious answer for me as well as all wings fans is NO. Yzerman can do no wrong in my eyes, nor do i think the guy would ever do ANYTHING to compromise his relationship not only with the Red Wings, but the city of Detroit as well. He is and forever will be welcomed in my mind. My man love runs so deep for him, that i now will be rooting for Tampa in the East. I want nothing but to see the man succeed at everything he does, and im sure he will do just that. I hope that he can be the savior in Tampa that he was here in Detroit.....as long as they dont beat us in the finals and that eventually he comes back home!

[Yzermania19]

I can't ever see Steve Yzerman being treated as "persona non grata" and anyone that does do that.......is majorly effed up.

I agree...Steve was a part of the Red Wings for 27 years and he still has a lot of fans here. He is a legend here in Detroit and that will never change. I know I am not the only Red Wing fan who loves the man (male AND female) and I know if he decided to come back to the Wings, the organization and the fans would welcome him back with open arms. I don't understand why some people are upset with him leaving...he's realizing his dream of running an NHL team. Yeah, it's not the Wings, but would you really want Ilitch to push aside Ken Holland to put a rookie GM in his place? And would you really want Stevie to just wait around for the next 10, 15, 20 years until Kenny decided to retire? I know I wouldn't - Stevie's too good for that.

As for Stevie hiring one, and potentially two, Wings' personnel, I think that was bound to happen. I don't consider that to be "raiding" the Wings' organization, considering he asked the Wings for permission to talk to them, and permission was granted. Verbeek surprised me a little, but Martin didn't, because I had heard he and Steve were close.

Regarding the draft, Stevie's coming on board in Tampa with just about a month left before the draft. Their scouts have pretty much already done their jobs. Steve has said he is going to let the scouts run the draft for the most part, but he is going to review their notes (or whatever it is they have on potential draft picks) and let them know what he thinks. He said he doesn't want to step on toes by coming in and blowing up all their work and starting from scratch. The Lightning have the sixth overall pick and the Wings have the 21st. In the second round, the Wings have the 51st pick, and the Lighting don't have one (traded to Florida via Boston). So I don't think his knowledge of the Wings' draft intentions come into play. Going forward he may employ a Red Wing-like draft strategy, in which he looks for unknown European players in the late rounds who could become Tampa Bay's versions of Zetterberg and Datsyuk.

I don't know how much the GM's talk among themselves outside of the GM meetings, but I'm sure there are more than a few who are on friendly terms. With all the people he is friends with in the Wings organization, I can't imagine that just ends now that he's in Tampa. Stevie has too much respect for the Red Wings to compromise any relationship he has with the organization, from the Ilitches on down. They are like a family to him.

I think the obvious answer for me as well as all wings fans is NO. Yzerman can do no wrong in my eyes, nor do i think the guy would ever do ANYTHING to compromise his relationship not only with the Red Wings, but the city of Detroit as well. He is and forever will be welcomed in my mind. My man love runs so deep for him, that i now will be rooting for Tampa in the East. I want nothing but to see the man succeed at everything he does, and im sure he will do just that. I hope that he can be the savior in Tampa that he was here in Detroit.....as long as they dont beat us in the finals and that eventually he comes back home!

This too.

[Jedi]

Well, let's see...

Three Stanley Cups, Conn Smythe award, NHL All-Rookie team, Lester B. Pearson award, Selke Trophy, Masterton Trophy, Lester Patrick Trophy, 9 time NHL All Star, 692 goals, 1063 assists, and is the longest serving team captain in NHL history.

Vs.

Signing one of our pro scouts, and asking to speak to our "capologist".

That's it. Break out the torches and pitchforks.

[Seraph]

Here's some news. Steve Yzerman no longer plays hockey. You want him to sit in an office down the hall from Holland for the rest of his working career just so he can have some undying loyalty to this organization?

Sure, the man is an icon, but you have to remember, he is also a man. If he wants to take his family to Florida and pursue other interests, that's up to him. He was a career player for the Wings and helped turn this organization into a contender. He'll always be rememebered as such.

[Puckpossession]

Steve Yzerman will always be "The Captain" to Red Wing fans, and his jersey will always be in evidence at any Red Wings arena, but will he be "persona non grata" in the future?

Sports has very little sympathy. Players are traded as if they were "player cards," with no feeling for families or friendships; players are dropped or unsigned when the team feels their usefulness is over, etc.

Steve Yzerman's "loyalty" is now to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and even though he has said that he won't "raid" the Red Wings for players, he has already signed Pat Verbeek as a scout, and is interested in "capologist" Ryan Martin for Assistant G.M. It's for sure that Yzerman knows whom the Wings are interested in for the draft, will he now attempt to use that knowledge for the benefit of the Lightning?

Many people hope that Yzerman will one day return to the Wings, but in the interim, will he make himself "persona non grata," bearing in mind that sports has no sympathy and that a man's loyalty is to whomever signs his paycheck.

Semi-Retarded thread, and also yzerman with tampa has nothing to do with him ''getting a pay check'' its because he wants to manage a team, imagine this, lighting vs redwings 2010-2011 playoffs, we lose, than what?

Edited by Puckpossession, 05 June 2010 - 09:26 PM.

[Echolalia]

I'm a fan of Yzerman (and by extension the Lightning) just about as much as the Wings, so this persona non grata thing isn't much of an issue.

[Crymson]

He's getting annoying. Having been a member of the front office makes it somewhat bad form for him to immediately target members of it, and that's exactly what he's doing right now.

[Fatal]

It'll probably be about the same as when Isiah Thomas left Detroit after his career.

[Drake_Marcus]

I can't ever see Steve Yzerman being treated as "persona non grata" and anyone that does do that.......is majorly effed up.

I honestly hope Yzerman stays away from trying to sign Wings management and employees for the remainder of his career in TB. If he becomes a vulture circling the management for the next 10 years it will definitely get on my nerves.

The Wings let him move on and gave him their blessing. That doesn't mean it's cool for him to start picking away at this team's structure looking for people he can lure away from the Wings.

Please Stevie-- leave Wings employees alone until they've clearly been released by the team. I'm tired of reading news clippings saying you've asked for permission to talk to X. f*** off with the poaching. There are 28 NHL teams a many more other pro hockey organizations to look for employees. Your inside knowledge of the Wings organization gives an unfair advantage (bordering on tampering) and raiding the organization that employed you for more than two decades is an extremely aggressive move to make against people that used to be your friends. Please move on and look for staff elsewhere... we just want to see our team left in peace.

[Crymson]

It'll probably be about the same as when Isiah Thomas left Detroit after his career.

He's going to get sued for sexually harassing his underlings?

[Drake_Marcus]

He's getting annoying. Having been a member of the front office makes it somewhat bad form for him to immediately target members of it, and that's exactly what he's doing right now.

I can't help but laugh at the negative votes for this post.

Where do you guys draw the line? At what point during Yzerman's career with the Wings did he get the magic "steal employees free" card?

So let me get this straight: if you're beloved enough in Hockeytown you're allowed perform actions that undermine the security/quality of the team going forward without entitling fans to legitimately feel slighted? Wow... that's a sweet deal for Yzerman.

[KrazyGangsta]

There's one thing I can be sure to tell you is that Steve Yzerman has never played for the money but this time it was all about the $$$.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Stevie in fact I'm really happy for him with this opportunity.

[Drake_Marcus]

Well, let's see...

Three Stanley Cups, Conn Smythe award, NHL All-Rookie team, Lester B. Pearson award, Selke Trophy, Masterton Trophy, Lester Patrick Trophy, 9 time NHL All Star, 692 goals, 1063 assists, and is the longest serving team captain in NHL history.

Vs.

Signing one of our pro scouts, and asking to speak to our "capologist".

That's it. Break out the torches and pitchforks.

Two guys so far. I doubt his attempts to remove pieces of the Wings organization and move them to Tampa will slow with time. This is the worst time for him to go after Wings assets. Just wait until the dust settles. If he's willing to go after people in the first week you can bet he'll be contacting more and more people over the next few years.

Maybe you're ok with someone actively trying to disassemble the Wings organization using the inside knowledge they gained as an employee. I'm sure Tampa's ok with that because that's definitely in their best interests. As long as they guy screwing you is someone you loved as a player it's ok?

[Barrie]

Stuff like this happens all the time with new GMs. Other than a few people, I don't see this being a problem.

[Drake_Marcus]

I hope no one here is under the illusion that deep down Yzerman is still thinking about the Wings' interests. Stevie is and always was a professional. His job is to get a Cup for Tampa Bay. If he can poach Andersson, Nill or anyone else he won't think twice about doing it. At the end of the day he's a member of the Lightning and will act accordingly.

I just don't understand how his career with the Wings gives him any special rights in his dealings as the GM of Tampa. If anyone undermines the Detroit Red Wings it pisses me off. I don't care if it's Gordie Howe sitting on the shoulders of Yzerman holding a bag of Little Caesars pizzas. It's not cool to f*** with my team.

[Barrie]

If Stevie keeps calling, all Holland and Jimmy D have to do is say "No"!

[Jedi]

If Stevie keeps calling, all Holland and Jimmy D have to do is say "No"!

Exactly. Yzerman must get permission from the Wings to be able to talk to these guys. It's not like he's a thief in the night, hogtying them and dragging them off.

If the Wings feel it's a big enough problem, they'll say "no" and that will be the end of it. I guarantee that they would refuse him to speak to a guy like Hakkan Andersson, for instance.

[Drake_Marcus]

Exactly. Yzerman must get permission from the Wings to be able to talk to these guys. It's not like he's a thief in the night, hogtying them and dragging them off.

If the Wings feel it's a big enough problem, they'll say "no" and that will be the end of it. I guarantee that they would refuse him to speak to a guy like Hakkan Andersson, for instance.

Fair enough, but I'm not so sure the politics are as simple as saying no.