Monday, February 25, 2002
Yzerman stands tall in Olympic moment
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Team Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- Someday, Steve Yzerman will be able to sit down and watch all of this on video.
For the time being, the memories will be clear in his mind.
As they handed out the medals yesterday, the Team Canada centre had a video recorder pointed at each player getting the gold put around their necks. It will likely end up somewhere in the Yzerman family archives.
Yzerman was troubled by a knee injury throughout the Olympics, but took his game to another level and proved to be one of the club's top players in the 10-day tournament.
"You've got to give a lot of credit to a guy like Steve Yzerman," said Team Canada associate coach Jacques Martin yesterday. "There's a guy who showed a lot in this tournament about the type of player he is.
"He came in here hurt and then played like there was no tomorrow. You wouldn't have known he was hurt if you looked at him on the ice. The guy was outstanding. He really was. I think if there's an MVP of the tournament, he's been the guy for us."
The 36-year-old Yzerman, who likely won't get another shot at Olympic gold, brought his father Ron here from Ottawa to enjoy the tournament with him and the two were able to share in the excitement together.
Steve Yzerman has won two Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings, but didn't want to miss his chance to wear a gold medal. That's why only two weeks after knee surgery, he competed for his country.
"I really wasn't sure if (I was going to be able to play), but when I made the decision to come, I was committed," said Yzerman. "There was no turning back. I just wanted to come here, play my best and forget about the injury.
"I talked to (GM) Wayne (Gretzky) about it before the tournament, but not for a long time. We had a good talk and the decision was left in my hands. I wanted to be here to help this team win."
While Canada got off to a difficult start with a 5-2 loss to Sweden in its opener, Gretzky made note that Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Yzerman deserved credit for making sure everything didn't fall apart.
The humble Yzerman refused to do so.
"Everybody in the dressing room believed. It didn't shock us when we got off to the tough start," said Yzerman. "People thought we were just going to walk in here and win. We knew that wasn't the case. We knew we had to work for it.
"We knew this wasn't going to be easy. This is a pretty significant win because this is an international competition. I remember 1972 just vaguely and I know the whole country stood still to watch that.
"I've got to imagine that the whole country was watching this pretty closely."
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2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
