Photo Gallery

Yzerman tallied 39 goals and 87 points in his rookie season. On October 7, 1986, Jacques Demers, who was the Red Wings coach at the time, named Yzerman captain of the team, making him the youngest captain in the team's history.

At the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, then Red Wings GM Jim Devellano wanted to draft Pat LaFontaine, who had grown up outside Detroit. But the New York Islanders took LaFontaine third overall, leaving Yzerman to the Wings at No. 4.

In 1988-89 Yzerman scored a career-high 65 goals and 155 points. Only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have scored more points in a single NHL season.

Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov formed one of the league's best 1-2 punches at centre in the early to mid-'90s.

Despite his tremendous offensive numbers, Yzerman didn't begin to win championships until Scotty Bowman arrived in Motown.

At the '96 World Cup Yzerman scored the winning goal against Team USA in Game 1 of the final.

Yzerman and his Wings needed to go through Peter Forsberg and the defending champion Colorado Avalanche en route to winning the Stanley Cup in 1997.

US President Bill Clinton receives a sweater from Yzerman moments after butchering the pronounciation of his name by calling him "Is-er-man."

Yzerman collects the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1998 after winning his second-straight Stanley Cup.

Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux and Paul Kariya were Canada's top line en route to winning the gold medal at the 2002 Olympics.

Yzerman was once voted the most popular athlete in Detroit sports history, as then-Pistons head coach Larry Brown would atest.

Prior to the 2008-09 season, Yzerman was voted by fans as the greatest captain in NHL history.