Book Description
Douglas Hunter's Yzerman is a revealing portrait of how an individual star becomes a champion by transforming his game, sacrificing personal accolades to acheive team-based success, and, in the process, improves the players around him.


From the Inside Flap
Skilled, determined, tireless and courageous, Steve Yzerman may be the most revered player in the NHL today. Drawing on the inisghts of coaches, teammates and league insiders, award-winning writer Douglas Hunter charts Yzerman's career as "the player's player," the emobodiment of skill, dedication, sacrifice and leadership. Yzerman went fourth overall to the Detroit Red Wings in the very strong 1983 NHL entry draft, which included such prospects as Tom Barasso, Cam Neely and Pat LaFontaine. He made an immediate impact in the NHL with his dazzling offensive skills. In 1986, having just turned 21, he was made the youngest captain in league history. Despite his individual success, including being one of the only three players in NHL history to record a 155-point season, Yzerman's team struggled and Detroit's devoted hockey fans wondered when he would reverse the Red Wings' fortunes. When Detroit was unexpectedly bumped from the playoffs in the '95 Stanley Cup final, many fingers, pointed at the captain. Determined to bring a championship back to Detroit, shrugging off persistent trade rumors, Yzerman continued to adjust his game for the good of the team. While his finesse as a playmaker and goal scorer remained in evidence, the gritty centerman blocked shots, drove to the net and worked tirelessly along the boards in the corners. He led by aggressive example on the ice and with quiet confidence in the dressing room. In 1997, when the Red Wings won their first Stanley Cup since 1955, Yzerman proved he was a winner. He proved it again the next season, when he raised the Cup for a second time and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player. In 2002 the team captured its third Stanley Cup in seven seasons and that same year Yzerman was pivotal in Team Canada's Olympic gold medal victory.


About the Author
Douglas Hunter has written widely on business, history and sport. He has published articles in Saturday Night, The Globe and Mail, and the National Post. His pervious books include the bestselling Open Ice: The Tim Horton Story, Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey, and, most recently, The Bubble and the Bear: How Nortel Burst the Canadian Dream, which won the Naitonal Business Book Award.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Steve Yzerman is one of the most admired hockey players in one of the sport's most exciting eras. This is the story of his metamorphosis from Ontario Hockey League sniper to the ultimate NHLer.

Stevie Y went fourth overall in the very strong 1983 draft, and has more than double the points of almost anyone else from that year, which includes luminaries like Cam Neely, Sylvain Turgeon, and Pat LaFontaine. He's one of only three players in NHL history to reach 155 points in a season; Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are pretty elite company. Only eight players have reached 1000 points in fewer games.

And yet for years Yzerman was seen as something of an underachiever. Amazingly, he was overlooked for the '87 and '91 Canada Cup squads. Although he was handed the Wings' captaincy in 1986 when he was only 21, Detroit fans wondered when he would reverse the team's fortunes. When the Red Wings were bumped from the early rounds of the playoffs in the early '90s, and were swept in the '95 final, many fingers pointed at the captain.

But a Stanley Cup victory in '97 elevated Yzerman to greatness. Like Gretzky, Lemieux, and Messier, the centres who had eclipsed him for roster spots on Team Canada, Yzerman proved he was a winner. He proved it again the next season, when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player, and yet again in 2002 (when many thought he should have won his second Conn Smythe). He was also pivotal in Team Canada's first Olympic gold medal win since 1956.

He is now in his 21st season with the Red Wings, the longest-serving captain in NHL history. He is one of the league's highest scorers, and has been called the all-time greatest two-way player,as his Selke Trophy attests. He is also a gritty, inspiring example, as his Masterton Trophy suggests. Though the Red Wings were bounced in the first round of the '02-'03 playoffs, Yzerman's leadership and resolve shone though.