Stephen Gregory Yzerman[1] (/ˈaɪzərmən/ EYE-zər-mən; born May 9, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player currently serving as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing career.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he is a Detroit sports icon and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

[2] After his retirement as a player, he served in the front office of the Red Wings, and then as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while also being executive director for Team Canada in two Olympics.

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman officially retired from professional hockey, finishing his career ranked as the sixth all-time leading scorer in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points (65 goals and 90 assists) in 1988–89, which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

He also became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, his first year of eligibility, inducted alongside 2001–02 Red Wing teammates Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille.

[7] On September 25, 2006, Yzerman was named as a vice president and alternate governor of the Red Wings, winning a fourth Stanley Cup championship as an executive in 2007–08.

[8][9] In May 2010, he left the Red Wings organization to become general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, serving in that capacity until September 2018.

Jim Devellano, the Red Wings' general manager at the time, wanted to draft Pat LaFontaine, who had grown up outside Detroit and played his junior hockey in the area.

[15] That season, Yzerman also became the first 18-year-old and youngest player to play in an NHL All-Star Game (18 years, 267 days) since the current format was adopted in 1969.

[15] In 1995, Yzerman led Detroit to its first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1966, but the Red Wings were swept by the New Jersey Devils.

[28] However, the Red Wings fell short of their ultimate goal, losing in six games to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals.

[27] In 1997, Yzerman put to rest all doubts of his ability to lead a team to a championship as Detroit won its first Stanley Cup in 42 years after sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers.

[15] In 2001–02, Yzerman re-aggravated a knee injury, forcing him to miss 30 regular season games, though nonetheless still finished sixth in team scoring.

[31][32] Yzerman's knee greatly pained him during the 2002 playoffs, but this did not stop him from leading the Red Wings from an early 2–0 deficit in their opening round series to defeat the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues en route to Detroit's fifth playoff series with Colorado, and the third time the two teams had battled to decide the Western Conference Championship.

[37] On May 1, 2004, Yzerman was hit in the eye by a deflected slapshot by the Calgary Flames defenceman Rhett Warrener in a playoff game, breaking his orbital bone and scratching his cornea.

"[50] Yzerman holds the NHL record as the longest-serving captain of a single team – he spent 19 seasons and 1,303 games wearing the "C".

The official retirement ceremony was hosted by Yzerman's long-time friend, former NHL goaltender and ESPN hockey analyst Darren Pang, and featured such Red Wing luminaries as Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio and Scotty Bowman.

For the ceremony, active Red Wings players wore Yzerman throwback jerseys representing the Red Wings, Team Canada (Canada won gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games), the Campbell Conference All-Star team and the Peterborough Petes.

[58] On January 2, 2007, Yzerman was presented the key to the city of Detroit by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at a luncheon prior to the jersey retirement ceremony.

He was honoured during the November 6–9 induction weekend alongside his former Red Wings teammates Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille, as well as Brian Leetch.

[69] In the middle of the season, he also traded for goaltender Dwayne Roloson as the Lightning progressed to the Eastern Conference Finals just one year after the team had not even qualified for the 2010 playoffs.

[70][71] For his part, Yzerman was nominated for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award, losing out to Vancouver's Mike Gillis.

[72] While the Lightning would miss the playoffs in each of the next two seasons, Yzerman would draft Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brayden Point, Ondřej Palát, Anthony Cirelli, and Cal Foote, signed undrafted players Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde, and acquire Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev, and Erik Černák via trade as future cornerstone roster pieces.

[74] In the 2017–18 season, the Lightning finished in first place in the Atlantic Division and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Washington Capitals.

Yzerman had led the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup during the previous season and was one of the longest-serving team captains.

[99] This is the home rink of the CCHL's Nepean Raiders, the Tier II Junior "A" team Yzerman played on during the 1980–81 season.