Red Wings former captain and current GM Steve Yzerman turns 59 today, with a busy summer ahead

59 years ago today, in the little town of Cranbrook in the southeast corner of British Columbia, some six miles southwest of the confluence of the Kootenay and St. Mary's Rivers, a star was born: Steve Yzerman.

Hockey would bring young Yzerman east across the continent from his idyllic British Columbian home town, first for a junior career with the Peterborough Petes and then, perhaps a touch more memorably, for 22 seasons in the famed Winged Wheel of the Detroit Red Wings.

In those 22 years, young Yzerman would go from a promising youngster to bona fide superstar to supposed postseason shrinking violet to three-time Stanley Cup-winning captain, with an Olympic gold medal to boot.

When his playing days ended, Yzerman focused his expertise—twofold really, in hockey and in winning—on a career in management.  It began under his old boss Ken Holland in Detroit, then he went on to build the foundation of the most dominant NHL team of the last decade in the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But, in spring of 2019, Yzerman received a call from home he couldn't ignore—not back in Cranbrook but his adopted professional home of Detroit.  Yzerman came home to restore the Red Wings to the glory they enjoyed in his playing days after the painful end of the Holland era.

Five years later, Yzerman has made radical improvements to the roster he inherited for the '19-20 season, but that work has brought expectations hitherto unprecedented for him since returning to Hockeytown.

Yzerman has made patience the hallmark of his regime, but it's getting hard to keep that faith for a fan base who grew accustomed to unparalleled success over a dynastic 25-year run.

Now, Yzerman faces the most important summer of his return to Detroit.  He must lock up his franchise's young twin pillars in Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, then he must set about putting the Red Wings in the best position to contend for the 2025 postseason.  It's a summer that could go a long way to defining whether Yzerman's return to his old home leaves him triumphant or one more sporting icon unable to match his playing success in management.

So, happy birthday, Steve!  Enjoy it today, before the heavy lifting of the summer comes calling.

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