Yzerman a lock to compete in Turin

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http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=133688

Yzerman a lock to compete in Turin

Steve Yzerman

Canadian Press

8/16/2005 4:45:24 PM

VANCOUVER (CP) - There will be some big names that won't make Team Canada's roster for the Turin Olympic, victims of an abundance of talent this country has on its hands these days.

But barring an injury, Steve Yzerman is a lock to compete in his third Olympics.

''There's no bubble for Stevie Y,'' said Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky. ''If he's not playing great, and his knee is bothering him, he'd be the first guy to tell me.''

Such was the case at the World Cup of Hockey last summer when Yzerman, named to the team, called Gretzky and said he just couldn't go. But a year of rest, thanks to the NHL lockout, has the 40-year-old Detroit Red Wing back for one more season.

With captain Mario Lemieux deciding not to come to the Olympic camp this week because of his busy schedule with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Yzerman's presence takes on an even greater role.

''In our game, every now and then we get very lucky that we get a really true superstar, great team leader, and great person - and he's that guy,'' added Gretzky, somewhat of an expert on the subject.

''He's such a classy individual and such a great example for all of us who are around him,'' added star winger Jarome Iginla, who scored the decisive goal for Canada in Salt Lake City. ''The way he treats everybody, how dedicated he is and for everything he's accomplished. To be so down to earth and such a great example for all of us to watch, the way he carries himself. It rubs off on us.''

In 2002, Yzerman was only the third player in the history of the game to win Olympic and NHL titles in the same year.

Yzerman, whose current crew cut makes him look 10 years younger, acknowledges that doing another double would be sweet. But he wants to make the Olympic team on merit.

''Here we are in the middle of August. My play over the course of the first half of the season will determine if I'm on the Olympic team or not. I don't have any false expectations that I'm on the team, I have to play well.

''But 2002 was certainly a very special year, it was the highlight of my career, it made everything worthwhile that year.''

That's because he essentially played on one leg that season. He appeared in only 52 regular-season games because of a serious knee injury but played every single playoff game - leading the team with 23 points in 23 games - and did not miss an Olympic shift in Salt Lake City despite being barely able to walk.

''I remember walking by the dressing room before the gold medal game and the trainer said to me: `If it was a Game 7 in the playoffs, I probably wouldn't let him play he has such a bad knee,''' recalls Gretzky. ''But he plays with a lot of heart, plays with a lot of unselfishness, and he's well-respected by the players not only in our dressing room but by players in the tournament. He's a special individual and we're thrilled that he's Canadian.

''I hope that things go well for him over the next six months and he's injury-free and that he's part of this team again. He takes so much pressure off the rest of our players. He's tremendous leader.''

Yzerman shrugs off the Salt Lake memories.

''I had surgery about two weeks before the Games,'' he said. ''I played two games right before the Olympics and felt really good. I talked to Wayne before the Olympics and said: `I feel really good.' Then I got into the tournament and after the second game against the Germans, my knee really swelled up, and started to get gradually worse.

''At that point, I just thought I couldn't bail out. I just did what I could do and got through it.''

He was marvellous on a line with Mario Lemieux and Paul Kariya, playing left wing and taking care of the defensive side of the game.

Yzerman, born in Cranbrook, B.C., but raised in Ottawa, waited until the summer of 2002 to get knee realignment surgery. It was such a serious procedure that he missed the first 66 games of the 2002-03 season.

The NHL lockout may be the only reason Yzerman is even here this week. The longest-tenured captain in the NHL wasn't going to retire during a labour dispute. The 21-year veteran will retire playing the game.

''If I would have played last year, I may not have been here, I don't know,'' he said.

Notes: Team Canada's 37 hopefuls were off the ice Tuesday, instead golfing with the 44 national junior team prospects whose camp ended Monday night. The NHL stars were also scheduled to have dinner with the juniors before chartering a flight to Kelowna, where the on-ice work resumes Wednesday through Friday.