‘twas just a matter of time.  Congrats to Mr. Yzerman

Posted by cementslinger on 06/23/09 at 03:08 PM ET

There was NEVER any doubt.

Congrats to Stevie Y.

Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 06/23/09 at 03:10 PM ET

LEGEND

Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 06/23/09 at 03:10 PM ET

Congratulations to Yzerman and the rest of the inductees. I may have to go watch, yet again, game 4 of the 1997 Cup Finals, just to see The Captain, finally, victorious.

Posted by Aphaea from Pennsylvania on 06/23/09 at 03:10 PM ET

It just seems so natural. I Bravo!

Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Posted by Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit on 06/23/09 at 03:11 PM ET

Oh Captain, My Captain!!

I had the good fortune to have tickets to Game 5 of the SCF and right before the first goal we realized we were sitting about 5 rows in front of the Captain and Tick Tock. We spent the celebration not even worried about the fact that we scored, but enamored to be in His presence. There never will be another as great as The Captain.

Posted by CaptNorris5 from The Winged Wheel, stuck in Chicago on 06/23/09 at 03:12 PM ET

Oops. Bravo!

Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Posted by Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit on 06/23/09 at 03:12 PM ET

Congratulations Stevie.  You were the best.

Posted by cephalopod from Chicago...nope, still not over it. on 06/23/09 at 03:24 PM ET

Congatulations to Steve Yzerman. His first thanx should go to Fedorov, Lidstrom & Bowman in that order. Without them he’s Marcel Dionne,not bad still a HOF’er but not a Stanley Cup Champ and not a top 10-20 Player All-Time. Again congratulations and thanx for the great memories.

Posted by Lindas1st on 06/23/09 at 03:30 PM ET

He’ll always be known as THE Captain.

Posted by TEMO from LANSING, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. on 06/23/09 at 03:37 PM ET

Congrats to 1 Hell of a Player & a Classy Guy TOO !!!!

Posted by Evilpens on 06/23/09 at 03:39 PM ET

Congrats to The Cap’n.  Nice to see three players that won a cup with the Wings getting in on their first ballot.

Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 06/23/09 at 03:41 PM ET

weird how something so anticlimactic can feel so good.

so, HHOF induction in november? is this a thing that regular folks can get tickets to? if so, i’m there. would be an interesting 19 meetup. hell, there’s no more appropriate reason for a 19 meetup. anyone?

Posted by laerm from rochester, ny on 06/23/09 at 03:42 PM ET

No doubt he’d get in.  No doubt as to the greatest Captain in hockey history.

Messier is already in the HOF

Posted by PuckCentral.net from NJ on 06/23/09 at 03:45 PM ET

Probably the smoothest induction in recent years.
They were all deserving.

TORONTO (June 23, 2009) — Bill Hay, Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors and Jim Gregory and Pat Quinn, Co-Chairmen of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee, announced today that Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Player Category and Lou Lamoriello has been elected in the Builder Category. The vote took place today at the annual meeting of the Selection Committee in Toronto.

No surprises, it was just a matter of time for all of them.
Congrats to the Captain.

I was glad to see Lamoriello finally recognized.

Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 06/23/09 at 04:00 PM ET

What a great hall of fame class.  Everybody knew Yzerman would get in as soon as he could, but I’m still happy to see it happen.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 06/23/09 at 04:07 PM ET

Even though it wasn’t happening this year no matter what…

Oates and Dino:  Still waiting.

Posted by HockeyJoe from Upstate New York on 06/23/09 at 04:08 PM ET

We’ve all expected it and known it was only a matter of time. HHOF first ballot was never a question in my mind.
Congrats Stevie. Absolutely a player for the ages. Consumate professional in every way shape & form.
I went to the Stevie Y Retirement Night as my way of saying goodbye, but Stevie will never be gone nor forgotten. The 19 with the C hanging from the ceiling says it all. Sorry for the pic quality, but beer and a cell phone can take the blame.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 06/23/09 at 04:09 PM ET

Congratulations to one of the greatest hockey players ever and one of my personal heroes.  Thank you, Captain, for everything.

Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 06/23/09 at 04:10 PM ET

Oates and Dino:  Still waiting.

No kidding.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 06/23/09 at 04:11 PM ET

Not too metion 3 of 4 inductees were a Red Wing & Cup Winners with the WIngs no less.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 06/23/09 at 04:14 PM ET

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;   
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;   
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;   
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;   
Here Captain!

(Whitman)

Sure the full poem is morbid as hell but this part seems to fit.

Posted by moocat on 06/23/09 at 04:20 PM ET

Congratulations to The Captain. Some might say there have been “greater” hockey players, but in the hearts and minds of Wings fans everywhere Stevie is the best of all time.

And congratulations to the other inductees ... what a great group. Can’t wait to watch the ceremonies in November.

Posted by Bella on 06/23/09 at 04:42 PM ET

I fell in love with hockey (well, the Red Wings) back in ‘92. Knew NOTHING of hockey before that as I grew up in the South. From moment one, it was all about watching the intensity of Steve Yzerman. He was/is truly inspiring to me. I own two sports jerseys and Stevie’s was the first. Thanks for playing boss, I loved it.

Also, a hearty congrats to Leetch, Hull and Robataille. All deserving of their honors.

Posted by Deuce from Brooklyn on 06/23/09 at 05:26 PM ET

Great player, great man. One of the reasons that made me love hockey.

I’m still waiting on Oates, Dino and the Soviets from the 70’s, actually. The comittee should vote one non-NHLer a year, like they do with women.

(And how many days ‘till TPSH writes the Captain isn’t “elite”?)

Posted by Guilherme from Brazsil on 06/23/09 at 05:28 PM ET

There was NEVER any doubt.

Congrats to Stevie Y.

Posted by SYF

[2]
The greatest capitain ever!

Great. The professor last year. Now The capitain, Luc and Hull.

Adam Oates sure deserves to be in too.

Posted by Juan Caballero from Paraguay on 06/23/09 at 06:10 PM ET

4 already.
Lidstrom, Chelios, Fedorov, Shanahan, Hasek, Datsyuk will be too.
Dnd this is just the players.
The cup #10 team

Posted by Juan Caballero from Paraguay on 06/23/09 at 06:23 PM ET

Ah, how I miss seeing the man play.

Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 06/23/09 at 06:43 PM ET

Messier is the greatest captain, not Yzerman. Jesus Christ he’s an amazing player but Messier has twice the cups and twice the teams captained to cups. The leadership award is not named after Yzerman.

Posted by Geoff on 06/23/09 at 07:00 PM ET

Congratulations to THE Captain.  Not surprising but awesome nonetheless.

Congrats to the others too.  I love the WCHA and it’s cool to see Brett Hull, loved since his UMD days, make it all the way to the HOF.

Posted by jennyquarx on 06/23/09 at 07:23 PM ET

Great HOF field,  led by the Great Captain himself.

Yzerman for God.

I kid, I kid.

How about Yzerman for NHL Commisioner?

Posted by VooX from Behind the Bar in the Hasek Club Car on 06/23/09 at 07:25 PM ET

No disrespect to Stevie Y….

i love him and he’s one of the best leaders in hockey history…but to say he’s the best captain of all time while one man who’s won 6 cups; who’s the only player to captain 2 teams to championships in professional sports history…is still alive…is a crime…

Messier is the best captain of all time.

Posted by Mark Miotto from Toronto on 06/23/09 at 07:27 PM ET

No one will be more happy to watch the Hall of Fame induction of Steve Yzerman than me.  Like a million other Red Wings fans, Steve Yzerman was my favorite player - fighting through the years of great teams that fell short, beating the hated Avs in ‘97 and Philly in a sweep, leading the team to a repeat championship after Konstantinov’s awful injury, and leading a huge collection of future Hall-of-Famers to the Cup in 2002. 

Like I said, that’s just like a million other Red Wings fans.  But the reason I will be happiest Yzerman fan to watch him enter the Hall of Fame is that I never got to see his retirement ceremony on January 2, 2007.

Because my father had died that morning, from a heart attack, while visiting my expectant sister for New Years.

He and I were both die-hard Wings fans (Michigan football too).  Every time I came home to visit, he found me tickets to see a Wings game.  We went to some great regular season games, and one playoff game in ‘02 (game 2 vs. Vancouver - where all the fans at the Joe started chanting “Shoot the Puck” cause we were pissed at the Wings’ over-passing).  I lived in Vegas at the time, so he loved hearing about all the Wings fans when I went to see them play in Phoenix, Anaheim, or LA.

We made it to 2 Rose Bowls back-to-back, plus the UCLA game in 2000 (when it was 108 on the *#$%@& field), and we were sitting in left field at Comerica the night Pudge hit a walk-off, 2 out, 2-run HR against the Indians in 2006.  I swear the ball landed no further than 50 feet from me.  That was also the night I found out I was going to be an uncle and he was going to be a grandfather.

But on January 2, 2007, instead of watching my sports hero having his name raised to the rafters, my life hero went up to Heaven.

The ceremony was saved on my DVR at home.  But I never could watch it.  Still can’t, even on youtube or anywhere else.

So I’m doubly excited to watch Stevie Y go into the Hall of Fame. I’m gonna be glued to the TV watching it - whether its on Versus or NHL Network or if I have to sneak a webcam into the Hall itself.

Posted by CJBear71 on 06/23/09 at 07:38 PM ET

Messier is the greatest captain, not Yzerman. Jesus Christ he’s an amazing player but Messier has twice the cups and twice the teams captained to cups. The leadership award is not named after Yzerman.

If only Yzerman, instead of playing his entire career with one team, had been traded to another team because of cost cutting measures, and then later on chased after a high-priced contract with yet another team.

Ah yes, the Mark Messier Leadership Award sponsored by COLD-fX. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t highly regard a trophy sponsored by a daily supplement that has been under criticism for lack of testing of claims made about the product by the manufacturer as highly as I do the Pearson and Norris. And a trophy that was originally a monthly award.

Look, we’re entitled to our opinions just as you are yours. Was Messier a great captain? Yes (though Canucks fans may have something to say about that). However, Wings fans will always have a special regard for Yzerman. He was a constant on a team that changed its game, and its roster many times, during his tenure with the Wings. Messier was a great captain, but Yzerman is my captain. Wrecked knees, competitive spirit, and all.

Posted by Aphaea from Pennsylvania on 06/23/09 at 07:52 PM ET

Yzerman: Captained the same team for 20 years and won three Stanley Cups with them.

Messier:  Captained three teams, leading two of them to Stanley Cups (90 EDM, 94 NYR).

Now, I’m gonna get all crazy with my breakdown here so hang on to your safety helmets:

3 > 2

Sure, Messier won six in all and that’s a phenomenal accomplishment - but Wayne Gretzky was the captain for four of those.

Whoops.

Posted by HockeyJoe from Upstate New York on 06/23/09 at 08:00 PM ET

My favorite image.  Ever.

[img=http://aaronmacdonald.org/Pictures/Goals.jpg]

Posted by Primis on 06/23/09 at 08:27 PM ET

My only time meeting the Captain came at my first ever job… working as a golf caddy.  He was a guest of Steve Thomas and my foursome and his met at the Halfway House.

It was 1993, I was 15 and had spent the last four or five years idolizing only one sports star, Yzerman.

Not able to contain myself, I walked over to The Captain and began to gush praise all over him.  In my excitement I was talking in tongues and half-thoughts.  That I loved The Captain, he did not doubt, but he did wonder about me.

After graciously humouring my star-struck spiel, he walks away with his foursome to the next tee.  My friend was in the foursome.  As they depart he turns to my buddy and asks, “Is there something wrong with that kid?”

“Yup.” he replied.

Posted by VooX from Behind the Bar in the Hasek Club Car on 06/23/09 at 08:34 PM ET

This made the pain of the finals all fall away…I am being totally serious.

And to be inducted with Luc and Hull, that is great.

People are calling this the best Hall induction class of all time.  Is it also a coincidence that it includes three Wings?

I think not.

Posted by John from Pittsburgh, PA (Wings fan for life!) on 06/23/09 at 08:45 PM ET

Thank you Jimmy Devellonno (sp) for choosing Stevie . That 1 man nucleus was the start of a glorious era which is still with us today. I bet Messier never played with half the injuries Stevie did.

Posted by cigar_nurse from Greenville South Cakalakee on 06/23/09 at 08:53 PM ET

“talking about how we were going to get under the salary cap when I got the call.”

“GET UNDER”???

—-Is it just me, or does “get under” slipping out from junior-GM Stevie Y. tell us the wings do in fact have a deal with Hossa?

If so, who’s going?  Presumably, the Wings want to move this person(s) before the other teams know the Wings HAVE TO make room for Hossa…

Posted by vfsv from Florida on 06/23/09 at 09:03 PM ET

For those who think Messier is the greatest captain (note small “c”) of all time, I have a question for you: Why wasn’t he picked to be the Exec of Team Canada? That honor, to me, tells me who the professional hockey world thinks is the more capable leader.

Was Messier great? Probably, but I don’t like that tool bag one bit and no one is going to convince me otherwise.

I don’t know if there will be another Steve Yzerman in the hockey world, but he will be the standard by which great leadership on the ice, pure grit and superhuman pain tolerance will be measured.

If they’re were a Hall within the Hall, The Captain would get in that bitch too.

I also think he’ll get voted in as a builder another 20-30 years from now.

Oh, and someone was trying to post this image.

Posted by Osrt on 06/24/09 at 01:35 AM ET

More of a sure thing than the sun rising this morning.  I won’t say congratulations to The Captain because we all know and he knows, that this is not a privilege to him…it is his right.

Congratulations anyway.  Strong induction class too.  I won’t even honor the misguided trolls’ comments with a response.

In other news, RIP Setanta.  They’ve gone bankrupt and are administration, and the majority of their channels have stopped broadcasting, showing instead a number you can call which gives you a recorded message that tells you nothing useful…yet I’m still managing to watch Tony Kornheiser shoot his mouth off on PTI.  Looks like ESPN America will be free-to-air until this mess is sorted out.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from Fortress Europe on 06/24/09 at 01:45 AM ET

Messier is the best captain of all time.

I bet ya most hockey historians would disagree and go with Jean Beliveau. I’m too young to have seen him play, but the things I’ve heard and read about the man, what kind of player he was, what kind of man he was, what kind of leader he was, his team first philosophy, his 10 cups as a player..he had everything you’d ever want in a captain.

Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 06/24/09 at 01:56 AM ET

@CJ, a truly melancholy story.  I hope the HHOF induction ceremony provides you with memories of the happiest sort.

Like a million other Red Wings fans, Steve Yzerman was my favorite player

Stevie Y is, to me, the epitomy of leadership, courage, class, and humility. 

Like many hockey fans of “The Captains” generation, Stevie Y remains the standard bearer of greatness. 

Like many fathers out there, I often use The Captain as a role model, and how many major sports stars can you say that about?

Stevie Y = Legendary Captain.

Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 06/24/09 at 07:52 AM ET

‘Sup 19?  My Grandmoms passed away last night at the age of 90.  What a Wings fan she was.  She missed half of my wedding reception to watch the Wings spank the Dive in Game 1 of the ‘02 WCF.  I like to think she was waiting for Stevie to get into the Hall.

Posted by WingsFanInBeanLand from Lidstrom's head telling him 1 more year on 06/24/09 at 08:24 AM ET

Osrt -

Thanks, I always forget which code posts images on this blog—BBcode or raw HTML.  Or if the BBCode needs quotes around the source or not.

That’s my favorite image ever.  Stevie raising the Cup next to his little daughter, who is raising her hands with him.  Just a great, great image, that basically sums him up best.

Posted by Primis on 06/24/09 at 08:24 AM ET

Don’t know what I can add that others haven’t already said, and said better. Nonetheless, congratulations and great thanks to Stevie Y.

Congrats to Luc, Hull, Leetch and Lou, too. An extremely deserving HOF class.

Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 06/24/09 at 08:50 AM ET

Condolences WFiBL.  Nothing like a sports-loving Granny.  My great-grandmother used to take her little mit with her to every game she went to at Tigers Stadium.  My mom still has the mit.

Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 06/24/09 at 09:35 AM ET

All the best, Beaner.  They get Wings games in heaven, I’m sure.  And it’s always with Mickey, Larry and Ken too.

Posted by VooX from Behind the Bar in the Hasek Club Car on 06/24/09 at 09:53 AM ET

Congratulations Stevie Y.  He was my favorite athlete of all time.  Everything about him is what one envisions when thinking what a sports idol should be.  Grit, determination, will, finess, grace, humble,  toughness, class, etc. 
If today’s sports figures wanted to emulate someone to show them how they should conduct themselves, Yzerman would be at the top of the list.

Posted by Jeff from Loveland, CO on 06/24/09 at 10:05 AM ET