I didn’t read Burnside’s article, or any of the commentary on it, but two things occur to me about this:

1. Yzerman was playing better and better towards the end of his last season, unfortunately when push came to shove, the younger players didn’t feel the pressure to step it up – the team was on the backs of the veterans. Without Yzerman and Shanahan, guys like Z and Dats now have to perform better, and they have been.

2. Even if the above is true, I imagine it was countered substantially just by the leadership and the confidence guys like Stevie and Shanny would have brought to the locker room.  Yes, maybe their overconfidence was the team’s downfall, but seriously, would you rather be in the playoffs with them or without them?

I think Steve’s done an admirable job of staying out of the spotlight this season in his new role.  With the obvious exception of his jersey retirement and the Datsyuk signing press conference, I think he’s really allowed this team to shine without the shadow of his absence.  I’m not sure why Burnside feels the need to recast that shadow or what the point is of disparaging the Captain’s contributions. It doesn’t sound like analysis, it just sounds like sour Grapes.

Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 05/20/07 at 10:54 AM ET

I have to agree with Stevie here - I think the two big factors that have allowed the Wings to have a strong playoffs have been goaltending (and the team’s confidence therein) and buying into Babcock’s system. I don’t think Yzerman would be a hindrance to either. I think a part of the problem, however, may have been Babcock’s deference toward Yzerman, and *his* inability to fully install his own system with the Captain still around.

That being said, I think in the long run, having this playoff success without Yzerman will help Pav, Hank, and the rest feel more like this is their team and take a bigger leadership role, which needed to happen at some point.

Posted by Pete K from East Lansing on 05/20/07 at 10:59 AM ET

I think some of the younger players might have deferred to Yzerman and Shanahan, whether the veterans wanted them to or not.  At some point they were going to retire/move on and leave the team to the younger players and they would have to form a new identity for the team.

I give a huge batch of kudos to Yzerman for recognizing that the time had come to leave instead of hanging on years past the time when he was effective on the ice.  He also seemed to have an excellent sense of what role was most appropriate for his skills as they changed with his age, and a lot of athletes don’t have that ability.  Despite the fact that they are no longer suited to the role of centerpiece of the team, they still want the role and the salary to match; in this case an older but still productive player does stunt the development of younger players.  Yzerman seemed smart enough not to do that.

And it is easy to make determinations like this in retrospect.  There wouldn’t have been any “Red Wings are better now that Yzerman has moved on” articles if the team made the often-predicted flop and began to fade toward the bottom of the standings.  This was the year when Nashville was supposed to take over the division and Detroit was supposed to begin the inevitable slide gracefully toward mediocrity, if you paid attention to the pundits and their pre-season predictions.  Now, of course, they will lose to Anaheim, thus prompting the slide toward mediocrity next season. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/20/07 at 11:20 AM ET