On Hockey, Steve Yzerman, and Values

This week a small story went unnoticed outside of certain circles, those circles being (in descending order) the city of Detroit, most of Canada, and hockey fans. The story:

...the news that veteran Detroit captain Steve Yzerman had withdrawn his name from Olympic consideration. Yzerman, 40, not playing up to his high standards this season, told Gretzky by phone Sunday.

"It was the right thing to do," Yzerman said following Detroit's 5-2 win over New Jersey on Tuesday night. "I would've loved to play in the Olympics again, but I believe it's time for me to step aside.

"It's time to let other guys play."

Yzerman scored his fourth goal of the season in the victory, the 682nd of his illustrious NHL career. Yzerman was asked whether he would interested in a non-playing role with the Canadian team.

"I've offered my services as a sommelier," Yzerman joked.

What a class act! But one would expect no less of The Captain. Steve Yzerman has played with the Red Wings since the 1983-1984 season, and has been Captain since 1986, wearing the "C" longer than any other player in the NHL, ever. Yzerman pretty much stands alone as The Ultimate Sports Hero in a town where sports really matter. I say "ultimate" in terms of the modern era. The Detroit Tigers' Ty Cobb may have been bigger in his day, but there's no one around who could argue that point. Cobb's been dead for a long time. Isiah Thomas? His 13-year career with the Pistons falls short of Yzerman's career by eight years. Barry Sanders? Ditto for longevity. It's arguable that neither Sanders nor Thomas excelled in their sports to the extent Yzerman has. The only rivals The Captain has in the "Detroit Sports Heroes League" are the legendary Gordie Howe, another Red Wing, and Joe Louis. It remains to be seen if Detroit will erect a statue in Yzerman's honor, but I'd put money on it. But, to get to the point, Yzerman's withdrawal from Team Canada consideration, when he was all but guaranteed a place on the roster, is fairly representative of professional hockey players as a group.

It's a mystery to me why hockey isn't more popular in America. It's the fastest game on the planet. Basketball is lethargic by comparison, baseball is played at a glacial pace, and football has all those time-outs. Aside from the speed, there's the grace and beauty of the game. The precision passing when a team is setting up in the zone. Outlet passes leading to two-on-one breakaways. Defensive poke-checks, steals, and self-sacrificing shot blocking. Goalies facing a hard rubber biscuit shot at them at over 100 mph with nerves of steel. Amazing saves. And "He shoots... He SCOOORES!", made famous by CBC announcer Foster Hewitt.

There are 80 games in a hockey season, not counting the playoffs, and those games are hard. You have to be tough to play hockey, and don't tell me football is rougher. Football players don't routinely get slammed into wood and plexiglass while traveling 30 mph, night after night, after night. You want to talk about "playing through pain?" Talk to Ted Lindsay, a Red Wing Hall-of-Famer:

They call Ted Lindsay Scarface, and he’s earned the name: No athlete has ever taken more stitches—over 500 in his head alone, he claims. “You get some cocoa butter and vitamin E oil and you can rub a lot of those scars away,” Lindsay laughs. “In fact, I'm better-looking now than I was back then…which ain’t very good!”

If you followed the Lindsay link, scroll on down and read about Yzerman's knee.
Pro football players play a maximum of 21 regular season games, assuming they go all the way to the Super Bowl. In a worst-case scenario, a hockey team would play 28 games in the playoffs alone; a best-case scenario would win The Stanley Cup in "only" 16 games. (It wasn't always this way.) Speaking of The Cup...there isn't a more-storied trophy in all of sports. Period.

I could go on. You get the point, I'm sure. But there's one more thing.

Values.
You'll never see a Terrell Owens in hockey. There are no Dennis Rodmans. Yeah, there are NHL cheap-shot artist like Todd Bertuzzi or Claude Lemieux. There are also bona-fide heroes like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, and yes, Steve Yzerman. Men of honor and integrity. Role models for our kids. Have you ever seen a post-game hockey interview? The interviews are so squeaky clean they're almost boring. It's all about "the team," "we got some good breaks," "things are going our way, we're working hard" and so on. True humility. How refreshing, eh?
But...what about the fighting? How does that fit into values? The fights are real-world lessons. Lessons such as "actions have consequences" and "take care of your own." Fighting is a part of life, and it's an integral part of hockey. Exciting, too. Nothing brings a crowd to their feet faster than two players dropping the gloves and squaring off. Nothing. Well, maybe except a game-winning goal in the final 15 seconds of a play-off game.
Steve Yzerman's actions this past week say a lot about him and the game he loves. He's near the end of a brilliant career. He knows he's not playing up to his standards now, no one else's. That's what matters. Standards. Honor. Integrity. Yzerman will step aside with his head held high. True class. There's a lot of it in hockey.