Steve Yzerman was named executive director of Team Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Yzerman certainly is a great choice to helm the team as there will be tremendous pressure for him to step up as he tries to lead Canada to a gold medal on its own soil. "I'm really excited about the opportunity. I would stress to everyone what a great challenge we have ahead of us. There's tremendous talent around the world. By no means because we're playing on home ice is any gold medal a lock. Our goal, obviously, is to win the gold medal. We'll do everything we can as a group to assemble an outstanding coaching staff and an outstanding team," Yzerman stated.
Yzerman was on the ice as Canada won the tournament in 2002 in Salt Lake City, and certainly was a winner during his playing days with the Detroit Red Wings, having won 3 Cups with the Wings and recording 692 goals, 1063 assists for 1755 points while playing in 1514 games over his playing career. Yzerman is now in his 3rd season with the Wings' front office and he also has international hockey experience as an executive. He has served as Canada's GM at the last two World Championships. Those teams produced a combined 17-1 record and won the 2007 gold medal and the silver in 2008.
Yzerman takes over for Wayne Gretzky, who held the position for the 2002 and 2006 Olympics. Gretzky will remain involved in an advisory role with Team Canada, but wanted to direct his full attention to coaching the Phoenix Coyotes. "It's Stevie's team," Gretzky said. "It's going to be his staff. It's going to be his coaches and his players. This is definitely handing the reins over. This is not my team."
Yzerman already has a staff in place that should help all of his fellow countrymen feeling optimistic. His assistants will be Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland, Edmonton Oilers President of Hockey Operations Kevin Lowe and St. Louis Blues Assistant GM Doug Armstrong. Yzerman is said to be extremely pleased to have Lowe on board, as the former Oilers GM has previous experience on Team Canada's executive staff. As a whole, though, there is plenty of experience for Yzerman to lean on as he puts his team together. The roster is expected to be announced in December of 2009, about 2 months before the Olympics get underway.
"Steve and I joined the Red Wings in the early 80s, and Steve's just a natural born leader," Holland said. "He's got a passion for the game. He's a competitor. He's got tremendous international experience as a player. When Steve walks into the locker room, he's been in that same situation as the players of the team. He's been there. He was there in 2002 in Salt Lake City. I think for a whole lot of different reasons, Steve's the perfect man for the job."
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