Red Wings Can't Leave Stevie Asking, "Y No Spot for Me?"

By Hal Maas

Recently I heard a couple of NHL telecasters bring up what could eventually turn into a very hairy dilemma for the Detroit Red Wings – what to do with Steve Yzerman.

Yanking down the Number 19 from "Retirement Row" up on the Joe Louis Arena rafters and fitting Stevie Y. for a new pair of skates and spot on the active roster isn’t one of the options.

But it is a brain-rattling issue. Yzerman has talked about wanting to run a hockey team one day. Right now he’s biding time learning how to be a general manager from arguably the best GM in the game today, Ken Holland.

But Holland is only 53 years old, meaning he could conceivably keep his spot with the Wings organization for another 10-15 years (Oops – well, maybe 20-25. I forgot – with today’s economy everybody’s gotta re-think retirement plans).

After a couple more years of learning the ropes, will Yzerman be satisfied with a limited role? Or will he think his chances of fulfilling career dreams are better served with (GASP!!!) another NHL team?

Healthy food is only good for you when you don’t try to consume too much. Cram too many good things into your stomach and pretty soon all that’s happening is – you’re sluggish and overweight. Right now the Red Wings hierarchy is full of great, healthy hockey minds – Ken Holland, Jim Nill, Jimmy Devellano and Yzerman. The tummy’s full – but not to the point of being painfully full like you feel when you’ve just wolfed down one too many slices of scrumptious Little Caesars pizza that team owner Mike Ilitch serves up. Scotty Bowman, the richest hockey mind in the organization, left to take a position with the Chicago Blackhawks. Even he may have recognized that being part of a loaded front office was just enough to risk (BURRRP!) a little hockey heartburn, so he moved on.

Finding a comfortable fit for all the Wings’ managerial components may be like trying to fit 4 letters into a 3-letter word (think Joe Biden’s attempt with his 3-letter word "j-o-b-s"). It doesn’t quite work. There is no "b.s." here – The Wings have to try to find a way to allow Holland to keep on keepin’ on in his role while making sure Yzerman is a valuable contributor to the hockey club for which he’s given 100-percent of his professional blood and sweat for as long as he desires.

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Yzerman’s name and number 19 are attached to a 19-game Red Wings ticket package plan this season, while the name and number of the team’s legend of yesteryear, Number 9 Gordie Howe, labels a more modest 9-game ticket package. Hmmm, too bad the Wings didn’t take it to the other extreme – offer a Tomas Kopecky Ticket Package. All 82 games. The Wings take you on the road for every game. Somebody would’ve signed on.