19 FOREVER

DETROIT -- For all his amazing talents, there always has been one skill we overlooked when it came to Steve Yzerman: He always knew the right thing to say, and he always knew when to say it.

Tuesday night, before a packed house at Joe Louis Arena unlike any we've seen here since 2002 -- the last time Lord Stanley's Cup paid a visit -- it wasn't so much the timing that mattered, though.

No, it was the simple, understated way Yzerman -- now officially The Captain forever, as his No. 19 jersey climbed to the rafters at the end of a stirring tribute -- managed to soak it all in and sum it all up, this city's love affair with one of its most cherished sports heroes.

"My first game in Detroit was in October of 1983 against the New Jersey Devils and it was a thrill for me just to step on the ice," he told the fans, smiling sheepishly after he'd waited out a standing ovation -- and chants of "Ste-vie! Ste-vie!" -- that lasted nearly 2 1/2 minutes. "Now here we are 23-plus years later, and once again, you never disappoint me."

From there he went about thanking everyone he could think of, beginning smartly -- and sweetly -- with his wife, Lisa, and their three daughters, all of whom joined him for a red-carpet entrance, with flash bulbs popping.

Nerves? Sure, Yzerman showed a few, particularly when his voice trembled as he addressed the fans at the end of his 20-minute unscripted speech.

"To all of you, I don't know how I can thank you," he began, before faltering and reaching for a bottle of water.

Yzerman shares praise

When the resulting roar had subsided, Yzerman, only the sixth player in franchise history to have his number retired, did what a great leader always does. He made sure everyone felt like part of the team.

"My jersey is going to go up there," he told the crowd, "and I hope as you watch it go up -- and when you come back and you look up there -- you give yourself a pat on the back."

A pat on the back? They gave him a hand instead -- another thunderous ovation.

"I really feel you're a huge reason why that jersey's up there -- I just happened to be the person who wore it," continued Yzerman, who merely scored 692 goals and added a franchise-record 1,063 assists in 23 seasons, the last 20 as the longest-serving captain in NHL history. "So to all of you, I say thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I am sincerely grateful to you all."

Clearly, the feeling is mutual, as the thousands of Yzerman jerseys in the stands would attest. Or the dozens of former coaches and teammates -- from Jacques Demers and Bob Probert to Scotty Bowman and Igor Larionov -- who returned to celebrate a first-ballot Hall of Famer who made a career out of avoiding the spotlight he helped create.

"He led without arrogance or self-indulgence," owner Mike Ilitch said. "Steve Yzerman, you helped build Hockeytown.

Yzerman begged to differ. He took time out to honor the five other Red Wings greats he joined, three of whom -- Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio -- were seated behind him.

"The only way we could truly honor them," he said, "was to play the way they did: with pride."

For Yzerman, being the center of attention is an old hat trick by now, nearly a quarter-century after the "cute kid with a lot of hair" -- Howe's words, not mine -- became the cornerstone of this franchise's rebirth.

"And, oh, what a cornerstone he turned out to be," smiled Jim Devellano, the man who'd convinced Ilitch to draft him in '83.

'The face of Detroit'

Truth is, whether Yzerman admits it or not, he has become so much more than that as an iconic figure who is, as Kris Draper put it, "practically the face of Detroit."

"I'm less uncomfortable with all this than I was when you probably first met me," Yzerman said earlier at a VIP reception where he was honored with more proclamations and plaques -- and even a street sign with his name on it -- than one man could carry. "But the reason for any adulation I get is because I played on a good team with good players and we won. So I just tried not to take myself too seriously."

As for the street sign -- the intersection of Third and Atwater Streets outside the JLA is now "Yzerman Drive" -- Yzerman jokingly said he wished his surname was Smith or Jones.

"In 20 years, people around here aren't going to be able to pronounce it," he said, "It took 20 years for people to learn it."

On this night, though, there was no need for introductions, a fact even Yzerman couldn't help but realize.

"I've never really written a speech, and I don't have one written for tonight," he told me a few hours before he stood at center ice one last time. "But I've thought about what I want to say, and hopefully it comes out the way I mean it, you know?"

We know. And as usual, The Captain came through in the clutch again.

You can reach John Niyo at John.Niyo@detnews.com">John.Niyo@detnews.com