The captain's next shot at fame

He still looks like he could play. Same weight, same love of the game. Unfortunately, same right knee, too.

"Oh, the knee is terrible," Steve Yzerman said, chuckling. "I have a tough time doing a lot of things, but I still do them."

For Yzerman, the final steps on the ice were painful ones. Now, the Next Stepis a tender one, and he's not sure where it will lead. A year and a half since retiring after 22 seasons with the Red Wings, Yzerman's most immediate step is to enter the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame tonight at the Max M. Fisher Music Center, where he'll join 10 other inductees.

Induction is a great time to look back at a legendary career, and to look forward. The only thing Yzerman, 42, is certain of these days is that he'll stay in hockey. He's a vice president with the Wings, a job he enjoys, part of a front office loaded with respected minds such as Scotty Bowman, Jimmy Devellano, Ken Holland and Jim Nill.

Yzerman also again landed the prestigious general manager position for Team Canada in the World Championship this spring, after winning the gold medal in the same role last year. His name surfaces periodically when NHL executive positions open up, especially in Toronto.

For now, it's one step at a time.

"I know I want to be in hockey, but where exactly I'm headed, I don't really know," Yzerman said. "I still consider myself in an educational phase. I don't know what'll happen in the future, but this is my home. I really enjoy what the Red Wings have going here. I'm just trying to find my way and add some value to the franchise."

The Wings are in a great spot and a tough spot -- the more experience Yzerman gains with a successful team, the more likely he'll be coveted by someone else.

He said he has no plans to leave the only NHL team he has known, in the city that has become home. There's no lessening of his loyalty to the Wings, just a growing itch.

"At some point, I definitely want to do more," Yzerman said. "But I'd be very, very careful about going somewhere else. I don't want to say 'no,' I definitely wouldn't do that (or) I'm here forever, because I can't say that for certain.

"I fully understand the time commitment these general managers put in. To me, it's very exciting. But I'm not sitting around and waiting to replace Ken Holland. I'm trying to help this organization any way I can. I also don't want it perceived that I'm just kind of floating through life here, killing time. I'm very motivated to do well in this business. Things will evolve, and it'll all work out fine."

Talented front office

Yzerman long has talked of his respect for Pistons President Joe Dumars, who successfully made the transition from the playing arena to the front office. But the Pistons were in a tough spot when Dumars took over and needed him to step in. The Wings are in the midst of a phenomenal run, again with the best record in hockey.

Holland, 52, is a terrific general manager and Nill, 49, is a widely respected assistant general manager. Neither is near retirement age.

The Wings always have room for another sharp mind, and that's pretty much where it stands now. It's working, it's growing and as long as the Wings keep winning, it can only lead to better options for everyone.

"I think everybody's happy," Holland said. "Sometimes Steve wonders what his specific role is, but I think he's contributing way more than he even knows. Ultimately, we all want to be at the pinnacle; Jim Nill could be a GM, Steve's not far from being able to be a GM. It comes down to how patient everyone wants to be.

"At some point, no doubt Steve will be running his own team. What's the time frame? I don't know if there is a plan. My feeling is, as long as we continue to have success, everybody's going to get their just rewards. Maybe it's not as quickly as you hope, but sometimes it's not bad getting there a year or two late instead of a year or two early. Better to be overprepared than underprepared."

There are no timetables and no deep discussions about it. Right now, the Wings are just trying to figure out how good they are, and whether a significant move is needed by the trade deadline.

And Yzerman is trying to figure out how quickly and deeply he wants to dive back into the competitive waters. He has eased in, working with Holland and Nill, exploring all facets of the team -- player evaluations, contract issues and more -- that sets the hockey standard for front-office excellence.

"Everyone's been great to me, and I've learned a lot," Yzerman said. "There's no undermining, no pacts or deals or promises. One reason it works very well here is there's no BS. It's just a group of people trying to win a Stanley Cup. I think we're all very comfortable amongst one another."

Is coaching in future?

There is another possible career path, and Yzerman admits the notion of Coach Yzermanis intriguing, but perhaps not realistic.

"Coaching would be really interesting," he said. "But if I want to be a coach, I've got to start coaching. And for me, that'd be difficult. I'd have to pack up my family and move, and I don't want to be doing that. I have no intention of applying for any coaching vacancies in the NHL in the near future."

It's hard to imagine Yzerman anywhere but in Detroit, and it's certainly premature to predict it. Life is good now, too good for him to get overly restless. After years of holding off time, he finally has some to play with.

Keeping life simple

He spends it with his family, a needed break after injuries riddled the end of his career, after an NHL-record 20 seasons as the Wings captain. And he doesn't mind roaming the Halls -- besides tonight's induction, he recently was enshrined in Ottawa's Sports Hall of Fame. Of course, there's a guaranteed spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

Yzerman is a son of Canada who became a son of Detroit, where he has lived since 1983. He married his wife, Lisa, in 1989 and his three daughters were born here. He won three Stanley Cups here.

Quite a transformation, considering that when he arrived here, Yzerman was a scrawny 18-year-old who had no idea what was ahead.

"The only thing Jimmy D. and I talked about when I was drafted was, I'm gonna play until I'm 35 and we've got to win five Stanley Cups," Yzerman said, smiling at the recollection. "I didn't envision playing until I was 40. It went by quick. As the years go by, it just becomes home, and it feels right."

It never was difficult for Yzerman to become ingrained here, and he keeps his life pretty simple. He watches hockey games at night and European soccer on Saturday and Sunday mornings. He goes to his kids' school activities. He golfs and skis (when the knee allows) and takes the boat for a spin.

After years of training, surely there are some guilty pleasures?

"Um, not really," he said, laughing. "I have to be busy, because if I'm not, I sit around and eat all day."

Hey, it's good to stay hungry. Yzerman exhausted every last possibility on the ice, playing until his knee told him he could play no more. Competitiveness like that doesn't turn off when the playing career ends. As the Next Stepbeckons, you can bet he'll be ready, wherever it takes him.

You can reach Bob Wojnowski at bob.wojnowski@detnews.com">bob.wojnowski@detnews.com.