One Weekend, Two Faces.
If you live in Detroit, or the Detroit area this was a pretty eventful weekend, outside of the 4th of July holiday and the fireworks the retirement of Steve Yzerman and the departure of Ben Wallace made big news.
It is amazing to me how different they both seem in my eyes now as at one point they were both the face of the city and its sports teams. Ben was the blue collared workhorse down low who did everything you wanted to win games. Yzerman was more of an evolutiuon, going from top center in the NHL to gritty two way player who not only had the skill but the untangibles.
The difference begins there, Stevie Y played his whole career for Detroit, 20+ seasons and he never complained, never said he was underappreciated and this was from a star, not just a one way star but an overall star. He was the guy on this team even when teh Red Wings were bad he played his heart out week in and week out. A truer captain has never played in the NHL many others have worn the C, but none have filled it out so completely.
Then there is Ben, one of thebest defensive players of the last 25 years, a game changer on defense when that is incredibly hard to do. However he was one sided, there was no offense coming from Ben, only defense he was half a player. When his contract came up he hired Arn Tellem and then opened negotiations at 20 million a year. This shows you how overinflated his own selfworth was. Not only that but in the last year he did things a leader wouldnt do, puted on the bench, called out his coach in the playoffs etc. THe man who was the face of the Pistons championship team now let his eyes be blinded by money, leaving a 64 win team to go to a 41 win team. All for 8 million more or as he says because he didnt feel appreciated in Detroit. He was the rock, the cornerstone if he was looking for more pats on the back I guess hes better off gone.
As a close it was a pleasure to watch Yzerman play even when injured and his skills began to fade, because he was our guy there was no doubt about that. Ben will not be fun to watch deteriorate and it will happen soon, his leaving may actually have helped the team. So farewell Steve Yzerman I and all the rest of Detroit wish you the best in retirement!
It is amazing to me how different they both seem in my eyes now as at one point they were both the face of the city and its sports teams. Ben was the blue collared workhorse down low who did everything you wanted to win games. Yzerman was more of an evolutiuon, going from top center in the NHL to gritty two way player who not only had the skill but the untangibles.
The difference begins there, Stevie Y played his whole career for Detroit, 20+ seasons and he never complained, never said he was underappreciated and this was from a star, not just a one way star but an overall star. He was the guy on this team even when teh Red Wings were bad he played his heart out week in and week out. A truer captain has never played in the NHL many others have worn the C, but none have filled it out so completely.
Then there is Ben, one of thebest defensive players of the last 25 years, a game changer on defense when that is incredibly hard to do. However he was one sided, there was no offense coming from Ben, only defense he was half a player. When his contract came up he hired Arn Tellem and then opened negotiations at 20 million a year. This shows you how overinflated his own selfworth was. Not only that but in the last year he did things a leader wouldnt do, puted on the bench, called out his coach in the playoffs etc. THe man who was the face of the Pistons championship team now let his eyes be blinded by money, leaving a 64 win team to go to a 41 win team. All for 8 million more or as he says because he didnt feel appreciated in Detroit. He was the rock, the cornerstone if he was looking for more pats on the back I guess hes better off gone.
As a close it was a pleasure to watch Yzerman play even when injured and his skills began to fade, because he was our guy there was no doubt about that. Ben will not be fun to watch deteriorate and it will happen soon, his leaving may actually have helped the team. So farewell Steve Yzerman I and all the rest of Detroit wish you the best in retirement!
posted by the meathaus at 10:12 AM
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