Stevie Y - A Great Choice For Tampa Bay

Steve Yzerman was the heart and soul for a Detroit Red Wings franchise that won numerous Stanley Cup betting titles. Yzerman played for 23 NHL seasons, and was the captain of the Red Wings for two full decades. Stevie Y, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. Yzerman was just named the new general manager for one of the NHL’s struggling franchise, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Although the Lightning did win the Stanley Cup the season before the lockout, the franchise has been struggling, and I believe Yzerman is the man who can turn things around.

Yzerman’s main accomplishment since unlacing the hockey skates, has to be the job that he did with Team Canada for the Olympics. It was Yzerman’s job to select the players to be on the squad. Yes, I understand that Canada is a hockey hot-bed, and he had many players to choose from. However, with so much talent to choose from, Yzerman had to make sure he put a team together that was able to gel on the ice. Yzerman spent over a full year scouting Canadian players to determine his final roster. Arguments could have been made for a lot of players to have been on this team, but Yzerman got the job done, as Canada won a thrilling gold medal game over the surprise US team in overtime. It was a pressure filled situation for Yzerman, with the Olympics having been in Canada, and the whole country expecting them to win, and he cashed in for the nation.

I fully realize that the Tampa Bay Lightning do not have the type of talent at their disposal as Team Canada. However, Yzerman isn’t being left with a bare cup board in Tampa Bay. Steven Stamkos, a fellow Canadian center, is the player that I expect Yzerman to build the team around. Yzerman must see a lot of himself in Stamkos, young, a center, Canadian, and an elite scorer. Yzerman knows what pieces worked with him on the ice, and I expect him to know what will work for Stamkos. The Lightning also have scorers Martin St. Louis, and one of the top centers in the league Vincent LeCavalier. Tampa Bay also drafted Victor Hedman in last year’s draft, and he appeared in the NHL betting mix immediately. It is expected that Hedman will be the anchor of the blue line for years to come.

Steve Yzerman knows hockey. He has been around the game his entire life. The Tampa Bay Lightning have some of the pieces in place, and Yzerman spent the last few years watching Ken Holland, GM of the Detroit Red Wings, build a consistent contender on the ice. I fully expect that Yzerman will be able to succeed in the front office as quickly as he did on the ice, which will bring a contender back to Tampa Bay immediately.