Posted on 02/16/2005 8:13:54 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
End of NHL season may signal the end for aging stars
2/16/2005, 5:31 p.m. ET
By LARRY LAGE
The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — The last time Detroit Red Wings star Steve Yzerman played in an NHL game, during the 2004 playoffs, he had to be helped off the ice when a puck broke bones near his left eye.
Yzerman vowed to return, with a visor, but didn't get the chance.
With the league canceling the season over its labor woes Wednesday, Yzerman — along with a handful of NHL legends — may have been pushed into retirement.
Yzerman, who ranks sixth with 1,721 career points and is the longest-serving captain in league history, said he would consider retiring if the work stoppage was longer than one year. He turns 40 in May.
"Everything is up in the air, and nobody is giving me a deadline to make a decision, which is good because I haven't decided one way or the other even if we resume playing in the fall," Yzerman told The Associated Press.
Mario Lemieux (39), Mark Messier (44), Brett Hull (40), Ron Francis (42 in March), Dave Andreychuk (41) and Chris Chelios (43) also could have played for the last time in the NHL.
"I think they would probably not want to end their careers without trying next year," said Scotty Bowman, the winningest coach in league history.
Then, Bowman added: "Maybe some of the guys have had enough."
Lemieux has said repeatedly he plans to play a couple more years after the labor impasse is resolved, but he has struggled to stay healthy because of various injuries and ailments. He played just 10 games last season, missed most of the previous one and has played only one full season since 1996-97.
"I feel I can play a few more years," Lemieux insisted. "I feel I can still play at a high level."
Former NHL player Mickey Redmond said even though some of the aging stars may want to play more, their bodies might not be up to the challenge.
"The difficult part for a lot of them, at their ages, will be trying to stay in condition to compete," Redmond said.
Glen Sather, the New York Rangers' president and general manager, said the prolonged lockout makes Messier's return less certain. Sather said he had talked recently to New York's captain, who in 1994 led the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup since 1940.
"He called me to get tickets to see Saturday Night Live," Sather said. "He didn't even talk about hockey, so I don't know whether he's interested in coming back or not."
Red Wings star Nicklas Lidstrom said it's a shame the lockout could lead to an early exit for some of hockey's all-time greats.
"There are a lot of future Hall of Famers that are being hurt right now because potentially it could be the end of their careers," Lidstrom said.
"I'm sure the fans want to see the future Hall of Famers go out in a different way, too."
Headline should be changed to "End of NHL Season May Signal End of The NHL Itself"
Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby has been touted as the next hockey prodigy, but I think he's at least one notch below a Gretzky-Lemieux type of player.
Not exactly a "legend", but Tommy Albelin is probably done too.
There's nothing about most professional sports that even remotely resembles "free-market capitalism."
I thought I saw his obituary back in the late 1990s, and then sure enough -- he got signed by the Devils again when he was something like 63 years old. LOL!
I have a solution!
All you need is ONE goal to win. The suspense is INTENSE!
Except the part where you lose your job because of a labor dispute!
LOL. You're right about that.
coulnd't be happier..I love how they have 500000 play off games..Hope it never comes back
Unfortunately, the NHL had to take care of three bankrupt franchises over the past five seasons (Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres).
Oddly enough, what made the Buffalo situation even worse was that the Sabres was then owned by John Rigas (founder of Adelphia Cable) who schemed with his son to loot both the Sabres franchise and Adelphia Cable of millions and millions of dollars, forcing the NHL to take over operation of the Sabres for a time until a new owner was found.
Thankfully, Rigas and his son are in federal jail, but tonight the NHL is on death watch because the league and the owners did not have the money and the high-powered Broadcast TV contract to survive.
Wonder how long it will be before more NHL teams, as well as the league itself, goes into bankruptcy.
Looks like Snow Sheveling will replace Hockey as Canada's National Pastime, eh!
I blame the union, because when it comes down to it, I'll always blame a union. The owners are culpable in that they agreed to pay the exorbitant salaries in the first place, but the union chose to force the lockout rather than worry about the survival of their jobs. Typical union... kill the body to save a fingernail. Good riddance, and I hope the sport never, ever returns. Maybe that will serve as a wakeup call to the players in the other, "real" major sports.
Thank the UNION.
The grapevine has it that five clubs will fold. So, you're part way there.
"Looks like Snow Sheveling will replace Hockey as Canada's National Pastime, eh!"
You forgot curling, dude. Let fly the brooms.
I just emailed someone with a porposal on a dead pool for that. My dibs for the first to take the dirt nap is Nashville. Florida, Atlanta, Phoenix and Carolina or Anaheim soon to follow.
It's going to make us mean-spirited and short-fused.
I only hope we can turn our discontent into an overthrow of the Liberals - ARRRRR!! ;^)
Stevie Y and his "aging superstar" buddies deserve what they get. They selfishly screwed future NHLers out of an opportunity by demanding salaries that the sport could not and will never be able to support.
I wouldn't shed a tear for any of the players. The majority of them came from humble beginnings. Now they have an opportunity to return to where they came from.
Hey! I got an idea..... They could grow up, get an education and a job!
Good riddance.
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