Steve Yzerman, who was tagged as a leader early in his professional career, takes another leadership post, this time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, for whom he will be the general manager.
According to NHL.com, Yzerman, 45, is the franchise's sixth general manager. The NHL.com report said that Yzerman was the leading canadidate "after Boston-based businessman Jeff Vinik became the owner of Tampa Bay on March 3."
Just for the sake of argument here in the Lounge, what will the hiring of Yzerman mean to those who wish or, let's be fair, take pleasure in the struggles of any NHL franchise south of perhaps Detroit. Do they still want this franchise to tank? Could such critics take delight in seeing someone as rooted in hockey as Steve Yzerman help get things back on track in Tampa Bay?
We shall see. Me? I am not such a big fan of the Red Wings, and did my fair share of loathing when the topic of Mr. Yzerman was raised. Regarding the Lightning, I don't recall ever thinking anything bad about them, but they rarely played heated games out West, where my interest is.
I do not like to see any of the current markets, if you will, struggle as a business. (Again, as a fan, I can name 29 teams that I would like to see maintain a Toronto-esque presence in the standings.)
So, I say good luck to Mr. Stevie Y and hope that he remains his youthful appearance a few years down the road. But if he comes back looking like Darren Pang, then we might want to say there's something fishy in the water down there.
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