Yzerman Lands at No. 8 on CHL’s Top 50 List

Photo by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) / Ontario Hockey League (OHL).




CALGARY — Steve Yzerman has been ranked No. 8 on the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list, adding another milestone to a career that stretched from Peterborough to the top tier of hockey history.

The Peterborough Petes selected Yzerman fourth overall in the 1981 OHL Draft, and the Nepean, Ont., native quickly emerged as one of the league’s elite young centres. Over two seasons with the Petes from 1981-83, Yzerman recorded 155 points, including 63 goals and 92 assists, across 114 regular-season games.

He produced 64 points in 58 games as an OHL rookie during the 1981-82 season before exploding for 91 points — 42 goals and 49 assists — in just 56 games the following year. He added six playoff points across 10 postseason games during his junior career.

Detroit selected Yzerman fourth overall in the 1983 NHL Draft, launching a legendary 22-season run with the Red Wings. Across 1,514 NHL regular-season games, he compiled 692 goals and 1,063 assists for 1,755 points, ranking eighth all-time in NHL scoring.

Yzerman also produced 185 points in 196 Stanley Cup playoff games and captained Detroit for 1,303 games over 19 seasons, the longest tenure by a captain in NHL history.

His NHL résumé includes three Stanley Cup championships in 1997, 1998 and 2002, along with the 1998 Conn Smythe Trophy, the 1989 Ted Lindsay Award, the 2000 Selke Trophy and the 2003 Bill Masterton Trophy.

Internationally, Yzerman represented Canada in eight major tournaments, winning Olympic gold in 2002 and Canada Cup gold in 1984 while also earning silver medals at the World Championship twice and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

The CHL’s Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years project is part of the league’s 50th anniversary season and recognizes the top players to come through the WHL, OHL and QMJHL since 1975-76.