TheRussianRocket. Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/yzerman-imported-motor-city-mentality-to-tampa/Yzerman imports Motor City mentality to TampaTampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman has used a Red Wings-type of blueprint in his current post: young team with a productive pipeline, and a couple of budding stars overlooked by other teams.MARK SPECTOR OCTOBER 20, 2014, 7:57 PM Steve Yzerman was one of the early players in hockeys reality show, Stars in NHL Management, learning at the knee of wise Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland. Yzerman has since seen contemporaries like Ron Francis, Brendan Shanahan, Doug Weight, Joe Sakic, Bill Guerin and others doing their organizational homework before finding themselves working inside or sometimes running a National Hockey League teams personnel department. Yzerman, now the general manager of the Lightning, struck out on his own in Tampa prior to the 2010-11 season, but he took with him a wealth of Winged Wheel knowledge. Today, he has a good young team with a productive pipeline, and a couple of budding stars Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson who were drafted in Round 7, and not drafted at all, respectively. And when you ask him about them, who does Yzerman sound like? He sounds exactly like Holland, when we used to ask him about drafting Pavel Datsyuk (Rd. 6 in 98) and Henrik Zetterberg (Rd. 7 in 99). We didnt know when we drafted Ondrej Palat in the seventh round, that two years later hed be runner up for rookie of the year. Likewise for Tyler Johnson (the other runner-up to Nathan MacKinnon for last springs Calder Trophy), Yzerman admits. We got lucky. Our scouts did a good job. These guys are playing 20 minutes a game and getting 50 points. If you knew they were going to do that (as rookies) youd have drafted them in the first round. Its the common joke that any scout would say: If I knew he was going to be that good I would have taken him higher. The best are always getting lucky, it seems. But as Tampa showed up in Edmonton for a Monday night game having lost red-hot defenceman Victor Hedman for four-to-six weeks with a busted finger, its their depth that will get them through for this next stretch of games. Thats the only way were going to make up for it, head coach Jon Cooper said. We dont have one guy who can step up and be Victor Hedman. The good news is, as Hedman checks in for surgery on Tuesday, Steven Stamkos who snapped his right tibia in Boston last Nov. 11 has finally found his form, with five goals in the Lightnings first five games. Cooper saw it best as Stamkos busted in on goal, looking for a hat trick on Saturday night in Vancouver. He took the puck hard to the net coming off the left side, and (Eddie) Lack made a good save on him, Cooper replayed. Stammer wouldnt have done that since he came back from the injury, because mentally, he wouldnt have gone to those traffic areas. Now he is. That, I think, is the huge hurdle. Instinctively he goes to those corners now, where when he first came back, mentally he just wasnt there. It was pure folly to think that Stamkos could have been ready for the Sochi Winter Olympics last February, though Canadians deluded themselves with that possibility, anguished over the thought of entering the Olympic tournament minus the games best pure scorer. And the thing was, Stamkos was every bit as delusional. I thought I was a lot closer than I was, he admits now. For me, the real eye-opener was taking the Olympics off, and knowing how much better it felt just after those two-and-a-half weeks. If it were up to me I still would have went. But in the end it really was a no-brainer. It really is amazing how much better it feels since then. So their star is back, and hes flanked up front figuratively, not literally by those two runners up for the 2014 Calder Trophy. Oh, and Jonathan Drouin is here, and expected to make his NHL debut Tuesday night in Calgary. The Lightning have drafted smartly, and developed even better. You might have heard of a team that did that pretty well, starting with a kid named Yzerman back in 1983. And in the 30 seasons since, the Detroit Red Wings have missed the playoff a grand total of two times. Its the Detroit way, yes. Nothing complicated, Yzerman said of his build in Tampa. Ive tried to hold on to our picks, accumulate picks Were all trying to draft well, and we are starting to find some good players. And add through free agency. Peak years for players, they start around 23 and go into their late 30s. The expectation is unrealistic at the age of 18, 19, and if they dont come out of junior and light up the league in the first year, everybody writes them off. Do the history with the draft: how many guys have had an impact at 18 or 19 years old? Very, very few. Yes, Kenny I mean, Steve. Thats sound management. ..wow. Yzerman, my fav player of all time...so proud he's excelling at a managerial role! Will surely be a finalist for GM of the year this season. No wonder why the Lightning's management is so similar to Detroits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Red Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Such a savvy and respectable guy. Hats off to one hell of a player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neversummer Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 No surprise, what would you think he would do ... lifelong player there, worked under Holland. He breathes and bleeds Detroit red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Stamkos and Hedman were already there when he got there. If they weren't, I doubt Yzerman would have even taken the Tampa job, and instead he would have gone to a team with a better core. He's good. He's likeable. And he's pretty easy to give far too much credit to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoneypuckOverlord Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Way too much credit given. Don't forget his team also missed the playoffs 2 years in a row after 2011, on top of a 2014 Sweep. If he had the same Results as a Canucks gm he be already gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Shirokov Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Way too much credit given. Don't forget his team also missed the playoffs 2 years in a row after 2011, on top of a 2014 Sweep. If he had the same Results as a Canucks gm he be already gone. True. GMMG had one bad half-season in 6 years, and he was run out of town. Article is BS. The Detroit model: - careful, patent, and methodical development of younger players. Grooming them in a winning culture and forcing them to earn a role on their team. - draft skill and smarts over muscle - maintain winning tradition and consistency and still being able to draft well - recognizing the importance of veteran players and slow integration of youth in the lineup Tampa rushes a lot/most of their young players. They spent a lot of the years in the gutter to get their main core pieces whereas Detroit drafted their stars in the late rounds. Where was the consistency of winning in Tampa? I remember them sucking for a lot of years when Steve Y took over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 While I can appreciate Stevie Y for doing a lot fo good, most of the foundation was there before he stepped in to the role. As we look at the St Louis dealing last year I think that will be a black mark on Yzermans resume for a while even if it was dealt with efficiently, as he got a solid return (as expected) But there is no question he learned from the best, and being on ice for what was basically the greatest team in the modern era (90s through 2000's) as a captain he knows what it takes to win and what the room needs to succeed. There's almost no question he's gonna excel as GM in Tampa, he had Stamkos and more when he walked in, Bishop fell in to his lap and he's playing in the former SE division. He'll do just fine and rightfully so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeefGormley Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 True. GMMG had one bad half-season in 6 years, and he was run out of town. Article is BS. The Detroit model: - careful, patent, and methodical development of younger players. Grooming them in a winning culture and forcing them to earn a role on their team. - draft skill and smarts over muscle - maintain winning tradition and consistency and still being able to draft well - recognizing the importance of veteran players and slow integration of youth in the lineup Tampa rushes a lot/most of their young players. They spent a lot of the years in the gutter to get their main core pieces whereas Detroit drafted their stars in the late rounds. Where was the consistency of winning in Tampa? I remember them sucking for a lot of years when Steve Y took over. Ever since 2011, he made so many bad moves. I think there are A LOT of reasons GMMG was run outta town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herberts Vasiljevs Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 It's been very clear that he's been using the model too. He's done an excellent job in Tampa building the team that he has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Fire Benning. Hire Ryan Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 More people should probably know that 'The Detroit Model' for about 2 decades was Lidstrom. There is simply no successful model to be had in this league without key franchise players in place. However, this has been largely ignored while various myths about the Detroit model are stated over and over again by many a commentator, writer and poster. Myth 1: Top Detroit players are all highly skilled, but very weak. False. You don't win cups by being very weak. It just doesn't happen. And Detroit over these 2 decades has had truckloads of trucks for players while winning multiple Lidstrom era cups. Here's a few: -Yzerman. No, not big and strong in a Lindros sense, but was one tough mofo. Took a heavy slapper in the face and continued on to play a fairly effective final season. -Primeau. One of the best big power centers to lace them up. -Fetisov. Probably the toughest Russian d-man of all time. If not... -Konstantinov. Hardest-hitting Russian d-man of all time. -Draper. Like Yzerman, continued playing after a severe injury like a boss. Tough as nails. -Shanahan. Best power LW of all time? -Holmstrom. Best net presense player of all time? Takes a beating game after game after game and it didn't phase him. -Chelios. Toughest American d-man ever? -Maltby. The other major part of the best checking line of the Lidstrom era. -Hatcher. One of the most physically imposing defenders of his day. -Franzen. Underrated toughness from this big power scorer. -Abdelkader. -Stuart. -Kronwall. Only towards the end of the Lidstrom era and into the cap do you start to see a decline in Detroit toughness, and with that comes a declining Detroit team on the whole. There is no reason to believe that Detroit seeks out skilled weaklings as a key part of a winning strategy. The contrary is far more accurate. Detroit won because they were skilled and tough, throughout their winning lineups. Myth 2: Detroit drafting and player development is still superior. False. Recently several other teams have surpassed them in this regard and the standings and cups won shows that. They had an edge years ago, yes, but it has been lost in the cap era while other teams have more than caught up. Myth 3: Detroit's winning environment sustained during the Lidstrom era will be everlasting. Lol. False. Nothing lasts forever. Players decline. Players retire. Coaches leave. Ownership changes. Detroit is still doing well, but won't be a legit cup contender soon unless another franchise player(s) comes along. There's nothing wrong with 'The Detroit Model' at all. But I think it first needs to be understood what it actually means. Is Yzerman using it in Tampa? Well, to the best of his ability. But for now 'The Kings Model' and 'The Hawks Model' still looks better. (Because of better players.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bure to Mogilny Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Fire Benning. Hire Ryan Martin. Id give a few more games before sugesting that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Their style of play is very similar to the Red Wings of old, starting with mobile defencemen and finishing with two-way forwards, but the Lightning got very lucky and built their team on solid drafting as well. Palat, Johnson and Killorn are some guys in particular who have exploded onto the scene, and when they complement guys who are expected to be good like Stamkos and Hedman you have a team built for success. They have the high draft pick stars in Stamkos and Hedman, they have one of the best goalies in the world in Bishop, they have mid-to-late draft picks who were developed into full time NHLers, they've got future stars coming through like Drouin and they've got gritty players acquired from elsewhere like Garison/Carle/Callahan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosby. Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I hate the terms "Detriot model" or the "Chicago model" or the "Boston model" in hockey. There is no one way to model a NHL club. I would love to know exactly what people mean when they say these terms. Do you think that Tampa took Palat and Johnson late because "they will fit into our Detriot model". Doesn't every team want to draft and develop successful players? If there was a clear way build a hockey team, wouldn't most teams do so by now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Anyway the lowly Oilers just beat Stevie Y's team. It's all over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBackup Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 While I can appreciate Stevie Y for doing a lot fo good, most of the foundation was there before he stepped in to the role. As we look at the St Louis dealing last year I think that will be a black mark on Yzermans resume for a while even if it was dealt with efficiently, as he got a solid return (as expected) But there is no question he learned from the best, and being on ice for what was basically the greatest team in the modern era (90s through 2000's) as a captain he knows what it takes to win and what the room needs to succeed. There's almost no question he's gonna excel as GM in Tampa, he had Stamkos and more when he walked in, Bishop fell in to his lap and he's playing in the former SE division. He'll do just fine and rightfully so He got a stud 2nd liner and 2 first round picks for an aging star who demanded a trade and only submitted one team. If anything thats a distinction on his resume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebuddy Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Stevie Y should get Roberto L to move a little North. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tambellini's Wrist Shot Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I've got Palat, Johnson, Filpulla and Hedman on my fantasy team for a reason. They're going to make noise this year. I picked up Palat from free agency, which I can't believe because he plays on the same line Steven Stamkos for crying out loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.