Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Farewells and Fairy Tales: Bring The Captain Home

04/11/2017 at 5:43am EDT

Maybe it's because I've been out of state for so long, close to 30 years. In that span of time I attended two games at JLA: Game 1 of the Cup Final in '08 (nice trip, Fleury) and Game 2 of the Conference Final in '09 (nice OT winner, Sammy). Maybe it's because of the way the Holland-constructed team fell flat this year. Heck, maybe it's because of the number of times I had to read or hear about the "final (insert occasion here) at the Joe".

All I know is that up to Sunday, the idea of The Joe no mo didn't make me misty and sad.

But, as they always do, the Wings did a big event very, very well.

Of course Sheahan scored the first of the last at the Joe and then, naturally, he scored the last of the last, constituting his first and second in the team's 82nd.

It was nice to see Dino with a shovel and Scotty with his tummy and a grin. The red carpet was cool and the show was reminiscent of better times, playoff times, optimistic times.

It was a nicely-done farewell to a hockey arena. Not a damn basketball court with ice underneath it (that comes next year). The Joe was where Bob Seger rocked and the Wings played hockey.

One guy played hockey there better than the rest. One guy led other hockey players in that arena in ways we may never see again. One guy owned Joe Louis Arena and he was back over the weekend, in a Wing jersey, listening to Wing fans. If Steve Yzerman, in the arena that resides on Steve Yzerman Drive (which, had they had the chance to do it again the Ilitch's might have chosen "Way" instead of "Drive"), had never considered a return before Sunday, I'll bet he's thinking about it now.

It was impossible to measure the ovations, each seemingly louder than the last. When Yzerman dropped the ceremonial puck before the game, the "Ste-vie!" chant began, like it was 1997 all over again. While speaking to the crowd afterward, he was serenaded with "Come Home, Ste-vie!"

That's Wojo, yesterday morning.

You think it didn't affect him? Think again.

It sounded like echoes from another time, coming down from the ceiling.

It sounded wonderful. "Yeah, it's pretty nice," Yzerman said. "I'm not gonna lie."

That's Jeff Seidel, also yesterday morning.

Chris Ilitch, it's time to make your mark. It's time to put your stamp on this damn organ-I-zation. The time is ripe, maybe riper than it will ever be. Tampa missed the playoffs. Two years left on a contract is difficult to overcome, but certainly not impossible. Hell, we don't even know if Yzerman's got a "buy-out-in-the-event-I'm-offered-my-rightful-job-as-decreed-by-baby-jesus" clause. He just might.

It is hard to stomach. It's saddening to see Steve Yzerman back in the Joe, back in that setting, in that sweater, with those cheers, at that volume, and know that deep inside he wanted this job. He should have this job. He would have this job, except...

When Steve Yzerman left the front office to manage the Lightning, Mike Ilitch said he had approached Holland about moving up in the front office to make room for Yzerman as general manager.

Ilitch said Holland declined.

That's redolence. It's GregG Krupa, almost a year ago, and those are honestly, still, two of the most sickening sentences I've ever read.

Little Caesers Arena opens in the Fall and there is plenty of work to be done. You have to think Tick Tock Kenny Holland has been the primary architect of the opening, if not the building itself. If anyone is orchestrating that project, you know it's Holland. In all honesty, that's the only reason I can see Ilitch keeping him in his job. However, that job just might be best handled by a team president rather than a GM. Maybe a GM should spend every damn minute thinking about making this team what it used to be, instead of what kind of light show is going to electrify the opening night crowd. Code it if you'd like.

Chris Ilitch needs to promote Ken Holland. He needs to recognize that Holland is too smart, too big, too important to be bothered with the dirty jobs like scouting and negotiating, trading and signing and building. Ken Holland needs to be a President. He deserves it. Promote him, Chris.

Sometimes, when I'm bored or when I'm sad and need to feel warm, I'll make up the occasional quote and giggle at my own childish humor. Truly, many of the things I've written over the years I've laughed harder at that than many of you. It's a thing, a vice. Anyway, sometimes those things were quotes. I could have done that in this post, made up a quote for Ken Holland. But, as is the case so often with Tick Tock, the truth is more idiotic than fiction. I couldn't even make this shit up.

“The league is really close,” general manager Ken Holland said. “If you can make a couple right moves and have some things happen to your team, you can make a little move and sometimes it doesn’t take a much of a move to get into the thick of things.”

That's Ken Holland's assessment. Seriously.

Bring Steve Yzerman home. It's time. The luster is still there in Tampa, but missing the playoffs (I think, it's only happened to us once this generation so I'm kind of spitballing) does wicked things to a franchise. Ugly things. Mean things. People leave quicker and easier. Don't believe me? Check out LA today.

Bring Steve Yzerman home and let him work some relentless, gutsy magic on this stale organization.

Promote Holland ASAP. He deserves it. A smart man like that needs a bigger portfolio, a portfolio befitting a senior executive, not a GM.

You got to him Sunday, Wing fans. The crack was there and you pried it open a bit. You reminded The Captain where he belongs. Now it's time to act.

Bring him home.

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About Abel to Yzerman

Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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