Steve Yzerman can relate to Patrick Kane.
The general manager of the Detroit Red Wings was once in the same situation as Kane is now – he has nothing left to prove at the end of his career, he entered the Hockey Hall of Fame, returns from surgery radical surgery, determined to continue.
After doing his due diligence, he believes the forward could play at a high level again after signing a one-year deal worth $2.75 million with Detroit on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, we felt it was worth the risk, so to speak, that he had a good chance of coming back,” Yzerman said Wednesday. “He’s definitely going to play. It remains to be seen how effective he will be, but based on his health and his testing, I think he has a chance to be very effective.”
Yzerman won the Stanley Cup three times (1997, 1998 and 2002) and the Conn Smythe Trophy was voted playoff MVP (1998), among many accomplishments, when he underwent an osteotomy on August 2, 2002 , at the age of 37.
The cartilage in his right knee had worn down to the point where it was grinding bone upon bone. An osteotomy is a procedure that realigns the knee to redistribute weight. It is usually performed on elderly people with degenerative bone disease.
Yzerman was the first professional athlete to return. After a long rehabilitation process, he returned to the Red Wings on February 24, 2003. He played 16 games to finish that season and won the Masterton Trophy for his perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
He did not retire until after the 2005-06 season; he totaled 22 seasons in the NHL, all with Detroit.
“I loved playing,” Yzerman said. “I wanted to keep playing. Honestly, I would have kept playing forever. I don’t know if it was the right decision, but I loved playing, and that’s all I did my whole life. life.
“Patrick Kane is a competitive person. He wants to play hockey. So, yeah, I totally understand without having a long discussion about ‘Why do you want to do that?’ I totally understand, that’s for sure.”
Kane had won the Stanley Cup three times (2010, 2013 and 2015) and Conn Smythe (2013), among many accomplishments, when he had a hip surgery on June 1 at the age of 35.
He had impingement in his right hip, grinding bone on bone. Hip resurfacing is a procedure in which the femoral head is trimmed and covered with a smooth metal covering, while damaged bone and cartilage are removed from the socket and replaced with a metal shell. It is usually performed on patients with advanced arthritis.
