Stevie

Pretty much everyone has already done a tribute to Stevie, there's nothing new I can offer but I feel the need to say something. Like all of you, Stevie is larger than life in my head. I believe he can do things normal people can't, even to the silly point of once asking: Who would win in a fight, Gordie Howe or flying Steve Yzerman? This led to a whole belief in my family that Stevie can, in fact, fly and that he uses this power to guard the Red Wings and straighten the banners during games. Crazy? Yes, but that's the power Stevie holds over us.

I had to wait until today because I couldn't even read a blog tribute or an article about him without tears coming to my eyes. The really good ones or ones that echoed my exact feelings actually made the tears flow freely down my face. Melodramatic? Probably. But again, the power of Stevie.

The power of Stevie has kept fans who might otherwise have turned to other teams faithfully supporting the Wings for years. Stevie took the weight of our collective hopes and pain and skated with that on his shoulders until he finally led the team to the Stanley Cup. The power of Stevie led us to not just that first Cup, but 3 as a player and he was there for another as an exec. There are achievements he reached that I probably don't even know because, and I admit this hesitatingly, I'm more of an emotional hockey fan and the kind who remembers stats. I do know the awards he won, and was in complete awe of them when they were placed next to each other on Steve Yzerman night earlier this year. It was amazing to be in the presence of those trophies, yes, but knowing that Stevie had touched and won each of them? So much better. I stayed with my cousin and brother for five minutes just staring at the Stanley Cup standing proudly among the others. Amanda and I had to go back to see them again, and the next trip got us a view of Stevie's gold medal. I felt so honored that he would share that with us. I have a neighbor that's actually won an Olympic gold for weightlifting and have seen it before. That was cool but seeing Stevie's gold was almost a religious experience. That's what he means to me.

Actually, that doesn't cover half of what he means to me. I don't know the words to describe what Stevie means to me but I don't have to, you all feel the same way. I doubt any one of us could be his biggest fan, we all love him so much that I don't think any particular person could be singled out as the biggest one.

I only have one good picture of Stevie that I've taken and it's kinda blurry, but I'm sharing it with you guys. It was taken during a pregame ceremony honoring the Olympic medalists when we played Vancouver in March, I hope you like it.

I've now lived two days without Stevie as an official Red Wing and it's weird. I refuse to call him a former Wing, you can't un-Red Wing someone like him, not when the Winged Wheel is in his heart. Tampa Bay, I hope you know just how lucky you are.