I Won't Say Goodbye...

We’ve all known this day was coming for a while now. I honestly didn’t think he was going to take the Tampa Bay job, but I guess that shows what I know. It could be a lot worse. Tampa is in the East, so we won’t be seeing a lot of Stevie’s new team. I’ve also never found a reason to hate them. My feeling toward the Bolts is best described as “indifferent,” with an occasional tinge of general dislike toward warm-weather teams.

That being said, I feel like a little kid who has just been abandoned. It’s a weird feeling. It’s the same way I felt when he retired. This is the first day in my life in which Steve Yzerman is associated with another NHL organization, and seeing that picture of him with the Tampa Bay lapel pin is somehow jarring. I prefer to imagine that we're loaning him out to Tampa even if that makes no sense at all. I’ll get over it, I guess. I really do wish him the best of luck. I don’t think anyone in Detroit could begrudge his decision to take this next step. I do suspect, however, that I’m going to be spending the next week having nightmares about a Wings-Lightning Final someday.

You can have him as your GM, Tampa, but he’ll always be our Captain. You can’t take that away from us. There's a banner hanging in the rafters of Joe Louis Arena that proves he's a Wing for life. It hurts to see him walk away, but in the end I can't help but be happy for him. So no, I won't say goodbye...just good luck.