DETROIT (AP) The Latest on the Detroit Red Wings hiring Steve Yzerman as general manager (all times local):
3:50 p.m.
Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman says he will keep coach Jeff Blashill.
The Red Wings gave Blashill a two-year contract extension toward the end of the regular season. Blashill has a 104-105-37 record over three years with the Red Wings.
Yzerman says Blashill has been successful at every level of hockey and has proven he can develop young players.
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3:30 p.m.
Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is doing his best to tone down the excitement his return has generated in the Motor City.
Yzerman says it’s going to take time to help the franchise become a contender again in the NHL.
The Red Wings have missed the playoffs three straight years.
Yzerman says he likes Detroit’s young core of players. He says drafting and developing will be the key to helping his quest for the Stanley Cup.
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3:05 p.m.
Hockey Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman has been named general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. Ken Holland becomes the team’s senior vice president after being its general manager for two-plus decades.
Yzerman was a captain for a league-record 20 seasons and a three-time Stanley Cup champion in Detroit, where he is adored by fans and is affectionately known as The Captain.
Yzerman is taking the reins of a team that has missed the playoffs three straight years in its worst stretch since the early 1980s when the team was known locally as the ”Dead Wings” and needed to give away a car at each home game to get people to attend games.
Detroit drafted Yzerman No. 4 overall in 1983 and he helped turn around the franchise.
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9:30 a.m.
Two people familiar with the decision say Steve Yzerman will be named general manager of the Detroit Red Wings.
Ken Holland will become the team’s senior vice president after being its general manager for two-plus decades, the two people told The Associated Press Friday on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move.
Yzerman was a captain for a league-record 20 seasons in Detroit. He stepped down as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning last year, triggering talk he would come back to run the Red Wings.
Yzerman’s contract with the Lightning expired when they were eliminated in the first round of the NHL playoffs earlier this week by Columbus after tying a league record with 62 wins.
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