More of this Feature • Part 1: Unhappy hockey fans in Detroit and Pittsburgh

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Elsewhere on the Web • Golden Day for Canada

Jacques Demers, who coached Detroit from 1986 to 1990, recalls a playoff series in which Yzerman suffered a broken toe, but kept playing. According to Demers, Yzerman could barely walk and had to change a blood-soaked sock after every period. But he put on the uniform and played. In fact, Yzerman has missed remarkably little time during nearly 19 NHL seasons. He is a long-serving team captain. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who played a key role in both title runs. He is the model of a complete hockey player and a future Hall of Fame member. And he has done it all as a Red Wing.

Lemieux's story is known to all hockey fans. He is credited with saving the Penguins when he came to the moribund franchise as a rookie. In the early 1990s he won scoring titles and lead the Penguins to a pair of Stanley Cups despite suffering from cancer and a back problem so severe that on many nights he could not tie his own skates. After retiring early, he saved the team again by assuming ownership and then returned to the ice to dazzle everyone all over again.

In these days of outlandish ticket prices, opportunistic free agents and obscene contracts, the relationship between professional athletes and fans has become a "what have you done for me lately" proposition. But even by those standards it seems ungenerous to question the commitment of Lemieux or Yzerman. In each case the player has done as much for the team as the team has for the player.

The National Hockey League and its players made a collective decision to participate in the 2002 Olympics. Everyone knew that nagging injuries and fatigue would be part of the bargain, but they agreed to accept the risk. If fans think it was an unreasonable risk they should complain to Gary Bettman, the NHL Player's Association and the 30 team owners, all of whom pointed their stars to Salt Lake City and said, "Go for it."

The Winter Olympics were not another silly mid-season sideshow like the All Star Game. In the run-up to the Games, many NHL players equated the chance for Olympic gold with a shot at the Stanley Cup. Once they were handed their tickets to Salt Lake, it was inevitable that Lemieux, Yzerman and everyone else would go all out.

"When you're in a tournament, you stick with it," explained Yzerman when it was all over. For a man of few words, that sums it up nicely. The competitive drive he brought to Team Canada is part of the player he is, inseparable from the commitment he brings to the Red Wings. Without that fire, he would not be one of the best all-around hockey players in the world. If Yzerman had pulled himself out of the Games after his knee flared up, he would not be the same man who has lead Detroit to two Stanley Cups. Would that make the fans happy?

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