When I finally rolled out of bed two sleeps ago, I was pretty surprised to see that Steve Yzerman had taken the job in Tampa Bay. Of course he had been contacted for the job, but all reports made it seem like he wouldn't take it. I was shocked when I read about it, but not for the same reasons as most people. I got on the internets, and started reading around. Detroit media, national media, Detroit blogs, non-Detroit blogs... had one general theme: sadness. And I thought one thing... Do these people think that Steve Yzerman is dead?

Don't get me wrong, it definitely means something that he left Detroit. I get why people are sad, and I'm sad in some ways. But this "end of an era" stuff.. doesn't make much sense. To me, the end of the era was when he hung up the skates in 2006. Loyalty in the playing-side of hockey is a lot different than the business aspect. Just like I was hinting at with the prospects post just underneath this one: you just cannot just sit on wealth and expect it to be ultra-patient.

Here's my deal: it didn't make sense. All I heard about was how Detroit had some succession plan to get Stevie Y in the GM job. Just vague terms like that. And my thinking was, how? Ken Holland is still pretty young in GM years. He's been at it a while, and there aren't a whole lot of GMs who really start as young as he did and not take a "promotion" to president after a while. Adding to that, I can say without even looking it up that Jim Nill is one of the longest serving assistant GMs in the league. It's no secret he's been asked a few times about vacant GM jobs, and one can assume -- given his track record as the Overseer of the best scouts in the league -- that he's probably been offered a job or three. I always wondered what the plan was. Was Nill to be skipped over completely, or perhaps rushed through a short term?

It seems that he would pretty aware of the situation. Obviously, he's got a family in the area, but it's not like the guy didn't know Yzerman was a GM in waiting. It seems like he would have headed for greener pastures if he knew he would be skipped over when the big job opened up. It makes me think that maybe Yzerman wasn't lined up for the job, or at least, it was really far down the road.

Either way, it seemed like Yzerman would wait a while. I just didn't understand why he would. To me, it was a foregone conclusion that he'd eventually take off for a full-time job. I remember suggesting this in some post last offseason and a few people told me there was no way he'd leave. And this is what I was talking about: the business side. He paid way more than his dues in Detroit, and he even chipped away a few years in the office. It's not like he was a few years away from the position and bolted early. He spent four solid years and proved his abilities on the international stage. Gold medals for Canada tend to lead to really overblown hype -- though I think Steve's the man for the job.

I'm not trying to suggest anything like "I saw this coming, I'm awesome." After the initial shock of seeing that he was actually gone when it looked like he wasn't going to go to Tampa Bay, I was actually pretty thrilled. I'm glad he's getting a chance while he's still young to try his hand at running a team. I would have loved for him to stay around and eventually be Detroit's guy -- and no, I don't think he'll come to Detroit should the position open up, he's building his own empire and identity -- but I just couldn't piece together when he'd get that opportunity.

I do think it's a good opportunity for him. There's a couple heavy contracts on that team. They have some young studs like Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, but both of those guys are big contracts in waiting. It does seem like if Yzerman can move one of those heavy contracts for several less expensive role players, the team might be capable of making some noise. Their top offensive gear is good, defense is fairly stable, and Mike Smith is a quality goalie. In a way, Yzerman is falling into a pretty good situation and there's a very real possibility he'll be a Ray Shero-type GM who just falls into a good situation, but gets all the credit for making smaller, more shrewd moves.

I've always been pretty partial to the Leafs, but I have no problems making the Lightning my new Eastern Conference team. I really want to see him do well, and I have all the faith in the world that he has the ability to get it done. It was sad to see him hang up the skates, but as for leaving Motown -- he doesn't owe us anything, anymore. This is him making a name for himself (as a manager), and not just as Detroit's Captain. He'll always be that, no matter where he ends up now. I think he's more than ready to be cut loose to make a name for himself.