As far as retirement speeches go, Trent Yawney’s words likely represented one of the more anticlimactic in sports history.
Sitting in the far corners of last week’s news conference announcing Dirk Graham’s firing, Yawney certainly didn’t expect a question.
Not when he still was trying to process the dizzying turn of events that cost a close friend and former teammate a job, promoted another close friend, Lorne Molleken, to interim coach and netted him an assistant coaching job he knew one day he wanted but didn’t think would come so quickly.
But the question got asked: “Does this mean you’re retired?”
Yawney looked around. He slowly approached the podium. He bent down.
“I guess this means I’m hanging up the blades,” he said, and then sat back down.
A 12-year NHL career for that? Five-hundred-and-ninety-three career games as a solid but never spectacular defenseman for nine lousy words?
Yawney laughs at the recollection. The 33-year-old knows he got the most out of his talent as a player and knows he has a unique opportunity as a coach.
“This was a matter of one door closing and another one opening,” said Yawney, originally drafted by the Blackhawks as their second pick in the 1984 entry draft. “There are a lot of people out there that didn’t think I would play five games, let alone 12 years. I have no regrets and the thing that I’m proudest of? That I was able to finish my (playing) career here after starting it here.”
Yawney’s playing career unofficially ended on Jan. 9 when Tom Fitzgerald cleanly checked him into the boards in Nashville and he severely fractured his right arm in three places. While undergoing rehabilitation, Yawney spent games in the press box, relaying information to assistant coach Denis Savard via headset.
But Yawney’s playing career officially ended Feb. 22 during the Graham news conference. Yawney had conceded to himself that this would be his last season as an active player anyway.
And because of Yawney’s heady demeanor throughout his career, it was assumed widely he would pursue coaching. Talk surfaced that he would remain in the organization, perhaps taking over the Hawks’ new minor-league affiliate in Norfolk, Va. .
Now, he’s still in the NHL.
“That’s why I realize this is an opportunity of a lifetime, to be able to start at the highest level of the world,” Yawney said. “I’m going to make some mistakes, but every day I’ve learned something. From talking (plays) on the board to knowing what guys are going through.
“The last few years of my career, I was pretty much coaching in a playing role anyway. I hope I don’t change just because I’m wearing a sweat suit now. You have to draw the line in some areas, but for the most part, I want to help the guys out and create a positive atmosphere.”
In other words, repay debts to former teammates such as Keith Brown and Bob Murray–players who, as veterans when Yawney first broke in, helped him.
“I didn’t win a Stanley Cup as a player, but it’s still not out of the realm of possibility as a coach,” Yawney said. “That’s what we’re striving to do here.”
