In a recent post, I linked to a great article on ESPN by Eric Adelson, who wrote about a friendship between Steve Yzerman and a boy named Braxton.

Yzerman did not pat him on the head or lift his eyebrows in compassion; everyone in Detroit knows The Captain doesn’t do maudlin. “There are some people who know he’s sick,” Brant said. “They ask how he’s feeling. That makes him feel different. Steve didn’t do that.”

Yzerman told the boy to stick around and watch practice. Braxton did, and his eyes locked on the players as they whizzed by. Brendan Shanahan zipped over and handed Braxton a broken stick. Brant gasped, but Braxton hardly raised an eyebrow. “That’s cool,” he said. “But it’s not Steve’s.” Brant grimaced and looked around, hoping no one heard. But behind him, then-goalie Curtis Joseph roared in laughter. The next night, Yzerman invited Braxton to the Detroit locker room.

I emailed Adelson and asked him how he came across this story when Yzerman hides these stories from the media. Here’s what he had to say…

I was actually in town to see my parents last spring, since I grew up in Ann Arbor. I dropped down to The Joe because I wanted to do a story on Yzerman for the Magazine in case he did retire. I always let the beat writers ask all their questions first before butting in, but Yzerman disappeared after only a couple of questions. I waited him out and annoyed media relations guy John Hahn (who is as much behind the Braxton cause as Steve is, by the way). Eventually, the only people in the locker room were John and I and a little kid and his dad. So I asked John who the kid was and he told me. I introduced myself and Brant told me the whole story. I promised myself that I would write the story when they raised Yzerman’s number.

In another email, I asked Eric what Braxton and his dad, Brant, thought of the article. This was his response:

A reader actually met Braxton and his dad in Metro Airport on the way out of town and showed them the story on his laptop. I’m pretty sure they were happy to see it, though I haven’t heard from Brant. I’m sure they are both exhausted from their trip.

I would like to thank Eric for answering all my questions and helping me out!