Genevieve Simard, a Canadian skier, was told by her doctors that she needed an osteotomy because of the degenerative condition of her knee in part because of the torn ACL she suffered in 1999. After talking with Steve Yzerman for thirty minutes about the procedure, she decided to have the operation in the hope that she could return to the World Cup circuit.

“That’s why I went ahead and did it,” she told The Canadian Press in a phone interview Monday. “It was really important for me to get an athlete’s perspective and to know how he did and how was his rehabilitation. That sort of clinched the deal.” …

“It’s not changing the damage to your knee,” he said. “It’s going to make it more comfortable for you do what you’re trying to do. It should, in the longer term, help your knee.”

Yzerman admitted the operation is “kind of scary.”

“They basically sawed my leg in half,” he said. “When I woke up, I thought ‘What was I thinking. Why did I do this.’ In the end I’m glad I did do this.”