Last year on January 3, I linked to an article by ESPN the Magazine senior writer Eric Adelson about Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings reaching out to a little boy named Braxton, who had been diagnosed with cancer. As the big Yzerman fan that I am, I was very touched by the article and even more impressed with how much Yzerman had reached out to Braxton.

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 enjoyed the piece so much that I emailed the reporter, Eric, with a couple questions. He responded with how he came across this story.

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.

Since that article, I formed a mentor/mentee relationship with Eric so I was disappointed to learn last August that Braxton’s father, Brant, had scammed the Red Wings and Steve Yzerman. Eric felt awful that he had been duped by Brant because as a reporter, he should uncover the truth instead of leading readers astray. He even apologized to me because he felt we met through a story that wasn’t even correct.

He informed me that he would be working on an article to tell the truth about Brant and that Braxton was not sick with cancer. Earlier this week, the second article was finally released uncovering the scam artist that is Brant. The amazing thing is that even after Steve Yzerman invested all this time and money in making a little sick boy happier and being duped in the process, Yzerman says he will reach out to sick kids even more.

A few months after that conversation with Hahn my phone rings. The caller ID reads “BLOCKED.” It’s Yzerman. I tell him the whole story. “Really bizarre,” Yzerman says, without sounding angry or frustrated. In a way, his calm makes sense. Yzerman began his career with one of the worst teams in NHL history. And though he lifted that club into the playoffs, he was nearly shipped to Ottawa, then asked to play second fiddle to a flashy Russian. Over the years he rehabbed from crippling injuries and, by the end of his career, needed to prop himself up on the ice with his stick. But who ever saw Yzerman angry? Who ever saw him give up?

“I’m not going to stop reaching out,” Yzerman says. “Actually, I think I might do it more often.”

And the little boy?

“Braxton is a nice young boy who seems to have been manipulated. I hope he can realize he did something wrong. It’s not too late for him.”

The true story of the hockey hero and the healthy little boy begins now.

Maple Leafs reach out to sick kid
In a similar situation but with a much better outcome, the Toronto Maple Leafs reached out to a little boy Jordan Primeau who has cancer. You can view a great segment done by TSN about Primeau’s trip to a Toronto practice and who he got to meet along the way (including a visit from Alexander Ovechkin).

Marty Henwood, a writer for Hockey.com, compares and contrasts the story of Jordan with Braxton and comes to this conclusion.

Not surprising to those who have followed his career, Yzerman plans to continue a relationship with that kid he once believed faced same obscure future as Jordan Primeau.

A player can always leave the game. Class never retires.

Yzerman may have been duped, yes. But the kid was conned far worse by his own father.

So, maybe, just maybe, the stories of Braxton and Jordan aren’t as different as we think.