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.
Associated Press article
May 3, 2006
The Detroit Red Wings have been one of the best NHL teams during the regular season in recent years, and among the worst when the games really matter.
Since winning back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 1997-98, Detroit has lost in the first or second round in six of seven postseasons.
The Red Wings’ latest flop in the playoffs was completed Monday night when the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers scored four goals in the third period to win 4-3, eliminating the team that accumulated 124 points — the fifth-highest total in league history.
“The only thing that was going to make this a successful season was winning the Stanley Cup,” defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. “We didn’t live up to our expectations.”
The stunning setback against the Oilers might have ended captain Steve Yzerman’s storied career, which started in Detroit in 1983 and included three Stanley Cup championships along with a ton of personal success.
Yzerman, who turns 41 on May 9, said he could announce by next week whether he will return for a 23rd NHL season.
“I can pretty much make a quick decision on what I want to do for the future,” said Yzerman, who has more points in the regular season and playoffs than any other active player.
The Captain, Steve Yzerman, took part in today’s short practice at Rexall Place in Edmonton. I expect for Yzerman to play on Monday (Game #6 at 8pm) since it’s an elimination game. He couldn’t tell the reporters if he would play tomorrow night at that point in time.
“I feel better than two days ago,” Yzerman said. “I’m encouraged. Hopefully I’ll feel even better for game time tomorrow.”Asked if tonight being an elimination game will factor into his decision to play, Yzerman said, “Oh, no question. No question. It’s pretty simple, really, if I feel I can be an effective player, I’ll play and if I don’t, then I’m not going to play. If I’m ready to play then I will and if not, then I’ll have to step aside.”
I just hope that he will play and Yzerman’s last game at the Joe won’t be Game #2, which was the last playoff game I attended.Additionally, the Wings called Donald MacLean, “the Grand Rapids Griffins forward who scored 56 goals this season in the AHL,” on Saturday night. Upon which, he flew to Edmonton and practiced with the Wings. MacLean has only played with the Wings three times this season, but his first goal came on the power play against the Oilers on April 11.
Associated Press article
April 29, 2006
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman sat out Game 5 Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers, missing his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
Yzerman barely played in the first of two overtime periods in Game 3 Tuesday because he was hurt, reportedly with a lower-back injury. He tried to warm up and play in the next game, but didn’t skate with his teammates before Game 5, which began with the first-round Western Conference series tied at 2.
Yzerman contributed an assist in each of the three games he played against Edmonton. In 20 postseasons, he has 184 points — a total that leads all active players and trails just seven in NHL history.
USA Today article
April 20, 2006 Thursday
by Kevin Allen
Just before training camp in 1983, Detroit Red Wings executive vice president Jimmy Devellano says he warned top draft pick Steve Yzerman that the 18-year-old might be returned to junior hockey if he was not “strong enough” to compete at the NHL level.
“He’s 155 pounds, and within the first five minutes and three shifts in training camp, he’s the best player on our team,” Devellano says, laughing. “Here we are, 23 years later, and we are still watching him play for the Red Wings.”
Even in the post-lockout NHL, rejuvenated with supposedly fresh stars, modernrules and more speed, one of the central themes of the playoffs that begin this weekend is whether Detroit’s 40-year-old captain can lead the top-seeded Red Wings to their fourth championship under his leadership. They take on the Edmonton Oilers starting Friday in Detroit (7p.m ET on OLN).
“I think Steve is playing as well as he was five years ago for us,” Detroit general manager Ken Holland says.
USA Today article
April 20, 2006
by Kevin Allen
Just before training camp in 1983, Detroit Red Wings executive vice president Jimmy Devellano says he warned top draft pick Steve Yzerman that the 18-year-old might be returned to junior hockey if he was not “strong enough” to compete at the NHL level.
“He’s 155 pounds, and within the first five minutes and three shifts in training camp, he’s the best player on our team,” says Devellano, laughing. “Here we are, 23 years later, and we are still watching him play for the Red Wings.”
Even in the post-lockout NHL, anew with supposedly fresh stars, modern rules and more speed, one of the central themes of the playoffs that begin this weekend is whether Detroit’s 40-year-old captain can lead the top-seeded Red Wings to their fourth championship under his leadership. They take on the Edmonton Oilers starting Friday in Detroit (7 p.m ET on OLN).
“I think Steve is playing as well as he was five years ago for us,” says Detroit general manager Ken Holland.
ESPN.com column
April 19, 2006
by Scott Burnside
There will be one player who will be the team’s hero and there will be another who will crush the other team’s dreams. Here’s a look at the Heroes and Villains of the first round. …
HERO — STEVE YZERMAN
Back for one more kick at the Stanley Cup can, Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman appears to have saved just the right amount of gas in his Hall of Fame tank to make a difference for a talented, disciplined Red Wings team with another Cup on its mind.The longest-serving captain in NHL history, Yzerman has the innate ability to change the course of a game through a key faceoff win, blocked shot or crucial pass or goal. When Yzerman went down with an eye injury in the second round of the 2004 playoffs against Calgary, the Wings never recovered, losing in six games.
People point to Yzerman’s diminished ice time this season as a reflection of the inevitable decline in his game, but in the past 10 games he’s regularly logged over 15 minutes a night, and you can expect that number to grow as the playoffs go along.
What makes Yzerman’s contributions down the stretch more inspiring is the fact many had written off the almost 41-year-old early this season, some going so far as to suggest he was on the verge of retirement. Not yet.
“He’s just playing excellent,” one top pro scout said on the eve of the playoffs.
CBC Sports article
March 31, 2006
Veteran Detroit Red Wings forward Steve Yzerman leapfrogged Mario Lemieux into eighth place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list Friday.
Yzerman scored in the first period of Detroit’s 3-2 overtime loss at home against the Chicago Blackhawks to collect his 691st career goal and move past Lemieux, now owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The goal was Yzerman’s 13th this season, and the Detroit captain extended his scoring streak to seven games (four goals and five assists).
Associated Press article
March 27, 2006
Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings just keep rolling along.
Yzerman scored his 690th goal to tie Mario Lemieux for eighth place on the career list and help the NHL-leading Red Wings clinch a playoff spot with a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.
However, you won’t hear Yzerman compare himself to Lemieux.
“I don’t really know the significance,” Yzerman said. “If anything, it shows how good [Lemieux] is; he played almost five years less than I did.”
Yzerman, 40, scored midway through the second period off a scrum that started with Niklas Kronwall’s shot from the slot. Blues goalie Patrick Lalime made the save on Kronwall, but the rebound ended up on Yzerman’s stick just to the left of the goal, and the Detroit captain buried it for his 12th goal of the season.
Last night the Wings played the Nashville Predators for the sixth of eight meetings this season. Due to a meeting, I was unable to watch the entire game and just got the beginning and the end. Since that is the case, I will recommend that you check out the always interesting game recaps from IwoCPO at Abel to Yzerman. Here is one example of his always entertaining game thoughts.
When I see Chelios going after Kariya, my first instinct is to put some John Denver on, call the kids into the living room, drink some warm cocoa and revel in the family moment. You just can’t beat that kind of fun.
Anyways, the game ended in exciting fashion with a shootout. Now the shootout, for me at least, is always exciting to watch because you get to see the likes of Pavel Datsyuk and even my favorite The Captain deke out the opposition. However, I just hate that it decides the game (and I’ve been saying that the entire year, not just because we lost last night). Sure it’s better than having ties, but I guess I’m just an OT girl. I can’t wait for the playoffs and those good ole nights staying up real late because the game goes into double or triple OT.And why did Babcock choose Holmstrom in the shootout BEFORE the likes of Yzerman, Shanny, and the other sharp shooters we have on the team. Don’t get me wrong, Homer is a great guy. But for the shootout? Bad idea. But then Yzerman went up to center ice to get his shot at Vokoun. My heart was pounding like crazy. My mouth went dry. I started going crazy in my single dorm room. I mean I was clapping and chanting “Yzie, Yzie, Yzie” (what my family and I call him). The Captain just had to make the shot. Missing wasn’t even an option. I mean this is the Steve Yzerman. He’s been captain of this team longer than I’ve been alive. From the looks of it, everyone at the Joe was standing and acting crazy. And then Yzerman, like the pro he is, smoothly deked Vokoun and tied the shootout up. IwoCPO had similar thoughts:
Steve Yzerman skated to center and winning meant nothing. An extra point wasn’t even a consideration.The only thing going through the mind of every Wing fan anywhere was this, “I do NOT want to see Steve Yzerman fail.”
Deals with the devil were made on the spot, “just let Yzerman score…if we lose, I can handle it. K? I’ll take the loss, but not this way. Deal? Great, thanks.”
He did. The Captain scored low on Vokoun’s right side…and the deal was done. The devil was due.
But the Preds scored on their next opportunity and Shanny failed to get the puck in the net so the Wings lost in a closely contested game and shootout.Unfortunately, I don’t have time for anymore thoughts since I must go to my English class. As I mentioned in the last post, I had a 17 page paper due Tuesday and 3 exams and another paper due next week so I’m going to be pretty busy. I’ll post when I can. Behind the Blog won’t return until I have time to send out a batch of questions. If you’re interested in participating, send me an email or leave a comment. I already have one person waiting (Mike Chen) but I need a few more.
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