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.

Phoenix Coyotes first round draft pick Kyle Turris scored two goals when Canada took on Slovakia in the World Junior Championship tournament yesterday. Despite scoring the only two goals of the game, Turris was more excited about meeting lifelong idol and role model Steve Yzerman at last year’s NHL draft.

Turris, drafted third overall by the Phoenix Coyotes, has always been a fan of Yzerman. You know how it works: posters in the bedroom, videos, wears No. 19.

So when Yzerman walked over last summer and introduced himself, Turris found himself going blank. (Turris’s family adviser Kurt Overhardt arranged the meeting; once Turris becomes a professional, Overhardt will become his agent.)

“It was about 15 minutes before the draft started,” said Turris. “I was sitting in the front row, and all of a sudden I saw Stevie Y comes around the table and comes right at me. I was just watching him and he came over to me, right over to the rail, and said ‘Hey, Kyle, I’m Steve.’ ”

“I just about crapped my pants. I couldn’t believe it. I was in shock. And I kind of jumped the rail and talked to him for about 10 minutes. It was incredible, it was unbelievable. He was really down to earth. It was one of the highlights of my hockey career.”

Growing up, Turris played both lacrosse and hockey wearing No. 19 in honor of his childhood hero. After big games, Turris would try to emulate Yzerman’s moves the next day.

“I had everything about him, posters of him in my room, Don Cherry’s videos of his big goals, the big slap-shot goal [in the 1996 playoffs against the St. Louis Blues],” Turris said.

It’s likely Turris will meet Yzerman again as he plays for the University of Wisconsin. His teammate Brendan Smith was drafted by the Wings in the first round of the NHL draft in June so its probable Yzerman will stop by to check on a team prospect.

Before the WJC game, Wayne Gretzky called the team to offer up some words of encouragement, but the Globe and Mail wonders how more encouraging it would’ve been for Turris had Yzerman called instead.

“When we were told that we were going to have a surprise guest calling us just before we came over here, a lot of the guys were guessing who it would be,” Turris said. “Someone said Wayne Gretzky and he was right.”

The uplifting call energized Turris and his teammates before embarking on their long journey to Europe.

But imagine how many goals Turris would have scored if he was on last year’s team when Steve Yzerman placed the good-luck phone call to the team. The answer is the youngster would have been over the moon because the former Detroit Red Wings captain has always been No. 1 with Turris.

Bob Duff at the Windsor Star talked to Yzerman about the upcoming World Junior hockey tournament.

Detroit Red Wings vice-president Steve Yzerman is slated to board a plane for the Czech Republic Christmas night to take in the World Junior hockey tournament, but admits it’s unlikely to tell him much about the draft-eligible players skating in the event.

“It’s really not a tournament for 18 year olds,” Yzerman said. “It’s a tournament for 19 year olds. The younger players, they don’t get much ice time.”

Yzerman recalled his own experience playing for Canada in his draft year at the 1983 World Junior in Leningrad, where his teammates included Mario Lemieux, the top player chosen in the 1984 draft, but Canada only won a bronze medal. “People look at that and wonder how we could have lost, but the truth is, Mario and I hardly got on the ice,” Yzerman said.

Steve Yzerman will also be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame next year on February 11th. Tickets are a bit more expensive than the Ottawa induction. The induction will be held at the Max M. Fisher Music Center.

Tickets are $250 for a 5 p.m. reception with inductees, 6 p.m. dinner and the 7:30 p.m. induction ceremony; $150 for the dinner and ceremony only; or $35 for a balcony-level ticket to the ceremony.

The other inductees are Peter Karmanos, Frank Beckmann, Desmond Howard, Clarke Scholes, Norm Ullman, Ray Scott, Greg Barton, Glen Rice, Turkey Stearnes and Sammy Washington.

Tickets can be purchased at detroitsymphony.com or by calling (313) 576-1111. For more information, visit michigansportshof.org.

Bleacher Report has a cute Twas the Night Before Christmas story, NHL style, and Yzerman snuck in there.

More rapid then Crosby the players they came, Gare whistled and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now Savard! now, Trottier! now, Gretzky and Goulet! On, Bossy! on, Yzerman! on, Stastny and you too Messier!

To the arena, we will once again score! and these 1-0 games will happen no more!”

On January 11, Steve Yzerman will be inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame.

Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame dinner and Steve Yzerman induction ceremony: Nepean native Steve Yzerman will be inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Jan. 11. Tickets are $100 per person or $800 per eight-person table. The former Red Wings captain will be on hand for a special video tribute and for the ceremonial faceoff at the Senators’ home game against Detroit on Saturday, Jan. 12.

If you can afford the pricy cost for a dinner seat, visit CapitalTickets.ca.

Hockey Night in Canada has created a book compiling the best hockey players by number and including the runner up players as well. The top player at No. 19? Steve Yzerman.

But once upon a time a young Steve Yzerman wore a different famous number.

“When I was a little, little kid, I was number four for Bobby Orr,” he said.

But as he was growing up near Ottawa, long after Orr had retired, Yzerman added another favorite player to his list and, as a result, switched his allegiance to 19.

“I think I first wore it in Tier II in Nepean as a 15-year-old,” he says. “And the reason I chose it, is that is when Bryan Trottier first came into the league I followed he and Mike Bossy very closely and they became, after Bobby Orr, my two favourite players.

“I became a centreman about the same time Bryan came into the NHL and I just admired and liked the way he played. I was a big New York Islanders fan and always wanted to be like him. Back then, when I was a kid, the numbers only went up to 15. So it wasn’t until I went to Tier II, where there were higher numbers, that I could make the switch to 19 and I did. I was always 14 before that.”

Runner ups include Joe Sakic, Bryan Trottier, Larry Robinson, and Joe Thornton among others.

Many of you have heard about Toronto looking for a replacement for their current GM John Ferguson, Jr. One of the many rumored replacements is none other than No. 19, Steve Yzerman. Don’t worry Red Wings fans, Wings’ president Jimmy Devellano says we have nothing to worry about.

As for Yzerman, Devellano said he has settled nicely into his vice- president’s role and has repeatedly said how much he enjoys apprenticing under Holland. The Wings are also compensating Yzerman handsomely.

Devellano dismissed the threat of a Toronto raid on the Wings’ front office as being more the product of a hyperactive media market.

“Our people are sexy, who wouldn’t want them?” Devellano said “But they all have contracts and I don’t think they want to go anywhere.

“The media in Toronto are dreaming in Technicolor.”

Thanks to the Wings’ new website feature, Red WingsTV, fans can view a 22 minute video that includes Steve Yzerman speaking to Navy recruiters.

Here are some of the things he said during his talk, but you can view the entire speech in the video below if you so desire.

“I think that the things I learned in my career about leadership apply in the business world. …

Integrity. Confidence. Respect. Determination. Perseverance. To be successful. …

You have to stand for something. …

They [knee surgeries & a neck surgery] took a toll on my career, but didn’t zap my desire. I had to figure a way to get around it and overcome these things…I felt like I really earned this and I appreciated it more…Nothing good in life comes easy. You have to work at it…

Winning the lottery makes you wealthy, but it doesn’t make you successful. …

I try to act and live a certain way that my wife and three girls would be proud of me.

Steve Yzerman told the Grand Rapids Press this week that he is enjoying his current role in management.

“Not at all. I really enjoyed my playing career. It was somewhat sad to retire, but I also was relieved because I knew it was time to retire,” said Yzerman, 42. “I really enjoy being around the game and being part of the organization. I have zero interest in playing the game again.” …

“For me to be around them and see how they’ve handled things is really beneficial to me,” Yzerman said. “I find it very interesting every day.”

And as a fan of the American Hockey League, Yzerman enjoys attending an occasional Griffins game.

“I know we’re all really pleased with how our players from Grand Rapids developed,” he said. “Our players are here playing in a good system with a good organization, and it’s benefiting us.”

I hated to see Yzerman retire but now that he has, I’m just pleased he has no regrets and has no desire to play anymore.