These are two different stories of hockey players making a difference in the lives of children.
Similar, but not nearly the same.
One child sick, robbed of most of his sight, his parents wondering as they tuck him in if this will be the last night. Angels always see another morning, don't they?
The other child portrayed as sick to nurture the manic selfishness of his own father. Not knowing any better, unable to trust the one man he depends on more than any other.
One story warms the heart. The other freezes the soul.
First, the touching saga.
Last week, TSN aired an emotional feature on young Jordan Primeau, a child far too young to have to deal with anything other a cut on the knee, maybe even a broken arm, from falling off his bike.
The things kids do.
No child should have to fight cancer. Sadly, far too many face that battle.
And that is where, in this case, the Leafs stepped in.
But this isn't about the Leafs. It could be the Flyers. Or Red Wings. Or Coyotes. Or Canucks.
Any other team in the NHL.
It is about hope, perseverance and the unbreakable shield that is the human spirit.
You know, it's far too easy to criticize the game of hockey with all the rule changes and a hierarchy at the top that just doesn't seem to get it. Easy targets, as I like to call them.
It's easy to bitch and whine if your team doesn't win a game they should, your goalie lets in a softie or your GM doesn't sign that marquee free agent.
But this is different. These are children.
I know. I am a father.
But you don't have to be. You just need to realize what really matters.
Seeing that video certainly puts that bitching in perspective, doesn't it?
Which makes you wonder just what, exactly - if anything - one father was thinking when he allegedly took Steve Yzerman for a three-year ride, taking advantage of the same thoughtfulness, the same desire to change a life, that brought that lump to your throat in Jordan's story.
I followed the original story of Yzerman bonding with that sick child, gaining a newfound respect for the always-classy Red Wings' captain and even lamenting that yes, for a moment that is all too rare, everything just seemed right in the world of sports.
Until one father put himself ahead of his son.
Actually, let me rephrase that. Those players, those children, those stories, those genuine feelings, are real.
It is people like Brant Davis that are nothing but an afterthought from this point on.
Maybe all it takes is for that father to stroll through a pediatric cancer ward, to see the smiles on those faces as those players walk in. Or the despair after another round of chemotherapy, the pain from a needle, the tears for all hope lost.
Maybe only then will guilt get the better of him.
But probably not. After all, evil doesn't have a conscience.
That said, it is also as easy to recognize what is right about the sport and, to go one step further, the players that make it so.
Stories like Jordan's. And yes, even Braxton's.
Spend five minutes and watch that video.
Go ahead. Watch it again.
If you don't have a lump in your throat or smile on your face when it wraps up, here's a few bucks. Go pick up a heart.
For every story on irrelevant rules, expansion, low television ratings and lockouts, there is a tale of Vincent Lecavalier. Or Eric Lindros. Or the Philadelphia Flyers. Or the Ottawa Senators with young Brandon Fraser.
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.