Two years ago, Detroit's Steve Yzerman endured a similar ordeal. After playing much of the year on a badly injured knee, the Red Wings' captain missed 30 games while battling a knee that refused to obey his commands.

But, the lure of the playoffs began blaring a siren's song in his head and Yzerman returned despite playing on essentially one leg.

Not only did he return, he played extremely well. Pushing through the pain in his knee, Yzerman put up 23 points in 23 games as Detroit easily handled Carolina in the Finals to win the franchise's third Stanley Cup in six years.

Like Stevens, Yzerman forgot all about the pain in his knee as he smiled broadly and received the Stanley Cup, quickly passing it off to coach Scotty Bowman, who had just announced his retirement.

Yet, the pain he so successfully masked was as undeniable as his brilliance on the ice that spring. Just two months after hoisting the Cup, Yzerman underwent a radical reconstruction process on the ailing knee, a procedure that cost him all but 16 games of the following season.

And, just like Stevens, it was a price Yzerman was more than willing to submit to in order to claim hockey's ultimate prize.

Unfortunately, suffering does not ensure ultimate glory in the cruel arena of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For every player who soothes his wounds with sweet sips of champagne from the Stanley Cup, countless others are dispatched short of the goal, sent into a too-early summer vacation where injuries to the body and heart are slowly nursed back to health.

Minnesota's Willie Mitchell played in his first Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, a 25-year-old defenseman that quickly emerged as the defensive bedrock of his team. Growing up in British Columbia, Mitchell was reared on tales of playoff heroism. Despite his inexperience, he innately understood and, more importantly, respected the fine, and often blurry, line that has to be traversed during the postseason between playing hurt and playing injured.

In the end, he decided to do both.

In the first round, an epic upset of Colorado, Mitchell suffered a broken cheekbone during Minnesota's Game 7 triumph. Yet, he never missed a shift, never mind a game. In the next round, he donned an awkward shield to protect the injury and willingly laid his body on the line against the favored Vancouver Canucks.

Unfortunately, the protective shield broadcast to all involved in that series that Mitchell was vulnerable. The Canucks processed that knowledge, targeting him for an extra dose of punishment in order to exploit whatever edge was offered. As a result, Mitchell suffered a wrist injury.

Again, Mitchell did not miss any games, playing despite the fact that he was so hampered by the wrist that he had trouble dressing himself before and after each game. It wasn't so much stubbornness on Mitchell's part, as much as it was a sense of duty.

In the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, Minnesota's Willie Mitchell suffered a broken cheekbone during his team's Game 7 triumph over Colorado. Yet, he never missed a shift, never mind a game the rest of the postseason.

Mitchell wanted to be there for his teammates as they struggled along the playoff route. It is a sentiment shared by most, if not all, players in the postseason.

"I wanted to be in there, so (defensemen) Filip (Kuba) and Andrei (Zyuzin) and Nick (Schultz) didn't have to play 30 minutes apiece," he said at the time.

That selflessness paid off in the short-term as Minnesota sprung its second-straight upset, sending the Canucks home in a brilliant come-from-behind seven-game ouster.

But, in the long term, Mitchell's willingness to suffer was not enough to get Minnesota over the hump. The Wild went on to lose the Western Conference Finals to the Mighty Ducks, falling one hurdle short of reaching the Stanley Cup Finals.

Mitchell nursed himself back to health, but suffered through another injury-plagued season this year as Minnesota fell far below expectations and will not get the opportunity to chase the Stanley Cup this time around.

Sixteen other teams and 300-plus players, however, will earn that privilege this year. Some of those players will be seeing their first action in the cauldron of playoff hockey, just like Mitchell did last year. Others, like Stevens and Yzerman, will be returning for yet another session of punishment. All, however, will willingly put their bodies on the line -- for as long as their playoffs last -- for the honor of possibly being called a champion.

It's a huge price to pay, for sure. But, in the final reckoning of those involved, an appropriate one for the prize sought.