from Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press,

Vladimir Konstantinov, a former Detroit Red Wings defenseman, picked out the shirt and tie he will wear on Saturday night when he is inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

“He is very excited about Saturday,” James Bellanca Jr., Konstantinov’s longtime lawyer and friend, said. “He knows something special is happening. Whether he can comprehend the meaning of it, I don’t know.”

And that’s the part that breaks your heart.

Konstantinov is one of the most beloved athletes in Detroit sports history. He was known as the Vladinator, a tough, physical defender from Russia, who helped the Wings win the 1997 Stanley Cup, ending a 42-year drought.

But he also is one of the most tragic athletes in Detroit sports history, after suffering a career-ending, life-threatening spinal cord injury in a limo crash, just six days after winning the Cup.

Twenty-two years later, Konstantinov lives in a condo in West Bloomfield, where he gets the best care available. His wife and daughter live in Florida but visit regularly. He requires 24-hour assistance from a team of caregivers, who have been with him for years. “I think he’s happy,” Bellanca said. “There are three or four ladies who take care of him, most of whom have been with him for 18 or 20 years. Those ladies are wonderful. They treat him like their child.”

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A video titled The Legends: Vladimir Konstantinov, is below.