Jeremy Schaap was the first at ESPN to hear the story, sharing it with his colleagues after he could not quite shake it from his mind. Then John Minton III got involved, did more research and experienced the same thing.
"I just couldn’t kick it, to be honest," said Minton, an ESPN producer. "It was something that stuck in my brain."
The result is "A Love Story," a long-form segment that premieres at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the magazine show "E:60" on ESPN2 and ESPN+, in advance of the Islanders’ game against Chicago at 8 p.m. on ESPN.