I enjoyed this one. No surprise there, I've liked most of Pratt's work that I've come across. Since I'm not a parent, the principles didn't feel like something I'd been beaten over the head--but I can certainly see how that would be a pain. As a man who doesn't much care about sports I know how it is from that side.
I thought the story was quite good, the man's struggle against himself to give his son a chance to grow up with a father instead of following his impulses and going to get himself killed. I really liked that we just saw glimpses of the other world, and of the bloody-toothed enemy without ever going there, it lets the imagination sort the rest out.
I am a bit skeptical however that the enemy would deliver the axe right to him just because it was keening. I mean, I can understand why they wouldn't want it around (though perhaps they could have found some deaf folks to guard it), but they could've dropped it in a volcano or something. Doubtless it would've been found sooner or later, but delivering it right to the guy was only accelerating their own destruction.
This story had a few associative connections for me:
Warcraft III: similar to Frostmourne, the axe whispers to its holder and subverts their will.
The Subtle Knife: a blade so sharp it cuts holes into other worlds
And, most of all:
Chopper's Tale (in the Shadows of the Emerald City antho): Told from the POV of the Nick Chopper's cursed axe before he becomes the Tin Man, which can also subvert the will.