Capitals’ Stephenson set to bring Stanley Cup to Humboldt

Chandler Stephenson is all smiles holding the Stanley Cup.

    Chandler Stephenson’s smile was a mile wide when he brought the Stanley Cup to Kiwanis Memorial Park in Saskatoon on Thursday.

    The 24-year-old centre helped the NHL’s Washington Capitals win hockey’s most storied trophy back in June. During a public event that lasted two-and-a-half hours on Thursday afternoon, people were able to come to Kiwanis Memorial Park to have their picture taken with the Cup and meet Stephenson and get their pictures taken with him.

    On Friday, Stephenson is taking the Stanley Cup to Humboldt. When the Capitals held a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup championship series over the Vegas Golden Knights, Stephenson said he intended to bring the storied prize to Humboldt, if Washington locked up the set.

    Moments after the Capitals down the Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 5 in Las Vegas on June 7, Stephenson vowed to bring the Stanley Cup to Humboldt.

A couple of young fans get their picture taken with the Stanley Cup.

    The promise came with hope it will help the small Saskatchewan city of about 6,000 people to continue to heal in the aftermath of the April 6 bus crash involving the junior A Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

    On that day, the bus that was carrying the Broncos to play a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game in Nipawin was involved in a collision with a semi-truck just north of Tisdale. The unthinkable event resulted in the deaths of 16 players and team personnel.

    Stephenson is friends and trains in the off-season with Broncos players and crash survivors Brayden Camrud and Kaleb Dahlgren.

    “(I’m) just (hoping) to give back to that community and hopefully put some smiles on people’s faces,” said Stephenson, who has six goals and 12 assists in 67 regular season games with the Capitals last season. “(I) just (want to) make it a good day.

Chandler Stephenson, right, signs and autograph for a young fan.

    “I know the community deserves it.”

    Stephenson will be joined by more than a dozen former and current NHL players for Humboldt Hockey Day, which was organized by the NHL and NHLPA to celebrate the strength and resilience of the community. 
    Stephenson and the Stanley Cup will be at the Elgar Petersen Arena from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., and interactive games and street hockey contests are slated to run from 12 noon to 2:30 p.m.

    Humboldt Hockey Day also coincides with the first day of Broncos training camp.

The line of people to see Chandler Stephenson and the Stanley Cup was long.

    As for Thursday’s stop at Kiwanis Memorial Park in Saskatoon, the line to see Stephenson and the Stanley Cup stretched from the Vimy Memorial almost all the way to the Broadway Bridge at one point.

    Parents with young children made up the majority of the people that came out to see Stephenson and the Cup. A sizable contingent of Stephenson’s family members were on hand, and it was obvious he knew some of the people who were waiting in line.

    Through the whole session, it seemed like it was impossible to erase the huge smile that was on Stephenson’s face. The graduate of the WHL’s Regina Pats said he was enjoying all the festivities.

    “It was pretty crazy, the anticipation to get it,” said Stephenson, who had two goals and five assists appearing all of the Capitals 24 playoff games in their Stanley Cup winning run. “To have it, it has been a lot of fun.”

Blades open training camp on Saturday

The Blades are set to begin training camp on Saturday.

    The Saskatoon Blades are slated to open their training camp on Saturday.

    Players will meet at the Elite Performance Centre for registration and fitness testing on Saturday. On Sunday, the 39 forwards, 26 defencemen and nine goaltenders brought into camp will be divided into four teams for a series of scrimmages to be held at the SaskTel Centre.

    Scrimmage games are slated for 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 4:15 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. on Sunday. They continue with contests slated for 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. on Monday.

    The scrimmages conclude on Monday with a third place game at 2 p.m. and a first place game at 4 p.m. The winning team gets awarded the Kirkness Cup, which is named after long time dressing room attendant Bobby Kirkness.

    Last season, the Blades post a solid 35-33-3-1 record playing out of an incredibly tough East Division in the WHL. Saskatoon fell three points shy of the Prince Albert Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second wildcard playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

    The Blades had the seventh best record in the 12-team conference in missing the playoffs.

    The Blades open their regular season schedule on Sept. 21, when they travel to Swift Current to face the Broncos. Those two clubs meet again on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre to mark the Blades regular season home opener.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

-------

    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.