Ex-Pats stalwart marvels at bigness of Stanley Cup
‘It’s as high as it can be’: Capitals rookie Stephenson nestled into a role quickly
Regina Pats alumnus Chandler Stephenson is into that part of the hockey season where every flick of the wrist and every bump into the boards carries added weight.
NHL playoff hockey just feels different, says Stephenson, a Washington Capitals rookie who has helped his team reach the upcoming Stanley Cup finals against the upstart Las Vegas Golden Knights.
“The crowd, the media, the fans ... it’s more,” Stephenson said while preparing for the best-of-seven finale, which begins Monday in Las Vegas.
“The games are more intense. Everybody’s always on. There’s no time for you to have an offnight, and be, ‘Oh, I’ll just do it next game.’ The competition and the speed and all that, it’s as high as it can be. And it’s different than the regular season because you’re playing the same team so many times, and that’s all you’re thinking about. You’re not thinking about ‘this has been a tough week and I’d like to have a day off.’ It’s just that next game, that next game.
“Yeah — it is different.” Stephenson, 24, played in Saskatoon’s minor-hockey system while growing up, and spent four WHL seasons with the Pats.
The Capitals picked him in the third round of the 2012 NHL entry draft, and he spent the better part of three seasons with the team’s AHL affiliate in Hershey before landing an NHL job early this season.
He played 67 games, scoring six goals and 12 assists, and has added two goals, five assists and a plusthree rating through 19 playoff contests.
“There’s still a lot of hockey left, and big hockey. I’m looking forward to that,” said Stephenson, who has played all three forward positions and on all four lines through the playoffs.
“It’s crazy to think that at the start of this year, I scored my first NHL goal, then I scored my first playoff goal, and it’s been all a blur — on to the next round, and try to get to the ultimate goal.”
The Capitals are trying to win their first Stanley Cup, in their 44th year of existence. The Golden Knights are also trying to win their first — albeit, in their first year.
Stephenson mirrors the Golden Knights more than he does the Capitals, given that this is also his first full campaign. He says he thinks about brother Colton as he gets ready for the final series. His elder sibling, also a WHL alumnus, had to retire from hockey at age 19 because of repeated concussions.
“I’m still playing the game I love, and I’m very grateful for that, given that my brother had to hang up his skates from concussions,” Stephenson said.
“I don’t know what that feels like, but when you’re injured, you get a little taste of it. You never know when it can be taken away just like that. Right now, and through the whole year, it’s just been fun — a lot of excitement. There hasn’t been any nerves or stress or anything like that.
“It’s just been a crazy ride. Eventually, when I’m not playing hockey this summer, I’ll sit back and think about it and smile about it. I’ll think ... ‘Wow. What a year.’ It’s been crazy.”
Stephenson, who generally played above his age level through his minor-hockey career in Saskatoon, laughs when asked what 12-year-old hockey nut Chandler Stephenson would have thought about this run his then-future self has been on over the last month.
“Well, the 24-year-old Chandler can’t really believe it right now,” he said. “When we beat Tampa in Game 7, I wasn’t smiling, I wasn’t talking. I couldn’t really understand or put into words what was happening. It was a lot of excitement with some of the older guys on the team, being their first time at a Stanley Cup. For me, it’s my first year, and to be in that position.
“I still haven’t really, completely comprehended what’s going on — that I could potentially be holding the Stanley Cup in a couple of weeks.
“To answer that question honestly, I think my 12-year-old self would just laugh and say ‘ha, ha — yeah, right.’ ”