A DREAM COME TRUE
Chandler Stephenson of the Washington Capitals knew as a preschooler in Saskatoon he wanted to play in the NHL. We talk to family and former coaches about his hockey journey.
Chandler Stephenson’s on-ice career started when he was four years old with a Saskatoon ringette team called the Cobras.
He was the smallest, and the youngest, player out there. His sweater hung to his knees, bringing appreciative laughs from parents in the stands.
“By the end of the season,” recalls his old ringette coach, Ken Cenaiko, “he was skating and ripping around, and everybody had lots of fun with him, because he was by far the shortest person on the ice.”
Stephenson played ringette against older kids, mostly girls, because he was too young for hockey.
But that season, 1998-99, launched a career that took him through Saskatoon’s minorhockey system, into the Western Hockey League and eventually to the National Hockey League — and the Stanley Cup finals — with the Washington Capitals.
His mother, Bev Stephenson, is asked if Chandler had any bad experiences out there chasing rings and then pucks all those years.
She thinks, briefly: “Well, he’s got no teeth. He just keeps getting them knocked out. Elbows, pucks, gloves. That would be about the only bad experience.”
When Stephenson was young — before shaving, before agents, before drafts — he wrote a short school essay: My favourite sport is hockey, because I am really good at. And everybody says that I can dangle and snipe some goals like crazy. And when I grow up I want to play in the NHL and have a big old house and a big old bank acount that is in the winter time and in the summer I want to be a golf pro at Pebble Beach.
Which takes us to this month, and his pursuit of the Stanley Cup, with his old coaches back home in Saskatoon rooting him on.
“I tell my son, who’s the same age, I’m the reason (Stephenson is) in the NHL. Jokingly, of course,” says Keith Pettapiece, who coached Stephenson in 2002-03 with the Sabre Cat Flyers, as well as several seasons of spring-league hockey.
“He was always such a coachable kid. You’d ask him to do something, and he did it. You could tell he always loved the game. He still loves the game.”
A picture emerges as you talk to coach after coach after coach. It’s the skating, they say — the kid’s blessed with strong feet and unerring balance. At five, he skated better than everyone on the ice. At some point during his progression, less-skilled kids would throw their bodies at him like sliding sacks, trying to stop him. He’d step around or jump over them and continue on his way, nimble, puck on the string.
This is the story of a kid with a gift and the local coaches who nurtured that gift, year after year after year. It’s the making of an NHL player, from a four-year-old with a ringette stick to a hard-skating teenager with a dream.
We’ve talked to one coach from every season of Stephenson’s minor-hockey development. His is an NHL story that happens in towns and cities across the country — the kid with the gift who finds the support he needs to make the big time — but each tale has its own nuance.
Stephenson’s story includes all those years in the Saskatoon Flyers zone, followed by midget hockey with the Saskatoon Contacts and then four seasons with the WHL’s Regina Pats. He was picked in the third round of the 2012 NHL draft by the Capitals, spent three seasons with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, sprinkled with 13 NHL games.
Then, his latest breakthrough: 67 regular-season games this season with the Caps, and a regular role in the playoff chase for the Cup.
Hockey runs in the blood — older brother Colton was a talented player and WHLer whose career ended because of concussions — and as his coaches make clear, the game turns that blood red-hot.
“Since he was born,” says mother Bev, “he wanted to play in the NHL. This was never us — ever — saying it or making him. I always wanted them to go into swimming, because it was easier — there were trunks and a towel, not this stinky hockey equipment that’s still all around the house.”
Both boys battered the family basement while growing up, firing pucks on a nightly basis. A door, covered with puck marks, is a cherished family possession. It will go with them whenever they sell the house.
“They were honestly down there every night,” Bev says. “That’s how I would ground them. I would say, ‘You are not going to shoot pucks in the basement tonight!’”
With that passion came the coaches who steered it. Stephenson’s parents say they ’re eternally grateful to the coaches who guided their sons through their formative years. They don’t get the credit they should, says Bev.
She painstakingly recorded names, tracked down phone numbers, wrote them longhand on a sheet of paper so a reporter could call them up.
“Each coach,” she says, “brought him a different perspective.”
Here are Stephenson’s coaches, one for each season, in their own words about the kid and the career.
KEN CENAIKO Stephenson’s ringette coach, 1998-99
“At the very start of the season, he just crossed his legs, crossed his arms. He was not happy being on the ice. By the end of the year, you couldn’t get him off the ice. Everybody loved watching him, because he’s four years old, the jersey hung down to his knees ...
“He had an awful lot of fun with his parents, there was no doubt about that. And maybe that’s what helps drive that. When the whole family’s having fun at the rink, then the kids enjoy being at the rink, the parents enjoy being at the rink — and that’s what drives the love for the game.
“It’s funny how the kids are young and parents see them score a goal, and they kind of get that twinkle in their eye, like maybe this is the one. But you never think about it as a coach. We always thought about it as raising good citizens and having fun with the parents, and everything else. And we truly did.”
TOM MACNAB Stephenson’s first hockey coach; Eagle Flyers, 1999-00
“There was no question about it. Chandler was head and shoulders above every other player. In those early years, for sure, he’s the only player I can recall who really dominated. He really did stand out — such great skating skills, like he still has. I can see him on the ice with the Capitals, and I don’t even have to see his number. He’s a powerful skater in the NHL, and he was a powerful skater as a five-year-old.
“There’s a lot of factors between five and 18 years old. Are you going to grow? Are you going to get a girlfriend? All those things. But relative to his peers, he was a standout. There’s no doubt about it.
“He could turn it on at any time. As a five-year-old, he could get the puck, skate through the whole team and score at will. He was that good.
“If my recollection serves me correctly, Channy went in goal one game, for fun, and I think we ended up losing that game. So it’s good he chose to be forward and not a goalie. Otherwise, his future might not have been locked.
“I feel immense pride when I see Channy out on the ice, and I feel similar pride when I see Taylor Leier on the ice. These are kids I followed all the years they played with my boys, and let’s face it — I was his first coach, and that’s fun, but Channy had the skills. He’d shoot pucks in his basement over and over again, honing his skills.”
BRENT ASHTON 14 years as a player in the NHL; coached six-year-old Stephenson with the 200001 Flyers
“He showed every year that he had the talent to play at the next level.
“They make it all themselves. It’s something they have to want, and if you want that then there’s a lot of hard work and dedication to get that. We’re good friends with his parents, and in touch with them, and it’s always nice to watch him and see him succeed. It makes watching the games that much more fun.”
DEREK BLOSKI Stephenson’s coach with the Wolf Pack Flyers in 2001-02, and the Pee Wee 1 Flyers in 2004-05
“He always stood out as far as his skating ability and his game sense. Even at seven, he had a sense for the game, positionally, that the older kids didn’t have. You could see that in him. It was quite evident that he had that gift. Having said that, there’s a lot of players who are gifted. The one thing Chandler had as well is a real passion for the game. If he wasn’t playing or practising with his team, he was typically at the school rink, skating, shooting, whatever. It was pretty much non-stop with him.
“I have to give Curt and Bev credit — they put him in ringette as a young kid, and he learned to skate. He’s a fantastic skater. Even now, you watch him in the NHL, and he’s still got a really, really solid stride, a very strong stride, which he obviously would have to have there. He’s had that all along.
“And he’s worked at it. So many kids have the ability, but the thing that sorts them out as they move up is having that desire and that passion, which is something he truly had.
“It’s funny how kids think. Watching Chandler, the kids would say, ‘Chandler’s going to play in the NHL someday.’ That’s what they would say. But you don’t know. Things change, and you’ve got to get a break, and you have to be in the right place at the right time and have the right opportunity. But those things have played out for Chandler, and he’s doing well. Good on him.
“The fact Chandler always played with older kids, until he got to junior hockey, was probably a big benefit to him. He pushed himself to be as good as they were, or better. As a seven-year-old, you’re the best kid on the team, and you’re playing with eight and nine-yearolds? Everybody would talk at the rink. ‘That kid’s seven?!’"
KEITH PETTAPIECE Stephenson’s coach with the 2002-03 Sabre Cat Flyers, plus several seasons in spring-league hockey. He also lived in the same neighbourhood
“Even in the summer, you’d look out on the street, and he was out on his rollerblades. Between skates and rollerblades, he lived for his skating.
“Guys would try to check him, and the only way they thought they could check him is to go sliding at him and take him out. A lot of times, he’d just push the puck around them, jump over top of them, when they were sliding. It was ... ‘They can’t stop this kid.’
“He was a good kid, too. He never went around bragging that he was the best, never said anything to downgrade other kids. He was just a good all-around kid.
“One year in spring hockey, we were playing against a Winnipeg team, and they had a very strong player who was dominating our team. We just said to Chandler, ‘If you hit that kid once, he probably won’t even skate over the blue line,’ and Chandler checked him so hard — a good, hard, clean check with his shoulder — and that kid never came over the blue-line again. Chandler was that strong. He didn’t abuse that or use it. He could have hurt kids, especially ones who weren’t as good skaters.”
HEATH TYNDALL Stephenson’s coach with the Timberwolf Flyers in 2003-04, and the bantam AA Outlaws in 2007-08
“What separated him, handsdown, was he was an incredible skater. His foot-speed, as an eightyear-old ... every team he’d try out for, you’d stop in the rink and say, ‘Who is that kid?’ That’s how good he could skate.
“At six, he could slap a puck from the red line like most adults would. You think that’s impossible. But he lived in his basement; they didn’t finish the basement for that reason, so him and Colton could shoot. They’d shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot. Then they’d skate.
“You instantly know (if a player is cut out for the NHL). Some people just need an opportunity. For the last three years, I’ve told everybody if Chandler Stephenson doesn’t make the NHL, everybody needs to just quit playing hockey.
“He was never about himself. Some hockey players get a bad rap because they think they’re something, but Chandler thought the opposite. He thought everybody on his team was the most important. That’s a huge quality he’s always had. Everybody else thought he walked on water, but he never had a big head, nothing. He just always wanted to get better. Always wanted to win.
“He passed to a fault. I’d say, ‘OK, Chandler, just shoot it, man. Come on, Chan — shoot.’ He’d deke out everybody, make the goalie look sick, then slide it over to his teammate. Most guys would score, score, score.
“There’s times he should have shot more, but it just shows his demeanour, because he could shoot better than anybody. That was the funny thing. You could hang a quarter on a string, and he’d (hit) it.”
JAMIE REINHEIMER Past-president of Saskatoon Minor Hockey; Stephenson’s coach with the Express Flyers in 2005-06
“He had a sponsorship with Bauer Hockey, and instead of them gearing him up totally, he asked his rep if he could get sticks for all his teammates. It’s quite remarkable for an 11-year-old. It shows what a great kid he was.
“I see him once in a while at the rinks here in Saskatoon, and he comes up, ‘How are you doing?’ Such a kind-hearted, hard-working kid. Even at 11.
“He was a young kid, playing with 12 year olds, and he was a leader on the team. He scored over 100 goals for me that year — not just assists, that was goals. And he was a passer. He had a vision for the game at 11 that I hadn’t seen in anybody, and I was involved with hockey quite a bit, outside of just coaching a team.
“I am absolutely (proud). Even in my circle of friends I say, ‘I coached that kid when he was in peewee.’ It brings that whole playoff thing to a whole new fun level. Of course, everybody involved with hockey wants to see Ovechkin finally get himself a Cup, but I’ve got Chandler Stephenson in the back of my mind, and I’m going, ‘Well, this kid deserves it, too.’"
BRANDON BISHOP Stephenson’s coach with the 2006-07 bantam AA Generals
“He loved being at the rink. Anyone will attest to this: There was a smile on his face all the time. He loved hockey. He was the most coachable kid, with that smile on his face. He was pretty infectious. He had those great big teeth already when he was 12 — his body ’s growing up, but his teeth were that size already.
“He was such a good skater. And smart. There was something special about him. And the fact that he was such a young kid playing that year ... it was something to see.”
“I still text back and forth with him. I texted him as soon as they won (recently), and he got back to me right away. It’s a relationship that keeps going.
“Hockey or not, he’s just a great kid, and that’s more important to me than the hockey. If you had something to do with somebody being a good kid, and growing up to be respectful and all that, it means more to me than them growing up to be good hockey players.”
TOM SYMENUK Stephenson’s coach with the 2008-09 bantam Generals
“I’d heard enough about him coming into that year that I knew he was a special talent. Coaching him was an opportunity to see it first-hand. I didn’t know him at all personally, or his family, other than rumours through the Saskatoon hockey channels. It was exciting for me to get a chance to have him that year, and it was all positive.
“He was tested, in that he without question should have played midget AAA that year. A decision was made that he had to play bantam in the city that year, and I’m not sure our Generals team was his first choice as to where to be, playing bantam, but I gained a lot of respect for him and his parents. They just accepted it right out of the gate, were very supportive of me and us and our team. He was clearly a special guy that year, could have played at that midget AAA level, but he just went about his business. I appreciated his quiet, reserved ultra-confidence. It was, across the board, all positive having him that year.
“A lot of things can happen to a 14-year-old by the time they’re 20 and 21 and really hitting their prime. But there was no question I’d have labelled him as an NHL prospect right then and there. I wouldn’t say that about potentially high bantam draft picks, typically, but him, I would.
“We might have facilitated some things, maybe gave him some different thoughts than what he’d had, at that level, that year. But yeah ... he was destined to get there without my direct influence. I’m proud of what he’s accomplished, and how he’s continued to carry on with it. But I can’t take any of that credit.”
CHANDLER STEPHENSON Saskatoon minor-hockey product, Washington Capitals’ forward
“My dad has this story with me and my brother: He’d tie our rollerblades, we’d go out for five minutes and be back in to go to the bathroom or something, then we’d want him to put our rollerblades on again, and he’d tie them up. Eventually, it got to the point where he said, ‘I’m tying your rollerblades once, and if you guys take them off, you have to get them back on.’ Eventually, me and my brother didn’t even tie them up, and I think that helped, not having as much ankle support.
“It was funny. When I was in atom and it was a peewee team, one of the games, two guys pulled my skate off my foot in the middle of a period. It’s not like that now. I don’t have my skates that loose now, but back then, I barely even tied them.
“Everything I wanted to do was hockey. If I couldn’t be on the ice in the summertime, I’d be rollerblading. And after school in the wintertime, I’d grab my skates and a couple of buddies and head to the outdoor rink. There’d be days when it’s -30 and my mom would think I’m not going, but I’d throw my stuff on and go anyway.
“I just wanted to be like my older brother, follow in his footsteps, do what he wanted to do. He always surrounded himself with hockey, and it was easy for me to follow in his footsteps and be just like him.
It’s something I’ve always loved to do, and had a passion for it.
“There’s still a lot of coaches I talk to, who are keeping tabs on me. It’s more of a relationship than just being a coach.
“(Minor-hockey coaches) have played and love the game of hockey, and you can see that love and desire. Now, being older, you understand it: putting all that time in, being away from their family. Being a minor-hockey coach is a huge commitment. Even the practices and things like that, it goes well beyond standing on a bench and coaching a game here and there.
“I remember practising a lot, and a lot of time goes into that. We’d even practise out of town, just because there was ice. It wasn’t, ‘Oh, we can’t get ice so we can’t practise.’ There was always a reason to practise, to try and get everyone better, and to follow their dreams.
“I loved being there. I wasn’t forced into it by my parents. They never once said, ‘You’re going to be a hockey player.’ I always wanted to be around hockey, and play hockey.
“(Mom and dad) just kept the basement (undeveloped). It was all concrete and freezing cold, and me and my brother would always go down there and shoot pucks. We’d have friends over, play oneon-one or two-on-two with a guy in net. And as we got older, we’d shoot pucks, and they’d bounce off the wall and hammer the door, or go off the post and hammer the door. There was plywood down there and we’d put holes in that. It was kind of a wreck. And sometimes, we’d leave the door open, and pucks would be flying up the stairs, marking up the walls. We’d take our bags down there, recklessly drag it down, hitting the walls and all that. It was a place for my parents to say, ‘Ah, whatever.’ There’s no point in fixing it or anything like that, because we were down there so much.”
“We’d play music, pretend we’re so-and-so, come out to our music.”
And with that, Chandler Stephenson laughs.
“We lived out our own little NHL reality in the basement.”