Saskatoon mom shares son’s journey to Stanley Cup win

Chandler Stephenson’s mom said her excitement after the Washington Capitals’ Stanley Cup win left her speechless — literally.

She lost her voice in the celebrations.

“I wish everybody could have this feeling because it is just truly, you can’t put words into it,” Bev Stephenson told the 980 CJME Morning Show.

Originally from Saskatoon, Chandler played for the Regina Pats from 2010-14 where he scored 195 points in 230 regular-season games.

Chandler was taken by Washington in round three of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Until this past season, Chandler spent most of his time with the Capitals’ AHL affiliate — the Hershey Bears.

But he would find his way into the NHL for many of the games this season and would play in all 24 playoff games as Washington went on to win the coveted trophy for the first time in franchise history on Thursday.

After the game, Chandler said he would be bringing the cup to Humboldt — located 112 kilometres east of his hometown.

“They deserve that. They need a little happiness,” she said, referencing the Broncos crash that killed 16 people on April 6.

“My kids rode those buses lots, and everyone in the hockey world was affected by it,” she said.

The Stanley Cup victory is the culmination of Chandler’s lifelong love for hockey, who wanted to play the sport since before he was old enough to sign up.

“That’s all he wanted to do…was just shoot pucks (and) shoot pucks,” Bev said.

At three or four-years-old, she put him in ringette because he couldn’t play hockey until he was five.

“He loved to be on the ice, he loved to be on skates, he loved to be on Rollerblades,” she said.

There is no date set for when Chandler will get to take the cup to Saskatchewan.