Saskatchewan connections run deep on the 2023 Stanley Cup winners Vegas Golden Knights
Davidson’s Brayden McNabb, Saskatoon’s Chandler Stephenson and Estevan’s Brayden Pachal were among the Saskatchewan products that helped the Golden Knights through their cup run.
The Vegas Golden Knights captured the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in just its sixth season of existence on Tuesday after closing out the Florida Panthers at home with a 9-3 win in Game 5 of the finals.
The first out of the trio to hoist the cup was McNabb, as the team decided that the players who were part of the Golden Knights during its inaugural season in 2017-2018 would be among the first to lift the cup.
📲 Brayden McNabb is a Stanley Cup Champion 🚜 <a href=”https://t.co/2v8j1Ad5uN”>pic.twitter.com/2v8j1Ad5uN</a>
—@GoldenKnights
Jeanine McNabb says it was one of the happiest she’s ever seen her son.
“When Brayden was young, Cory Sarich brought the cup [back to Davidson, Sask.] and I remember that Brayden was so excited to touch the cup,” McNabb said.
“For Brayden that was a huge inspiration to see Corey so successful, so now you get these younger kids and they see this is possible.”
Dean Palmer, McNabb’s former Atom and Peewee coach, says the entire Central Saskatchewan town are Golden Knights fans now because of Brayden. He added that people in Davidson — a town midway between Saskatoon and Regina — can’t wait for McNabb to bring the cup home this summer.
“In Davidson we’re a town of about 1,000 people and in the winter we eat, sleep and breathe hockey,” Palmer said. “Everybody follows everybody.”
McNabb wasn’t the only Davidson-grown player to have a successful season this year.
Nolan Allan won both the Western Hockey League (WHL) championships with the Seattle Thunderbirds and a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Juniors.
Jackson Allan and the North Battleford Stars won the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, while Davidson’s senior men’s hockey team brought home a provincial banner.
Stephenson lifts the cup for the 2nd time
The second of the Saskatchewan trio to lift the cup was Chandler Stephenson. The forward from Saskatoon helped power the Golden Knights to its first ever Stanley Cup after defeating them in the T-Mobile Arena five years ago with Washington Capitals.
Bev Stephenson says her son’s dream was to make the NHL dream as soon as he started to skate. She added that his hockey community and his family back home are so proud of his accomplishments
“It is a dream come true, it’s a proud moment and I’ve always said there’s something magical about the Stanley Cup, it brings so much joy,” Bev said. “It’s quite an accomplishment for any hockey player to get one Stanley Cup let alone two of them.”
Chandler had a new fan there to watch him win his second cup. His 1-year-old son Ford joined him on the ice to celebrate after the game.
“Ford kept on grabbing the mic and wanting to play with the mic and Chandler was having a good giggle over that,” Bev said.
“It was just so nice to see the two boys on the ice skating around, Chandler did his lap with Ford and the crowd was going crazy. “
Ford Stephenson steals the show. 💛 <a href=”https://t.co/rnzAFb8915″>pic.twitter.com/rnzAFb8915</a>
—@Sportsnet
‘Always wanted to be on the ice’
The third of the Saskatchewan trio to lift the cup was the defensemen from Estevan, Sask. — Brayden Pachal.
Kent Pachal says his son fell in love with hockey at a young age.
“The Estevan Bruins had a public skate and I just remember holding his hands for about five seconds and he took off, that was when he was two years old,” Kent said. “He’s always been a hockey guy, any chance he had he always wanted to be on the ice.”
Kent says it was surreal to see his son’s dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup come true.
“We never expected him to play in the NHL let alone play at the standard of a Stanley Cup winning team,” Kent said. “It’s been a pretty amazing journey for him, me, my wife and my family. “
“We’ve always said when he quits we don’t know what we’ll do with ourselves because it’s just been such a fabulous experience for us.”
Kent described Brayden’s tenure playing for the Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL as a career-changer. He captained the team to the Memorial Cup finals in 2019.
“He went from being I guess a player on the fringes to a top end player,” Kent said.
Kent believes it will be the first time the cup is brought to Estevan — a small city of about 13,600 people in southeastern Saskatchewan.
The Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon also grew up in Plenty, Sask., which is a town of 160 people in central Saskatchewan.