Harder: Stephenson Focused on Pats
By Greg Harder – Leader-Post
The best start of Chandler Stephenson’s WHL career comes with an asterisk.
The Regina Pats’ No. 1 centre derives a measure of personal satisfaction from the fact that he has hit the ground running since his return from the NHL’s Washington Capitals.
However, Stephenson is more concerned with helping the Pats find some traction after stumbling out of the gate with a 1-4-0 record.
“You need team success to have personal success,” offered Stephenson. “The hockey gods have to be on your side a bit too. You obviously don’t want to be 1-and-4 but it’s still early.
“Being a leader and having experience in this league, you’re relied on to play big minutes. You want to win games for your team. It’s a start you don’t want to see but we have to keep doing what we’re doing because we’re playing good hockey. We just have to put more pucks in the net.”
Stephenson has done his part, scoring a goal in all four games he has played this season. He also owns one assist and a team-best plus-three rating.
“He’s like a man amongst boys right now,” said Pats head coach Malcolm Cameron. “We’re just hoping he can continue at the pace he’s on.”
It’s a welcome contrast to last year at this time, when Stephenson was slow out of the blocks and didn’t record his first goal until Regina’s seventh game.
Stephenson was just beginning to find his stride when he suffered a freak injury on Oct. 19 – his left foot was cut by a skate – and missed the next 10 weeks. As a result, he was limited to just 46 games, recording 14 goals and 45 points.
“It’s nice to get off to a good start (this season) and get that confidence early,” said Stephenson. “I give full credit to my linemates (Morgan Klimchuk and Dyson Stevenson). They have helped me out a lot. We have been getting lots of chances. Maybe we could put a few more in but the (goals) will come.”
The Pats have been anticipating a major breakthrough from Stephenson, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft. Aside from his obvious god-given talent, the 19-year-old Saskatoon product is also among the team’s most-dedicated and best-conditioned players. From the Pats’ perspective, it was just a matter of time before he put it all together.
“He’s just a presence out there in every sense of the word,” said Klimchuk. “He’s a responsible player in both ends of the ice but the way he can control the puck and how strong he is on the puck and the ability to take over a game, it’s something a lot of people haven’t seen because he did struggle a bit with injuries. He’s poised for a pretty big year.”
The pieces certainly appear to be falling into place for Stephenson, a third round pick in the 2012 NHL draft. Stephenson’s first pro training camp was erased by the NHL lockout, but he made up for lost time this year with an extended trip to Washington, playing to rave reviews while seeing action in a pair of exhibition games.
Stephenson rode that momentum all the way back to Regina, where he rejoined the Pats in time for their second game of the regular season.
“Any time you’re playing with the best players in the world and you’re seeing guys like (Alex) Ovechkin and (Nicklas) Backstrom and the way those guys prepare each and every day, that stuff rubs off on you,” added Cameron. “He has come back in tremendous shape, he’s a year older and he’s certainly motivated to get himself a contract with the Capitals. He’s performing like it right now.”
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