After spending most of the day together Thursday in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Chandler Stephenson and the Stanley Cup traveled east on Friday for what was likely the most important Cup visit of the summer – to spend the day in Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

Visiting Humboldt, just a mere 70 miles east of Stephenson’s hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has always been in the summer plans for Stephenson, even before the Capitals won the Stanley Cup.

“He said all along, he said he was taking the cup to Humboldt, even before they won the Stanley Cup,” his mother Bev said. “Just to bring some happiness and to bring a little bit of joy.” According to his family, Chandler knew many of the players in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash personally, and the April 6 tragedy still hits close to home.

Stephenson has ties to the Broncos through the small-town Saskatchewan hockey network, but more specifically with his friendship with two survivors of the crash: Brayden Camrud and Kaleb Dahlgren, who he still works out with in the summers. Plans were in place to bring the Stanley Cup to Humboldt even before Camrud was in the stands to witness the Washington Capitals clinch their first Stanley Cup in June at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

His appearance with the cup on Friday also coincided with “Humboldt Hockey day”, and the first day of Broncos training camp. The NHL and NHLPA hosted “Humboldt Hockey Day” to show support for the Broncos community and the incoming team.

Accident & Memorial Site, Intersection Of Highway 35/335, Armley, Saskatchewan

“The first stop on the way to Humboldt was the accident memorial site. “While their Stanley Cup dreams went unfulfilled, we thought we’d bring Stanley to them. God Bless 🎚 RIP Saskatchewan highway intersection #35 & #335) @NHL @HockeyHallFame @HumboldtBroncos“ wrote the Keeper of the Cup.

Thanks to Chandler and the NHL, the boys got their time with the Stanley Cup, too.

Elgar Peterson Arena, Humboldt, Saskatchewan

The guests of honor arrives at the Elgar Peterson Arena.

Chandler Stephenson, Chris Campoli from the NHLPA, Andrew Ference from the NHL, Humboldt Broncos president Jamie Brockman, and Humboldt Mayor Rob Muensch, all met with the media prior to the official ceremonies.

“We all rode those buses”, Stephenson said. “I’m just gonna try to bring the Cup down to Humboldt and hopefully put some smiles on people’s faces…It’s like losing a family member when something like that happens, like a brother,” Stephenson said. “It’s a terrible thing. You can’t replace a life.”

Broncos President Jamie Brockman said people are looking forward to getting on the ice today. He added, “there a lot of players who want to wear the Broncos jersey this year.”

MEET AND GREET

A video recap of the day’s events in Humboldt:

REACTIONS

@CStephenson22 bro huge props for what you did for them Bronco boys!!! Def a standing O deserved when you arrive here in Pittsburgh! #HumboldtStrong — Dan Kiefer (@Dan_Kiefer) August 24, 2018

ADDITIONAL IMAGES FROM HUMBOLDT

By Jon Sorensen

PREVIOUS DAYS WITH THE CUP

John Carlson

Alex Ovechkin

Michal Kempny

Jakub Vrana

Steve Bowman

Mark Nemish

Chris Patrick

Rob Tillotson

Brian MacLellan

Matt Niskanen

Jason Serbus

T.J. Oshie

Todd Reirden

Michael Booi

Madison Bowey

Ross Mahoney

Braden Holtby

Brett Leonhardt

Brock Myles

Scott Murray

Tom Wilson

Devante Smith-Pelly

Lars Eller

Andre Burakovsky

Christian Djoos

Nicklas Backstrom

Philipp Grubauer

Evgeny Kuznetsov

Dmitry Orlov

Brett Connolly

Jay Beagle

Barry Trotz

Chandler Stephenson

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