From left to right: Brayden Schenn, Tyler Bozak, Jaden Schwartz. (Photo: Mike Zeisberger/Twitter)
Three Saskatchewan hockey players will be bringing the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup back to the Land of Living Skies this summer after the St. Louis Blues won their first championship in team history on Wednesday night.
Regina’s Tyler Bozak, Saskatoon’s Brayden Schenn and Melfort/Wilcox product Jaden Schwartz are the Saskatchewan players who lifted the Cup in Boston following their 4-1 win in Game 7.
This was a particularly touching moment for Jaden’s parents Rick and Carol who were at TD Garden on Wednesday to watch their son clinch the title with the team he has spent his entire NHL career playing for.
Eight years ago, Jaden’s sister Mandi lost her battle with leukemia when she was 23-years-old. She never had the opportunity to see Jaden play his first NHL game, but she’s been close to his and her parents’ hearts ever since.
He even changed his jersey number from 9 to 17 in 2014 in her memory. It was the number Mandi wore when she played hockey for the Bulldogs at Yale University.
That’s an all-Saskatchewan #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/1m9P53HBLC
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 13, 2019
So for Rick Schwartz, getting the chance to see his son win the Cup with his daughter’s #17 on the back of his uniform, is a moment he describes was “precious”.
“It was so emotional to see him hold up the Stanley Cup in honour of his sister. It means the world to me,” said Schwartz. “I think I can take a breath now, make a little piece with everything that happened, and think more positively on the side of Mandi with Jaden hoisting the Cup for his sister.”
And surely Mandi was there to help her brother to an unforgettable performance during the postseason.
Jaden contributed 8 goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 26 games during the playoffs. The majority of his goals came from two hat tricks: one against the Winnipeg Jets in the first round and the second versus the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Final.
In Game 7, Jaden assisted on two of the four goals scored by the Blues to claim the franchise’s first title.
“It was such an awesome feeling seeing those players jump over the boards with Brayden and Jaden being the first one’s to [Jordan Binnington],” mentioned Schwartz. “Honestly, it doesn’t even seem real yet.”
Schwartz, Bozak and Schenn have yet to iron out the details for where and when they bring the Stanley Cup to Saskatchewan for a visit this summer.
Although according to conversations Rick has had with his son, it sounds like there are a couple places the players have already figured out.
“I know they want to take it to the hospital for the kids there,” he said. “Brayden will have his day in Saskatoon, while Tyler and Jaden will be in Regina. But we’ll see where it branches out from there.”
The celebrations will keep on rolling throughout the next little while for the Schwartz family. Now living in Regina, Rick said him and his wife Carol want to thank everyone who helped Jaden and the family throughout the years to get to this point in his career.
Many pieces were needed to the puzzle for St. Louis’s #17 to reach the pinnacle of a professional hockey player’s career. But it’s safe to say the puzzle for this part of the journey has been completed.
Twitter: @MoisesCanalesJr
