Chandler Stephenson of the Vegas Golden Knights will be writing a blog for NHL.com leading up to and after playing the Seattle Kraken in the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Monday (3 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, truTV, SN, TVAS).
In his second installment, the 29-year-old center discusses his first impressions of the ballpark turned ice rink, the practice day on Sunday and sharing it all with his family.
Everyone is so excited. We were up at seven this morning, and all the guys were excited to get here, see the field, put their gear on and go practice. We were all like little kids. It was a fun practice with the families around the glass watching. It’s not like anything you’ve experienced.
That's why it's so much better than what we normally go through. Not saying that to take away from our day to day, but this so much different. I think that's what makes you excited and allows you not really to think about the game yet. You just want to take everything in and enjoy it.
I haven’t been to a ton of baseball stadiums. We went to a St. Louis Cardinals game a few years ago, and I have been to a few Washington Nationals games. You know a little about what to expect, the layout, and there's going to be a lot going on with the field. But yeah, it always exceeds your expectations. It always kind of takes you back.
When you get out there at first, you think about skating outside like you did as a kid or playing on roller blades in the cul de sac during the summer. You think about those guys you played with and the times you had.
This is obviously a little different and a little better. You're wearing your full gear and all that, but it takes you back to that time when you had your skates on your stick and over your shoulder, and you're just geared up head to toe with jackets and toques and all sorts of layers to try to stay warm. You take a couple pucks and you're skating around and just shooting. It does remind you of when you were little, and you made up a game in your head that it's a Stanley Cup Final or something like that. It's cool to kind of live in that reality now.
My whole family is here. My wife, Tasha, and my son, Ford. Both sets of parents and Tasha’s family. It was great to share it all with them. A lot of them were on the ice for the family skate after practice and the rest were on the player's bench taking it all in.
I mean, that's what makes it so special for us, to have them here to experience it with you. It's not just us going through it. You know, they can't be a part of it or anything like that, usually. They can only come to the game, so I think that's what just makes it so cool. We had the little ones in the dressing room. Getting everyone to experience it and be a part of it, that is, to me, what it's all about. It's obviously cool for us and a great experience, but for them to get to see it how we see it, that is really special.
Tasha wouldn’t let go of my hand at the beginning of the skate after practice because she doesn’t skate much, but toward the end, she was on her own, doing it all by herself. She's a natural athlete. She usually picks up on stuff really quick. She said she had a lot of fun out there with the other wives and girlfriends and her friends and got to spend that time with them.
I took Ford out there, but no skates yet. Soon maybe. He wants to. He's always wanting to do something, something new and something different. So, probably next year, we'll get him in skates or maybe even this summer, get him in some skates and see how he does.
He is just over 19 months to be exact. He's biking now, he is just like a little boy. He just wants to explore, he wants to go fast. He wants to just go, go, go and then he crashes hard at the end of the day. He doesn’t stop. It's one thing to the next thing to the next thing to the next thing. So, it's a lot of fun.
Ford loves coming to the games in Vegas. When my wife brings him, he's right up there on the glass for warmups, and they get in their seats when the game starts, and he has his popcorn and pretzels. When you tell him he’s going to the game, he knows exactly what that means and gets excited about it. Every game he's been to, I've given him a puck and maybe someday, I will build a replica Stanley Cup out of them.
It’s fun seeing him just start to fall in love with new things, and he wants to do new things. He’s probably going to be pretty upset when he has to leave today. But then he gets on the bus, and you know, he likes the bus, and there's so many things he likes and enjoys now, so it's a cool experience to see how much he just loves life.
It's just a special weekend for everybody.
See you tomorrow after the game.
