Saskatoon's Schenn family hoping to see Brayden hoist the Stanley Cup
The Schenn household in Saskatoon will be decked out in blue and buzzing with excitement this Monday when Brayden Schenn and his St. Louis Blues play Game 1 of this year's Stanley Cup final against the Boston Bruins.
Brayden grew up playing hockey in Saskatoon along with older brother Luke, who finished the season with the Vancouver Canucks and becomes an unrestricted free agent in July.
The Blues are in the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 1970, when they took on the same Bruins. The Blues have never won a Stanley Cup.
Brayden's father Jeff says it's been great watching the Blues grind their way to the final.
"Everybody is so excited in St. Louis," Jeff told Jennifer Quesnel on CBC's Saskatoon Morning. "It's been such a long time."
Jeff said that when the Blues clinched a spot in the final, it was pure joy.
"[Brayden] said when they came off the ice last game there was Kelly Chase [another former Saskatchewan NHLer] with tears in his eyes and Brett Hull. He didn't know what to say," Jeff said.
"I think [Brayden] was hugging the janitor after the last [win]."
Jeff said they are just parents who, like so many other moms and dads, would get up early in the morning and take their kids to the rink.
"We just did it. That's that's what we do in Saskatchewan, right? We go to the rink and we go to whatever sporting event it is and we have a lot of fun with it," Jeff said.
"At the end of the day I was just one of the lucky ones that [saw them] get to move on and get to enjoy their dream."
Brayden is one of three Saskatchewan-born players on the Blues. There is also Jaden Schwartz of Melfort and Tyler Bozak of Regina. Schenn has two goals and five assists so far in the playoffs .
Besides the score sheet, the 6-foot1, 200-pound centre has been a physical force throughout the playoffs.
"He hasn't had a lot of puck luck until the last game when he finally put one in," Jeff said. "But I think he's been working pretty hard and he's been part of the crew that does like to crash and bang a little bit."
Jeff said they have been able to see a couple of games live in each of the previous series.
"Now we are going to go to St. Louis for games three and four and we'll hang out for the rest of the series. The family will all come up and hopefully they're raising the cup and we'll all be there for that for sure."
For the other games they will gather to watch at the family home in Saskatoon.
They've even taken to a couple of superstitions.
"It's just a few of the things around the house," Jeff said. "Everybody's got their T-shirts on and that doesn't really happen ever. But it's been working lately so we're gonna stick with it."
Jeff gets to share in the excitement by talking with Brayden every day on the phone.
"You know if it's 15 minutes or if it's five minutes he makes sure he calls and we talk about the game a little bit and just the excitement that's going on."
Game time for Monday's game in Boston is 6 p.m. CST.
You can watch live on CBC TV or live streamed through CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app.
