THE VERDICT: Stillman, Kurashev Following in Footsteps of Hockey Dads

When Riley Stillman was young -- really, really young -- he naturally bonded with father Cory, an accomplished forward who would play more than 1,000 National Hockey League games. Because kids say the darndest things, Riley interrogated his buddies.
"I would ask them, 'Who does your dad play for?'" he recalled. "I spent a lot of time with mine, at games or bouncing around locker rooms, and figured everybody's dad played in the NHL. Until I realized not everybody's dad does. I was fortunate. I was lucky."

On this Sunday, Father's Day, Riley and mother Mara, the other half of their family backbone, will treat Dad to dinner outside Phoenix, where Cory is an assistant coach with the Arizona Coyotes.
"A steakhouse," said Riley, a sinewy 23-year-old defenseman for the Blackhawks. "We'll wine and dine him. Dad deserves it. He's been my guiding light. And then we'll have a gift for him, too."

Half a world away in Switzerland, Philipp Kurashev will FaceTime father Konstantin, a 14-year veteran of Russian and Swiss pro leagues as a player who recently returned to Russia, where he now coaches for Avangard of the Kontinental Hockey League. Avangard, based in Omsk, recently won the Gagarin Cup, named for Yuri Gagarin, the first human launched into space 60 years ago.
"Time to get back to work for them, early," said Philipp, 21, a real find with enviable hockey IQ and one of nine Blackhawks to register his first NHL goal during the 2021 season. "Avangard took the championship in late April, and now it's hockey again. I will talk to my dad on Sunday, but we always talk. I'm not sure Father's Day over here is as big as it is in the States, but we know about it. And I know what he has meant to me and my career.
"If I were to give my dad a gift, what would it be? Probably a plane ticket to Chicago, so he could see me play in person. My mother, Elena, came to watch me in Rockford. But my dad, because of his job and the pandemic, not yet. He would love that and so would I. The anthem in the United Center and all the people. I haven't seen it full of fans either. That would be exciting, and I would take good care of him. I could never thank him for all he's done to help me. He showed me the way."
Hockey hopefuls invariably separate from home to chase the dream. Riley left Calgary and crossed Canada to play in Oshawa at 17. Likewise, Philipp departed his native Davos for Quebec. But, as Riley noted, distance is a means to mature sooner than most, and appreciate one's childhood foundation. Dad is always present, even when he's not really there.
"When I scored my first NHL goal, I called home," said Philipp of his landmark occasion on Jan. 19 against the Florida Panthers. "Mom was celebrating and Dad was still nervous, jumping around. So happy. He was a player himself, a good defenseman. Mostly in Russia, then the last couple years in Austria. He retired at maybe 35, then a friend offered him a coaching job in Davos.
"So he knows how hard it is to be a hockey player. I don't think I ever told him, after all the times I went to games to watch him coach, that I wanted to be a hockey player. I didn't have to. Even my baby pictures. Not with toys around me. I'm holding a hockey stick. He never pushed me. Always encouraged me. And when I got to Chicago, he watched every game. When I called after my first goal, it's was like 5 in the morning their time. I don't know when they sleep. Before? After? With the Blackhawks, I probably go to bed ahead of them."

Cory Stillman is among a handful of individuals to win consecutive Stanley Cups with two different teams-Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, and after the 2005 NHL lockout, Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. In first grade, when Riley filled out a questionnaire declaring his future plans, Cory was all in. Go for it, son. Riley's teacher, not so much.
"Miss Lightner," Riley said. "She asked, 'Are you sure you want to be a hockey player?' I was. I would watch Dad play on TV, and then listen to the rest of the game on radio in bed. He told me, later on when I got serious, a great piece of advice: work hard, have fun, keep your mouth shut. Don't complain when things aren't going your way. Dad's contemporary; he retired in 2011. But he's old school, too. I'm so privileged, not only to hang out with such a great Dad wherever he went, even trying to mimic him. Now, if he was a dentist, would I be one? Nope. Don't think so."
After exiting Chicago for the summer, Philipp saw his Dad for only a few weeks. But they picked up where they left off, playing cards or taking a walk into town.
"Did that just the other day, for ice cream," said Philipp. "We talk about hockey, about life. He's my father. He's my friend. He told me he is proud of me. I hope I can even make him more proud."
When the Blackhawks acquired Riley in an April trade, the big catch from the Panthers ostensibly was prospect Henrik Borgstrom. Voila, after six games on the blue line, Stillman earned a three-year contract extension. Dad said he'd love Chicago and everything about the Blackhawks, and Dad was right, again. Now, after Sunday's dinner, they'll head from the searing Arizona heat to the family cottage in Buckhorn, Ont. That's north of Peterborough, which is north of Toronto.
"We'll do some fishing," Riley said. "Maybe golf. Pretty isolated up there, great place to quarantine. We'll work out. There's a gym in the garage. That cottage is where Dad had his days with the Stanley Cup. I ate fruit loops out of the Stanley Cup. Breakfast of champions. Thanks to Dad."