After Magical Junior Run, Stillman Turns Pro | FEATURE

It was a run for the ages for Chase Stillman and the Peterborough Petes.

The Petes stumbled down the stretch of the regular season, entering the Ontario Hockey League playoffs against the Sudbury Wolves. After the Petes pulled off a four-game sweep, it set up a showdown with the Ottawa 67's, the team that finished with the best record in the entire OHL.

The Petes pulled a stunner, beating the 67's in six games, with Stillman chipping in three assists in the decisive Game 6 victory. That pitted the Petes against the second-seeded North Bay Battalion in the Eastern Conference Final. Unfazed, Peterborough won in seven games - after winning in overtime of Game 6 to force the do-or-die showdown.

Peterborough finished the magical run against the London Knights, the top team in the Western Conference. It took just six games for= Peterborough emerged the 2023 OHL champions.

"In the regular season we didn't really clique. For whatever reason after the trade deadline we couldn't figure out how to win games," Stillman said. "It was pretty cool to see from us. We finished (fourth). Swept Sudbury, beat Ottawa who finished first in the league, beat North Bay who finished second in the league and beat London who finished first in the West.

"It was an underdog story. There's no other way I'd draw it up."

That triumph landed Peterborough in the Memorial Cup, taking place in Kamloops. But a 4-1 setback to Seattle in the semifinal brought the Petes' improbable storybook tale to an end.

"There was a little bit more meaning behind it," Stillman said of the Memorial Cup. "Going through the long season and grinding, and for us to get there we had to win a championship.

"It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity and in a great city like Kamloops. … You can tell it was pretty special, especially when we were playing Kamloops. You really feel the atmosphere when we got pumped 10-2, which was not fun, but it was really cool and a really special city, too."

It was a wild run for Stillman and a poetic way to finish his junior career. The Devils' first-round pick (29th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft will turn pro this upcoming season. And while he will attend Devils training camp in the fall, his likely 2023 destination will be in Utica of the American Hockey League to start.

"Hopefully, I can play in New Jersey as fast as possible," Stillman said. "But if I end up in Utica it's really exciting. It's a big step for me hockey-wise and life-wise. First time being away from home, being away from an adult family. I'm really looking forward to it."

And the 6-foot-1, 187-pound forward is eager to soak up as much knowledge as he can from pro players at whichever level it may be.

"Going into my first pro year, I tried to not set many expectations for myself," he explained. "I don't want to go in there and say I'm going to score 20 goals, 50 assists and 70 points. I'm just going to take it day by day, learn from some of the older guys there and enjoy the process of it."

The 20-year-old has come a long way since being drafted by the Devils. He is currently attending his third Prospect Development Camp, though is not participating in on-ice activities due to surgery on a deviated septum that effected his breathing and sleep. Mostly, he's finally filling into his role as a player.

"My identity, I'm starting to be more comfortable with what's expected of me in New Jersey," he said. "Talking to (general manager Tom Fitzgerald) and folks of what they want from me. I'm starting to fill into my shoes and be the player they want me to be."

Fitzgerald called Stillman, whose father Cory played 15 years in the NHL and won two Stanley Cups, a player with a "dog-on-bone mentality." That tenacity and competitive nature are aspects of his game and personality.

"The biggest part of my game is that I'm a competitor," said Stillman, who has "safe is death" written inside his gloves. "I want to win. I want to be on a winning team and winning organization. That's the way this organization is trending. To be a part of it is going to be real exciting."

That competitive attitude resulted in a viral moment during the Memorial Cup. The Peters were playing host Kamloops, which had beaten Peterborough 10-2 in the round-robin play, in a tie-breaker contest to reach the semifinal. The Petes surrendered three straight goals to trail 3-1 when Stillman hit Kamloops Matthew Seminoff coming through the slot. Stillman then fought Caedan Bankier, landing a KO. It was a turning point for the Petes, who rallied to win 5-4 in OT.

"It's funny. I didn't know it was going to get as much recognition as it did," Stillman said. "I hit a post earlier in that game and took a bad penalty, so I figured I had to do something to change something around. The opportunity came. It wasn't like I was going out there to hurt anybody. A guy came across the middle and I finished him. The second guy came in and I was a little more ready than he was, I guess."

Stillman wasn't looking to create a moment. But when the moment presented itself, Stillman took advantage.

"Two things with hockey is it's opportunity and confidence. You have to be ready for when you get it," he said.

It's that style of play that attracted the Devils to Stillman. And moments like that are why they wanted to make him part of the organization's future.

"That's just the compete thing," he said of the sequence. "I'm not a guy going out there looking to (throw a big hit) or just run around and fight. That happens the way that I play.

"I'm going to get under guy's skin, not just with my mouth but just the way that I play and being in guy's faces. That's one thing they expect from me is to be a hard-nosed player and a hard guy to play against. That's what I'm trying to be."

And if he plays that way, he should enjoy a long career like his father.

"On the ice it's being a complete player," he said. "If I can fill the shoes of the way they want me to play here I'll always have a job. That's the way I try to think about it."

Stillman would love to play 15 NHL seasons and win two Cups like his dad. Though, he may prefer not to play for six different teams.

"Who knows?" he joked. "Hopefully, I can just ride my career out here in Jersey."