Deklan Strunk stands beside the Stanley Cup at the Humboldt Golf Course on Aug. 6 as Humboldt Broncos Memorial Golf Tournament organizers made a wish came true for the 13-year-old Quill Lake boy. Pictured (left to right): Jared Bednar, Deanna Gardiner, Deklan Strunk, Domino (in the cup), Blake and Daxton Strunk (front), and Chris Holter. (Becky Zimmer/northeastNOW Staff)

By Becky Zimmer

Lord Stanley's Cup

Wishes granted over the weekend as Quill Lake boy gets quality time with Stanley Cup

Aug 8, 2022 | 1:00 PM

As well as honouring the 29 members of the Humboldt Broncos 2017-2018 team with a weekend of golf and fundraising, the Humboldt Broncos Memorial Golf Tournament organizers also got to make a wish come true for a special young man from Quill Lake.

Thirteen-year-old Deklan Strunk, along with his family and puppy, got his own time with the Stanley Cup on Aug. 6 at the Humboldt Golf Course before viewing was open to the public.

This was on Strunk’s Make-A-Wish list following his stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis on June 22. Tournament organizers, including Stanley Cup winning Colorado Avalanche coach, Jared Bednar, were happily able to fulfill his wish without going through Make-A-Wish Canada.

On top of seeing the cup, organizers also made a $5,000 donation to the Make-a-Wish Canada at Strunk’s request “to help other people.”

Organizers of the tournament were more than happy to do that for Strunk.

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“For us, to give it to Deklan to make that happen was huge, because that’s all what (the tournament) is about,” said organizer, Laurie Warford. “The $5,000 check for him to pay it forward to Children’s Make-A-Wish Foundation is huge for him because he’s a really, you know, caring, selfless, 13-year-old boy.”

Included in the Make-A-Wish donation is an additional $400 that Deklan and his brothers, Daxton and Blake, raised themselves with a lemonade stand this past summer.

Following his time with the cup, Strunk told northeastNOW that it was an amazing experience.

Mom, Deanna Gardiner, said they are keeping positive but it has been a rough journey, especially with treatment being in Saskatoon.

“We’ve been doing full cycles of a full week sustained in the city; which is a two-hour drive for us, staying in the city for a whole week, and then we get a couple of days off and do another couple rounds of chemo and then it’s lots of testing and lots of PET scans and then maybe some radiation.”

Through it all, Deklan’s younger brothers proudly proclaimed that he is the best brother in the world. This is just one sign of how overwhelming the family support has been, said Gardiner.

“We have an amazing support system right down to all family, friends, the school. He (Deklan) graduated Grade 8 early. Everybody’s been amazing. We have a very supportive family who made sure that the other two had kind of a normal summer with swimming lessons.”

Another bucket list item for Deklan is a trip to an NHL game, hopefully, to see his favourite team playing; the Edmonton Oilers.

Given his treatment schedule and a medical port in his chest, Gardiner said they are not sure whether Strunk will be able to play hockey himself during this upcoming season.

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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim