The Colorado Avalanche want the Stanley Cup ... again: 'It's kind of like if you get a slice of cake that you love, you want more of it right away.'
It's been less than two months since the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, but they're already hard at work in an attempt to secure another one next season.
Two Avs players just returned from a week competing with other NHL players at a University of Denver pro camp.
"There's moments for me that it sets in, but I think personally it will be 15 to 20 years after my career is done, that it will fully set in, what I've accomplished and what we've done as a team," Forward Logan O'Connor said.
Sometimes it takes a while to fully grasp that you've achieved a lifelong dream. All the blood, sweat and tears finally paying the ultimate dividend. But the pageantry and celebration that comes with winning the Stanley Cup certainly help make it feel real.
"It's pretty special to share it with friends and family. They've been along for the ride my whole career, so getting to bring it back to Calgary was pretty special," O'Connor said of his day with the Stanley Cup.
"We had a good stretch of fun there with the Cup and celebrating together," Defenseman Devon Toews said. "Then you get away, get back to family, relax a little bit and then your mind starts to switch to the next year. It's definitely settled in. You think about it all the time still, how cool it was and how fun it was. I think that just motivates you to do it again."
It hasn't taken long for the Avs to turn their focus to next season. Logan O'Connor and Devon Toews are back at work, fresh off a week of competing with other NHL players at DU's annual pro camp.
"It's good to get out with other pros and other guys that are striving to complete the same goal that we just achieved. Seeing how hard they are working just pushes you even more," Toews said.
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For O'Connor, DU's camp is special beyond just getting good work in. It's a chance to skate with his college teammates, a group that led DU to a national title in 2017.
"My class all comes back for this. We all still play and it's pretty special. We're pushing each other. We've always done that since we left DU. We all come back, spend the summers here. Golf together, skate together, workout together. Just having good competition out there to push each other is pretty huge at this point in the summer. Leading up to training camp, you want to have the best skates and good groups out there to help everyone out," O'Connor said.
One thing is certain, there won't be any sort of championship hangover with the Avs. Now that they've experienced the ultimate victory, anything less just won't do.
"It's kind of like if you get a slice of cake that you love, you want more of it right away. We've been able to taste victory and what it feels like to win a championship as a group. It just makes you hungrier to do it again. I think our group is really ready to attack that challenge," Toews said.
"We know what we're capable of now and what it takes to get to that level," he continued. "I think this upcoming season is going to be even harder because we have a target on our backs."
"This year, being the reigning champs, everyone is going to be gunning for us," O'Connor said. "Every game is going to be that much harder. Teams are going to get up to play against us. So it's going to be a harder challenge but I think we have the right players and people that are willing to go to war and do the work to get back to the same level."
The Avalanche open the season Oct. 12 at home against the Chicago Blackhawks.
