TAMPA – The Colorado Avalanche own the Stanley Cup now and you can easily bet they're going to enjoy their summer with it.
Just before 2 a.m. Monday, reporters working on their final internet stories were stunned to see Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog stop in front of their workstations in the depths of Amalie Arena and raise the chalice over his head on his way out the door.
"We're taking it back to Denver," Landeskog howled, with similarly imbibing teammates in tow and in various states of dress. Somebody dropped a couple loud F-bombs in the parade, sadly making videos of the hilarious scene not fit for the web site of a family newspaper. Go look it up on Twitter. It's worth it.
The fuss came after the Avalanche wrapped up their first Cup since 2001 with Sunday's 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of a final that lived to its billing as a heavyweight battle. It allowed the Avalanche to tie the NHL record with their 72nd win of the season combining the regular season and playoffs, a stunning accomplishment for a team just five years removed from a 48-point season.
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It also has the hockey world contemplating a passing of the torch after Tampa Bay's run for the the NHL's first three-peat in 39 years was stopped two wins short. The Avs have wondrous talents who will be back for more in Conn Smythe Trophy winner Cale Makar, center Nathan MacKinnon and winger Mikko Rantanen.
But they have a lot of doubts already about a free agent exodus that could include goalie Darcy Kuemper, center Nazem Kadri and wingers Andre Burkavkosky and Val Nichushkin.
On the other side of the ice, here's some tough news for the Sabres, the rest of the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference: The Lightning aren't going anywhere.
Tampa Bay has played 71 playoff games in a 22-month stretch, an unheard-of run prompted by the league's Covid schedules. With a summer off to get healthy – and a salary cap in much better shape than it was after last season – the Lightning figure to be one of main contenders for the Cup again in 2023.
A Sabres aside here: Buffalo finished its season strong, with plenty of quality wins over top competition. But you see how far the Blue and Gold have to go to reach an elite level when you consider their recent past against the Cup finalists:
• In the last seven games against Colorado, Buffalo is 0-7 and has been outscored, 32-12.
• In the last 10 meetings with Tampa Bay, the Sabres are 1-8-1 and have been outscored, 43-25.
The Atlantic remains top-heavy when you consider the presence of the Lightning, the Presidents' Trophy-winning Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were an overtime goal in Game 6 away from beating Tampa Bay in Round 1 and somehow have been first-round losers for six straight years.
The Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens – who have the No. 1 pick at next week's draft in Bell Centre – are all battling to try to move past the Boston Bruins and simply get into the top half of the division. The Bruins laughably gave a contract extension to General Manager Don Sweeney on Monday, a move the rest of the division should be happy with after the club turfed coach Bruce Cassidy and he got a much better job in Vegas.
As for Tampa Bay, anyone looking for some big drop-off from the former champs is sadly mistaken.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, the world's best goalie, is signed for six more years at $9.5 million per season, and is only 27 years old. Several other members of the core are also signed long term.
Winger Nikita Kucherov (29 years old) is signed for five more years, also at $9.5 million. Center Brayden Point (26) starts an eight-year deal next season, also at $9.5 million, while defenseman Ryan McDonagh (33) has four more years at $6.75 million and Victor Hedman (31) has three more years at $7.87 million. Captain Steven Stamkos has two more years at $8.5 million.
"Who says we're done, right?" Stamkos said after the finale. "This core is here and we've battled and been through everything you can think of and, for the most part, we've found a way to come out on top. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
The Lightning might have come out on top again if not for the severe leg/hip injury that kept Point out of the final three rounds, save for two ineffective games to start the final in Denver. Point had 28 goals and 56 points over Tampa's championship runs the last two postseasons but had just two goals and three assists this time.
And Point wasn't alone playing through pain. Those truths are yet to be revealed.
"What they put themselves through, it's mind-boggling," said coach Jon Cooper. "We would have had half of the minor league team (Syracuse of the AHL) playing if it was the regular season. There's no question. You get the bad bumps and bruises and guys getting nicked up here and there, but nothing like I saw with this group."
Added veteran winger Pat Maroon, whose bid to win four straight Cups was stopped: "When the injury report comes out, you're going to be shocked. It just stings. We're relentless. We're a group that just feeds off our energy. We're warriors."
The Avalanche clearly knew they had taken down a giant, a team that had won 11 straight playoff series in a run most observers thought wasn't possible in the cap era. Since 2015, in fact, the Lightning have gone to six East finals and four Cup finals, with the other loss coming in Game 6 at Chicago in 2015.
"They've been a really good team for the better part of a decade, the last three years especially," said Colorado coach Jared Bednar. "I have to tip my hat to them because I don't know how they did it. I'm just starting to figure it out now. There's a tremendous amount of respect there."
"This was a tough series. It was really tough to play," said veteran Colorado forward Andrew Cogliano, a first-time champion after 1,140 NHL games. "To beat them is probably a little more satisfying to be honest because they are champions. They know how to win. And ultimately, when you can beat the champions, you know you really earned it."
Cooper brought his entire coaching staff on to the dais with him for his news conference after the finale to pay tribute to them. He said you normally only remember the teams that win, but this group was different. And there's a feeling there's still more to come.
"I will always remember this team for what they endured, what they went through to get to this point," Cooper said, referring to playoff victories over the Hart Trophy winner (Toronto's Auston Matthews), Presidents' Trophy winner (Florida) and Vezina Trophy winner (New York's Igor Shesterkin). "You have to marvel at them, it's a little shock and awe of what this group accomplished to get here.
"We never had home ice (advantage). We played all the star-studded teams and they found a way. We just ran into one more brick wall and we just couldn't get through this one."
Cooper spoke a couple of hours before Landeskog triumphantly whisked the Cup out the door of Tampa Bay's home rink in the morning's wee hours. The Avs' party for the Cup will run all summer, starting with a parade Thursday in downtown Denver. The Lightning's quest to get it back is just beginning.
