tv ABC7 News 800PM ABC June 26, 2022 8:00pm-8:30pm PDT
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30 years. congratulations to the 2022 conn smythe trophy winner, colorado avalanche defenseman cale makar. >> sean: he wins the conn smythe trophy, and the youngest to win it in 53 years since bobby orr did it, the man to whom he is frequently compared back in 1970 at age 22. this is the third defenseman 23 or younger ever to win the conn smythe. serge savard back in 1922.
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appearance in three years. a feat that is unmatched in the nhl in nearly 40 years and one that has never been accomplished before during the salary cap era. congratulations to owner jeff vinik, general manager julian brisebois and jon cooper and the management of the lightning. now for the colorado avalanche, with a dominant playoff performance, they have climbed the mountain and they are on top of the mountain again. congratulations first and foremost to the avalanche players for their commitment, their sacrifice and their achievement in winning the most
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sought after trophy in all of professional team sports. congratulations also to owner stan and josh kroenke, general manager joe sakic, chris mcfarland, charlotte graham, and head coach jared bednar and the entire coaching staff. on behalf of the entire national hockey league and commissioner gary bettman, i have the privilege to invite avalanche captain gabriel landeskog to come over to accept and hoist the stanley cup.
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>> ray: 1,140 games to realize a dream for cogliano. >> sean: and that is just in the regular season. what a scrappy player he is at 5'10" and 170 pounds. and now mackinnon who scored the goal that tied the game. his 13th of the playoffs to tie for the playoff lead with evander kane. jack johnson the 35-year-old veteran. and we said what a season for him graduating from the university of michigan and 15 years after leaving he promised the red barons, and he promised
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to get his degree, and he did. nazem kadri, and he broke his thumb in the series against edmonton, and he didn't know if he would be back, and he did come back to score the game winner here. the restart helped to make his image as a person and he'll be a free agent. burakovsky, and he and helm are the only players who have won it before playing with washington. darcy kuemper, and was he good enough to win a stanley cup? yes, he is. >> ray: on the road, two wins in
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the finals for kuemper. >> sean: and his teammates never lost confidence in him. mikko rantanen struggled out of the gate in the playoffs. jared bednar challenged him before the conference finals to become an impact player and he scored in all four games in edmonton and scored and had an assist in the conference final. and darren helm is the other avalanche player who has won the cup with detroit, and spent 14 years there, and the first year in colorado as a free agent. the average season race with coach bedbednar. he is sensational. >> ray: 14 years between, and i wonder if it feels the same. and coming over to solidify the av's defense, and underrated player devon toews.
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>> sean: and the stanley cup is about three feet tall, and nichushkin who played with dallas in almost 60 games without a goal or a penalty. what a post-season he has had. he certainly got conn smythe trophy votes. well, this is going to continue through the team. it is an experience that all of these players have been dreaming of since they were young boys. emily kaplan. >> emily: how did that feel when you lifted the cup over your shoulders? >> well, it is 20-plus years of dreaming and wanting and working for it, and finally coming to fruition after a lot of crazy years and a lot of hard work, but this group is just amazing and all of the way from the top to our massage therapist to the wives to the fans and everybody working in ball arena, and it is
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just incredible. >> emily: when you were lifting cup, who were you thinking about? >> i mean, my wife, my kids, my dad, my sisters over there, and everybody who supported me along the way, my mom, my brother, my teammates, and looking at these guys, and it is just -- it is incredible. i still can't believe it. >> emily: the nhl is notoriously a copycat league, and what do you think that other teams will take away from your journey? >> find a cale makar somewhere. and we picked up some pieces along the way that really, really made us hard to play against, looking at cogs, sturmy, mans, and looking at all of the pieces that they just wanted to win so bad and do whatever it take, and it adds up to just a really hard team to
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play against. >> emily: what are you most proud of for this team? >> the resiliency. you know, just, we have had pressure on us from day one, and expectation, and the expectations from the outside and the expectations that we put on ourselves inside of that dressing room to be great and win and take it one step at a time, and to keep working in playoffs, and keep finding ways to win hockey games, and we had eight or nine come-from-behind win, and that is hard to do, and to not have our best game at home, and not to have the opportunity to hoist it in front of our fans in the building is not easy to do. so i am proud of them. >> sean: oh, a swedish accent there with 11 years with the avalanche. you heard bill daley who has
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tested positive for covid, and we wish hem well swish him well great year for him, and what a year for him as he is part owner for the los angeles rams who hoisted the lombardi trophy and now hoisting that stanley cup trophy as they will be hoisting that in the days to come in front of those great fans in colorado, and congratulations to the colorado avalanche for their third championship in their team's history. we will have more to come with steve levy in just a moment. >> thank you, sean. it is great to be here with mark messier and chris chellios, and it is looking like you are getting a little emotional to
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kc carry around the stanley cup with those guys? >> yes, and it doesn't matter who is lifting it, and it is the most amazing feeling, getting it home around their friends and family. it is the most amazing feeling. >> yes, with the stanley cup final, and they deserved it, because they have gone through the whole journey to get here. they were knocked down a few times and rallied back. they believed in each other, and stuck together, and did all of the things to get to the cup. they beat a team that the heart was there, but the leg, and they hung on with guts and guile, and in the end, colorado was a stronger team, and showed in the seven-game series. >> just the fourth team to go through a seven-game series and never face a deficit, the colorado avalanche, and you are right, they were the best team,
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and the league got it right, this is the correct stanley cup final by the two preseason favorites. tampa bay out of the east, and colorado out of the west. there is jared bednar who is already the third longest tenured coach in the national hockey league, and jared's wife and family, there and that is the beautiful piece there, sharing it with the family as well. >> and listening to the players to explain what it feels like, - and they can't get it out, and mackinnon talking about the most important thing is to get a picture with his dad, and you know, trying to explain it at this point, and as soon as the game is over, and trying to describe within the next week or two, and sinking in what they have accomplish and a much better idea of what it means to them. >> and there is joe sakic, the third person to win the stanley cup as a player and gm with the same franchise. what a night in tampa. it is not the way they wanted,
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because you want to win it and celebrate at home, but they will have plenty of time to take it home to den version and good on the fans at colorado, and unbelievable fan base that the avalanche have, and this franchise, they have been eliminated the last three years in the second round, and high expectations, and that is great. >> and the scar tissue, i love it, and that is what you have to have to want it more and learn from the mistakes and seize the moment, and don't let it slip away, and starting with jared bednar and such a classy coach. he says the right things and the demeanor, and it carries down the landeskog and mackinnon and such a respectful group of players from the interviews on and a class group. >> when you get the right people in place, you have to let them grow and make mistakes and go through the process, and this is a perfect example of the team making changes and just because they did not win, they suffered
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some setbacks, but stuck together, because they felt that they had the right plays and made some great trades at the deadline, and they were really theries, and in the ouomef mackinnon and auyal makar to add to the group. >> i loved that question from emily kaplan when she asked nathan mackinnon what you do to win, and he said, you get yourself a cale makar. >> emily: what are your emotions right now? >> well, i just look at the guys the, and all of the work that these guys put in. i mean -- all right! just all of the work with e.j., and nate, and landy, and mee koemeeko, and all of the years of the ups and downs and the hard work to be rewarded, and so proud of the boys.
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it is awesome. >> emily: when you finally got to lift the cup, what was going through your mind? >> well, you grow up, and you see that thing as a kid, and you have pictures of it on the wall, and all i can think of is everybody who got me here. my family is in the stands, and it is amazing wherever they are. and it is surreal. it is amazing. >> emily: before the series, you sthad the tampa bay lightning, they are a team that is looking to continue a dynasty, and we are trying to create a legacy. what is the legacy of the colorado avalanche right now? >> well, it is building over time, and i feel like for us, i have been here only three years and a couple of tough exits in playoffs and all leading up to this. oh, man. it is, if you told me this is three years in, i would have said, i don't know. but they have done such a great job to putting together a great team, and it is amazing. i don't have any more words. it is amazing. >> emily: okay. one more quick one, what have you always wanted to do with the
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cup? >> i will say a picture with the boys. am looking forward to that for sure. >> emily: all right. thank you, cale. >> that is it, a picture with the boys. cale makar is not even 24 years old yet. won the hobey in college, and the calder, and then the conn smythe, and now a stanley kup, and to have won all five trophies in his career, and again, he is not even 24 years old. listen, i am all about cale makar, but i love erik johnson and i love the stories on the other side. darcy kuemper who was doubted and to talk about philipp grubauer, and they lost him last year, and seattle paid him a ton of dough, and what do they do in goal, and the answer is darcy kuemper, and nazem kadri, and so
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many great names up and down. >> and whether they were gritty enough or talented enough or the heart and determination, and you don't know until you do it, and now they can delete all of the question marks that surrounded them as individuals and as a team. actually, i ran into erik johnson in the hallway staying three down from me after the morning skate, and they knew they could play better, and sure enough, they came in here and played a focused game. >> how about the absence of goalies and with six or more wins in the way to the title. they don't get it without pavel francouz as well. so what a truly team championship. >> and to have him thrown in there and play like he did and then right back to kuemper, and that is the question mark you know coming into the series when he was pulled that game. he comes back and rebounded, and what a heck of a game he had.
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i am happy for him, and i go back to mackinnon and all eyes on him, and talked about him, and finally in the interview, he can smile, and relieved. you love that and the story, and you love the happy endings. >> and this trophy is going to expose your weakest length, and if you don't have depth and goaltending and nine defensemen and five or six lines and the guys who didn't goat play, and without them, whether they didn't play a game, but the demeanor around the dressing room, and the at tud and routing t the other guys on, and the training staff and the doctors and the extra players and this is it. that is why you see this emotion when you finally win it. >> the guy i played with in darren helm,rtt a tnd with the killers. >> the big hitter. >> and shutting down other team's players and th speed was the biggest asset and strength
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throughout the series, and the third period was exactly what went on most of the series on a consistent basis and wearing down tampa, and it is more what colorado did and not what tampa didn't do. >> i couldn't agree more. colorado played amazing and their series to win from when tampa bay put the puck down, and they got a couple of bad break, and tampa tried to hang on, and with all of the experience and talking about the tape, and it is sad to see them lose and get three in a row, but unbelievable to see what colorado has been through, to hoist the cup. >> and corey perry, and three consecutive final losses. >> well, he can be proud of the way he play and he can play on my team anytime. >> i mentioned erik johnson and here he is with emily moments ago. >> emily: erik, you have dreamed of this moment since you were a
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kid, and how did how you dreamed of it match up to what you experienced? >> it is better than i dreamed. i am so proud of the guys. i got the denver 12 years ago dead last in the league, and we got dead last again four years after that. and four years ago, dead last. it is about surrounding yourself and believing in yourself and making it happen. >> emily: what is the toughest moments? >> i thought last summer i might have to retire, and here i am stanley cup champion with some of the best friends in the world. >> emily: how did you get past the adversity? >> sticking with it, and tune tout out the noise, and surround yourself with people who believe in you, and you can accomplish great things. >> emily: what is special about this team? >> oh, we are doing a picture. i have to go.
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>> emily: well, go. >> that is what it is all about, a picture with the boys. that is going to be on the wall the rest of your life, so you don't want to miss that one. these guys are on fumes mentally and physically, and when do you crash and sleep for four days? how long does that take? >> well, they will be up for three days in a row, and the younger guys with a little bit more stamina, they will last a little longer, but the older guys will be with the family. and ovechkin was awake for a month when they won the cup with the washington capitals. >> and i don't think that he holds the record. >> good on the colorado avalanche. you hear about the rebuilds and the avalanche five years ago, guys, they were dead lasts in overall standings and the fewest points in the national hockey league five years ago. you heard sean mention that
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jared bednar was afraid he would not be invited back. and now, the families are hitting the ice. >> for me, it is back to the ownership. you have to ownership that he hires the right people, and suffering setbacks and growing together as a team, and individuals there, and you put the building blocks along the way, and the right trades, and you get experience through failure, and through successes, and this is the prototypical ways that the team goes through drafting right players and making trades and set back, and sure enough believing to the point that they ultimately become stanley cup champions. >> and it is ownership, the run for the kroenkes, the super bowl team, the rams and now the
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avalanche. >> credit to joe sakic, and a quality guy, and guy that the players can look up to, and when he speaks, he surrounds himself with the staff, and for me, the bednar decision to come back the stick with him. and looking at the pictures here, it is unbelievable how many impact the families have on the players and the support system they have around them, and the emotion coming from the wives and the dads and the brothers and the mothers and the thing is without that structure and the players around you, you have to know that you are doing the right thing and you believe in them, and you believe in yourself, and that is why you are seeing the emotion there. >> and along the legend, joe sakic and his wife delivered 16 roses to each and every player before the playoffs began for
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each game you have to win, and the support of the players need at home. and sakic, and he gives emily that story as well. what a story of the sakic family. so much success for the colorado avalanche with emily. >> emily: joe, a stanley cup champion as an executive, and how do you feel? >> it is something that you dream of. and so proud of the older guys, and our group since last year, when you come into training camp, they are committed and nothing fazes them. they were prepared to get better and the coaches had them to get better, and they bought in. it is a close group, and they competed and battled for each
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other all year, and great results. so i am excited for all of the players. >> emily: five years ago, you had the worst record in the league, and we will stop talking about it soon. and how did you get from there to here? >> yeah, we had the worst record, but you had great young players who were about to be stars and great core. we built around them. they were younger and faster, and those guys had the dressing room. and they wanted to be a part of it. mackinnon and landeskog, and johnson and they wanted to be a part of it. so i am happy for them, and you bring in jack johnson who has not won, and you know, cogliano comes in, and the older guys who have been around a long time, and they had the opportunity to win their first cup. it is -- being a former player and all that, you know how happy they are, and how relieved it is that they have the opportunity
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to finally raise the stanley cup. >> emily: thank you so much. >> appreciate it. >> good on you, joe sakic, and the avalanche roar through the post-season at 16-4, and just four losses in the four best series rounds and the second best all-time. the only team with fewer losses is the 1988 oilers who had two losses that post-season. a walk in the park for you guys. >> might have looked easy with that 16-2 record, but every game was a heartbreaker, but they were the most dominant team in playoffs, and they deserved to win, and they played the best, and sure enough, they got the result. >> it is incredible. again, the changing of the guard. everybody questioned if it would happen, and it did and deservedly so and talking about how young they were and the vets who stayed. they could have gone elsewhere, but the key word is joe said the
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commitment of the players on a mission. and everybody in it for the team. and in the salary cap era, some people have to sacrifice money. you can't keep everyone, so maybe some guys take a little less and win a little more. >> you have seen it with sidney crosby to take a little less to build the team, and you need depth around you. so you will take the money, and the chances of success to get to this point is tremendous, and you know, that is the part of the sacrifice that you have to make as a team member if you want to play on the championship team. >> and jared bednar, and attended barry melrose camp in saskatchewan and stuck around to work later at the camp, and so he has been a popular figure
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around the espn parts since bednar got the gig, and it is great. tough for jon cooper and the lightning, and you can't call it a dynasty, because you need the third. and so just to get to the final, and we talked about corey perry r and three years in a row is something. the lightning will be back, and all of the key pieces, and the lightning superstar players have a chance. so, let's go back to revisit jared bednar's story with emily. >> emily: jared, you have the fans in front of you and celebrating with the fans behind you, and what are you feeling right now? >> well, man, every emotion that you can possibly think of. i am just so happy for these
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guys for all of the hard work, and when the buzzer went, there was almost a sense of disbelief for the ride we have been on. i can't imagine doing it with any other team. >> emily: and what do you feel about other teams that will take away from the colorado avalanche story? >> well, it is so difficult to get here, and that is why i am so impressed with the tampa bay lightning to do it two years in a row, and try for the third year for the cup. and we went from a skills team fun to watch, to digging in to be more competitive and more determined in a lot of areas, but they are a close knit group, and resilient group that whether we are learned it with maturity or the last couple of seasons with heartbreak, this group is so focused to accomplishhe
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