Championship Lessons: Senators Newcomer Reveals What Made His Cup-Winning Teams Successful
Two-time champion Andre Burakovsky detailed this week the two things that made his Cup-winning teams special.
If there's one intangible that Senators GM Steve Staios likes in his offseason acquisitions, it's Stanley Cup-winning experience.
It's not an uncommon strategy. The hope is that, because the player now knows what it takes to win it all, he can not only bring that formula to his new team but also help show others.
In the summer of 2024, Staios signed Cup winners David Perron, Nick Cousins, and Michael Amadio. Last year, he signed another in Lars Eller and acquired Warren Foegele, who came within a goal of winning it all with Edmonton in 2024.
After moving on from Perron and Eller over the past four months, Staios replenished some of that championship experience by acquiring two-time Stanley Cup winner Andre Burakovsky last month for a sixth-round pick.
Burakovsky has won Cups with the Washington Capitals (2018) and the Colorado Avalanche (2022), and he was asked this week what made those teams special.
"First of all, the camaraderie in those two teams was exceptional," Burakovsky said in an interview with Sens host Jackson Starr. "We were such a tight group. Everyone cared for each other, and obviously, everyone competed every day."
In Colorado, especially, Burakovsky says that compete level also applied to practice.
"You're teammates, but on the ice, you go to war with each other," Burakovsky said. "You're playing with the best players in the world, and you want to compete against the best players in the world, and you can do that both in practice and games.
"So that was something that stood out to me, and that everyone just came ready for every single game."
Certainly, those are a couple of areas to think about when it comes to the Senators.
For example, how will Brady Tkachuk's departure affect camaraderie? For years, camaraderie was a clear area of strength for the Senators, even during the rebuild, with an excited, happy young core.
And Tkachuk was the guy who brought everyone together and dragged everyone into the fight.
But sometime during the past year, something changed. Staios even alluded to that on the day Tkachuk was traded.
"It became clear as the season went on this year that maybe something was amiss, and that had changed," Staios. "But up until that point, I would have loved to have seen it through with Brady."
Head coach Travis Green spoke repeatedly this past season about the importance of his players ignoring the noise. The players did a pretty great job of doing that, going on a furious tear to make the playoffs.
But maybe some of that noise was coming from within.
As for this mindset of "going to war with each other" at practice, that's also something to consider. Green runs a hard practice, and poor efforts aren't tolerated. But could the battle level be amped up, competing harder and getting more physical in practice like there's something on the line?
There's the old adage, you only play as well as you practice, and that obviously paid dividends for Burakovsky's Cup-winning teams.
But it's an outrageously long season, which makes the 'make practices harder' strategy a tricky balance. If Green cranks up the volume to 10 and tells his players they have to battle at practice every day like it's Game 7 of the Cup Final, he risks player injury and energy drain.
Burakovsky obviously isn't here to personally redesign team culture or strategy, and we're not even sure if that's what's required. But every player who's been part of a championship team brings some perspective on the little things that separate champions from also-rans.
Burakovsky has been part of it twice, and hearing what made those teams special is both interesting and worth paying attention to.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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