Adrian Dater
When Andrew Cogliano was acquired at the trade deadline by Joe Sakic and the Colorado Avalanche, some noticed that I seemed a little too gung-ho in my praising of the deal with San Jose. Why get all excited over this old guy, some wondered?
I think Avalanche fans on this site know why now. Andrew Cogliano for a very key guy in the Avalanche Stanley Cup championship. And, today, he was rewarded with a new one-year, $1.25 million contract with the Avalanche.
Cogliano, 35, said his life has been immeasurably better since coming to the Avalanche, and that he’s humbled that the team wanted him back.
“Obviously, a very easy decision from my end,” Cogliano told reporters on Zoom from his off-season cabin in British Columbia. “At the end of the day, it was a great opportunity to go back to a team that’s won.”
Erik Johnson recently told the podcast “Spittin’ Chiclets” that Cogliano gave a speech in a hotel room before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final that brought “tears” to some guys’ eyes.
“Do I think that’s the reason why we won? No I don’t,” “I just felt like my head, how I felt personally, I could give a talk. I felt if I got out that in the open, we could get our emotions right. And I think we did that perfectly. I think everything we did in that Game 6, we played the game of our lives.”
I didn’t know that speech, but I knew enough about Cogs to know he has always been a beloved teammate to those he plays with, and is one of the hardest-working guys ever. Look how he came back after just a week, with a broken finger. And, he was good!
This is another smart decision by Joe Sakic. Cogliano is a glue guy who does all the fundamental things very well. He keeps in great shape and I think he’ll have an outstanding 2022-23 season.
“Andrew was such a big part of our Stanley Cup championship with his leadership and veteran presence,” Sakic said in a prepared statement. “He battled back from various injuries throughout the playoffs and played key minutes for us when we needed it the most. He’s a great teammate who works hard on and off the ice and sets a great example for the rest of the group. We’re excited to have him back for another season.”
“I found another level of intensity, another level of motivation,” Cogliano said.
He called the three months he played here as the “most enjoyable” of his career.
He said he tried to “force himself” to heal as fast as he could to play after the broken finger. He said it’s “healing now” and that the Avalanche medical staff did a great job in his return.
“It was one of the closest teams I’ve ever been on,” Cogliano said. “A lot of this has to do with coming back and playing for them. I think you have a team that’s won and is going to be hungry for more.”