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Reality sets in for Avalanche at championship parade as Colorado celebrates its third Stanley Cup

By June 30, 2022 | updated 4 years ago

DENVER — A shirtless Gabriel Landeskog hoisted the Stanley Cup high above his head at Civic Center Park, as hundreds of thousands draped in burgundy and blue roared across the way.

For Landeskog, the rest of the Avalanche and the city of Denver, reality finally set in Thursday, four days removed from winning the Stanley Cup. Fans lined the streets of downtown Denver and Civic Center Park to celebrate the franchise’s third championship. And Landeskog made sure to thank them for it. 

“The city of Denver, the state of Colorado,” Landeskog said into the mic, “you guys have been (bleeping) amazing for the last 10 years.” 

Colorado’s championship parade was one that will be hard to forget, with players drinking beer out of water guns, Cale Makar and Devon Toews going shirtless with fans, Artturi Lehkonen drinking out of a shoe, Mikko Rantanen forgetting English on stage, Jared Bednar getting emotional during his speech, and Nathan MacKinnon — the Avalanche’s most intense player — dancing and smiling in front of thousands. 

“That was definitely surreal having everybody come out and support us,” Nazem Kadri said. “We’re going to celebrate it for awhile. I’m going to enjoy it. This stuff doesn’t come around that often, so you’ve got to enjoy it and soak it all in.”

PHOTOS: Colorado Avalanche 2022 Championship Parade and Rally

Estimated 500,000 celebrate the 2022 Stanley Cup Champions in downtown Denver with a parade and rally. 

The parade is the ultimate celebration for the Avalanche. And Thursday proved that Denver is a hockey city, as NCAA champions University of Denver and high school national champions Denver East High School were also honored. 

“I love this city so much. The support has been incredible,” said Kadri, who is a free agent this offseason. “Today was one of those big time moments where it was just like, ‘wow, this is really happening.’ We’ve had expectations on us all year and it just makes me even more proud that we delivered because that’s a tough position to be in.”

The Avalanche made it clear that the party is nowhere near being over, as they intend to celebrate until next season’s training camp that’s a couple months away. And each player and personnel member will get the chance to spend a day with the Stanley Cup, doing whatever they please, which will surely inspire more shenanigans.

They will also reflect on an incredible run that was years in the making, just as they did Thursday in front of the Avs faithful. And maybe they’ll be back there, on that stage celebrating, sooner than most realize. 

“How about this damn team,” Avalanche GM Joe Sakic said. “It’s been 21-damn-long years… We’re back.”

WATCH: Colorado Avalanche celebrate their third Stanley Cup with Denver faithful

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