For ice hockey pro Nico Sturm, his first move within the NHL is a good thing. “I do think it’s a positive step for me. I think you have to look at it that way.”
“Trade, it’s always a shock at first. But Colorado – there couldn’t have been many better spots,” said the 26-year-old from Augsburg to the “Deutsche Presse-Agentur”.
The attacker was sent to the Colorado Avalanche at the end of the transition period after more than three years with the Minnesota Wild. There he now plays for the leaders of the Western Conference at least until the end of his contract at the end of the season and can hope for a long stay in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup.
In North American professional sports, players only have a say in exceptional cases when they are traded between teams.
“I feel liberated now. I’m just playing in an absolutely top team,” said Sturm. “Now I don’t look after every game to see how my stats are or how that might affect the contract next year. Because that wasn’t healthy somewhere. I had that kind of thinking about this season for a long time and it didn’t help me at all,” he reported. “The fact that the league leaders brought me into the team should give me enough self-confidence.”
He wants to help the team “win the Stanley Cup,” Sturm said. “I’m trying to enjoy this, the next two and a half months, and everything that comes after that comes after that.”