Lesson learned: young Alex Tanguay is leading Colorado's Cup run, but he knows that winning a championship is not easy

FROM THE MOMENT THEY FIRST hit the ice until their last game, NHL players never stop learning about hockey. Take Alex Tauguay, for example. Playing in his fifth season, Colorado's left wing has learned a valuable lesson about his sport, albeit one that maybe should have sunk in a little sooner. Tanguay has learned that it's hard to win the Stanley Cup.

"I was young, I was 21 years old," Tanguay says of the Avalanche's run to the 2001 Cup. "I didn't notice how hard it was to get there and win it. It was only my second year in the league. Now I've been through a couple of more playoff runs and I'm a little bit older and I'm starling to see how difficult it is."

Not that he didn't have anyone around telling him that Cups don't come easy.

"Ray Bourque was telling me every day and I was like, 'nah,' Tanguay says of Bourque, who famously didn't win a Cup until his 23rd season in the league. The image of Bourque skating with that elusive trophy quickly became one of the great memories in sports history.

"My first year, we went to Game 7 of the third round," Tanguay says. "My second year, we're in the Stanley Cup finals and we win, so I was like, 'See, it's not that hard.' Now a couple of years later you find out how hard it is and what makes it so difficult. And that's what makes people want it so hard."

But read between those times you'll see something else, not just a funny story about someone learning the obvious. Tanguay's words speak volumes about the Avalanche and the team's attitude, because for a player on a team as good as Colorado, one Cup isn't enough.

"We've had the team to do it Aver my first four seasons," he says. "We could have wound up with the Cup every year, but we only did it once. I think this year, it's the same thing; we have a team but if we don't win the Stanley Cup it's not going to be a good season."

All you need to do is glance at the Avalanche roster and you can see why the expectations are so high for the team. Right after the All-Star break, three Avs had scored at least 20 goals (Milan Hejduk had 26, Joe Sakic had 22, and Tanguay had 20). Other names that stand out include Peter Forsberg, maybe the greatest player in the game today, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, and defensemen Rob Blake and Adam Foote. Amongst all those names, it was Tanguay who was Colorado's leading scorer with 63 points (Sakic was close behind with 60) in mid-February.

Colorado is so good that when Tanguay played in his first All-Star Game in February, the talent around him wasn't all that better than what he plays alongside day in and day out.

"Playing here through the years, I've had a chance to play with a lot of All-Stars," Tanguay says of his All-Star honors. "It's not something I set my mind on early in the year. Everyone on this team has been so focused on what we have to do at the end of the year, but it's always rewarding, personally, to be part of a game like that."

Playing alongside All-Star-caliber players on a regular basis does have a downside, slight as it might be. On almost any other team, the 24-year-old Tanguay would be a superstar, but on the Avalanche, even someone of his ability can get lost in the crowd.

"I think maybe it's a little bit harder to get noticed, but there's also a little less pressure," he says. "Every game, people are looking at Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Paul Kariya, all those guys to score the big goal or make the big play. So for a younger guy like me, it lets me do my own thing and worry about what I have to do to help the team and not worry about having to answer questions after the game to reporters or having to do that other stuff. I can just focus on my game and it's easier that way. So I guess there's a little bit of a plus and a little bit of a disadvantage playing on a team like this."

No doubt he was noticed when he notched a hat trick in a 6-5 victory against Florida in January. Not only did he score three goals--a rare feat in this era of systems--but they were all important. Colorado battled back from a 3-0 deficit in a win that did not come easy.

"You could see it in the guys' eyes: 'Let's get on the ice and find a way to back in this one and win it,"' Avalanche head coach Tony Granato says. "He was able to score three big goals, including the game-winner after they tied it. We battled so hard to get the lead and they tied it with about 10 minutes to go. He came up with another big play, stood in front of the net and took a beating and tipped it in."

"It was one of those games where every time I went in front of the net, the puck just seemed to hit two or three people and come right back to me," Tanguay says of the game. "It's fun to have those games, they don't happen too often but you definitely take them when they happen."

As his All-Star nod proves, Tanguay is starting to get some props. That might have to do with Forsberg missing 27 games this season due to injury.