Bavarian Stanley Cup winner Sturm: His girlfriend won titles before him

Created: 06/29/2022, 08:36

By: Andreas Knobloch

Nico Sturm holds the Stanley Cup aloft, with Taylor Turnquist at his side, who won the title with Boston Pride a year earlier.

© Instagram Turnquist

It's done: Nico Sturm has won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.

He was supported by his Taylor Turnquist.

Augsburg – Nico Sturm is the Stanley Cup winner.

At the age of 27, the ice hockey pro from the Colorado Avalanche has reached the goal of his dreams.

Sturm was the fifth German to lift the infamous trophy.

Before him it was Uwe Krupp, Dennis Seidenberg, Tom Kühnhackl and Philipp Grubauer.

For him it was a rollercoaster season, which could also

explain his tears on the

"Mom and Dad at home," he said emotionally after the decisive 2-1 win in the sixth final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, "I just want to say thank you." Then tears welled up in his eyes.

NHL: Stanley Cup victory in March not yet an issue for Nico Sturm

The 27-year-old was only transferred to Denver in March, followed by a memorable storm through the NHL playoffs and in the end "an explosion of emotions" that left Sturm quite speechless: "It feels so unrealistic.

I do not know what to say."

Always by his side in the emotional triumph: his girlfriend Taylor Turnquist.

And she even won a title before Sturm.

Turnquist plays in the NHWL with the Boston Pride.

In 2021, Sturm told

that Taylor was ahead of him.

"She's a great hockey player and one of the best on the skates, not just when you look at the women."

NHL: Taylor Turnquist always at Nico Sturm's side

Taylor was at his side in the finals series and also in the stadium for the decisive game in Tampa Bay.

Center forward Sturm, who is not related to Marco Sturm, only came onto the ice sporadically in the last match of the season, for 5:43 minutes he was mainly entrusted with defensive tasks - the spectacle was staged by others such as Canadian Nathan MacKinnon, who scored the 1-1 -Scored the equalizer himself and set up the winning goal by Finland's Artturi Lehkonen.

Sturm is nevertheless grateful for his (supporting) role in the Avalanche's third title win.

That's why his first step after the final siren in the hustle and bustle on the ice led to General Manager Joe Sakic.

He thanked him "for taking me into the team because they thought I could help the team," he told

.

He was "a deep player," he explained, "of course it's all about closing the back, winning my face-offs, being good when outnumbered." Until recently, his career had been as unspectacular as his game: Trained in his hometown of Augsburg, he switched to the juniors of the second division club ESV Kaufbeuren, and went to America at the age of 19 - to a second-rate junior team.

After Stanley Cup victory: soon in the national team?

No NHL club was interested in him.

Sturm, who has never played for the national team, studied economics at Clarkson University in Potsdam/New York and only caught the eye of the best ice hockey league in the world as a college player.

It was at Clarkson University that he met Taylor, who has been by his side ever since.

In April 2019 he signed with Minnesota Wild, three years later Sakic brought him to Denver: "Of course that was my luck."

As a child, he dreamed of "scoring the winning goal in a Stanley Cup final and then lifting the cup."

The second became a reality Sunday night in Florida, "it was pretty heavy and you don't want to be the one to drop it."

Now he can surely enjoy the summer - with Taylor.