Why so many are rooting for Brent Burns to win the Stanley Cup - ESPN

DENVER — Brent Burns has someplace to be. That place is his bed.

A large portion of Burns' life has been about games, but he doesn't play any games when it comes to his routine. The second that the morning skate is over, he's heading for the nearest exit. His intention is that he'll eat first, before getting the maximum amount of rest before playing the next game of a career that has spanned 1,724 of them between the regular season and the playoffs.

«I think with Burnsy, he just sleeps a lot — more than anybody,» Colorado Avalanche alternate captain Nathan MacKinnon said with a smile. «He's like a big bear. He'll nap between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and then go to sleep for another 10 hours. It's crazy. I think that's a big reason why he's played so long.»

The relentless training. The fact that he eats the meat from the game that he hunts on his ranch. The backpack that goes everywhere with him except when he's on the ice. These are all the items that have made the Avalanche defenseman one of the NHL's most distinguished personalities over a 22-year career that is expected to land him in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Those are also the details that have allowed him to keep going at 41 years old in the pursuit of winning his first Stanley Cup — because the chances at this stage of his career are growing more finite by the year.

Does Burns want to win a Cup for himself? Yes. Does he want to win it for the Avs? Of course he does. But he's also trying to win a championship for his former San Jose Sharks teammates who never did it before they eventually retired.

«I think it's no secret how close we were and how great that group was,» the backpack-carrying Burns said while walking to meet his Uber driver to get back to the hotel. «We still