A Day With The Cup: Travis Morin

Sep 12, 2014

On Saturday, July 26th, American Hockey League MVP Travis Morin enjoyed his day with the Calder Cup in Maple Grove, Minnesota. We spoke with “Mo” to hear how his special day went:

When did you get the Calder Cup?

I met Toby Petersen just off 394 in Hopkins. We stopped off at a little coffee shop because I knew he’d want some coffee. It was already in the case. Didn’t take a peek at it, just threw it in the back of the truck and headed home to see some family.

What was the first thing you did with the Cup after receiving it?

We took it back to my in-laws place where we were staying. We had a little party later in the afternoon with a joint fifth birthday party for my son and a Calder Cup party where all my extended family came too and a few friends came to hang out.

Was your son more excited for the Calder Cup or the birthday presents?

Probably the presents. He loves his Legos. I ended up spending a lot of the night after that building Legos while the Calder Cup was just hanging out back there. He had already seen the MVP trophy and that was more his size that he could hold up so he liked that one better I think.

Did you take the Calder Cup anywhere else?

We got the idea to go up to Culvers and see if they would fill it up with custard. So we brought it there and they filled it up and we had a giant sundae that we all ate out of. I had it the next day too and ended up going golfing with my brothers and my dad. So I brought it to the course and sat it in the cart next to me. We rode around with it all day, took some nice pictures on the golf course, but other than that me and my oldest boy ate some cereal out of it one morning.

What kind of cereal?

We finished off about a half a box of Cinnamon Chex together.

Out of your family members, who was most excited to get to spend sometime with the Calder Cup? …Or was it you?

It was nice for me to have it. I think my wife liked it for the pictures and the memories we could make. But I think my brothers and my dad probably appreciated it the most because they’re big hockey guys and it was nice for them to get to see it.

With the shortened off-season did anything change in conditioning for you?

Well it’s just a shorter off-season really. I made it through the season pretty healthy. So, I still took a couple weeks off just to rest and recuperate the mind mostly and the body. I’ve started working out, but haven’t gotten on the ice yet. I’ve got a month here now to get ready for training camp and get on the ice, get skating and get my legs back. Hopefully I haven’t lost as much because of how long we were playing.

As one of the veteran guys on this team, how do you approach this upcoming season in an effort to repeat as Calder Cup champions?

You have to be ready from the get-go, and it’s going to be different with new coaches and obviously new players coming in too. But as leaders, us older guys need to be ready to buy into the system, help the younger guys find out how we have to go out there and play, what’s expected of us, and then go and show them how to do it.