Ryan McDonagh shares which player taught him what it took to win a Stanley Cup

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Joshua Deeds
January 12, 2023 (11:22)

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Ryan McDonagh was a mainstay on the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning before being traded to the Nashville Predators. The Lightning didn't want to move McDonagh, but due to the salary cap the Lightning were forced to move him.

McDonagh was on 4 Stanley Cup Finals teams and won 2 after the disappointing Rangers run in 2014, with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

McDonagh interviewed with Elliotte Friedman and explained how Dustin Brown taught him a harsh lesson, despite the fact they were on the same Olympic team, the Rangers and Kings series was a hotly contested Stanley Cup final. Brown went on to win the cup that year.

The second story involved a harsh lesson he learned from the Kings' Dustin Brown during the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. «I thought he was going to be a friendly teammate to me, because we had played together in the Olympics. But my gosh, he was just destroying me, getting under my skin, getting me to take penalties. They had won a Cup before, he knew what he was doing. ... I never forget going through the (handshake) line, him apologizing. Saying, �Sorry, Mac, but it's the Cup.' That was the lesson right there for me. If I ever get back and make another run, that I'm going to make sure that I leave no prisoners out there.»

McDonagh a veteran defenseman now on his third team, I would think during his time with Jon Cooper on a vicious Lightning team would know better after being swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets to leave no prisoners. As someone whose been a victim of the flat cap system in the NHL, I doubt he'll see a Stanley Cup Finals under John Hynes, but the lessons he learned in Tampa Bay no doubt cemented Dustin Brown's comments into his memory. Mac may have seen better days, but here's to more success in the future.

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