The former Hershey Bears left wing said he won't soon forget his first National Hockey League championship.

By DAVE SOTTILE
York Daily Record staff
dave@ydr.com

HERSHEY - His flight from Denver to Harrisburg was five hours late, but Ville Nieminen didn't seem to mind, and why should
he?

The 24-year-old is still basking in the glow of a Stanley Cup championship.

"Every player gets to spend a day with it and I'm going to get it Sept. 6, 7 or 8, just before training camp starts," Nieminen said
Thursday afternoon during a visit to his former home. "I'll spend time with my closest family and have some buddies over. I'll give
them a chance to see it, to touch it."

"Everyone in my home town (Tampere, Finland), will get a chance to enjoy it. I'll show it off in public in the center of town and
let everyone take pictures of it."

Nieminen's life is certainly different today than it was in September.

In a nine-month span, the left wing went from being a disappointed member of the Hershey Bears to a vital cog in the Colorado
Avalanche's National Hockey League title.

When the final buzzer sounded last Saturday night and the Avs had beaten the New Jersey Devils 3-1 in Game 7, white
glove-clad NHL officials carried the Cup to center ice at the Pepsi Center.

"When they brought it out and I saw it, I knew it was ours. It was amazing," Nieminen said. "It was the first time I had a chance
to touch it, and to know you're going to hoist it in front of the whole world, it was unbelievable."

Nieminen was playing his fourth season for the American Hockey League's Bears when the Avs recalled him on Jan. 25. It was
his third recall of the season and this time, he stuck.
 

Good thing, too, because Colorado needed the spark of Nieminen and his former Hershey teammate, Dan Hinote, after center  Peter Forsberg was sidelined following emergency spleen surgery on May 10.  "When we lost Peter, I didn't know if we would win the Cup," Nieminen said. "But we were strong enough without him and  wanted to win more than the other teams did."  "I think we showed that in the playoffs, no matter how much skill or talent you have, it comes down to how much you want it.  I'm so proud to have been a part of this. Danny Hinote came up to me after Game 7. He said, 'This is our Cup. Ours. We did it!' And I said, 'Yeah, it is.'"  After Saturday's victory, much of the media spotlight focused on Raymond Bourque finally winning the Stanley Cup in his 22nd  season.  Nieminen said he was thrilled to be part of Bourque's hockey history.  "I was glad to be a small but important part of it," Nieminen said. "When I look back at the whole thing, I know he's going to  remember me forever. He thanked me and said he loves me. I can always go back and think of that. It was pretty amazing."

Back in Hershey for the first time since January, Nieminen said he wasn't recognized very much on Thursday. That certainly
isn't the case in Colorado these days.

"In Denver, it's pretty crazy," he said. "The parade on Monday, that's when I realized how big it was."

Nieminen registered 22 points (14 goals, 8 sassists) during the regular season for Colorado in 50 games. In the postseason, he
added 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 23 games. His contract with the Avs expires on June 30.

"This is an important summer for me," Nieminen said of his upcoming negotiations. "I can't get too excited because I only
played 50 NHL games and want to be a player and do better for many years in the future."

In addition to a new contract, Nieminen has something else to look forward to these days: His girlfriend, Kaisa Nurmi, is
expecting the couple's first child on Dec. 17.

Yes, there is a lot going on these days for Nieminen, who began his North American career in Hershey during the 1997-98
season. His coach that year was Bob Hartley, who led the Avs to the title this year.

So what did Hartley have to say to Nieminen when the Cup was finally won?

"He just told me that we did it and all the time we spent in the minors paid off," Nieminen said. "He told me, 'There is no
greater feeling than being on top of the world' and he was right."