While Tyler Seguin plays for Canada at the World Cup and Jamie Benn recovers from a core muscle injury that caused him to miss the tournament, veteran center Jason Spezza is skating with the rest of the Dallas Stars who are trickling into the rink in advance of training camp.
Based on past experience and in light of heightened expectations surrounding the team, Spezza knows the importance of making the most of opportunities to win.
"We feel like we're in a bit of a window here, we have to try to win," Spezza acknowledged, per Mike Heika of The Dallas News. "You can sense the urgency around the rink, you can sense through Jim (Nill) and Lindy (Ruff), just the push to try to make us better. And as players, we have to recognize that we have a good team and you can't take anything for granted.
"It's hard to keep good teams together."
Spezza knows this all too well after being part of an Ottawa Senators team that regularly excelled in the regular season but advanced to the Stanley Cup Final only once, losing to Anaheim in five games back in 2007.
The 33-year-old remains under contract with the Stars for three more seasons, while Seguin, Benn, and John Klingberg are all locked up long term. Questions remain in net, however, and that may have to be addressed via trade sooner than later.
The window is indeed open for Dallas, and Spezza isn't likely to let what could be his last best chance of winning a Cup just pass him by.
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