Monday night was one of mixed emotions for Daniel Carcillo.
Though able to celebrate a Stanley Cup victory with his Blackhawks teammates, as well as a newborn son and his fiancee, the memory of close friend Steve Montador still touched him.
He spoke with our David Kaplan shortly after his Blackhawks knocked off the Lightning, 2-0, in Game 6, and mentioned how Montador, the former Blackhawk who passed away earlier this year and was suffering from depression and other concussion-related injuries, was still with him.
"Obviously the memory of Steve, and his spirit is still with me," an emotional Carcillo said. "I still feel him a lot, and it's been tough and I'm a big believer in signs and everything happens for a reason, and whatever reason he passed hopefully it's because of the foundation and because of how we're going to help a lot of guys and a lot of people in the future. And that's the goal, and his death won't be for naught and hopefully make a lot of other guys' lives a little easier and less stressful and they won't have to worry about the same things that guys moving on have to worry about today. And from that standpoint I'm just really happy to have this platform and have an organization that stands behind you with everything that you do as their player. Not a lot of organizations do that so very grateful to be a Blackhawk for life now and it's a lot of mixed feelings, but definitely happy right now."
See what else Carcillo had to say in the video above.