FOURTEEN HOURS later they laced on their skates and returned to Delta Center ice. They seemed to move a lot slower.
And why not?This time they were merely skating for photographers and not for 17,000-plus rabid fans with a championship on the line.
Sunday was picture day for the newly crowned IHL champion Utah Grizzlies. With so much turnover during the season it made sense to have picture day after the season instead of before it.
The players ambled from the dressing room to the rink, displaying the kind of quiet confidence you'd expect from champions.
As Marc Rodgers headed toward the rink a well-wisher said, "You're the man in today's paper. They got your goal - you can even see the puck in the net."
A chagrined Rodgers thanked him for the comment and headed near the spot where the night before his goal in sudden-death overtime had given the Grizzlies their second straight Turner Cup.
Coach/general manager Butch Goring said he was not surprised the players had come through to win their second straight title.
What was a surprise, though, was the attendance.
And that may have been more important in the long run than the victory.
What a game to see for those being introduced to hockey. Many were probably as confused as one young lady who didn't understand why people were throwing brooms onto the ice after Rodgers' goal. "There were still 11 minutes left in overtime," she said.
But through the confusion there was excitement, and that's what's likely to carry over.
"I was shocked. I was absolutely blown away" by the attendance, owner Dave Elmore said Sunday.
Elmore expected around 13,000. What he and the Grizzlies got was 17,381 - an all-time IHL attendance record.
Executive Vice President Tim Mouser knew it was going to be a special night early in the day. "We had 12,000 tickets already sold by noon."
Fans obviously kept buying them throughout the afternoon and early evening. There were long lines of fans in Grizzly garb waiting to get inside the Delta Center just minutes before faceoff.
Elmore was convinced that the Rocky Mountains were ready for hockey when he moved a team to Denver and is just as convinced now that Utah will support hockey.
"This (the record attendance night) was a validation of the team," Elmore stated.
He's looking forward to 1997 when the Grizzlies will have their own facility, one being built specifically for hockey in West Valley City.
"They'll all have good seats (in the new arena)," he said.
Mouser says there will be more a sense of community next season. Yes, the Grizzlies came in as defending Turner Cup champions, but it was a championship won in Denver. There is somewhat of a winter rivalry between Denver and Salt Lake.
"Now it (Turner Cup) is ours. It's our cup. It's Utah's Cup," Mouser proudly remarked.
The West Valley City arena will seat around 10,500 - 11,000 if you count seats in the suites. Which means a substantial part of Saturday night's crowd would have been home watching on television instead of in an arena seat had the building already been in place.
Elmore has no problem dealing with that. "You want people to feel it (a ticket) is important." He'd rather have a steady base of fans than have 5,000 for one game and 15,000 for another.
And what about those who get hockey fever when the playoffs arrive?
"Season ticket holders will have first priority" for playoff tickets, he states.
A message delivered as deftly as the team's second straight championship.