There will be less sleep at home in Neubergheim near Augsburg in the near future.
"They watch all the games," Nico Sturm revealed to the "Eishockey News".
His brothers even fly in, parents and grandparents sit at home in front of the television.
It's not every day that one of the family is in the final of the Stanley Cup in the North American elite league NHL.
As only the eighth German, Nico Sturm reaches for the most famous trophy that ice hockey has to offer.
The only problem is that the game is played at two o'clock German time, up to seven times in the next 14 days.
"It's going to be long ice hockey nights," says the 27-year-old.
Annoy your opponents with body and speed
The first is Wednesday, when Sturm's Colorado Avalanche and defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning meet for game one of this year's finals.
And nobody knows yet whether Sturm will even stand on the ice.
In the current playoffs, he has made seven of the 14 Avalanche games.
Because the center forward is a classic "bottom six" player - one who plays in the third or fourth row, if at all.
It's not about scenes for the highlight video, but about winning face-offs and duels, closing passes and gaps, annoying the opponents with body and speed.
Sturm is particularly good at this, having already been named “Defensive Striker of the Year” twice in the ECAC college league.
He was once in the top ten at the Hobey Baker Memorial Awards for the best player in any college league.
It didn't attract much attention at home.
When it came to German ice hockey exports, other names were usually mentioned: Draisaitl, Grubauer, Seider, Stützle.
Storm, on the other hand, is not a constant topic of conversation, even among local fans.
This is not only due to his role on the ice, but also because, despite his qualities, he never played for the national team - he has not even played in the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) because he was a teenager from Augsburg Kaufbeuren went to North America.
Waiting for the breakthrough
A few German talents do that every year, but Sturm didn't choose the usual route to one of the famous junior leagues in Canada.
He went to the United States and later went to college there.
The performance density is not that high there, but the game is more mature, the players are a few years older than north of the border.
You also take a degree with you, only those who have the appropriate grades are allowed to continue doing sports.
For three years, Sturm at Clarkson University in New York State had to study “Financial Information and Analysis” from morning to afternoon, then to sports until late in the evening: ice and dry training, tactical and video analysis.
As with the professionals, he lived there.
But although he did collect scorer points, nobody was interested in the Augsburger at the draft, the annual NHL talent selection.
In 2019, however, the leap still succeeded.
Sturm was 24 when the Minnesota Wild signed him just before the end of the season.
But the breakthrough was still a long way off, even in the second year he only played six games.
Only in the third he got 57 missions, scored almost 20 points and convinced as a hard worker.
It's continued this season, so about three months ago Denver's Avalanche grabbed it because they needed someone just like him.
Extra praise from coach Bednar
That was "of course my luck," Sturm told SID these days, "it could have gone to 30 other teams."
Because players like Sturm have no say in the NHL where they play.
Not everyone hits the jackpot that a title contender with world-class players like forward Nathan MacKinnon or defender Cale Makar gets.
Sturm experienced that and repays the trust, recently received extra praise from coach Jared Bednar for his defensive work.
Now in the final it should continue like this.
Which would also make her happy in Augsburg.
Sturm wears the 78 in honor of his youth club, the AEV was founded in 1878.
And should he really win the Stanley Cup, like any player, he can take it home for a day.
This should be a big party.
And certainly at a more humane time than 2 a.m.