Stars RW Burish spending day with the Stanley Cup back in hometown of Madison

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010, Dallas Stars hockey player Adam Burish leans on the Stanley Cup at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., as Ryan Wickesburg (90) looks on. Burish, who played with the Chicago Blackhawks last season, brought the Stanley Cup to Wisconsin after football practice. Burish played college hockey at Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Colin Fly)

MADISON, Wis. - Right-winger Adam Burish says he's had such a short off-season he's hardly had time to enjoy the summer.

He thinks he'll have time for warm weather this winter after signing with the Dallas Stars following his successful stint in Chicago that ended in a championship.

"I've been making fun of my parents, saying, 'Hey, when you guys in January are shovelling snow, I'm going to get done with practice and I'm going to be golfing.' It's all good in Dallas," Burish said.

His time with the Stanley Cup began Tuesday night and Wednesday included appearances around the University of Wisconsin, where he led the Badgers to an NCAA title in 2006.

Burish signed a US$2.3-million, two-year contract with the Stars in the off-season as an unrestricted free agent.

"From the time we beat Philly in Game 6 until now seems like just a couple of days," Burish said. "We've partied in Chicago, had a good time with the people in Chicago after we won for about two weeks and I came back to Madison and I've been here since the end of June. I started working out again."

He said it's bittersweet to be leaving the Blackhawks, but that he's ready to help the Stars rebuild into Western Conference contenders.

"Any time you win a championship, you have a close bond with all those guys," Burish said. "Then, they break it up and it's hard. I've played four years in Chicago and I loved it there, it's close to home, my family could come a lot. It's hard to leave."

It also became hard to sleep for the 27-year-old Burish leading up to the days before he had his chance to take his turn showing off the Cup.

"The last three weeks I've just been gearing up for this day," he said. "Leading to today and coming up to today, this has been about my friends, my family, my university and doing things for those people. Letting them have some fun and experience what this means because wherever this Cup goes, it attracts a crowd, it attracts a party."

A party Burish hopes to move to Dallas.

"It's a team that's been good for a long time, and has just struggled for the last two years, but is on the verge of being great again," he said. "I'm excited about seeing what we can do."