You have to pay the price to win the Stanley Cup. Ask the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the aftermath of the black and gold being crowned champs in back-to-back seasons, we're learning how beat up the squad that dispatched the Nashville Predators in six games truly was.

Defenseman Ian Cole, a key member of the unheralded Pittsburgh defense, played most of the postseason hurt.

Ian Cole played with a broken hand and broken ribs since early in the Washington series. — Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) June 12, 2017

Hockey players, right?

Cole played 17:43 in Sunday's deciding game, including 3:50 shorthanded. Dude's a gamer, clearly. He finished the playoffs with nine assists in 25 games, averaging 18:50 in ice time.

The Penguins played a lot of hockey this spring, needing seven games in rounds two and three to advance to the Cup Final.

That awesome NHL commercial is right, in other words: Every letter is earned on the Stanley Cup. Including "C-o-l-e."