BOSTON -- Brian Boyle's body is still sore.

Back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup finals will do that to any hockey player.

Winning eases those aches and pains, but both of those trips ended in disappointment. The 30-year-old veteran forward helped the New York Rangers reach the finals before losing to the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, and his most recent trip ended with his current team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in June.

Like most players who compete deep into the spring, Boyle played hurt during the postseason. He was invited recently to play in a charity hockey game to benefit the battle against ALS in support of his good friend Pete Frates, the creator of the Ice Bucket Challenge, but Boyle wasn’t able to lace up his skates. Instead, he sat in the stands and signed autographs.

His offseason normally consists of watching game footage from the season, but this summer is different.

"It’s tough. It really is. I haven’t watched anything," Boyle said. "I usually watch games even in the summer, but it’s tough to bring myself to do it now. You put everything you have into your run and only one team can win it, but when you reflect on it, though, it was a really fortunate place for us to be, to be able to experience that and to play on that stage. You’re not guaranteed anything in the league, and in life you’re not, so to be able to enjoy that moment -- it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but the fire’s still there to get it done."

The Lightning have a talented young core -- including Steven Stamkos and the Triplets line of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov -- and a good mix of veterans along with solid goaltending, so many believe Tampa Bay could be a perennial Stanley Cup contender.

Boyle believes everything the Lightning experienced during the 2014-15 season will only help moving forward.

"It will help a lot," Boyle said. "Every challenge the team’s had, we’ve met. We understand we’ve got to start from scratch again next year. We’ve got to make the playoffs. Steve said at the end of the year, our goal is to make the playoffs again and give ourselves a chance. It was a good experience to go through as a team and hopefully we can build on it, but we understand how hard it is to win that thing."

During the Eastern Conference finals against the Rangers, his former team, Boyle and his wife welcomed their first child, son Declan. Boyle and his family were back home in Massachusetts last weekend for their son’s christening.

Having consecutive short summers, Boyle knows what to expect this time around. He’s planning plenty of family time and a little golf before he begins to focus on the 2015-16 season.

"Last summer was short, so I’m a little better prepared for it this summer, trying to get done what we need to get done," Boyle said. "I’ll enjoy some time with my family, which is great because there’s a lot of people to see."

His body and mind may still be recuperating from another grueling season, but it was all worth it to Boyle.

"You appreciate the memories that you made," he said.