Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
My first season Butch Bouchard accidentally sent me to the hospital for three days with a concussion, but I never backed away from Butch or anyone else after I came back.
A lot of people don't realize that I started my career in sports and was a sports reporter long before I was on television. I used to be an NBA reporter and an NHL reporter.
I always wanted to be like Mark Messier and I loved Wayne Gretzky, the same as other kids. But it was also really special for me to see the Black players that were in the NHL.
Every time you sustain a head injury, the risk gets higher and higher. I always said that if there ever was a point where the risk was more than minimal, I would stop playing.
Hockey belongs to the Cartoon Network, where a person can be pancaked by an ACME anvil, then expanded - accordion-style - back to full stature, without any lasting side effect.
I refuse to confirm or deny anything about any deal to purchase an American NHL franchise and move it to Canada until I've completed all of the paperwork and the deal is closed.
As a kid growing up in the little city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, I dreamed of one day playing in the NHL, but never did I expect it to be as much fun as it turned out to be.
I went to a couple of Rangers games at the Garden, and someone at the NHL had seen me and figured I was a fan and decided to approach me about having a blog during the playoffs.
I remember starting hockey at age 7 and going to my first tryout and dreaming about how great it would be, and it's been even better. These 20 years in the NHL, it's been better.
I look at it as a challenge, ... I'm not going to put too much added pressure on myself. I want to play in the NHL, and after that [happens], I can worry about things beyond that.
It's tough in the NHL; you have to produce on a high level. And everybody expects you to do it because you make a lot of money. And I never minded it. I always want to be that guy.
I'm a firm believer that everything in life works out the way it's supposed to. And who knows? I figure I've got a few years left (in the NHL) and maybe I can come back in the end.
Call them pros, call them mercenaries - but in fact they are just grown - up kids who have learned on the frozen creek or flooded corner lot that hockey is the greatest thrill of all.
I used the N-word instead of calling him Trevor. I used it just not thinking... I told Trev this is an old wound with me. I grew up with it. I am sorry as anybody that it stuck with me.
My dad would talk to players like Claude Lemieux and Stephane Richer and tell them one day his son was going to play in the NHL. How many dads say the same thing? But, gee, he was right.
We're trying to work on Sami to get through that and shoot the puck. MacInnis shot the puck all the time. If there was a fool who wanted to stand in front and break an ankle, tough luck.
There's always pressure playing in the NHL. You want to play your best game every game. Expectations are always gonna be there; it's just important that you know how to handle expectations.
I didn't know that I'd like it this much, coaching both boys and... seeing how excited they are to play hockey. It reminds you of when you were that age and you wanted to be out on the ice.
It seems like yesterday I was up there watching my first NHL game, and I was skating on the ice this time. It brings back memories, but at the same time it's something I'll remember forever.
On sheer ability, Mario is good enough to win scoring titles with a broken stick. On pure talent, he's the best there is. But Wayne almost never disappoints you. He comes to work every night.
I think the NHL has done a great job of building the sport as far as getting the people's attention and letting them know what's going on in hockey - especially when the powers meet each other.
The NBA and NHL have different agendas: The NBA is much more protective of its players and its brand; the NHL has less to lose, and it's in their best interest to generate buzz any way they can.
NHL clubs don't like having to shut down at a critical part of the season and disrupt our season for anything, let alone a situation where we're not given an opportunity to promote our presence.
We can no longer ignore the stupidity of the hits that are still happening today despite the fact that the players know the concussion aspect is such a big part of the game and sports in general.
Listen, everything I have in my life is because of the NHL and because of hockey, and I love the game and I loved every minute of being a player, I loved coaching, I loved being involved in the NHL.
As a kid I wore my team's tracksuit all the time. Splash pants or track pants. I wore a hat every day. And then when I got to the NHL, guys would make fun of me that I had the worse style in the league.
Anyone who plays in the NHL dreams to win the Stanley Cup and I dreamed as well to be one of them and raise the cup in Washington and bring it home to Moscow and celebrate with my friends and my parents.
Before I played in the NHL I had two surgeries. Definitely I was like, 'Wow, this is not good. I haven't played a game yet and I have two surgeries.' I didn't get another one ever again. I was fortunate.
I applied a lot of the same principles I used in hockey into my acting. I might have had some naive ambitions of making the NHL, but thank God, playing hockey gave me a good foundation for everything else.
I went from junior hockey to the World Junior Championships to the combine and the draft, to the Blackhawks camp, and then a full NHL season and then the World Championships. At nineteen, that's exhausting.
If I play badly I'll pick a fight in the third, just to get into a fight. I'll break a guy's leg to win, I don't care. Afterward I say, 'Yeah all right I played badly, but I won the fight so who gives a damn.
The NHL's got tons of players from different backgrounds from different places around the world. That's what makes this league so special and that's what makes sports so special; it brings everybody together.
Sometimes when I make a good save, I yell out, 'Woo-Hooo!' I'm not sure why, but it just feels good. I don't think I scare anyone or freak anyone out when I do it. I just like to holler when I make a tough stop.
I've decided to retire from the NHL. I kept praying for peace about the next step in my life. A peace that said this is God's will for your future. A peace that said whether or not this was the right time to walk away.
When I broke into professional hockey at 17 I was told that I was too small and too slow and I wouldn't make the NHL. Now it's kind of flip-flopped and the sense is I can't be a good coach because I was a great athlete.
Hockey captures the essence of Canadian experience in the New World. In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive.
I think he knows all my tricks. Or the fact I don't have any tricks - Brendan Shanahan on trying to score against Curtis Joseph. I'm hoping for a bench clearing brawl during the warm up so I can go out and grab his stick.
I played with Joey Mullen back in Salt Lake City before he got called up to St. Louis. He was the first player ever to score 20 goals in the American League and 20 in the NHL. I've kept in contact with him and he's a great guy.
I grew up in a city just outside of Edmonton, St. Albert. So I watched NHL games with my grandpa. I watched a lot of games, back then it was called the Smythe Division, and it was just Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
I've been fortunate enough to have a lot of neat experiences, Olympics and everything, getting to the Stanley Cup Finals was really cool, but to actually make the NHL was just something I don't think I or my family will ever forget.
Despite the fact that every sport this side of badminton worries about concussions that result in brain damage, CTE, the National Hockey League refuses to accept the overwhelming medical science. Good grief - the NHL still permits fights.
I believe, certainly in the NHL, a player who can help a team win because he can contribute on the ice is going to be coveted whatever his beliefs may be or whoever he may be. That goes to national origin, religious beliefs, or sexuality.
As opposed to living the rich life and consuming as much as possible, people have to take a step back. Instead of buying the biggest diamond or having 18 cars, do other things. Buying the biggest thing is outdated and there is no excuse for it.
It's not good enough just to hold your head high because you're one of the highest-paid players in the NHL. It's not good enough to be one of the most popular guys in the NHL or to have a social media following. What are you trying to accomplish?
It had been a great career. I mean, how many guys can say they averaged two points a game in their careers? It's too bad he's retiring too soon. The league is going to miss him. The fans are going to miss him. A real classy person and a great guy.
A big part of my decision is not made about whether I'm able to coach in the NHL or if I'm ready to step up and take that challenge. Basically, it's about my family, it's about my children, and this is where my decision is going to have to be made.
You look at the best players in the game - Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr - they didn't sit on the couch and then one day join the NHL. They worked on their game. Their talent was perseverance, dedication. Those are talents to me; that's what gets you to the NHL.
The good news for us is the NHL has never been stronger, never been more popular, and that, I guess, has led to a lot of interest being expressed from a number of places, an interest in getting an expansion team, and Las Vegas happens to be one of those places.
I have absolutely no complaints about my life. But people think I got handed everything, all this kind of fell in my lap, that I was just God-gifted with all this talent. I wanted people to realize it's a lot tougher than just waking up one day and you're in the NHL.
Just to be in the locker room with the NHL players, go out to dinner with them, hang out with them. I feel like it was an invaluable experience and kind of like going to Harvard law school, I guess, because that's the best education you could get being around guys like that.