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.
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.
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.
The NHL is the best league in the world, but it's a grind. You sometimes forget, especially if you are losing, or missing the playoffs ... how fun this game can be.
It's a dream come true to be part of an NHL team, to be a regular in the NHL, to live the life, to make the money and do all that stuff.
I think any time you play your first NHL game, you remember that.
I hope one day I will be able to play in a game in the NHL, not just practice.
There's going to be a point in time when I can go to a NHL game in Nashville with my grandkids. That's really special.
Ever since I was a kid and all the time I have played in the NHL, NHL players have played in the Olympic Games.
Writers and books are cheap dates, especially when you compare the cost of a book with a ticket to the opera - or an NHL game.
Whenever we got the chance to watch a game with my dad, it was like watching video with an NHL coach.
When I got drafted I just wanted to play one game in the NHL. I didn't really care anything about winning.
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.
If I played the game any other way, you wouldn't know my name. You wouldn't care enough to hate me because I wouldn't be in the NHL.
The fighting in the NHL, especially, and, I think, in some of the minor leagues, it's usually the loudest and the most excited the crowd gets during the entire the game.
It doesn't matter whether I'm in an NHL arena, at a local rink, or on a sheet of ice in the middle of a baseball stadium: when I'm around the game, I feel at home.