“Kids don’t fight in minor hockey anymore. There’s very few fights in junior and college hockey. So growing up, all these guys are not fighting.”

And people who know me would tell you that away from hockey I’m really not that competitive.

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.

Eight days ago, we were the toast of the town. Eight days later we’re Thanksgiving turkeys.

When you’re playing an exhibition, you’re kind of letting everyone get an opportunity.

No matter who you are, we’re creatures of habit. The better your habits are, the better they will be in pressure situations.

There’s no perfect coach in the world. Coaches are human, too. Mistakes are made. But, fundamentally, if you’re sound, you eliminate as many mistakes as possible.

Hockey is my life. I love every minute of it.

Growing up, I was always the small guy.

Only one thing is ever guaranteed, that is that you will definitely not achieve the goal if you don’t take the shot.

When I was 5 and playing against 11-year-olds, who were bigger, stronger, faster, I just had to figure out a way to play with them.

It really doesn’t matter or concern me what people are saying or who thinks who is the favorite. The bottom line is you have to play.

It’s easier to lose than to win.

I really wanted to write a book [99: Stories of the Game] on the tradition and history of the league, where kids can pick it up and read it and learn things and say, “Geez, I didn’t know that. That’s pretty cool.”

If I had to pick three players to start a franchise, I’d choose Hasek, Peter Forsberg and Eric Lindros.

It’s an honour and a thrill and a privilege just to play in the NHL.

I couldn’t beat people with my strength; I don’t have a hard shot; I’m not the quickest skater in the league. My eyes and my mind have to do most of the work.

I’m gonna make sure you talk about me, and your grandkids and kids after that gonna know about me…your great grandkids will say “wow, wasn’t that a bizarre individual?”

I still feel I am that 14-year-old kid, hungry and trying to find a way through life. That’s what I’m trying to develop, trying to be good at something through boxing. But I feel like that young kid who’s trying and trying.

I look at my children and one thing I’m most proud of, in my heart, are my children.

I ain’t never preyed on the weak. I ain’t never gone and picked on a guy that I knew I could beat up, even as a kid. People wanna make me seem like I’m [that] type of guy.

Forgiveness is that subtle thread that binds both love and friendship. Without forgiveness, you may not even have a child one day.

Ali was a legend of our sport. For me as a kid, he inspired me to represent myself like a champion in and out of the ring.

I really like to please people, and I think it’s a symptom of being an only child.

Hour 36 of labor. I pull at god’s necktie dig a hole at the hospital floor.