“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.”

I love everything about hockey.

The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.

I can remember hockey. It was my life, my passion. It’s what I love the most.

My kids are no different than anyone else’s – they tend to disagree with everything I say!

I played everything. I played lacrosse, baseball, hockey, soccer, track and field. I was a big believer that you played hockey in the winter and when the season was over you hung up your skates and you played something else.

A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.

One of the key qualities that you need to be a great hockey player is fantastic anticipation and feel for the game – if you know where the puck is going before it is hit, that is half the battle.

Most people marry their mother. I married my father.

A lot of times, I can turn and pass without even looking.

When I played in a 21-team league, there were six or seven goalies who were just average, and the equipment and pads were smaller. I came in the right era. I played for the right team. It was all speed, and creativity and imagination.

It doesn’t matter what I think. It doesn’t matter what other people think. You have to get on the ice and participate and play and the best team wins.

Lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time. There’s nothing like it. It’s the greatest story. In my era, they used to say you couldn’t be a superstar without winning one. I remember thinking when I lifted it: “Now they can’t say that about me.”

I can’t remember the last time I went to a game and there was a fight. I think they fight more in baseball now than they do in hockey.

You’ll never catch me bragging about goals, but I’ll talk all you want about my assists.

My best friend had a hockey scholarship at Ohio State, so I would get a couple of pairs at the beginning of the season and send them down to him. They practised two hours a day. He’d skate in them for three weeks then ship them back.

I miss all the shots I don’t take.