Probably the biggest thing that surprises people is that I am obsessed with hockey. I grew up in the Boston area so I am obsessed with hockey since I was a little kid.
Relatively, a very small percentage of betting takes place on hockey and even baseball because of the nature of the game and the scoring.
I always played hockey, I was always a hockey fan, but I was never bitten by the hockey bug... I never looked into playing it professionally.
Like I said, a 30-year-old hockey player, even when I came to New York when I was 30, I was on the downside of my career, pretty much the end of my career.
I love both sports, but the deciding factor was, being a left-handed pitcher, I had a huge advantage in baseball because of that, and I didn't have that type of advantage in hockey.
I was in the hockey team in school, played football. One of the challenges for me was to make the team feel better. It helped me evolve, so batting at different positions was never a problem.
I went on and was still able to play some good hockey.
When you think of Canada, you think of hockey and you think of Wayne Gretzky.
Nobody gives a crap about hockey down here - nobody. I coach kids' hockey down here and you can start to see the disinterest in the game here with the kids.
I played pretty darn competitive-level hockey. Then the good old knee injury. Obviously, it's a blessing in disguise, but growing up Canadian, that's our religion, that's our football.
I had more friends on my hockey team than I did on my soccer team. I might have been better at soccer, to be honest. But I think it was more the friendship, and my family was more of a hockey family than a soccer family, so when I had to make a decision, I tried hockey, and it turned out to be a good decision.
Some of us love hockey not just for its ferocity and skill but for its underlying code of civility off the ice.
We encourage the growth of women's hockey.
There were no women's players I knew of. I didn't even know women's hockey existed.
Whether you're trying to learn in hockey or trying to learn in life, I've always tried to be observant and tried to learn more, tried to evolve, whether it's as a hockey player or as a person. With each year, I try to do that.
I've been up in the Arctic Circle where they have hockey rinks that don't have any heating. So it's - 40 C outside, it's - 55 inside. Or there's a social centre but no budget for anybody to run any programs. Stuff we wouldn't accept in Winnipeg, but we let it go on and on and on.
I find that I've tried to become a better hockey player every year and not just hold on. At the same time, I've also made it a point to increase or grow in some other area of my life. If I were just playing hockey, I would probably be done with the sport.
It's only 60,000. It's not a big town. It's a big hockey town. Everybody plays hockey when you grow up.
I always said put me in front of 40 or 50,000 people and play hockey, I'm comfortable there. Put me in front of 50 people to talk or get in front of, and that's where I'm probably the least comfortable.
I think the thing you always got to keep in mind, you know, hockey is a game of one-on-one battles.
My dad had this thing - everyone in Canada wants to play hockey; that's all they want to do. So when I was a kid, whenever we skated my dad would not let us on the ice without hockey sticks, because of this insane fear we would become figure skaters!
I found my prince - he's a hockey player and we met at an NHL event, the last place I'd ever expect to meet someone, but there he was.
I grew up playing field hockey and lacrosse - prep school sport - and I was terrible at them.
I believe that the Greater Phoenix Area is a terrific sports market; it's a terrific hockey market.
It is no fun lining up in your own building - as the hockey players say - and touching the hands of fellow stubbly louts who have just sent you off to the proverbial cabin on the lake.
It's been a good hockey life for me anyway.
Canada is hockey.
But if kids take up things like hockey and football they will go back to it.
I grew up a huge jock, a lot of basketball and football. We had a pond in my back yard growing up, and we played a lot of hockey, too. I loved to score goals.
Playoff hockey is the best way to market your team. It's the best way to grow your fan base and give hope to your players and for them to develop.
My job is to suggest and ratify and use any expertise that I might have gained over the 23 years in professional hockey to make our game a better game.
All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.
I stickhandle a lot at practice. I watch a lot of hockey, so I try to either pick up something from other players or watch some video and see what kind of move would work in the same situation.
Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be.
I really did love hockey. It was one of my favorite things to do.
I've always loved sports and hockey is a sport I play as much as I can. I love it. In a weird way it's like church and therapy and exercise all rolled up into one. I mean when I play hockey I don't think about anything.
