JAROME IGINLA

I've always dreamt of being on a Stanley Cup-winning team. That always stayed with me.

Just like Grant Fuhr and Tony McKegney showed me it was possible to do what I'm doing, I want to be someone who shows kids that it's possible to be whatever they want to be.

Any racism towards anybody, it's not acceptable.

Music was a big part of my upbringing. My mum and my grandma are very passionate about music.

We all have different styles, so it's part of the game trying to be competitive and compete and be determined.

I started playing for the Flames at 19 but even in minor hockey I remember traveling to Calgary for tournaments, from St. Albert, and I imagined playing in the Saddledome.

A legacy, or things like that, I've never really been a big thinker in that way. You know, it's kind of just been trying to go each day.

I would like to be in the playoffs. I would hope that there is some opportunity to go and play in the playoffs. Those are the best games, the most fun for sure, and you have a chance to win.

I played on a line with Theo Fleury and German Titov, and I was actually center on their line.

It's an amazing honor to be the fourth Black hockey player to go into the Hall of Fame. It's a huge thrill.

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.

I started in Grade 2. I went with my aunt and her boyfriend to an arena, an outdoor rink which was a block away from my grandparents. My grandpa came from Oregon. He had coached his son, my uncle, in hockey, and he was happy to get me involved in it.

I grew up here in St. Albert, which is a city just north of Edmonton, and I went to Grade 10 here at Paul Kane High School. But then I went to junior in the WHL, Western Hockey League, at age 16. So I left and went to finish school at Norkam High School in Kamloops for grades 11 and 12.

I was a big fan of Grant Fuhr. I was a big Oilers fan growing up. I started out playing goal, but there wasn't enough action. So I decided to play out, and I'm thankful, 'cause goalie is a tough position.

Where I grew up, hockey was the sport that 90 per cent of black kids at school played.

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.

As players you are always trying to do different things in the summer.

For whatever reason I love big-city skylines. I've always been fascinated by them.

I mean, sometimes if you're not always going to win on the scoreboard, you want to make sure that you're there physically.

I believe in God, stay close, and pray daily. I have to pray, believe, and do the work. Once I go on the ice, I do the best I can and I leave it. If the goalie saves my first shot, my next shot's going in.

I was a better hockey player than I was a baseball player.

In hockey, you get to meet a lot of different people and become friends with them. It is definitely a special sport. I love that part of it.

Competing is very, very important me.

Each goal, each win, going to different buildings, the rivalries, the excitement - it is something. I try to catch myself, you know, in the warm-ups, when you're on the line and the anthem and you get to some milestones and stuff. It's such a neat experience.

I want to be shooter, be competitive, go to the net, so it has changed, but it hasn't changed that much. It's more skating than it used to be for sure.