Jarome Iginla Quotes

As a kid growing up in the little city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, I dreamed of one day playing in the NHL, but never did I expect it to be as much fun as it turned out to be.

I dreamed of being an NHLer the first day I played. Sometimes the other kids would say there are not many black players in the N.H.L. So I really followed as many black players as I could.

Growing up in Canada, most kids from Canada dream of playing in the NHL, and they also hope one day to be on a Stanley Cup team. That was a big goal.

My goal was to play in the NHL, because that is the best hockey in the world.

I was impressed all my life. Because of the Montreal Canadiens' past, it means a lot because it was a team I cherished as a kid. It was my dream playing for the Montreal Canadiens - it was my dad's team.

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.

Anyone who plays in the NHL dreams to win the Stanley Cup and I dreamed as well to be one of them and raise the cup in Washington and bring it home to Moscow and celebrate with my friends and my parents.

The NHL is the best in the world, it has the best players. I love the NHL.

My dad started taking me to Winnipeg games when I was 3 or 4. As a kid, I loved Wayne Gretzky, and I remember the first game I got to see him play against the Jets. The Kings beat the Jets, and I was happy that they did. Gretzky left the game after the first period, and I was upset about that.

I've been excited since I received a phone call from Paul Holmgren inviting me to represent the Flyers and Flyer fans at the alumni game of the Winter Classic weekend.

I still love playing the game, and it's amazing we can do this as a so-called 'job,' and it's amazing we can come to the rink every day and play the game we love.

None of the boys from my town made it in the N.H.L.

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 think it would be unbelievable to play in the NHL as an 18-year-old.

Coming from Montreal, Patrick Roy was the guy that everybody looked up to. He was consistent and successful early in his career; he won the Stanley Cup when he was really young and he played with a great organization. For me it was also a French thing, like one of us had made it that big in the NHL, and you tried to follow in his footsteps.

When I was young, a little guy, I always played videogames, NHL, and always paid attention to the photo on the box. I always wanted to have my photo there.

That's what they hired me to do in Washington, change a little bit of the culture, try to win a Stanley Cup.

When you're a kid you always played to win a Stanley Cup in the streets or on the outdoor rinks, and when you do it for real, it's a pretty cool moment, it's something that I'm always going to remember.

When I broke into professional hockey at 17 I was told that I was too small and too slow and I wouldn't make the NHL. Now it's kind of flip-flopped and the sense is I can't be a good coach because I was a great athlete.

I look at it as a challenge, ... I'm not going to put too much added pressure on myself. I want to play in the NHL, and after that [happens], I can worry about things beyond that.

I went from junior hockey to the World Junior Championships to the combine and the draft, to the Blackhawks camp, and then a full NHL season and then the World Championships. At nineteen, that's exhausting.

I grew up such a fan. It was my life. Everything I did was hockey related and everything I have is because of hockey and the NHL.

I grew up trying to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, not Team Canada. Didn't even know it existed.

NHL is the best league in the world and I feel that I should play in the best league in the world. Money's not an issue and you cannot buy happiness.

I might have practiced stick-handling with my head up a bit more.