Hockey Talent Quotes

I've said for years I could never figure out why Calgary ever drafted me. When I got there, I think they had eight or nine right wingers already. These guys were premiere players. It's not like they were extremely late in their careers, either.

If you're going to play hockey now, you have to be able to play. If you have the ability to fight and play, you're an unbelievable commodity. But if you can only fight, there might be six of those guys left in the league, and I can guarantee they're going fast.

Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all-time, I don't think there is any debate about that. If you look at the records he holds, they'll never be broken or touched. He wasn't the biggest, wasn't the fastest, and didn't have the hardest shot, but no one saw the game developing the way he saw the game develop.

I've been watching the growth of Auston Matthews, for instance. If he were playing 20 years ago, we'd be saying he's Mario Lemieux-like. He's 6-foot-5. He skates great. He's got unbelievable hands and a hockey IQ.

I played hockey my whole life until my ambition outstripped my ability, which happens to most Canadians around 15 or 16 years old.

I was always a decent hockey player, but I'd have never made the NHL.

I was not the best student. Thank God I had a lot of hockey talent.

On sheer ability, Mario is good enough to win scoring titles with a broken stick. On pure talent, he's the best there is. But Wayne almost never disappoints you. He comes to work every night.

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