NHL Players Quotes

By no means could I play at the level of these kids who play in the NHL now but as 50-year-olds go, I feel really good and I feel blessed that I'm still healthy.

Just to be in the locker room with the NHL players, go out to dinner with them, hang out with them. I feel like it was an invaluable experience and kind of like going to Harvard law school, I guess, because that's the best education you could get being around guys like that.

I like Joe Sakic. Coming out of Buffalo, I obviously like Alexander Mogliny, Pat LaFontaine. Hasek is up there. Miroslav Satan. Whoever seemed to be a good player at the time I'd watch. Jagr too. I tried to learn a lot from those guys.

Obviously my former place in Washington, you got stars like Alex Ovechkin. Those are great challenges because you're looking at a player who does something very unique and trying to grow him in areas.

A lot of the players are not involved with any NHL team, so to play and travel around with the Oldtimers' it's a kind of gift that the players really appreciate.

At least two or three of the leagues in Europe over the last few months have said to us, 'We hope you go to the Olympics,' and I looked at them, and I said, 'Why?' and they go, 'Because if you don't send NHL players, we have to send our players, and that's way too disruptive to our season.'

I'm looking forward to playing against Sidney Crosby as much as I am looking forward to playing against all of the other players in the NHL. And there is no rivalry.

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.

I'm very proud of our NHL players. I think they all handle themselves extremely well and they all work really hard.

Eliminating fighting would mean eliminating the jobs of the 'fighters,' meaning these guys would not have NHL careers.

As a kid I wore my team's tracksuit all the time. Splash pants or track pants. I wore a hat every day. And then when I got to the NHL, guys would make fun of me that I had the worse style in the league.

I think I must play how I can, that's all. And if I play my best I'll be happy. It doesn't matter because NHL is the best league in the world and we have great players so whoever the coach puts me with is the best. The coach knows best.

I need to see where I am physically and practicing with NHL players is the best way to find that out.

If I had to pick three players to start a franchise, I'd choose Hasek, Peter Forsberg and Eric Lindros.