(Equipment manager) Peter Millar and I decided to do that so I could make sure all the people who have been involved and all my friends and family can get a little piece of this. I brought about 30 sticks. I told Torch he's going to have to play me a lot so I don't have to change sticks on the fly. |
As a hockey player, you play for the team and for your teammates. You never play for yourself or think about yourself. This is not tennis, where you're alone on the court. Hockey is a team game, so this is very hard for me to handle. It certainly is overwhelming. |
Definitely you could tell tonight the guys wanted to win. That's probably the best game we've played in the last three weeks. We all gave it a little extra, and I'm thankful for that. |
Good tip, wrong end, wrong time. As soon as it hit my stick, you just get that feeling where it's not good. Just more frustration. You battle hard to tie it up. Obviously a big game for us. To lose it that way, that's the game, I guess. |
He took his stick and drew a circle with about a 6-foot radius and said, 'Put it anywhere in there.' |
He took me under his wing. I came here and I barely spoke English. He asked me what I wanted to do. I said, 'I just want to play hockey.' He said, 'Why don't you move into my house?' That was great. I didn't have to worry about anything but hockey. |
He's been amazing. Everyone knows what he can do defensively, but he's really been helping us on the power play. He makes it real easy for us. |
I call it a celebration. I mean, that's how I feel. It's been the greatest time in my life. I've been living my dream. |
I expect us to come out and play hard and play with a lot of emotion. You can tell that guys are hungry. At this point, it's not about systems or anything else. It's just about coming out and wanting to beat the opponent, and I expect us to come out that way. |
I guess he was tired of the day-in, day-out grind, |
I guess he was tired of the day-in, day-out grind. It gets to the point where you have to decide whether the every-day work is worth it. |
I have had an incredible journey playing the game I love and my decision to retire has been a very difficult one for me. |
I just don't like to see people suffer, |
I still really like it. I knew I had to do a lot to get ready for this season. I started skating in July, which I never do. I skated a little more than usual in August. I still love this game. |
I think it was the right thing to do. We needed to get those people out of there and get them another chance in life. |