The guys who don't get a lot of minutes, you get a lot more practice, you're on the ice, you're getting maybe a better workout, though you might not be getting all of the game stuff.
Barry Trotz
Missing a game or getting a little bit of a bump up or getting a scolding once in a while puts everybody in their right place.
Every player is wired differently. Some players you know exactly where they're headed, where they're going and what they're thinking. There are other guys wired differently. It allowed me to understand the personality of Alexander Ovechkin.
I'd love to go in the foxhole with guys who will stick their neck out and say, 'I'm going to deliver for you.'
Having a wheel mentality is paramount. It gives you time and space.
There's too much parity in the NHL.
A lot of teams get a lot of offense off the rush.
There's going to be a point in time when I can go to a NHL game in Nashville with my grandkids. That's really special.
Even when I eat, I'll eat my salad first and sort of work around the plate.
I think I have a lot more respect for someone who will be bold enough to say, 'I'm the leader of the hockey team, we're going to go there and give our best game and we're going to win the hockey game.'
You don't have that good team effort without good goaltending.
Sometimes you get blinded by results rather than the process.
A nontraditional hockey market is turning into more of a traditional market. We're now a fabric of Nashville.
There are a couple things that I could be doing, maybe owning a coffee shop or work in construction, building houses back in Nashville or British Columbia. I've also thought about being a property owner which would give me income and allow me to fix and maintain those properties to keep me busy.
The great thing about David Poile and Nashville is they believe in the people that they hire and they stick with the people that they hire.
In an 82-game season, you're going to have some dry spells where goals are harder to come by, and other times they're just going to come in bundles.
Use your assets in the right areas. Commit to outside speed. Don't always go into the junk pile in the middle of the ice when there are eight guys there.
Hopefully my time in Nashville has helped me. We've had a lot of different things happen to our hockey club, seen a lot of different situations and different types of clubs from an expansion team to a Stanley Cup playoff threat. I think any coach that's gone through those things, you become a better coach.
There's stuff in this world, everybody pretends they understand. But we don't understand. It's important to listen.
I'm a big believer that if you can have success in the playoffs, when it means the most and when the game is at its highest pace, it always carries into the next year and it gives a player confidence.
A new challenge, to me, is really exciting.
Part of the greatness of being on the Island is it's a smaller community; all of the players live within a couple miles of each other. It really promotes that family sort of atmosphere without being engulfed by the big city.
What happens when you have to use your top guys so much, they're going to hit a wall at some point, and they'll go four or five games where they just don't have the juice to play at the level that you need, and therefore your team suffers a little bit.
One thing I've learned from all my time with Team Canada is that they're very, very prepared so knowing that's part of the DNA of Team Canada, you have to be prepared with whatever area your responsibility belongs to.
You can't take your foot off the pedal; you've got to get pucks to the next level.
Anytime you go to the All-Star Game, you recognize that it's special. It's an experience that you don't want to pass up.
The great thing about the Island is you've got room. You can go for a bike ride. We're 20 minutes to a beach, and you can get on the beach and go for a long walk.
One of the blessings of Notre Dame is where it's at. It's in the middle of nowhere, but you become part of the community. It's a lifestyle, and it has a code, and that code teaches young men and women responsibility and leadership.
There's times where I go off the rails like anybody else. For the most part, I try to keep it, 'Hey, this is what we're dealt and this is the situation, so let's make the best of it.' Keep a positive attitude.
We might have, with Hockey Canada, an Aero Bar, a chocolate bar. 'Okay we're going to play for this chocolate bar.' Here you have guys who made millions of dollars, they're professional athletes, and they will fight tooth and nail to win. It's not necessarily for the chocolate bar. It's the competitive spirit.
The Kings played out of the Memorial Community Centre, an old wooden barn like you'd see in other Prairie towns. It was built after World War II and the Kings were the biggest thing in town. The Memorial was packed for every game - maybe 3,000 when we'd play the Kenora Muskies or other rival towns. It seemed like everyone in town came out to games.
Just like all young players, there is a difference between being involved and just participating.
As a coach, you look for the elements. Sort of like a chemist, you want to say, 'Okay, here we have all of the parts,' and make what you think will be a successful line.
You get mentally fatigued and you get physically fatigued, too. Usually that's when bad things happen on the ice and then you're more at risk for injury.
The team that can be consistent - for the most part all year - is going to be the team that is going to get into the playoffs.
I became a citizen after 9/11.
Sometimes when you start playing games you don't get as many practices and you don't get as many touches. People think you have the puck the whole time during a game - you really don't.
My son and I ride a tandem bike. We turn the music on and just enjoy riding through our neighborhood.
As I have evolved as a coach, I was a guy who was all about the game and a person who focused on the wins and losses.
Hopefully when I make it to 80, I can go to a hockey game and watch the Predators and Capitals play with my grandkids. That's probably my legacy on the hockey side.
Bobby Orr, I thought he was the greatest player of all time because he was so far ahead of the competition in his prime.
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.
I have that look like I'm going to tear your head off. As a younger guy, I think I had that look even more and had a reputation for being in your face a lot, but as I've gotten older I think I've filtered some of that out.
I've had the opportunity to have different style teams with similar identities but opposite identities in some ways.
You can be a great skater, you can have really good puck skills, but the ability to problem-solve is, to me, key.
I think a lot of times what practice can do for you when guys are playing a lot of minutes, it sometimes takes away a little bit of their sharpness, because they have the puck a lot and all that.
I think anytime you experience the All-Star Games, the World Cups, the Olympics and all those things - those are great experiences, and those don't come along that often.
Goaltending can steal you a series.
Goal scorers are always sniffing things out, but once they realize 'hey, if I don't have the puck I can't score,' then you have to be a part of the solution so you can get it back so you can score.
If you have to change some laws, get that done. If it's getting schools, the next generation, to understand love and understanding, let's get that done.
