You have to close quickly, you have to eliminate time and space and you have to try to deny them the puck. When you're playing with it, it forces them out of their rhythm and forces them to play defense, which they obviously don't want to do.

As you've progress further in the Playoffs, the ice usually gets a little softer. It's tough to keep it that cold. We could make it hard, but it would be about 4 degrees in the building. I'm sure the fans wouldn't appreciate that very much, wearing parkas in June.

In the '90s, when I started, it was still a rough-and-tumble, physical league. You take the hook and holding and a little bit of the physicality out of the game, and the speed ratcheted up two-fold. Now you have a split second to make a hit, or decide to pull up. When there's indecision, you're going to make a mistake.

Whether the guys are nervous or just had mental breakdowns, it happens. The game is a game of mistakes. And how you deal with them and correct them and all the things like that is what makes this game great and makes hockey the sport it is.

You do what you can to help your team win, whether it's playing that many minutes or 24 or whatever is asked of you, you do. You prepare yourself to play as much as you're asked to play.

My doctors say the more I continue to push, the more I can continue to raise that bar, the better I can get.

I wanted to stay in the game. I wanted to learn more about the league, what goes on behind the scenes. As a player, you don't really think about that, nor do you really care: you're worried about your job.