Listen, everything I have in my life is because of the NHL and because of hockey, and I love the game and I loved every minute of being a player, I loved coaching, I loved being involved in the NHL.

In one sense we are a favorite because we won a gold medal in 2002.

Growing up, I was always the small guy.

Good players skate to the puck. Great players skate to where the puck is going to be.

The biggest difference between L.A. and Edmonton was that instead of people looking at me I was looking at them.

I really wanted to write a book [99: Stories of the Game] on the tradition and history of the league, where kids can pick it up and read it and learn things and say, "Geez, I didn't know that. That's pretty cool."

I wasn't a great skater and I needed my skates to be perfect - really tight around the ankles. But I couldn't break in new ones because my feet would hurt so much. I wore a size 9 shoe and a 6.5 skate - my foot was really crunched.