Wayne Gretzky
Thankfully, in my youth I had the best financial advisor a son could ask for: my dad Walter. When I got that first signing bonus in 1978, Dad took my cheque, announced, 'This is what we're going to do,' and bought an annuity with it.Collection: Dad
I'm not sure Mario is going to get accolafes he deserves, especially from outside the game. But from within, the players, the people who follow closely, realize exactly what he's broughtto the table, exactly what he has done. People tend to forget... hockey was dying in Pittsburgh before he got there. I played there. It was almost dead. I'm sorry, but the NHL would not have a franchise in Pittsburgh today had Mario not come along. Think about it, no hockey in Pittsburgh.Collection: Sorry
I don't think any one person will ever be bigger than the game.Collection: Hockey
Hockey is my life. I love every minute of it.Collection: Hockey
The game is played out of instinct, but everyone on the ice has habits - good and bad. So the key to the game is to exploit the bad habits of your opponent.Collection: Keys
A lot of times, I can turn and pass without even looking.Collection: Turns
I can remember hockey. It was my life, my passion. It's what I love the most.Collection: Passion
Most players go where the puck is. I go where the puck will be.Collection: Player
When you're playing an exhibition, you're kind of letting everyone get an opportunity.Collection: Opportunity
People talk about skating, puck handling and shooting, but the whole sport is angles and caroms, forgetting the straight direction the puck is going, calculating where it will be directed, factoring in all the interruptions. Basically, my whole game is angles.Collection: Inspirational
The last year I was playing, I asked the stick boy to get me a Diet Coke and he said, "Really?" But I always had one on the bench because that's what I did in 1979 when there wasn't Gatorade. If you needed energy you went and got a Snickers or a Kit Kat. Nobody knew any better.Collection: Boys
People in general want to build somebody up and then try to knock them down. They always root for the underdog.Collection: Roots
What you want to do with your best players is, it doesn't matter how many goals and assists they get, but when they get goals and assists. The best players get them at the most important times, and that's when we need those guys to come through.Collection: Player
The greatest thing about playing obviously is winning, and you can't replace that experience with anything.Collection: Winning
I think the greatest thing about playing obviously is winning, and you can't replace that experience with anything.Collection: Winning
I miss 100% of the shots I don't take.Collection: Missing
There's no perfect coach in the world. Coaches are human, too. Mistakes are made. But, fundamentally, if you're sound, you eliminate as many mistakes as possible.Collection: Mistake
I think the Americans are ready to play, they want to beat us. I think that players like Chris Chelios and his leadership over there goes a long way.Collection: Player
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."Collection: Book
Lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time. There's nothing like it. It's the greatest story. In my era, they used to say you couldn't be a superstar without winning one. I remember thinking when I lifted it: "Now they can't say that about me."Collection: Winning
It's just amazing how many companies suddenly want you to hold up their products after you've held up the Stanley Cup.Collection: Want
Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull and Jean Béliveau probably looked at us in the '80s and said, "These guys are soft. We used to take the train."Collection: Guy
That's the hardest part of this whole process. The best part is picking the players and the worst part is telling basically five players they are not going to play tonight.Collection: Player
I grew up such a fan. It was my life. Everything I did was hockey related and everything I have is because of hockey and the NHL.Collection: Hockey
I get a lot of parents coming up to me, telling me they are grooming their kids to be professional athletes. I'm really against that. I think it's a great life, and yeah, you can lead them in that direction. I think a lot of parents live their lives through the kids. Because they didn't make it, they want their kids to make it. It puts a lot of undue pressure on the kids.Collection: Athlete
When I broke into professional hockey at 17 I was told that I was too small and too slow and I wouldn't make the NHL. Now it's kind of flip-flopped and the sense is I can't be a good coach because I was a great athlete.Collection: Athlete
When I played in a 21-team league, there were six or seven goalies who were just average, and the equipment and pads were smaller. I came in the right era. I played for the right team. It was all speed, and creativity and imagination.Collection: Team
He brings something special. I don't know what it is, but if you ask him, you couldn't understand his answer.Collection: Hockey
If I had to pick three players to start a franchise, I'd choose Hasek, Peter Forsberg and Eric Lindros.Collection: Player
Good players skate to the puck. Great players skate to where the puck is going to be.Collection: Player
One of the key qualities that you need to be a great hockey player is fantastic anticipation and feel for the game - if you know where the puck is going before it is hit, that is half the battle.Collection: Hockey
We played in an era where you were taught to hate your opponent. But life changes. I raise my kids differently than my mom and dad raised their kids.Collection: Mom
I heard people say, 'Why would he want to do this?' My answer is 'Why not?' It is what I love. It's what I know.Collection: Unique
Your friends, family, and kids have to understand that's your priority. It's the only way you can be successful.Collection: Kids
Competitive spirit is still at a premium. The more you win, the better you play, the more money you make, so they all have that in mind.Collection: Winning
Listen, first of all, my wife is my best friend. My love for her is deeper than anything. The reality is, I'm not involved, I wasn't involved and I'm not going to be involved. Am I concerned for both of them Sure there's concern from me. I'm more worried about them than me. I'm like you guys, I'm trying to figure it all out.Collection: Reality
Eight days ago, we were the toast of the town. Eight days later we're Thanksgiving turkeys.Collection: Hockey
My best friend had a hockey scholarship at Ohio State, so I would get a couple of pairs at the beginning of the season and send them down to him. They practised two hours a day. He'd skate in them for three weeks then ship them back.Collection: Couple
Kids don't fight in minor hockey anymore. There's very few fights in junior and college hockey. So growing up, all these guys are not fighting.Collection: Growing Up
Hullie's a lot like a garbage can. You step on the pedal with your foot and the top opens up.Collection: Hockey
When people come up to me and say, "I was at your Game 7 in the playoffs in Toronto," or, "I saw your first goal in the NHL," that triggers memories. But I don't sit around my kitchen table and tell my kids, "You know, one year I got 92 goals."Collection: Memories
I love everything about hockey.Collection: Hockey
I can't remember the last time I went to a game and there was a fight. I think they fight more in baseball now than they do in hockey.Collection: Baseball
At the end of the day everybody lost. We almost crippled our industry. It was very disappointing what happened.Collection: Nhl
We're in a tough situation because of teenage children, and then we have a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old, so my family and my responsibilities is sort of a juggle.Collection: Children
I miss all the shots I don't take.Collection: Motivational
You miss the ball you do not hit 100%Collection: Missing
In one sense we are a favorite because we won a gold medal in 2002.Collection: Gold
Nothing can replace the Olympics. I love the Olympics. I was so proud when I played in '98 and I was so proud when we won in 2002.Collection: Proud