The only way a kid is going to practice is if it's total fun for him... and it was for me.

I wasn't naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for, and that's the way I'll be as a coach.

The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.

Ninety percent of hockey is mental and the other half is physical.

Hockey is a unique sport in the sense that you need each and every guy helping each other and pulling in the same direction to be successful.

Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.

A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.

I don't like my hockey sticks touching other sticks, and I don't like them crossing one another, and I kind of have them hidden in the corner. I put baby powder on the ends. I think it's essentially a matter of taking care of what takes care of you.

I think that from the time you start playing sports as a child you see that your responsibility to your team is to play the best that you can play as an individual... and yet, not take anything away from being part of a team.

If we're going to change the game it has to start at eight, nine and 10 years old. When we were that age we'd go to the pond or backyard rink and throw a puck on the ice and play five on five, or seven on seven. You get this creativity and this imagination that comes from within, just having fun on the pond. Now kids are so focused on team play, and the coaches are so focused on positioning. You can't change it at the NHL level.

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.

As a player, you have one responsibility, to focus yourself and be ready for the game. As a coach, your responsibility is to get 20 guys ready and have them all on the same page. If you can't get every guy ready every night, you're going to struggle.

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.

I played everything. I played lacrosse, baseball, hockey, soccer, track and field. I was a big believer that you played hockey in the winter and when the season was over you hung up your skates and you played something else.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Look at guys like Larry Bird and George Brett and John McEnroe; that's what they did in their careers. They all wanted to be the guy under the microscope late in the game or late in the match. So you just take on that know-how that that's part of your responsibility, and you learn that's what makes it exciting. That's what makes it fun!

I'm just a normal young lad who plays football.

Don't call me a Postmodern!

If you don't score, and you have chances, you are disappointed.

I'm not really that bothered by appearance. I know a few players who go off doing stuff in the mirror ages before they go out to play a game, but I'm not really interested in that.

If I'm staying in a hotel or I'm sleeping on my own I have the hairdryer on.

I love playing football but I am like everyone else, I hate losing and love winning.

I'm only a human being.

I don't think I look up to any players. Obviously you respect everyone.

Nice to see your own fans booing you.

Pulling on your country's shirt is the greatest honour a footballer can have. It's what I always dreamed of as a kid and I get a buzz every time.

If you're not scoring the frustrations build up.

If we're on long-haul flights I've been known to sleep on the floor so I hear the engine.

I don't normally cook, but if I did it probably would be beans, sausage, bacon and eggs. I never really get to eat that to be honest.

I love Barbados, it's really relaxing.

I've matured since joining United, on and off the field.

I've started doing my coaching badges, I'd like to be a manager one day.

There's a lot more pressure on me at United. There are people out there trying to shoot you down

Some players don't like training and I've seen some players who aren't bothered if they play or not. But I want to play every game. Sometimes you have to rest in certain games, but I want to play in every game.

Some players don't like training and I've seen some players who aren't bothered if they play or not. But I want to play every game. Sometimes you have to rest in certain games, but I want to play in every game.

It's strange but I suppose I'm one of those senior players now and I'll be helping the young players as much as I can.

You're trying to put yourself in that moment and trying to prepare yourself, to have a 'memory' before the game. I don't know if you'd call it visualising or dreaming, but I've always done it, my whole life.

I'm proud I'm English and I'm passionate about my country.

I grew up an Everton fan, my whole family are Everton fans and I grew up hating Liverpool. And that hasn't changed.

Perfect partners don't exist. Perfect conditions exist for a limited time in which partnerships express themselves best.

I'm proud I'm English and I'm passionate about my country.

Becoming a dad was the proudest moment of my life. Playing football does not even compare.

Football is made up of all kinds of conflict. In a dressing room, between players, between us and the manager, between us and loads of people who don't seem to matter. It's constant and harsh sometimes.

When I was about 16, I got my ball taken off me by the police for playing in the street - which is pathetic really.

I love football so when I finish playing I would like to still be involved in it somehow and a manager would be my first choice.