You look at the best players in the game - Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr - they didn't sit on the couch and then one day join the NHL. They worked on their game. Their talent was perseverance, dedication. Those are talents to me; that's what gets you to the NHL.

I never want a coach to feel like he needs to be my friend, I always want a coach to be the coach and I'm the type of guy that wants to be held accountable all the time, so I respect coaches.

To me, that's how I want to define my career, is making a difference in big games.

I'm a competitive guy, and when it's time to be competitive, I'm all in.

For me, on the ice that's my job, to have an impact on the team in a positive way that fits into our system and how we want to play.

A Hall of Famer isn't just the guy who put up great numbers. It's the guy who has changed the sport for the better, who has had an impact.

I've never been short of putting high expectations on myself; I've never been short of saying I want to win a Stanley Cup.

I know I'm black. Everyone knows I'm black. But I don't want to be defined as a black hockey player.

I have a production company, I have a marketing company, I have different things that I have going on and different interests and there's nothing wrong with having different interests as long as you prioritize the things that you need to do first. And I do.

I want a Stanley Cup.

The simplest, most impactful question that you can ask an athlete, or ask anyone, is 'What do you want to accomplish? What's your goal?'

Growing up, watching the New Jersey Devils, I watched players like Ken Daneyko, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, old school players who respected the game.

Listen, I always choose to see the good in people. And everybody's different, everybody chooses to handle things differently.

I love Montreal. I've always loved the city. And when it really comes down to it I never envisioned myself playing for any other team other than the Montreal Canadiens.

Your butt and back are two of the strongest parts of your body.

We have so many guys in the NHL who can lead by example and I embrace being a role model for a lot of kids.

When young players come into the league, they see how pop culture has affected the other sports, like the NBA and the NFL. They come in with more of an open mind.

My mentality is I've never been the guy that always has to be the center of attention or has to be the front guy. I have no problem doing my job and somebody else getting the credit, or the attention being on somebody else.

This is how I see myself, as a player that at the end of the day, whether I have a letter or not, I know that when we're in overtime or it's a deciding moment in the game my teammates are looking at me to step up. To me that's all I need to know.

There's a lot of kids that don't even have a chance to live a balanced lifestyle. Not have to worry about food or clothes or education, or being able to play sports.

I think it's important for athletes to set a tone in a way that we're looking to build bridges.

In this world, some things happen that we can't completely understand. That's OK; we don't have to understand it. All we have to do is understand our self, believe in our self and keep trying and keep pushing forward.

The NHL's got tons of players from different backgrounds from different places around the world. That's what makes this league so special and that's what makes sports so special; it brings everybody together.

I drop the gloves once in a while.

Chuck Hughes is one of my very good friends.

I don't think your focus as a hockey player or athlete can be anywhere else but how you want to impact the team on the ice or on the field or court.

You have to remember that when you're in the NHL, you have the platform, and you'll never have a bigger platform than when you're playing.

I'm very privileged to have great parents, caring parents, parents that dedicate a lot of their time and energy to their children, and we're very thankful for that.

The first car I purchased was for my father. I bought him a truck. I didn't want to see myself driving around in a nicer car than him. I wanted him to feel like he's accomplished a lot, too, which he has. He's put me in a great position.

I'm a pretty big believer in seizing the moment.

I think that there's more jealousy in sports than racism, really. I think racism exists in the works, but when I faced racism in hockey, a lot of times from jealousy, because when I was young, I was always one of the better players. And I think a lot of people were threatened by that.

In this world, there are bad people and there are good people. We can either choose to celebrate the bad ones all the time, or we can celebrate the good ones.

There's a time and a place when it needs to be all about hockey. I don't think that's 24 hours a day, seven days a week. How you choose to spend that time when it's not all about hockey is completely up to you.

The feeling being back in Montreal, it will never change. Montreal's going to be home because of the relationships that I've built here.

I think I just want to focus on being the best player that I can be and being the best role model that I can be by just doing all the right things, not just for black kids or kids from different backgrounds, but for all kids who play the game. You want them to look at you in a positive light.

Playing in Montreal for six years, being drafted in 2007, a lot of great moments in that organization. The positive moments outweigh the negative moments.

I've been playing hockey since I was two-and-a-half, three years old.

One of the things that upset me a lot, and I'm pretty open about it is people that challenge my character or challenge my commitment to my job or the game that I play.

Always been a Cowboys fan. Started as a Deion Sanders fan and learned to love the Cowboys. My dad's a big Cowboys fan too.

Hockey's filled with great people, and it's a great sport, and I encourage a lot of people to play it because of the relationships that you make in hockey.

I've come to Boston many times, my family has come here, and it's been great.

Our law enforcement, these are people that leave their houses and may not come back home at the end of the night.

I think it's important to build people up and to make people feel good.

Everything I do is with a planned approach.

It's something I am very passionate about, designing clothes and being creative and fashion-forward.

When you go into a new city, or any city that you play for, the community is a big part of every organization.

I've always been one to want to represent my country. I've done it on a few occasions and I've had tremendous success.

That's the fun part about your playing career is that everyone knows your first and foremost responsibility, and that's playing hockey, but whenever you can mix in some other things have fun with it, that's great, too.

Coming into a new dressing room is exciting.

To win the Stanley Cup is such a process and it takes everybody on board.