My dad gave me this advice: 'Make what you want to do for the rest of your life the first thing you do in the day and then worry about hanging out with friends.'

You have to make every day count toward your dream.

If you want to do something for the rest of your life, it's not going to be easy, especially being a pro hockey player, so you need to work at it.

It's a slim margin of error in this league.

I personally want to play in the playoffs.

We want to play in the playoffs as a team.

We owe it to the fans and we owe it to ourselves to give it everything we have to try and put ourselves in the playoffs.

I'm sure personal accolades are nice and you appreciate them very much. But it's about winning Cups and winning Olympics and winning World Cups and that kind of thing.

Edmonton has such a great history. It makes coming to the rink special to know those former players wore the jersey and had so much success here.

I'm so proud to be in Edmonton.

The OHL compared to the NHL playoffs, I don't think they really compare. You can't really rely on that experience.

You want to be ramping up toward the playoffs. You want to be peaking as you're heading in.

At the end of the day, it is hockey. It's the same game, the rules don't change. It's the same hockey game I've been playing since I was 2 years old. I think you can kind of rely on that.

I'm living out my dream, so there's nothing better than that.

I was always the pouty little kid whenever I lost.

I think the fans want to see offense.

Even when I wasn't on the ice, I was always on my rollerblades.

There's always ways to improve.

Honestly, I felt pressure more when I was a lot younger.

I never played against my own age, and I was one of the best players. That's when I would get really nervous, maybe not sleep the night before a game.

I still feel pressure - I'm sure everyone who plays feels pressure - but I don't feel it as much now as when I was younger.

It's a weird league in the sense that sometimes you get goals when they definitely shouldn't have gone in, and sometimes you're doing everything right and it's just not going in. It's the way it goes. I think every player who's ever played in this league has gone through it.

Scoring isn't the only thing in this game.

It's important that the Oilers are contributing to the community.

Obviously as a kid you collect hockey cards.

We definitely do a lot of tip drills at practice and try to work on your hand-eye coordination and stuff like that.

Every year is a new year, and when you look at the turnover year to year, teams that made the playoffs last year aren't a guarantee to make the playoffs this year.

Everyone in the League wants to play in the playoffs; I am no different.

I'm dying to play in the playoffs. Dying to bring a little success back to Edmonton. I think the fans deserve it, the city deserves it.

My expectations on myself exceed any of those put on me.

Just have to worry about making sure I'm playing my game and doing all that.

I used to get shadowed when I was 8 years old. Really early.

Obviously, losing isn't fun. It's not fun for anybody. I'm no different.

I definitely feel like I'm a smarter player than when I first entered the League.

Definitely, I've learned a lot, each and every day.

I think when I first came into the League, I was blowing the zone all the time, just kind of expecting pucks to get out. You learn very quickly that you can't be doing that.

There are certain things you can say off the ice, but I think it's mostly on the ice. There are certain situations where you feel like the team may need a big play, something like that, where you feel like it's your responsibility to step up and you do that, but I definitely do that more on the ice than off.

I think you've just got to have everyone buy in, working towards a common goal. Doesn't matter who gets the credit. Really doesn't.

I don't care how any other Canadian team does, other than the Edmonton Oilers.

It's not always the best roster that wins, it's the best team, and sometimes that maybe doesn't jell all that well.

You don't want to be somebody that signs a deal and kind of shuts it down, that's not going to be me at all.

I think the main thing, you only get one career and you need to make the most money that you can, and any player will tell you that, you need to take care of yourself and look after yourself and your family and those around you.

You always have to be optimistic, you can never lose that.

I think I'm a guy that can relate to everyone and is fairly close with everyone on the team and can try to help bring guys together. That's what I tried to focus on when I was in Erie and I felt everyone was a part of the team. I definitely try to lead that way; I'm not the big rah-rah guy.

I think I'm a good passer and can make plays, but there's definitely a knack to putting the puck in the net.

I've always said I want to score more.

That's what I want to do, find ways to score.

There's always ways to improve your game and be more dangerous and dynamic.

The beauty of hockey players is that they make everyone feel included and make everyone feel a part of it.

One season doesn't make a career.