"Obviously he was a great player, but also a great person and very intelligent and knowledgeable about the game of hockey and I could see him as a president as a general manager of president somewhere down the road."

"It's a lot more fun to play the game this year than it has been the last four years."

"He (Crosby) is our best player, night-in and night-out, that's incredible. He just keeps getting better."

"Every game he gets better. That's amazing that he just turned 18 and he's our best player night in and night out. It's incredible."

"I can no longer play at the level I was accustomed to in the past. That has been very frustrating to me throughout this past year. That's a big part of why I'm retiring."

"He's adjusted very well. He plays with the kids a lot and he's very chatty. He talks all the time. The kids love him. We talk a lot, have dinner together every night."

"I think so. Not only (because of) his talent, but the way he thinks about the game. He's dedicated to the game of hockey. A lot of guys have had talent in the past, but to put the mind that he has with his talent is special."

"I thought he skated very well. He showed a lot of strength at times protecting the puck. That's a good start for him, he was one of the best players out there."

"I think we have to show some pride in the jersey that we are wearing, and can't quit."

"It could always happen, but I don't see any problems moving forward."

"It was just that type of game where he didn't have that many odd-man rushes. [It's] just the way the game went. We've seen him play a few games so far, and we look forward to a great season from him."

"It's a different mix of players, but we've got more talent this year,"

"I really enjoy playing with someone else and whether it's chess or tennis or games, I love card games. I love that, but I think there's something so important to gain from winning and losing and learning how to lose and how you can be better from that."

"It's a different standard with those two. It seems like you get credited for having the courage to call everything."

"You miss a guy with that intensity. He sets a great example for everybody, in terms of work ethic and selflessness."

"It's another example of how you have to lock down every last detail, or you don't win. We played a very good third period, only allowed them four shots on goal and they scored on two of them because they were quality chances that came as a direct result of our mistakes."

"It's another example that you have to take care of every aspect of our game. Otherwise it ends up being a loss."

"We haven't had too many trips this year below .500. Three points out of four games isn't a total disaster."

"(Chris) Chelios got a couple penalties in the second period, but there's no question that they willed the influence over the officials. Part of that is the inexperience. I'm not saying we didn't deserve a number of those penalties, but there were a number that I thought were poor calls."

"It's a huge cop-out to talk about a goalie when you only score two goals. Playing goal for our team, the way we're putting the puck in the net lately, is very difficult."

"We have to play a much more intelligent game then what we played the last three games. We've been sloppy for three straight games now and you can't hope to win at this level making those types of mistakes."

"We had lots of opportunities to win the game ourselves."

"(The loss is) hard to slough off. It's going to linger for a while. Given any other circumstances, this would be a game we could quickly get over and start focusing on San Jose Friday. It was one of those games where we deserved better."

"Hockey moulds and reveals character. The root of it is really built into the character of the person."