what's the most memorable speech or quote..

by a player or coach that really sticks out in your head as most memorable for laughter, sadness or inspiring??

 

Phil Esposito's Game 4 speech in the 72' Summit Series is probably the most famous speech in hockey.

 

Yes no doubt about it that is it

 

"He's gone from Ironman to Tin Man."

said by Martin Gelinas with a smile, when asked about his then-linemate Trevor Linden after another of a string of minor injuries to the indeed previous longest-serving NHLer without a game off.

 

one of my fav true quotes was by the great one
"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

 

Tiger Williams: "Dem Flyers are done like dinner"

said between periods of a Flyer/Leaf game after which the Flyers came out & smoked them.

 

I'd have to say Chelios during the first lockout. He was a little hot about the whole situation and Bettman in particular. I don't remember the exact words but it was something to the effect of `if I were Bettman I would be worried about my personal safety'.
Priceless.

 

Explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker:

"That"s so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my (expletive) clothes."

--the one and only Stu Grimson

 

"This is no time for the faint of heart."

Mark Messier, 6-14-94, right before game 7 of the finals.

 

Larry Robinson kicking the $#@! out of a garbage in the dressing room after the Devils go down 3 games to 1 against the Flyers in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals.

Not a speech or quote, but an 'action'

 

Gretzky's speech at Molson House when his trade to LA was announced. When Wayne cried, I cried too.

 

Espo's 72 rant hands down.

The absolute greatest in hockey.

 

Nothing beats Espo in 1972. Gretzky's rant at the 2002 Olys was special, but Espo's speech in 72 was a defining moment in the most significant event in hockey history.

 

"Tonight, I play like wall"............Arturs Irbe

 

Andre "Moose" Dupont, February 1973, after a return visit to Vancouver about two months following a particularly nasty contest in Vancouver:"That was a lot of fun. We don't go to jail, we beat up their chicken forwards, we score ten goals, and we win. And now the Moose drinks beer." The quote was in response to a Vancouver fan (a dentist) who reached over the glass and pulled aggressively on Don Saleski's hair while he was exchanging pleasantries with Barry Wilcox of the Canucks. Four Flyers' players, including Dupont, went into the stands in the December 1972 game that ended in a 4-4 draw. In the return match, in February 1973, the Flyers won 10-5.

Fred Shero's "Win together now and we will walk together forever" during the 1974 Cup Finals.

 

It's not hockey, but the all-time best speech is Lou Gehrig's farwell speech in 1939.

 

The best one-liner ever ... and that game is also the one where the Flyers truly became the Bullies. Prior to that they were very good at home, but didn't play as aggressively or as well on the road.

Most thought it would be a very quiet game after the altercations of the previous visit to Vancouver, where the fan grabbed Saleski, and some Flyers went into the stands to protect him.

The Flyers that went into the stands, were arrested and had to be be arraigned on this visit to Vancouver. So much for a quiet night:

Dupont & Schmautz go at it 90 seconds in .. and a 5 minute high stick to Dupont as well. Clarke & MacLeish scored two shorthanded goals on the 5 minute major.

Flyers led 6-2 after the first period and the team never looked back:
http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/boxscore.cgi?19720437

"That was a lot of fun. We don't go to jail, we beat up their chicken**** forwards, we score ten goals, and we win. And now the Moose drinks beer."

 

I think Patrick Roy's "I couldn't hear him (Jeremy Roenick) because i had my two Stanley Cup rings plugged in my ears" has to rank up there.

 

Fred Shero's "Win together now and we will walk together forever"

One of my top choices as well.

 

"We'll win tonight."-Mark Messier prior to his hat-trick in Game 6 of the Conference Finals in NJ to stave off elimination.

 

For a one liner, Herb Brooks speech prior to the game was pretty fantastic:

"Lose this one and you'll take it to your ***ing graves; YOUR ****ING GRAVES!"

The Disneyfication was nice and warm and fuzzy but totally inaccurate. When they announced a movie about Herb and I saw it was rated G, I had to wonder how they were going to pull that off. As a youngster my dad and I had a deal when we went to the Met Center for North Stars games. I didn't repeat anything to my mother that I heard Brooks yelling at the games and he would buy me a souvenir.

 

In the spirit of one liners, Messier had an absolute gem.

In a 1986 game against the Penguins, Messier cross checked a Penguin player once, twice, three times and his stick broke on the players back. Whistle goes and Messier is called for cross-checking. Messier then says:

"What? I get a penalty for breaking my fu****g stick?"

 

I'd go with this one as well. I was only 10 when I watched this on tv but it was one of those "wow" moments for me even at such a early age.

 

"If a player comes around who is better than Bobby Orr.. I hope the good lord see's fit that I will be on this earth to see him, becuase he would be something special"

-Milt Schmidt