"I wasn't supposed to be ready for the start of the season... But I kept telling myself that I was going to do everything in my power to make sure that I was in that opening lineup... If it was going to rehab for five days a week for two to three hours a day. Doing everything I needed to do... Doctors' appointments after doctors' appointments. I wanted to give myself the best case scenario to make sure that I was back for that first game..."
"Being behind the eight-ball. Not playing a pre-season game. Not even participating in practices with the team. It nice that the coach trusted me enough to know that I was ready for it. I didn't want to let him down. I didn't want to let myself down. I didn't want to let my family down or the fans as well... It just made me push myself a little bit harder..."
"For the past few years, if I hadn't gotten injured, I'm sure I’d have hit it a while ago. But, I was pretty excited for it like my return on the rink. I always believed in myself... I knew I worked harder than most, especially at the Junior level. I knew I competed, I knew I was gritty. I knew I was a winner. I knew I could help a team win. It might not be from scoring goals or points... But it's playing the game right, being smart, being responsible and being a consistent player as well."
"It's been awesome... If you’ve a goal, you can set your mind to it. And if you're dedicated to achieving that goal, you can do it. It's not going to be easy. There are going to be bumps along the way and adversity... You're going to run into problems again and again. I think the strong are the ones that come through it and it just makes them that much more successful... They learn a lot from situations like that."
"The teachers at school always told me they thought I was a kid with an attention-deficit disorder... And then three years ago, I went, saw a neurologist, had a bunch of tests that he did and he found out that I’ve severe ADD. He asked me if I was ever medicated or diagnosed and I said no. And then he asked me if I wanted to be medicated and I said no. My response was: I love my life... I don’t want to change it... And he laughed. He said: that’s good as long as you can cope with it.”
“Me with having ADD and full of energy... Not being able to walk for two-and-a-half months was probably one of the toughest things I had to go through. My mind was racing... I had a lot of energy to burn, but couldn’t do it... That’s where my wife comes in. She helped me, she helped me get through it. I helped her get through pregnancy, I guess... We were literally the worst couple. She was nine months pregnant, I was on crutches, I couldn’t walk. She was trying to take care of me, I was trying to take care of her. It was a tough summer, but it made our relationship stronger and it made us stronger individually as well, I think.”
“We had our little daughter Andy and that brought a lot of joy to me in that time and peace for sure. Providing for someone else that can’t provide for themselves, I think it showed that I might have thought I could push myself a little harder. Just because I needed to do it for my family... They were there for me and they’re always going to be there for me. I always want my daughter to have a memory of me playing in the NHL. So I’ve got to make sure I play four more years.”
“Three or four concussions in my NHL career... Because it kept me my lady away from the game for nine months. I could let the knee heal and the head heal and see doctors and literally just rehab every day for five months, six months.”