I feel, first of all, very privileged that these people think enough of me that they made me commissioner. And it's almost like, as Yogi Berra said, 'deja vu all over again.'
My job is to suggest and ratify and use any expertise that I might have gained over the 23 years in professional hockey to make our game a better game.
Nobody gives a crap about hockey down here - nobody. I coach kids' hockey down here and you can start to see the disinterest in the game here with the kids.
Developing better people should be the number one goal for any coach when dealing with kids. In trying to develop better people, we are going to develop more and better pros.
If you talk to most athletes, the place you're most comfortable is your playing field. I'm not so comfortable at a podium or talking about events.
I couldn't wait to get on the ice. I couldn't wait to get to practice. As a kid, I couldn't wait to shoot pucks or play in parking lots, or play on the river or play on the bay.
If a player is trying to intimidate a skilled player on your team, what do we want? We want our skilled players playing, so we shouldn't be doing that.
You're looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back. I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country.
I often talked to Bing Crosby, and while I liked him, I never understood why he was so popular. To me his voice was just a gimmick.
I think whenever anyone asked me why I wanted to be a hockey player, that's where it all started, watching the Winnipeg Jets play as a young kid.
When I was 5 and playing against 11-year-olds, who were bigger, stronger, faster, I just had to figure out a way to play with them.
If one of my players ever wants to hit me, he better do it really hard because otherwise, I'll find a rock, a stick, or a piece of wood - and believe me, it's gonna be a brawl.
I always said put me in front of 40 or 50,000 people and play hockey, I'm comfortable there. Put me in front of 50 people to talk or get in front of, and that's where I'm probably the least comfortable.
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I've been hit hard a few times, been hit really hard a few times, but I don't think I've ever left a memorable, lasting impression on anyone I've ever hit.
I also feel I adapted. I was willing to try to fit into any role. The way I figured, it was always up to me to prove my worth, that I deserved to be here.
It's almost like you see too much, because when it happens for real, everything flies at you so fast, you never get a sense of the ice and where everyone is at that one moment.
With me serving as the president, we filed a $3-million lawsuit against the league and its member clubs in an attempt to win increased pension benefits and a larger share Of television revenue.
The thing is, playing with us, whoever was the left winger had to come to play every night because that's the way it was. Charlie came in and he just fit that role - big and strong around the net.
I'll tell something, a lot of times I'd listen to Charlie and some of the interviews he had and he said, 'Well, yeah, I was a garbage goal collector.' But he knew the timing. I knew where he was.
My main point is to entertain in a way that is unique and different from what anybody else id doing; to apply my voice in a way that nobody else in the industry is applying theirs.
