You can't get big in hockey. You need to be pliable... they've even taken fighting out of the game, so there's no more of those big huge guys who just fight.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
If you're going to play hockey now, you have to be able to play. If you have the ability to fight and play, you're an unbelievable commodity. But if you can only fight, there might be six of those guys left in the league, and I can guarantee they're going fast.
I was a hockey player growing up. Being a big guy and being imposing, I had to use my size to protect my teammates.
I am a huge hockey fan.
You have to think big to be big.
I found during my time covering the NHL that the enforcers were some of the most accessible guys and the most low-key guys. I think that's somewhat of a natural thing. I don't know if that's because it's the big guy that everybody fears, and then you're sort of surprised and taken by the fact that he's actually a nice guy.
Listen, if you don't talk big game, you never get anywhere. If you don't think big, you don't get big. Some people call it egotistical, some people call it high hopes, some people call it confidence. It's all in how you want to dissect it.
Hockey is a tough game.
People presume just because you're a bigger bloke that you wouldn't be physically fit or up for the fight, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
It's tough in the NHL; you have to produce on a high level. And everybody expects you to do it because you make a lot of money. And I never minded it. I always want to be that guy.
I wasn't a big guy. People thought the big guys would eat me up. But it was the other way around. I loved to fight bigger guys.