Well, it is just four hours until the Allen Americans have a chance to win their first CHL Championship. Everything has been done and said to put the boys in position to win. Now it is up to them to bring it home. So what more is there to say I thought and then I had an idea. I interviewed several of the players this year for player profiles and some of them shared their motto. Sometimes it was a poster they had on the wall as kids, sometimes a motto they got from a coach or player that stuck with them. I thought on the eve of the biggest game thus far in Americans franchise short history I would dig out those mottos for all to see. Here goes.
Mike Montgomery: The harder you work the luckier you get.
Kale Kerbashian: Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
Jamie Schaafsma: As a kid there was a poster on my wall that said, "I Play To Win"
Booter Bootland: Before every game I say to the guys "Let's have some F****** fun,
this F****** game is supposed to be F****** fun. Then they know I am
ready to go.
And here are some famous quotes from other hockey greats to relax you before the big game.
“We know that hockey is where we live, where we can best meet
and overcome pain and wrong and death. Life is just a place where we
spend time between games.”
—Fred "The Fog" Shero, who was the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers during their Broad Street Bullies days.
"The top three worst things I've seen in hockey? The invention
of the trap. The invention of the morning skate. And the invention of
the extremely ugly uniform."
—Brett Hull
"My teeth weren't that good to begin with, so hopefully I can get some better ones."
—Duncan Keith
"Why is a puck called a puck. Because dirty little bastard was taken." -Martin Brodeur
"How would you like a job where, every time you make a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?"
—Jacques Plante
"You can always get someone to do your thinking for you."
—Gordie Howe after being asked why players always wear a cup, but not always a helmet
"I was a multi-millionaire from playing hockey. Then I got divorced, and now I am a millionaire."
—Bobby Hull
"I will personally challenge anyone who wants to get rid of fighting to a fight."
—Brian Burke
"Arrive at the net with the puck and in ill humor."
—Fred Shero, coach of the Philadelphia Flyers during their Broad Street Bullies days
"The only difference between this and Custer's last stand was Custer didn't have to look at the tape afterwards."
—Tampa Bay Lightning coach Terry Crisp after a 10-0 loss
"There are rough players and there are dirty players. I'm rough and dirty."
—Stan Mikita
"If you can't beat 'em in the alley, you can't beat 'em on the ice."
—Conn Smythe
"The playoffs separate the men from the boys, and we found out we have a lot of boys in our dressing room."
—New York Rangers general manager Neil Smith after losing to the Washington Capitals
Win today and we walk together forever."
—Philadelphia Flyers Coach Fred Shero wrote this on his famous chalkboard before the Flyers' 1974 Stanley Cup finals victory.
GOOD LUCK TONIGHT BOYS. MAY YOU WALK TOGETHER FOREVER AFTER TONIGHT!
I love that last quote!
ReplyDeleteDitto. I got choked up. Very fitting, Barry. :)
ReplyDelete