Somewhat Stubborn
Chicago Blackhawks,Colorado Avalanche,Retirement,Stanley Cup,Tampa Bay Lightning,Teams / Dec-2016
My path to the Cup was pretty crazy because, that year, it started out looking like my career might be over. I had signed a one-way contract in Chicago.
Art,Russia,Uncategorised / Feb-2016
I was working at Attic Records, a large independent record company based in Toronto. We distributed…
It’s 5 a.m. on a cold, snowy morning in December 1980 and my brother Pat and…
Art,Music,National Hockey League / Nov-2015
Last spring, I happened to be talking to Darcy Regier, the former Buffalo Sabres general manager,…
Fighting,IHL,Minor League / Nov-2015
When you’re in the middle of a brawl and the place erupts, you don’t know what’s going on: you’re not looking for a guy in street clothes on the ice.
Music / Nov-2015
Al Iafrate was nuts about music. From the second he showed up, you could tell that he was a different dude. Russ Courtnall, Al and I lived together in the Westbury Hotel.
Drinking,Minor League / Oct-2015
I lived 38 steps from the bar. I’d walk through the front door and out the back and I was in my apartment. One day, I ran practice from Wolski’s.
Canada,Free Agency,PEI / Oct-2015
He ended up making the team that year and I ended up getting cut. He played there for about 10 years and won a Stanley Cup with them. That’s the way the world works.
Fighting,World Hockey Association / Oct-2015
They had to get Bill Goldthorpe out of jail to practice. They had to get him out of jail to practice and then take him back, because by the time the playoffs came around he had to be in shape.
Fighting,Minor League,Montreal Canadiens,Toronto Maple Leafs,Western Hockey League / Oct-2015
Larry Robinson was beside me and he turned to me and said, “Hey Rocky, I’m so glad you’re here, you really deserve it, I really thought you should have had your shot in Montreal.”
Buffalo Sabres,Music / Oct-2015
A local disc jockey, Danny Nebrith, read the story and said, “How’d you like to go into a recording studio and make an album?” When you’re a kid, everything seems like fun.
Harold Ballard,Los Angeles Kings,Music,Red Kelly,Toronto Maple Leafs / Oct-2015
For the first few years, Harold Ballard didn’t know my name. He called me ‘Bob.’ But I liked him well enough. I once told him, “I don’t care what you pay me, as long as you sign my cheques,” and he thought that was pretty hilarious, so we got along well.
Coaching,Concussions,Gordie Howe,Jean Beliveau,Legends / Sep-2015
Gordie didn’t show all that much in the beginning, then he improved. He was sort of lackadaisical; you’d say. He was a great teammate.
Music / Sep-2015
I was introduced to music as a kid in Northern Ontario. I was in an orchestra in which I played a string instrument very similar to the Russian balilaika– a tamburica– which was Croatian in origin.
Art,Bobby Hull / Sep-2015
The first time I met Bobby Hull, I was asked to present him with a poem I’d written. At the reception, Bobby already had a little crowd around him when we were introduced.
I asked him: “Can you take bad news standing up or sitting down?” I brought him into the kitchen and it was like charcoal. Even worse for Larms was the fact that the next day I was called up to Chicago.
Bob Probert,Fighting,St Louis Blues / Sep-2015
I call my brother up and say, “Hey man, just had my second game in the NHL and it was awesome I fought this guy his name is Preburt or Proberb, something like that.”
American Hockey League,Coaching,Edmonton Oilers,Fighting,Hartford Whalers,National Hockey League / Sep-2015
If there was a choice between having to fight a bunch of tough guys every night or not being there, I didn’t mind.
Montreal Canadiens,Music / Sep-2015
We were both 14 years old going to Fisherville Junior High in Willowdale in 1966, right at the start of the psychedelic era.
American Hockey League,Boston Bruins,Callup,National Hockey League / Sep-2015
As we were skating off, Chris Simon grabbed me by the throat and said, ‘Rookie, if you hit another guy, I’m sending you down to the minors in a body bag.’
National Hockey League,Retirement / Sep-2015
I limped home, got an ice pack out of the freezer, went up to the bedroom and yelled downstairs to my wife, ‘That’s it, we’re done!
Addiction,Retirement / Jul-2015
My problem when I retired was that I had such high expectations of myself. I wanted to do only huge things; I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything less. But, with time, I realized that it isn’t about that.
Lithuania,The Modern Game / Jun-2015
I played the game hard and no matter where I played, I played to win. But I’ll be honest: I always played to hit someone. That was my number one goal.
Hartford Whalers,Movies,Owners / Jun-2015
It was my wife Karen that created the story. Those were the days of the Die Hard movies and she said, “What about Die Hard in an arena?”
Fighting,National Hockey League,New York Islanders,Washington Capitals / Jun-2015
There’s a bond among fighters because we all have a fear of failure. Most fighters, off the ice, are the nicest guys because of this very real weakness that we have to stare down and try and face, but sometimes, cannot.
Playoff Beards,Playoffs,Washington Capitals / Jun-2015
I first started growing a moustache when I was about 14 because I just didn’t want to shave, and it made me look older.
Guy Lafleur,Legends,Montreal Canadiens,Stanley Cup / Jun-2015
Guy Lafleur was the most dynamic, captivating player that I ever played with. When he got the puck, everyone in the rink just knew that something was going to happen.
Don Cherry,Gordie Howe,Hockey Night in Canada / Jun-2015
My brother was a goaltender. He’s three years older than I am. I just decided that if Len could play goal, I could play goal better than him.
Beginnings,Childhood / Jun-2015
From the pond in Tilsonburgh, Ontario to the hockey hotbed of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, everyone started somewhere. These are some of those stories.
Our team in Buffalo was very close socially: the old and young players, everybody’s wives and girlfriends. When something good happened to someone, we shared in the joy.
Minnesota,NHLPA,USA / Jun-2015
After leaving hockey, I was devastated that I couldn’t play. I felt self-pity and depression. I was 25 years old walking out a door and into a world I didn’t know.
Music / May-2015
From the backyard pond to the game’s most iconic rinks, music has soundtracked the game of hockey, intertwined with some of the greatest names like Valeri Kharlamov to Al Iafrate.
Concussions,Fighting,Retirement,Toronto Maple Leafs / May-2015
When you’re young, you feel invincible. You think you can do whatever you want to do and nothing will bother you. I’ve had 17 surgeries, 10-plus concussions & I pay the price every day.
Broadcasting,Canada,Coaching,Family,Gordie Howe,Minnesota Fighting Saints,World Hockey Association / May-2015
My dad built me a rink when I was five years old in the backyard in Sarnia. It was only a small rink but I played all the time. In those days, the winters in Southern Ontario gave you ice from early December all the way to March.
Alcoholism,Drinking,Quebec Nordiques / May-2015
Bryan Fogarty was supposed to be the next Bobby Orr. He could do amazing things on the ice. I remember his zenith, which came during an early home game at the Colisee in the winter of ‘89.
Hockey Night in Canada,Videos / May-2015
When I got deeper into my work in the hockey broadcasting industry, I knew there was a great piece to make with him. Kindred spirits on the long, beautiful road called “The Art of Hockey”.
Detroit Red Wings,Fighting,New York Islanders / Apr-2015
I had no idea what it was going to be like when I got to the NHL. Coming to the Islanders, certain people had the perception that I was going to be Clark Gillies…
Beer,Leagues,National Hockey League,New York Islanders / Apr-2015
“You’re a fucking kid from fucking Saskatoon and you just got called up to the fucking NHL and there’s a fresh fucking sheet of ice out there and you’re sitting here watching Sports Centre?”
Aboriginal Hockey,Minnesota North Stars / Apr-2015
As a young Objibway growing up in Warroad, Minnesota, I used to watch films where Indians were depicted, and I’d sink into my seat after seeing them portrayed as drunks and thieves.
Drugs,New York Rangers / Apr-2015
The first nightclub I visited there was called The China Club. It was a real hot spot and full of celebrities.
Addiction,Boston Bruins,Depression / Apr-2015
It’s the fear of success as much as the fear of failure that gets you. You score 24 and people are asking, ‘Okay, what about 30?’ You score 30.