I love it. Honestly, I would’ve said five years ago, six years ago in Chicago, my last two years in Chicago, it looked like the end was near. But I got a second life. It’s one of those deals where I thought I had something left, and obviously I did.
Our team in Chicago, we were going younger. We lost most of the veterans, or traded them. It just wasn’t a good fit for me anymore. I took a lot of being the captain to heart, and it affected my game.
To be able to have a chance at the Cup every year, that’s all you can ask for.
You didn’t talk to him, you just listened to him.(1) He loved hockey. That’s all I cared about. I didn’t want to be his friend. He didn’t want to be anybody’s friend.
My best moment has got to be winning the Stanley Cup in Detroit with my boys old enough to understand and see it and be a part of it and being on the ice with them.
Detroit’s a great town. Chicago’s always going to be my home.
My dad, he’s a beauty. That’s all I’ve got to say. He’s got great character. His work ethic with the restaurants and bars–that’s probably where I got that. We didn’t have a choice. You either worked or you got your butt kicked. You did not question Gus.
My kids, and that’s it. The only thing I ever worry about is my kids.
The Salt Lake experience, I think that was the best hockey I played in my career, as far as skill level and a tournament for the Americans.
He’s goofy.(2) Anyone who talks about himself in the third person, you worry about, but not J.R. He’s just a great kid. He’s been great for hockey.
It’s our 11th year.(3) Me and Jeremy started this as a way to raise money for Father Smyth at Maryville. We started donating money to other places too.We raise close to $300,000 every time we do it.
You want your kid to grow up like Steve Yzerman, on and off the ice. He’s just a quality guy.
The best things I have are not any trophies or jerseys. It would be the pictures I have with Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita and just being able to be around the guys I grew up watching. To be able to go out and have a beer with Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita–who’d have ever thought? I still act like a kid around them.
The saddest thing is Keith Magnuson. He was a close, dear friend. I miss Keith a lot.
I’d like to donate my memorabilia and stuff to a place in Chicago, maybe a room in the United Center. My rings, my pictures, every single hockey thing I have, I want to put on display. I’d want it in Chicago. That’s where I grew up. I think it’d be kind of neat. I think I could fill a 2,000-squarefoot room with a lot of stuff. Easily. I probably got about 400 jerseys.
I’ve had the same trainer for 11 years, 12 years. The unfortunate thing is he’s training about 60 or 70 guys, so now I don’t have that edge. So, now I do something else that I’m not telling anybody about. So, that’s my edge now. I’m not telling anybody what it is.
I’ve had my run in my career, and if it’s over tomorrow, I have no regrets, and now it’s time to sacrifice for the family, and that’s what I’ll do.
Right now I have no intention of quitting, but I couldn’t tell you how long I’ll play.
1: Former Detroit coach Scotty Bowman.
2: Former Hawks teammate Jeremy Roenick.
3: Staging his charity golf event at Big Run Golf Club in Lockport.
