Quotes

I think hockey is the best of all sports and I'm fiercely protective of it.

[on hockey] I never woke up when I was a player and said, 'Tonight I'm going to hurt somebody'. The game is fast, the game is passionate. And some players have a certain style that will occasionally take them over the line. These are not bad people or bad guys. They play a passionate sport and they are sometimes asked to walk a very fine line.

What I'm trying to eliminate, and I believe the management and players want me to eliminate, are illegal and dangerous checks. There's still a place in hockey for a big, hard, clean check, and I want to protect that. This truly is an art - an art of courage and timing.

[on being appointed NHL senior vice-president of player safety] The fact that I played the game for twenty-one years, and the way I played, to me says I would guard and protect its physicality and intensity. But I do believe the game can be safer. And that's why I think I'm the right person for the job.

[on discipline in hockey] There'll always be those who think every decision is too much, and there will be those who think every decision is too little. I try to keep my focus on the goal: keeping hockey physical and entertaining and passionate. But I think it can also be safer.

What I'm trying to eliminate, and I believe the managers and players want me to eliminate, are illegal and dangerous checks. As we've seen, very skilled players still have the ability to lay out devastating, clean, full bodychecks. But this new art of picking off heads, or hitting defenseless players from behind into the boards - if that's the kind of physicality that people are accusing me of eliminating from the game - then I agree with them completely.

There's still a place in hockey for a big, hard, clean check and I want to protect that. This truly is an art - an art of courage and timing.

What I tried to be as a hockey player was involved. And I feel that way off the ice as well. I think hockey is the best of all sports, and I'm fiercely protective of it. I think there are moments where we protect traditions and moments where we evolve and advance. To me, if the concussion numbers come down and the game is safer and it filters down to minor levels, that will be a greater thank you than a nice article about me.