It's tougher when you're established. Before, I'd see 13, 14, 15 pitches that I could drive in a game. Now, I see one, two or three, so I have to be better.

It's tougher when you're established. Before, I'd see 13, 14, 15 pitches that I could drive in a game. Now, I see one, two or three, so I have to be better.

I don't know if we're ready. I don't think we're July ready. But it's hard when you wear this uniform to go between the white lines and say, 'OK, I'm going to play 60 or 70 percent.' That's where I hope people don't get hurt, where your mind wants to be in July but your body is still in the middle of March.

When my son sees those signs that say: 'You drink. You drive. You lose,' he says, 'My daddy didn't drink and drive. Why did he lose?'

When the matches get tougher and you're pushed more, automatically, the level of your game increases.

Hockey is a very team-oriented team game, and even at times when there's individual brilliance, it's tougher in our sport than baseball and certainly than basketball for one guy to control the game. What he does I equate to Kobe Bryant or M.J. as one of the few athletes to play at that level.