Mark Messier

I played with a lot of great players before. They're all the same. They take a lot of responsibility for their own play, put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform and to play well.

I think to compare any time you win a Stanley Cup would be unfair to all the players from all the teams.

There was a time there in the mid '80s to the '90s there that we played six finals, three Canada Cups, we were playing hockey almost 10 months a year for a long time there.

My first career ambitions involved turning into a boy; I intended to be either a railway guard or a knight errant.

Loneliness is an integral part of travelling. I used to think it was the downside to travelling, but now I realise it is a necessary educative part of it to be embraced.

Another thing that freaks me out is time. Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle and an end. It's just a cycle.