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10 Hockey Quotes for Hockey Families

By Touchpoint Media, 02/06/18, 10:30AM CST

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Hockey’s greatest players, coaches and people offer us advice, inspiration and perspective about our favorite sport. As we march through the season, Minnesota Hockey compiled a list of 10 hockey quotes for hockey families.

“To win the game is great. To play the game is greater. To love the game is greatest of all.”

—Bob O’Connor, former Edina coach and USA Hockey national coach-in-chief

 

"My recruiting key: I looked for people first, athletes second. I wanted people with a sound value system as you cannot buy values. You're only as good as your values. I learned early on that you do not put greatness into people, but somehow try to pull it out."

—Herb Brooks, Saint Paul native and legendary college, NHL and Olympic coach

 

“You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave – win or lose.”

—Gordie Howe, holds the all-time record for playing in 1,767 NHL games

 

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”

—Wayne Gretzky, holds or shares 61 of the NHL’s records

 

“If you’re a former player, whether that’s high school, Division I or III or Olympic, just get on the ice and allow girls to see someone who’s done that. I think girls’ eyes just light up and they think, ‘If she can do it, I can have those same exact dreams.’”

—Natalie Darwitz, Eagan native, former Gopher and two-time Olympic medalist

 

“Winning the state championship, that represented your neighborhood. I would have to say that it was my biggest thrill ever. It was just the guys in the neighborhood and that was special.”

—Herb Brooks

 

“There are too many one-hour players. They’re waiting for one hour of indoor ice when they could use the natural ice God has given them for five or six hours.”

—John Mariucci, Eveleth native, distinguished Gopher player and coach

 

“Whether talking about winning games or the amount of practices to schedule, it’s important to be realistic and remember that, while hockey is a great way to teach us life lessons, it’s not something that should define us as people.”

—Joel Johnson, White Bear native, Gopher women’s hockey associate head coach and has coached the U.S. Women’s Under-18 Team to four-straight Under-18 Women’s World Championships

 

“When we were growing up, we didn’t think about college hockey or the Olympics or the pros. We thought about making the high school team and getting to the state tournament.”

—John Mayasich, Eveleth native, Gophers all-time scoring leader and two-time Olympian and 1960 gold medalist

 

“It’s a great day for hockey.”

—Bob Johnson, Minneapolis native and renowned high school, college, professional and Olympic coach

Have a favorite hockey quote? Share it with us!

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