- I was a Kings guy.
Gretzky retired, so I became a New Jersey Devils fan.
And they won a Cup,
but I think against Dallas or something.
Was it Dallas or no?
I don't know.
They won a Cup at some point.
That's all I remember.
- Hold on. Wait, wait.
- Didn't they get three of them?
- Yeah, exactly. They won three.
Jay Pandolfo, Johhny Mad Dog, if you're watching this,
just know that he was a fan of you guys.
Marty, just know that I'll text you after.
We'll straighten that out.
- Favorite Stanley Cup moment,
either personally, or just as a young kid
growing up playing street hockey?
Who was your....
Flyers for you?
- My team was the Rangers, actually.
- Whoa. Really?
- Yeah. So I remember in '94 watching that with my dad,
and then I think there was a Game 6.
Pavel Bure had like a penalty shot on Mike Richter,
and he made a huge save. And they go back for Game 7
and win that for their first one in like 50-something years.
So that was pretty cool.
I remember that pretty vividly.
- Mine's probably personal: winning in '07.
I remember scoring the final goal,
a slapshot from the ... from right in the slot,
and there was like three minutes left in the game.
You just knew it was over. And, you know, we went to the
wall and O'Donnell grabbed me.
It was his last season, and he went out on top.
We were pretty happy in the huddle.
That's pretty, pretty special when
you get to lift the Cup.
And you see guys that, you know, play all these years
and never get to do it,
and then finally get to do it and go out on top.
It's pretty special.
- What went through your body
when you scored that goal?
What were you....
Did you blank ... did you blank out?
- Yeah, I just put my hands in the air
and just skated to the wall and, you know,
I got mobbed after that.
It was a good moment, and something I'll never forget.
- Gio, growing up you were a Leafs fan?
- Yeah, watching Doug Gilmore, Wendel Clark,
when Gretzky, you know,
he should have had a high-sticking penalty.
- Says all five million people in metro Toronto right now.
- Went on to score, and then score a hat trick in Game 7.
It was sort of ... sort of tough to watch.
But those were some good years when they went
to the conference finals.
I just remember being so disappointed
because it would have been a Toronto-Montreal final,
which would have been pretty cool.
But yeah, they had some pretty good teams.
I watched some games in the Maple Leaf Gardens,
and the atmosphere was great.
So I'd say growing up in Toronto and cheering for them,
those were some, some moments that stick out, for sure.
- Doughts, you were a huge Kings fan?
- Yep. That was just solely because Wayne Gretzky
is my favorite player.
I idolized him, you know,
had a 99 jersey and whatnot growing up.
When I found out I was potentially getting drafted to L.A.,
we knew I was either going to L.A. or the team after that.
And like I so badly wanted to go to L.A. Like my room,
the GM and stuff came to visit me before the draft, and like
my room was still at that time like
L.A. Kings pillowcase and L.A. Kings sheets.
I didn't live at home anymore, but....
I guess I would've....
Yeah, I would've.
I had like an L.A. Kings phone.
Anyways, so I just loved Gretzky.
I loved him so.
Then I got to play for them, so it was pretty cool.
- Who was the guy that you grew up idolizing?
Who, Trev, who was the guy for you?
- Honestly, Doug Gilmour was the best.
Wendel Clark.
You know what?
It was Gary Leeman.
- Really? Screamin' Gary Leeman?
- Loved Gary Leeman.
I wore number 11 growing up. I loved Gary Leeman.
- Yep. Sick hands.
He was one of my favorite players growing up.
- Was he a D-man?
- No, he was a forward.
He's a forward, yeah.
He's a winger, right? A winger.
- Yep, Gary Leeman could shoot it.
- He was fun to watch.
- JVR.
- Um, yeah....
- Mess, since you're a Ranger guy?
- Actually, Adams Graves. He was my guy.
- Gravy, great call, too.
- Yeah, yeah. Loved watching him play.
And then, there was one of those years where
he did a signing in Jersey,
probably like 15 minutes from my house.
It was kind of random because it's like an hour-plus,
probably, from the city, took him to get there.
But I remember being there for hours
and getting something signed from him.
So that was always a pretty special thing.
- That's cool, man.
- Yeah, it was awesome.
I got a chance to meet him at the draft
years later, so it was kind of cool.
- Full circle, right?
- Yeah, comes full circle, and connect it all back.
Yeah, so that was cool.
- I'm probably Lemieux. Mario.
Yeah. He's ... he was probably my guy growing up.
The long stick, the toe drag.
- The pole vault.
- Yeah. He can ... he can move the puck
from one side to another pretty quickly.
And, you know, that's something
I've kind of taken to my game as ... growing
up, and definitely helped.
- Now, in retrospect, looking back,
what's one thing that you'd tell your younger self
when you first came in the league?
Based on what you now know, based on experience.
- Work on the mental side of the game.
Confidence is so huge in our game.
You know, we've all felt it, and we're all....
When you feel it, you're in the zone.
But it's the times when you're not feeling it,
you still gotta be able to perform and be a good player.
- That's the biggest thing.
You just said it: confidence.
When every time you step on the ice, you know....
When you have the puck the game just slows down
when you have confidence.
Try to build confidence in people and yourself.
It takes you a long way.
- For me, I would ... just be, again,
try not to get too high or too low because, again,
there's lots of different swings,
obviously, over the course of a long season.
So there's gonna be things that don't go your way,
but trying to stick with it through those times,
I think that helps
you have more success in the long run, and just really,
just sticking with that process.
And trust that they're gonna lead you to have some success,
and really kind of live by those.
- When I was young, you know, nothing really
bothered me. Nothing fazed me.
Now, things start to faze me, the more older I get. Like....
But I remember when I was young, I wasn't in the gym,
I wasn't really leading by example in those types of ways.
I was leading by example on the ice.
But I think I learned as I got older, you know,
how much those things affect the rest of the guys
on your team, and how it can make your team come together.
So I've really improved in that area.
So I kind of wish I had that ...
had a better grasp of that when I was younger.
- One hundred percent. Confidence.
I remember coming in and guys ... it goes quick and
you know, you're a young guy coming in. You're just like,
you know, "How quick could it go?" You know?
- Sure
- Now, it went quick.
- At 971-whatever games, now.
You're looking at a thousand games this year.
- Yeah. It's like, "Where did it go?"
- Right. Exactly
- But yeah, confidence is so big.
Just enjoy it. We have the greatest job in the world,
you know? Just enjoy it.
- I would double down on that.
I would say just ... just enjoying every day.
Just enjoying every day in the league. The days fly by.
I remember being young and being in the minors,
in the American league, and then when I was in the IHL,
old IHL ... because you had veteran guys
that played in the NHL.
"We see. Enjoy it bud. We see. Enjoy it,
young guys. Have fun."
And whatever, "What are they saying?"
But next thing you know you're 23,
next thing you know you're 25, then you're 28.
Then you're 30, and it does fly by.
It really does, and before you blink your eyes, it's....
in my case 34, 14 years later,
playing pro and then into career number 2.
So I think it really does fly by. It's cool to hear
that all you guys are really passionate,
and you guys are really obsessed with hockey.
I think if the cameras weren't here,
and the lights weren't here, and you guys had your gear
and you guys are putting your gear on
and you guys are coming out here to play.
- A little early still, Weekesie.
- See that's great, so then you can't....
Then you can't recruit me then.
Then you can't recruit me for the summer games. Perfect.
Guys, thank you guys so much.
James van Riemsdyk, Corey Perry, Mark Giordano,
Drew Doughty, Trevor Daley.
Thanks all of you that are tuning in and
that are gonna have an opportunity to watch this.
I'm Kevin Weekes. We're signing off.