Leon Draisaitl

“I tried it all. I played soccer, I tried golf, I tried tennis, I tried ping-pong, I tried everything. But at the end of the day hockey was just my favourite. That's what I wanted to do.”

“Scoring a goal in the NHL is something really special. It's something every kid dreams of and so did I when I was little.”

“For me personally, when I have the puck I still feel I can make the plays. I can still find guys in open spots and make those plays that I did in junior.”

“I come to the rink in the morning, look at the board to see where I'm at, then wherever that is I'll go play and try to be the best player I can be.”

“I want to give back to the Edmonton community, because it has given me so much.”

“If you get off to a good start your confidence is high and you're buzzing. Everyone's feeling great coming to the rink and practice. You lose the first four games then all of the sudden everyone's panicking and no one has confidence.”

“My entire life I wanted to play in the NHL and I think when I was starting to know I might have the potential, if I put the work in, to maybe get there one day it was just a dream for me. That's when I realized I wanted to play overseas.”

“I'm very proud to be German. I've said that many times. Whenever I can represent my country, I'll do that with a lot of pride.”

“When you're healthy, you try to play your best and you try to play with speed and try to play fast.”

“I hope people realize that I'm simply not Dirk Nowitzki, I'm Leon Draisaitl.”

“Individual awards are always great. You know, they show you that your hard work has paid off. But I'm in a team sport, right? So, winning the ultimate trophy as a team is more important at the end of the day.”

“My dad was a huge help. He told me that it's going to be different going to North America. It's a different game, a different style of hockey. He really helped me in that regard. My whole family was really supportive.”

“You don't want to go into games and just rely on your power play.”

“Greatness is consistency. So, I'm preparing for next season like I do for any other season and to me it's important to do it all over again. You know, show people that I'm capable of being at the top of my game every single year every night.”