T. J. Oshie

“My Uncle Henry had a rink in his backyard. I remember one night I woke up too excited to sleep. I think it was 3 A.M. I was young. I put on my skates and I went out there by myself for about five hours before everyone else woke up. So, that was my first real experience on an outdoor rink and it's been that fun ever since.”

“When I go to the rink, it's time for business.”

“When I'm out there, the last thing I'm thinking about is if I'm going to get hurt or if I'm going to get another concussion. If it happens, it happens, but if I start thinking like that, I don't think hockey would be too fun if you're skating around scared.”

“I want to score goals, I want to be on the first line of the power play.”

“You can never show enough for the military for what they do for us and I happen to like hearing stories and follow along closely.”

“I'm not going on the ice to get points, I'm not going on the ice to make a highlight-reel hit or goal.”

“This expansion stuff, I wouldn't want to be the guy who has to select who to protect and who not to.”

“I don't think you ever hope someone has a broken nose or a broken bone, but sometimes that's the way it goes.”

“I never got in a fight in college.”

“I haven't won too many championships in my lifetime even through the youth years.”

“That's kind of the stuff you dream about when you're a kid playing in the backyard by yourself, is scoring the OT winner and getting a hat trick.”

“I get all my scoring chances from the forecheck, from the backcheck, putting pressure on guys and taking away the opposition's time and space. I just never realized that until I watched some game tape. They're usually off turnovers. That made me want to check harder after seeing that.”

“My dad was one of those dads that was always in the backyard playing with you.”

“I'm just looking for that extra work ethic on and off the ice to get me to the next level. When that comes, I think I'll be a lot better.”

“I'm there sometimes, I'm on top of my game, I'm getting hits, I'm getting pucks to the net and putting points up on the board. And then other times, I'm in a shell and you see maybe one shot on net, no hits, no takeaways. I've got to be more consistent.”

“Whatever format it is, I think playoff hockey is still going to look a lot like playoff hockey and it is going to be exciting and it is going to be fast.”

“With all the state championships and section championships and gold medals that this town has, now a Stanley Cup, there's no doubt that Warroad truly is Hockeytown U.S.A.”

“I want to be hitting, I want to be on the ice in the last seconds when we're up a goal and have to keep the puck out of our net.”

“Length changes. It changes your lie. It changes how low you are to the ice. There's a lot that goes into it. That's why everyone's sticks are so unique and so different from the other guys.”

“A hit to me is like a one-on-one battle; it's fun trying to win those, especially when the guy is bigger.”