We've been working with our defensemen that when they get the puck, don't look to pass but take it to the net and try to score.

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.

I watched how fast he skated and how hard he shot that puck. I wish I had an extra No. 7 in a red jersey. I could have found a spot for him on my power play.

I'll be honest with you, when I was 22, 23, 24, I never thought I'd be a coach in the NHL. But I'm excited about the challenge . . . . The last couple of weeks I've been following my son's baseball team around and I kind of got the itch to coach, as silly as that sounds.

When Mess came in to the league from the WHA at 17 he was kind of raw,

I don't want to get into a situation like 2002 when we picked the team so early and then some players got hot later and we got criticized,