Aaron Gagnon (born April 24, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets. (wikipedia)
I know my skating is my strength, but a small guy like me has to be much better than everyone else. There are some areas I need to work on ? my overall strength and defensive responsibilities ? if I want to make it to the NHL.
I started the season and two games in I am hurt. To go through an injury like that for six weeks was hard since most of it was a mental challenge more than physical to not let that pull you down.
I've been putting too much pressure on myself all season to go out and score all the time. I have to lose some of that weight. If I just go out and play my hardest, good things will happen.
Give them credit for a lot of blocked shots, but I know I had a couple that I tried to force and just missed the net. Those are the ones you have to bear down on and get them on goal.
We had the start we wanted, but we had a bad second period and let them back in it. A lot of bounces didn't go our way in this whole series; but there's nothing we can do, so we'll have to live with it.
We all expected more, to go farther than this. It's happened. There's nothing we can do about it.
The speed of the game stood out for me in terms of thinking quickly and making decisions. When guys get the puck on their tape it is off almost immediately and you have to learn to break to holes and understand that someone is going to be on top of you constantly.
You can't give a good player like Dubinsky that much open ice and he made us pay.
Players who are going to move on in their hockey careers show up in the big games. To be a great player you have to be a great player in the playoffs.
We played a strong game overall, but we made some critical mistakes and a good player made us pay. We can't give a player like Dubinsky that much open ice.
