John Muckler Quotations

When he is 100 percent, he'll come back and play in the playoffs.

We're just going to let them play right now, ... They're under contract for this year and that's something we'll look at.

I feel the Olympic experience is very important for the NHL, but I don't think it's all positive.

He was an idol of his as a boxer, but (Emery) knows now that he lost that right (to wear the mask) with (Tyson's) conviction as a rapist and a female abuser. Ray told me he would take it off.

We think (Eaves) is a guy who has a good shot, ... He's going to get a chance and we'll see how he performs through the exhibition games.

He's a terrific player who's going to get better. It was just that the time was right for us to make the move.

He was the best player on the ice. Jason showed a lot of poise for a young guy to be put in a position like that. The pressure did not bother him one iota. He didn't feel a thing. He just looked at it as a great opportunity and that's how it turned out for him.

I agree with that 100%, ... He doesn't have to play every game.

He wanted a little attention, he wasn't getting any with Dom around, not playing any games.

I think there's a little negativity in this town because they don't look at themselves as winners. It's doom and gloom, there's no doubt about that. They need some sunlight.

We were looking for somebody who could play on our second line and we feel he can do that for us.

We didn't ask him not to wear the mask. We just had a discussion about what was right and what was wrong. He said he would take it off.

We let a good hockey player go to Atlanta, ... But I just felt it was time for change. We had two runs at the Stanley Cup, one was partially successful, last season we failed. There's a reason when you fail and those reasons have to be looked and tried to be rectified and this is what we're trying to do.

We've had a plan right since Dom got injured. The plan is to have Dom 100 per cent and when he's 100 per cent he will come back and he will play in the playoffs.

We have a club here that has 105 points and we have a goalkeeper in Emery who is playing very well at this particular time. It doesn't make any sense to hurry Dom back. We do not have any hidden agenda.

You had to get rid of the other stuff before he started playing well.

It was the perfect fit. It was the perfect fit for us, it was the perfect fit for them. And we both made a great deal.

Right now, we don't have any hot irons in the fire. Have we been talking to teams? Yes. Do we want to make a move? Only if it betters our hockey club. And we don't want to do it by subtraction, only addition.

People should be excited because we've given them something to be excited about,

The whole city is behind us. I don't think people in the States realize how important this all is to Canadian people.

It's a severe suspension, five games. Marty is going to be a big loss to our hockey club, ... but having said that, there's no place in hockey for kicking. I'm very sure that Marty is very sorry it happened. I don't think he intended to injure anybody.

It's above the groin on the backside of his (right) leg and it's pretty high up. Yes, it's a slight strain.

That's one thing we do have going for us to change things around, is Marty coming back. That does make us a better hockey club.

Everybody is in a mode right now where they want to look at what they've got,

That's a possibility. I'm not going to say it will be that way for a month, but we might start the season that way,

I know everybody has a different opinion on this, ... I know what Dominik Hasek brings to the game and he brings passion. He loves the game and I have no question this is going to work.

I don't know if I've seen this kind of excitement in any hockey community since (Wayne) Gretzky went to Los Angeles ... especially in this size of a city,

The good thing is if he works hard there's a possibility he'll be able to come back for the playoffs.

I had a lot of fun in those days. It was a great experience being in the Eastern Hockey League for the simple reason that you did not have a staff.

Wayne came over to the bench one day after seeing (Zdeno) Chara, and said 'That's why I'm quitting.'

He's a gritty hockey player, he's got good vision, he's an intelligent player.