From as early as I can remember, I was focused on becoming a lawyer.
If you want to know how I feel, I'll summarize it in one word - terrible.
I'm not here to win a popularity contest.
The relationship between concussions and the asserted clinical symptoms of C.T.E. remains unknown.
I think there's always a line between what is parody in good fun in chanting and what is intended to belittle certain segments of society.
What our fans want, what our fans believe, what our fans are interested in is why we are what we are. But, nevertheless, ultimately we have to do the things that we believe are essential for the long-term health of the game, of the league, and of all of our franchises.
I couldn't do what I do day-in and day-out if I didn't love the game.
NHL clubs don't like having to shut down at a critical part of the season and disrupt our season for anything, let alone a situation where we're not given an opportunity to promote our presence.
Our economics are not baseball's economics. Our game is not baseball's game. Our owners are not baseball's owners, with one or two exceptions. Our union is not baseball's union. What we do has to be crafted and suited to address hockey, to address the NHL, to address our 30 teams and our 700-plus players.
Whatever you do needs to be sustainable over time, and taking the money in the short term and taking it in a bubble - like buying an Internet stock in 2000 - may not be sustainable.
A good fan base has developed around the Hurricanes, and I see the opportunity for continued growth for this franchise in the future.
We don't tell the officials to change the standard for the playoffs, but as we all know, time and space tends to evaporate very quickly in a playoff game; there tends to be a lot more physicality and a lot more adjustments in the course of a series.
I don't weigh into politics.
While we know gambling is part of the industry in Las Vegas, we're not going to make it all that easy for you to pick up a ticket, a gambling ticket, on your way into the arena.
At least two or three of the leagues in Europe over the last few months have said to us, 'We hope you go to the Olympics,' and I looked at them, and I said, 'Why?' and they go, 'Because if you don't send NHL players, we have to send our players, and that's way too disruptive to our season.'
What you want to do, particularly when you're dealing with a professional sports league and franchises and people's passionate commitment to the game and for the team they root for is, it has to be sustainable.
Doing jersey advertising for the World Cup is not in the same universe as putting advertising on NHL sweaters.
I don't see the Hurricanes relocating, period. I think the Triangle is a terrific market.
I think it's fairly clear that playing hockey isn't the same as playing football.
We're certainly not in position to expand into the East. We've been very candid and up front that if, in fact, we go through an expansion process, the world will know about it.
