Allen Kevin - J.r.: the fast, crazy life of hockeys most outspoken and most colourful personality

In 2007, I was watching Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby being interviewed live by NBC analyst Pierre McGuire before an NHL playoff game, and I wanted to reach through the television and grab Crosby by the fucking throat.

McGuire asked Crosby what the Penguins needed to do to beat Ottawa, and Crosby was prattling on about how the Penguins needed consistency and to have every Pittsburgh player step up.

It was the wrong fucking answer. It was a bullshit answer. When McGuire asked Crosby that question, Crosby should have stared into the eye of the camera and said, We are going to win this game because Im going to be the best motherfucking player on the ice.

If you want to inspire your teammates, those are the words that get the job done.

Thats what I would have said. Maybe I would have sanitized my language for television, or maybe not. It would not have been the firstor lasttime I said something I should not have said on live television.

Crosby should have taken that moment in 2007 to announce to himself and his teammates that failure was not an option. Dont give us that We are going to try our best line. Mark Messier isnt remembered for saying his team needed to be consistent against the New Jersey Devils in the 1995 playoffs. Hes remembered for guaranteeing a victory against New Jersey. Patrick Roy didnt stand up in the Montreal dressing room and tell his teammates he was going to play consistently. Roy told his teammates that if they scored two goals, they were going to be Stanley Cup champions because he wouldnt give up more than one goal.

In 1996, I pissed off Team USA general manager Lou Lamoriello because I predicted the Americans were going to win the fucking World Cup of Hockey. I hadnt even been named to the team yet, and I ended up not playing because I didnt have an NHL contract. But I wanted to fire up my teammates, and maybe rile up the Canadians, with my words.

When I was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1992, captain Dirk Graham told us, You will see me play the best game Ive ever played tonight. Then he went out and scored a hat trick.

We were in awe of him after that effort.

When you are an athlete and someone asks you what you intend to do to win a game, you need to challenge yourself. You need to announce to the world that you intend to do whatever it takes to win. You need to show some balls. Thats the way I played. Thats the way I think.

The modern athlete has become too worried about saying anything that is going to rile up the other team. Modern stars worry too much about being diplomatic.

Fuck diplomacy. Leave polite competition for church-league softball players, or athletes who let fear be an obstacle to realizing their full potential.

Fear of failure can paralyze your inner drive. Fear can become the roadblock to your success. Fear can prevent you from achieving your objective. Fear can overwhelm you to the point of smothering your dreams and ambition.

But you can look at fear another way. Fear can also be the worlds greatest motivator. Former NHL coach Mike Keenan taught me to use fear to fuel my energy. When I became terrified by the consequences of failure, thats when I played my best hockey. The thought that Keenan could bury me on the bench, or kill my career, scared the shit out of me. It also motivated me to play the game as if my career depended upon my next shift. If I wasnt an NHL player, who was I? Was I going to be a garbageman? Was I going to be a fireman? I didnt know. I just knew that the idea of not playing hockey was fucking frightful.

I wasnt a physical player before I played for Keenan. Fear of Keenan motivated me to become a top NHL player. That fear drove me for two decades in the NHL. No one influenced my career more than Keenan, but there were two other events prior to my meeting Keenan that had an impact.

When I was seven years old, I went to a Hartford Whalers game, and Gordie Howe was playing for them. A bunch of us would lean over the glass to get a better look as players skated in the pre-game warmup. During one of his laps around his zone, Mr. Hockey scooped up some ice shavings and dumped them on my head as he skated by. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seenuntil a couple of seconds later, when Howe looked back and winked at me.

For three seconds, it was just me and Gordie Howe connecting. That moment changed my life. I felt like Gordie had given me a gift, and I wanted to pay it back. When I arrived in the NHL, I made sure I connected with fans the way Gordie had taught me to do.

The other event that changed me was watching the U.S. team defeat the Soviets on television in 1980. It was that moment that I knew I wanted to be an elite-level hockey player. It was not Mike Eruziones goal that excited me as much as the celebration that followed the victory. I wanted to know what it would be like to celebrate with teammates the way the Americans did at Lake Placid. Like many other American players, I carried some of that confidence with me as I continued along my path toward an NHL career.

What links together the Howe, Keenan and Eruzione moments is that they each made me emotional and fuelled my passion. Flying around the ice with my jersey flapping behind was the key to my success. Certainly, talent is crucial, but you wont be respected at the NHL level unless you play with overflowing desire. Arent passion and emotion what life is about? I really dont want to do anything that doesnt stir my passion. Life is short. Why bother with anything that doesnt excite you?

When I started this book project, my stated objective was to produce an honest, raw, emotional book that gives the reader a peek at what happens to players when the curtains are drawn. Im hoping this work elicits a strong emotional response from you. When you read this book, I hope it makes you angry. I hope it makes you curious. I hope it makes you laugh. I hope it makes you think. Mostly, I hope it makes you wonder, What the fuck was Roenick thinking?

If I get that response from you, then you and I are on the same page.