- I would have to go back to '93,
when the Leafs went to conference finals,
played L.A., has to be my earliest memory.
I think I might've been out the front
of this building, waiting for the guys to come in
and go out, so I could wave to them.
I was just a huge Leafs fan,
you know, go sit with my grandpa and watch Don Cherry.
Growing up in the city, you're kinda of, uh -
you don't have a choice,
you have to bleed blue in this city.
So that's where it all started.
My first Cup run, with Pitt,
finding out the news about my mom being sick.
I think I found out right before the playoffs started.
She was in the hospital,
and she never got out of the hospital.
I went to see her and kind of put things in perspective
that she was probably never gonna get out of the hospital.
Which, you know, obviously when you're told that, it's ...
I don't think anything prepares you for that.
Just managing both playing games,
worried about how Mom's doin'.
The organization knew what was going on,
and I didn't discuss it with the guys.
Only Coach knew about it, so.... And Sully was great about it.
He gave me all the time I needed to go and deal with it,
but I think a lot of it was my mom pulling for me
to follow my dream.
And, as a parent, I can see why you want
the best for your kids,
and that's all she ever wanted.
She didn't know much about hockey,
she never once talked about the actual game
other than, you know, "Did you have fun?"
And made sure after every game I had a hot dog and a Sprite.
That's probably one of the fondest memories
I've had of my mom is she was always happy to watch me play,
until I got hurt, you know, in the conference finals.
I had a broken ankle.
You know, now I look back at it
and it was kinda bittersweet.
Obviously I didn't get to play in the Cup finals,
but I got to spend a little bit of time
with my mom before she passed,
which it's crazy how things work out.
Winning the Cup in San Jose,
I traveled with the team, and with a broken ankle,
I asked 'em, if I could - if we did win that night,
if I could tie up my skates and go out there
and celebrate with the boys, and you know,
the rest of it's ... I guess it's history.
I remember just jumping on the ice,
and being like, uh, it's a little bit of a step down,
so I'm like trying to ginger on the ice,
and grabbing guys and congratulating guys,
and, you know, you're giving hugs and kisses.
And I remember Sid sayin' - he's like,
"You're getting it first."
And what am I gonna do with this?
I can't skate, I got a whole thing of tape
wrapped around my ankle.
He gave it to me, and I don't know what I was doing.
I have no idea what.
I had to watch it and look at pictures to know
because I was lost in the moment.
It was so cool ... I just - I knew my mom was watchin'.
It was pretty special.
It's definitely probably the hardest trophy to win,
but it's the most fun to have with it,
once you do do it.
This was amazing.
I got to see my mom a little bit more,
which was the right thing to happen, I think.
The following year I got to play in the finals
and win a Stanley Cup, a year later,
which ... pretty surreal too.
The whole two years, from getting traded to Chicago
in the offseason, to Pittsburgh.
My life was a reflection of a hockey game,
it was a bit of a roller coaster,
and we're pretty fortunate to be here,
and to be doin' what we're doin' for a living.
You gotta be humble, and enjoy the process.
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