Word Association with Robitaille - Luc on His Teammates

Each group of players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame has a uniqueness about it. Occasionally, guys that were rivals during their playing days are enshrined during the same year. However, rarely does a player going in share the stage exclusively with guys he called teammates during his career. Luc Robitaille is once again Lucky, as he has played with all three of the other members that make up the class of 2009.

Before heading to Toronto he shared a few thoughts with us on each of them...

Steve Yzerman - Along with Mark Messier, he was one of the best leaders I ever played with. Stevie is right up there. He had to lead a group of primadonnas when I was in Detroit. We were a bunch of superstars. But somehow, they way Stevie is, how hard he works, how humble he is...made it that we all excepted a role and played for one cause, which was winning. Certainly for me he is one of the players I have the most respect for that I ever played with. I think very, very highly of him.

Brett Hull - For me to play with him was the ultimate. I had always watched him throughout my career and wondered how he got so much of an opening on the ice. To see him day in and day out, to see how much he loved the game...how much he put into it. People don't realize how much he put into it because he always seemed to be that relaxed guy, so loosey goosey - but he worked hard at being really good at his game.

Brian Leetch - Obviously, he was one of the best defensemen to ever play the game. But what impressed me the most was in those days we didn't have time sheets. We didn't know how many minutes a guy was playing. If I were to guess, when I was there (in New York) he was playing 35 minutes a game and he never missed a practice. Never took a day off. One of the hardest workers I ever played with.

The greatness of those three guys is obvious, as all three are headed into the Hall this Monday. Additionally, Luc had the chance to play with other legends, like Wayne Gretzky, Marcel Dionne and Mark Messier during his career. Yet, I wondered if there was one guy that he didn't get to play with that when looking back over his career he really wished he could have...Luc wasted no time in answering:

Mario. When I went to Pittsburgh, Mario didn't play that year. When the lockout happened my first year there it changed my contract situation. They wanted me to come back and they kept trying to entice me with the thought of playing with Mario. Because of the lockout though my option year wasn't going to be a factor. My agent filed for arbitration like he was supposed to. Because of that, at the time I was the only player to have scored 40 goals eight straight seasons, so they knew we had a good case. When they figured out they weren't going to be able to resign me, that's when they traded me to New York. But if I had gotten to play with Mario it certainly would have been special.

Finally, for a little fun, we played word association using current and former Kings. Here were Luc's answers:

Jim Fox - he's quick, like a fox
Marcel Dionne - like a father figure to me
Tiger Williams - I was scared of him
Steve Duchesne - good friend
Kelly Hrudey - great goalie under pressure
Tomas Sandstrom - what a competitor
Tony Granato - great person
Robb Stauber - crazy goalie, couldn't believe the way he would run at guys
Marty McSorley - worked hard, put everything into being a better player
Dustin Brown - a pure power forward
Ian Laperriere - one of the greatest teammates you could have
Matty Norstrom - a really great roommate
Rob Blake - one of the greatest people I know, good leader
Adam Deadmarsh - played the game the right way
Sean Avery - my little puppy (he laughs)
Jeremy Roenick - great player, amazing guy in the locker room
Anze Kopitar - great future with the Kings
Alexander Frolov - underrated, a pure goal scorer

We'll have more on Luc leading up to the Hall of Fame ceremonies on Monday.

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/MayorNHL
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor

RELATED ARTICLES

20 Questions with #20 - an interview with Luc Robitaille

Interview with Rob Blake

Interview with Kelly Hrudey

Interview with Marcel Dionne

High / Low with Luc

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High / Low with Lucky Luc

For many hockey fans Toronto is the center of the universe. There's no denying that's true for at least the next few days as four of the greatest players ever will be inducted into the Hockey Fall of Fame there on Monday. They all have something special about them. Yet, Luc Robitaille is just a little different than the rest. We all know the story of the ninth round draft pick that went on to become the highest scoring left wing in NHL history. But for the Kings organization and it's fans its the first time truly one of their own is being enshrined. Dionne and Gretzky had great years in LA and are key parts of the team's history. However, Luc was selected by the Kings and grew up right before our eyes. He is Los Angeles. He is a King.

Right before Luc and his family headed off to Toronto for the festivities this weekend he spent some time with Mayors Manor and reflected on his playing days. We'll be publishing a series of articles over the weekend reviewing various parts of his career. To start things off, let's look at what Luc said were the Highs and Lows of his career:

HIGHS

• My first game in the NHL
• The Gretzky trade in '88
• My entire career in Los Angeles

note: I had to interject here with "Interesting, Luc. You left the cup off the list." He said "yeah" with a real drawn out pause, as if to rethink his answer. Then he said "Well, I guess you could put it down as an asterisk, you know." Funny thing was, I had the impression he wasn't being sarcastic. It really struck me.

LOWS

• Leaving LA the first time
• The Stanley Cup Finals in '93
• Being traded in 1994 after playing with a broken ankle

Luc wasn't just a player. He's always been a fan of the game too. And fans connected with him because of it. So, it's only fitting that a few of his highs and his lows would match up with those of many Kings fans. The connection lives on.

It was a pleasure to watch Luc play the game he loved so much. I'm sure I'm probably not the only person in Los Angeles who can say this, but...thanks, Luc - you helped me love love the game a little more too.

We were the lucky ones.

One19
www.twitter.com/Mayor119

other MayorsManor articles surrounding Hall of Fame weekend:

20 Questions with Lucky - the full interview
Luc on his teammates
Players speak out about Luc

HIGH / LOW with ESPN's John Buccigross

If you were following hockey when the Y2K craze was in full stride, you probably spent a fair amount of time watching the NHL2Night on ESPN. The 30 minute show gave hockey fanatics their nightly fix of scores, highlights and analysis. Guiding the puck fest was John Buccigross, an ESPN anchor and now author. He's hard to forget - with his music references and pure love for the sport. In between duties for ESPN we caught up with John to get his take on the first week of the NHL season.

With one week in the books, what would say have been the HIGHs so far?

1. Calgary Flames - I picked them to finish first and they look good so far. They seem to have a little magic to them.

2. Sidney Crosby - He's now a good faceoff man. That's the sign of a winner. Keep improving.

3. Alex Ovechkin - 70 goals? Another MVP? Probably.

And on the flip side, the LOWs of the young season?

1. Boston Bruins - Trade Phil Kessel and the offense is severely hurt. They should get better.

2. The Referees - A lot of ticky tack calls.

3. Toronto - All bark, no bite so far.

Later this afternoon we'll post a more in depth interview with John. Fear not, we'll be looking for answers on why he reversed course and now says the Kings will not make the playoffs. Enquiring minds want to know. And the Mayor needs answers!

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor

RELATED ARTICLES

Interview with John Buccigross of ESPN

Interview with Kelly Hrudey - former Kings goalie, now a commentator on TSN

Interview with Luc Robitaille - sit down with #20 a few days before his Hall of Fame induction

Interview with Mike Modano - arguably the greatest American born hockey player of all-time

Interview with Bob Miller - legendary voice of the Kings talks favorite players, games, moments, etc.

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