1. THIS IS A HOCKEY TOWN. SORT OF. "You could feel the playoff fever last year. People were talking, Ducks flags were hanging out of cars. But it's not like back home in Finland or even Canada, where girls wanted my leftover chicken bones from a meal I ate. That hasn't happened here. Yet."
2. CELEBS ARE TAKING NOTICE. "We're not the Lakers, but stars like Mark McGwire, Lindsay Davenport and Cuba Gooding Jr. come to our games. Cuba is so funny. He's a big fan, so he comes to our locker room before games and puts a show on. He tells jokes, he dances. He's a cool dude."
3. WE NEED A RUSSIAN TRANSLATOR. "I laugh every time our goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, opens his mouth. He translates for himself and always ends up using the wrong words. Fortunately, he's funny. As long as your teammates are smiling, it's a good thing."
4. WE'LL MISS JOFFREY LUPUL, BUT WE'LL GET OVER IT. "Joffrey has a great future, but trading him for Chris Pronger was a great move. To have the top two defensemen in the league, Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, it's unbelievable. Both play a solid 30 minutes with different lines. This is the strongest defense I've ever played with."
5. COACH CARLYLE IS HARD TO READ. "Randy expects us to want to win as much as he does. You never know what's coming next with him. Last season, before a game in Vancouver, we had to ride bicycles around the coast. But he's started giving us days off, so we think he's getting soft."
6. DON'T MESS WITH TODD FEDORUK. "Personally, I love fights. I get pumped when I see them. Especially when it's your friend. Except Andy McDonald. He's a great guy, and my friend, but he shouldn't fight. Leave that to Todd Fedoruk. He's our top fighter, for sure. Nobody can compete. He's fought all the heavyweights. I'm happy to have him on my side."
7. REALLY, DON'T MESS WITH FEDORUK. "He's our prankster. Today, he put tape on Dustin Penner's skate blades. When Dusty stepped onto the ice, he fell on his ass. Todd also controls the locker room iPod. It has everything from rap to country, but Todd decides what gets played."
8. I MISS BEING MIGHTY. "They changed our name, but I never heard teammates complain about being with Disney or being called the Mighty Ducks. I always liked being called Mighty. And we got Disneyland passes!"