35 inspirational ice hockey quotes (and funny ones)

A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.    

– Wayne Gretzky

Great moments are born from great opportunities.

– Herb Brooks

You miss 100% of the shots you never take.

– Wayne Gretzky

My goal is to deny yours.

– Author Unknown

Hockey players have fire in their hearts and ice in their veins.  

- Author Unknown

To win the game is great. To play the game is greater. To love the game is greatest of all.

— Bob O’Connor

Hockey's a funny game.You have to prove yourself every shift, every game. It's not up to anybody else.You have to take pride in yourself.

- Paul Coffey

When you play hockey, you don't have any fear. As soon as you step on the ice everything goes away and you're focusing on the puck and focusing on the play.

- Alexander Ovechkin

I found out that if you are going to win games, you had better be ready to adapt.

- Scotty Bowman

I started playing hockey late and it was unclear until the very last moment if I was talented or not. But it turned out well.

- Alexander Ovechkin

I wasn't naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for, and that's the way I'll be as a coach.

- Wayne Gretzky

Nobody's a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better. It's hard to stay on top.

- Paul Coffey

It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s what you put into the practice.

- Eric Lindros

The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.

- Wayne Gretzky

Whether somebody is really competent – whether he has a good hockey mind, whether he’s a good person to lead a hockey club – is something determined over a long period of time, not one tournament.

  Steve Yzerman

Hockey is a unique sport in the sense that you need each and every guy helping each other and pulling in the same direction to be successful.

- Wayne Gretzky

“To succeed in hockey, you need teamwork.”

– Henry Samueli

You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave – win or lose.

- Gordie Howe

Hockey players wear numbers because you can’t always identify the body with dental records.

- Author Unknown

Four out of five dentists surveyed recommended playing hockey.
Author Unknown

My teeth weren’t that good to begin with, so hopefully I can get some better ones. 

– Duncan Keith

Half the game is mental; the other half is being mental.

- Jim McKenny

All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.

- Gordie Howe

A puck is a hard rubber disc that hockey players strike when they can’t hit one another.

- Jimmy Cannon

How would you like a job where, every time you make a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?

- Jacques Plante

Why is a puck called a puck? Because dirty little bastard was taken. 

– Martin Brodeur

Sometimes you do the hard work and set the table and somebody else eats the meal. 

– Brian Burke

The biggest thing we get out of it is seeing the kids smile. And hopefully we will also see that the lessons we’re teaching – not only the fundamentals of hockey, but also the life values – are sinking in.

– Bobby Orr

Whether you’re trying to learn in hockey or trying to learn in life, I’ve always tried to be observant and tried to learn more, tried to evolve, whether it’s as a hockey player or as a person. With each year, I try to do that. 

– Sidney Crosby

The one thing I'd always wanted to do in my career is push myself out of my comfort zone - I think I'm really comfortable with being uncomfortable. So that's why I played pro men's hockey, that's why I played softball and hockey at the same time, that's why I'm not afraid to speak up - that's just who I am.

– Hayley Wickenheiser

I find that I've tried to become a better hockey player every year and not just hold on. At the same time, I've also made it a point to increase or grow in some other area of my life. If I were just playing hockey, I would probably be done with the sport.

– Angela Ruggiero

People would say, 'Girls don't play hockey. Girls don't skate.' I would say, 'Watch this'.

- Hayley Wickenheiser 

It's never been easy. But I've always wanted to play hockey. I love hockey. I'd rather play hockey than do anything else. If you have that kind of desire, I think you can achieve what you want to achieve.

- Manon Rheaume

Women are playing [hockey] because they love it, not because they’re trying to be a woman in a man’s game. - Cammi Granato

“People don’t know how fantastic women’s ice hockey is. People don’t know how fantastic hockey is in general.” – Hilary Knight