National Hockey League (NHL)

"Dad taught me a lot about the game and what it takes to get to this level, and there's no question he's been the biggest influence on me."

"Every year, I just want to do better than I did the year before."

"I always wanted to play in the Olympics and always wanted to represent my country."

"I don't score highlight reel goals. They come from work, from getting into the corners, getting a little dirty."

"If it happens that I score 50 goals, it'll be awesome. Any player in the league would like 50. But I don't keep thinking every day that I have to score in order to reach 50 goals."

"I grew up in that hockey-family atmosphere, where there were pictures all around from the North Stars to Team Canada."

"I guess everybody needs a little kick sometimes to wake you up."

"I love playing three, four times a week. That's what I've always wanted to do. In college we played Friday, Saturday, then had the whole week to think about it."

"I'm so much more comfortable with my role-I'm able to try things and make plays that I probably wouldn't have done a few years ago."

"It was a tragedy when the North Stars left, but it was great when they brought in another team there."

"Things just happen to be going really well right now."

"You don't want to look too far ahead or get too excited about anything, so I just want to keep doing what I've been doing."

"You get hot sometimes, and other times you feel like you can't put the puck in the ocean."

"He developed in two years in college what some people take five or six." - Dean Blais

"He makes a lot happen offensively." - Brian Gionta

"He's a sharp, sharp kid." - J.P. Parise

"He's always soaking up information. He's one of the hardest workers and he likes the spotlight. He's a special one." - Scott Gomez

"He's finding out the NHL is not glory all the time." - J.P. Parise

"He's got the flair for the big time." - Scott Gomez

"He's what you'd say is a complete player, in just about every aspect of the game and, yet, he's only going to get better." - Brent Sutter

"His work ethic is always great." - Claude Julien

"I think he definitely has the capability of putting in 50." - Jamie Langenbrunner

"The first thing you notice about Zach is his work ethic. He plays at a high level and goes at it non-stop. It's fun to watch and I think the rest of our team looks at and sees him playing that hard and there's no reason for us not to be following. He sets a great example." - Jamie Langenbrunner

"We don't look at points here. We look at winning, and whether Zach scores or doesn't score right now, he's doing things and bringing tremendous character and learning." - Lou Lamoriello

"Zach has proven what everyone said coming in, that he can be a top-echelon player." - Jamie Langenbrunner

"Zach is strong, he's got great hands, he's got great knowledge of the game, he can shoot the puck, knows how to pass the puck, knows how to get into areas to score and knows how to make guys better around him." - Brent Sutter