 Third-year forward Dan Collins is this week's player in “Breaking the Ice with…” The feature will be a season long series on plymouthwhalers.com and showcase a different Whaler each week so we can get to know them better.
Drafted in the 2nd round (32nd overall) by Plymouth in the 2003 OHL Draft, Collins was selected by the Florida Panthers in the 3rd round (90th overall) this past summer in the 2005 NHL Draft. Last season, Collins represented the United States at different tournaments and won 2 gold medals. Collins took a few minutes before practice to help us break the ice.
» On the greatest lesson he has learned through hockey…
“To be persistent. I think you have to keep going after what you want and keep working hard to achieve your goals.”
» On how he started playing hockey…
“I began when I was six and because I actually started watching games when I was four and five with my step-father and brother. We would watch professional games and then one day he asked us if we wanted to play and we both wanted to play pretty bad.”
» On who has influenced him the most in hockey…
“Probably my step-dad because he got me into hockey and kind of helped me out during the whole time. He never played, I don’t even know if he can skate.”
» On his youth hockey highlight…
“Playing in the Quebec Tournament. I know a lot of guys said that, but it was pretty exciting when we went up there and played. It’s a pretty big atmosphere.”
» On his most memorable goal…
“There’s not too many right now. I don’t really have one.”
» On his and John Vigilante's shootout woes…
“I know talking to him, he’s having some trouble. I feel confident when I get out there, but for some reason we can’t get the puck in the net. We’re 1-for-10 combined, so we’re not doing too well there.”
» On his dream goal…
“It would be in the Stanley Cup Finals, game 7, there’s 5 seconds left and I get a penalty shot. This time I’m going to score on it. I’m going to score on (Martin) Brodeur just because I watched him growing up and he’s one of the best goalies there is.”
» On scoring his 50th career goal and 100th career point this past week…
“That was pretty exciting because there’s not too many guys in the history that played for Whalers that have done it, so it was pretty exciting to get done.”
» On his most embarrassing hockey moment…
“It was probably a couple weeks ago when I was skating backwards on the far blue line over there and I just fell. There was nobody near me and I just fell.”
» On his best moment in a Whalers' uniform…
“I think when we beat Kitchener in the playoffs my first year just because the playoffs are so big and the fact that we won was pretty big for us.”
» On championships he has won…
“We won the Under-18 Championship in April, other than that I’ve won two state championships in New York; and the Four Nations Tournament, we won that.”
» On playing for the US Under-18 Team…
“It was great because they (the players on the U.S. NTDP) welcomed me with open arms because they had done it the whole year, letting in new guys. The fact of being in the Czech was a little different. It’s a culture shock.”
» On playing against James Neal in the Under-18 Tournament…
“It was kind of hard because we’re good friends, and played together a whole year, but then I still had to look at him just like I would look at anybody else because we want to beat him.”
» On playing in the 2005 Prospects Game…
“That was a big experience too. I played against James there again. There’s just so many good players there, it’s hard to do anything because everybody was in the right spot and they were so talented.”
» On his chances of playing at World Juniors…
“It depends on what they are looking for. There are so many forwards in the US and they’re so deep this year that it’s really whatever they’re looking for and what they want at that point in time.”
» On being drafted…
“It was pretty exciting being drafted, I actually found out watching the computer. My brother told me, I was just sitting there, so it was pretty exciting when it happened and really relieving. I went to rookie camp in August in Ottawa. There were about four or five teams there. It was pretty tough.”
» On playing major junior instead of college hockey…
“I think it suited my play a lot more and you get to play twice as many games, so it helps you develop a lot better.”
» On his hometown…
“Carthage, New York is a very small town in New York known for lacrosse. There’s actually a lot of good lacrosse players produced from there. I played against Tom (Sestito) when I was younger and I’ve played with him growing up. I also played with Andrew Fournier growing up.”
» On living with a billet family…
“It’s really great having billets because they really welcome you with open arms and my billets have been great. They’re loving and caring and they really do anything for you.”
 » On the player he tries to model his game after…
“Kind of like Bill Guerin, he’s a hard worker, but he also has some skill.”
» On the toughest player he has played against…
“Jeff Carter. I have heard that from a lot of people. It’s Jeff Carter. He’s so fast and he shoots so hard, you can’t stop the guy.”
» On his typical day…
“Normal day is get up around 9:15. I have to pick up (Vaclav) Meidl and come to the rink at 10. Get a workout or something in. Usually go hang out with (Justin) Garay at his house, get some lunch, then come back for practice. Then the day of a game, I eat a pre-game meal around 3 and take a nap before coming to the rink. I take a couple of classes over at Schoolcraft that are going towards business.”
» On his jersey number #17…
“No, my buddy wore it when we were growing up. I wore different numbers all the time, but he always wore #17. We were good friends and when I came here, we had to have lower numbers and I had higher numbers, so I took 17. There’s no real reason for it.”
» On his nickname…
“My nickname’s ‘Sherm’ because my first year here, me and Tim Sestito were good friends and I had red hair and I was the only one on the team with red hair, so they decided to call me ‘Sherm’ from the movie American Pie, Shermanator.”
» On his superstitions…
“I don’t have any superstitions really, but if I have a good game I do the same thing the next game; if I don’t have a good game I just change everything. (John Vigilante) Vig says I’m very superstitious, but I don’t think I am.”
» On what he would do if he didn't play hockey…
“I would want to be a golfer. I like playing golf a lot. I want to play golf. In the summer, I golf and work out, that’s about all I do.”
 » On who would be in his golf foursome…
“Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux.”
» On his dream vacation…
“It would be warm, I’d be golfing a lot, and I’d be really happy.”
» On the funniest thing that has happened on the road…
“I don’t even remember stupid stuff on the road.”
» On his funniest teammate…
“(Ryan) Stephenson by far.”
» On how he met his girlfriend…
“I was talking to James Neal online one day and I wanted to meet some new people so he gave me a couple names and I was talking to them. I saw she was going to the Whalers game one day, so I started talking to her and I ended up going to the movies with her one time. She went to the games when she was really little, but now she goes to watch me.”
» On what he brings to the team…
“I try to bring a leadership roll, scoring, and try to keep some pucks out of the net.”
» On what reality show he would be on…
“I’d be on the Real World just because I think I would fit in really well and I’d kind of be like Wes is right now on the Real World.”
» On the rule changes in hockey…
“I like the rule changes. I like the fact that there’s no clutching and grabbing. It opens up the game and the red line is taken out, so I have no problems. I don’t think they should change a thing right now.”
» On what other five players he would want on the ice with him…
“Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, and some other defenseman. I don’t care. It would probably be someone good I’m sure, and Brodeur.”
-Natalie Shaver, November 22nd, 2005-
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