“I’m an 18-year-old kid playing with guys like Mark Giordano, Matt Stajan, Troy Brouwer, guys that are almost 15 years older. The thing I was worried about coming in is ‘How am I going to fit in with the team? I was pretty comfortable coming into a new locker room just from what I saw at a young age. I saw the way my dad treated people—the trainers, his teammates when he played. Talking with him a lot, he really stressed that to me.

“When I talk to him it’s the two things he always brings up: compete and be a good teammate. Treat everybody equal, whether it’s trainers, coaches, players, and that was one thing I really tried to emphasize when I came in last year.”

-Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames on After Hours. More from Sonny Sachdeva of Sporsnet along with the video which you can also watch below.