from Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News,

What makes an elite athlete tick? And what sets apart the best in the world from those who are just pretty good? In hockey, we’re always putting superstars under the microscope in an attempt to figure out how Connor McDavid became Connor McDavid, or why Sidney Crosby is one of the greatest ever.

But who do hockey’s best players admire? Specifically, which players do they like to watch in other sports? That’s the question I posed to a bunch of top NHLers at All-Star Weekend’s media day and in my small, random sample, tennis icon Roger Federer was the runaway winner. But before we get to ‘Feds,’ let’s start off with some of the other answers.

NFL players got some love, starting with a certain New England Patriots quarterback.

“Tom Brady,” said Dallas’ Tyler Seguin. “A champion through and through and he has that hunger to continuously do it. I’d like to hang around with him and see how he is so consistent and what makes him tick.”

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