Kreider draws on influence of Bourque, Messier

The New York Post shared a Q&A with Rangers winger Chris Kreider Thursday evening.

On his boyhood Stanley Cup dreams:

"I didn’t have a ton of posters on my wall, but I had a Stanley Cup poster up on my wall. You grew up watching the Bruins kind of edge their way into the playoffs, and always bowed a little early, and then see Ray Bourque get traded to Colorado and watch him hoist it, just the emotions that are associated with that, how he can appreciate it as much as he did because of trials he went through in the course of a long career, a long successful career. It’s every kid’s dream. …

"Team trophies are so much fun, man, that’s a huge part of why I went to Boston College, too — an opportunity to win trophies, It is so much fun when you’re winning as a team."

On meeting Mark Messier:

"He actually came and talked to our team once at Boston College. He was one of my favorites for multiple reasons, but one thing that kind of stuck with me. He said, 'I know a lot of guys that won a lot on good teams that I wouldn’t consider winners, and I know a lot of guys who never won a thing in their entire career that I would consider winners.' That kind of stuck with me, just kind of how you address your profession on a daily basis."

Source: Steve Serby, New York Post