Getting To Know: Minnesota Wild center Charlie Coyle

Charlie Coyle loves Massachusetts through and through. In this week's Getting To Know, the Minnesota Wild center recalls playing at the TD Garden as a kid, talks about playing in Boston, and names a certain Super Bowl winning quarterback as his favorite athlete to watch.

Status: Minnesota Wild center

HT: 6-3 WT: 221 pounds

DOB: March 2, 1992 In: E. Weymouth, MA

First Hockey Memory: "When I played instructional in my first year. My dad was my coach, my cousin was on the team. And we played on this rink the next town over - three rinks, two on the outside were regular rinks, the middle one was like a miniature rink where the little kids play. It was like a square rink. I just remember playing there. Just going all out. It was a lot of fun, though, a lot of fun."

Hockey Inspirations: "My whole extended family on my dad's side pretty much all play. Like, all my cousins. I have two cousins who played in the NHL - Bobby Sheehan and Tony Amonte. So, kind of just a hockey family growing up."

Last Book Read: "I'm in the middle of reading Lone Survivor."

Current Car: "Right now I drive a Yukon."

Greatest Sports Moment: "Oh boy, there's a lot of little things. It's hard to stack 'em up, you know? Against each other. One I always talk about is when I was in high school as a freshman. I went to public high school and we played - and we went to the Super 8 Championship, which was like private schools and Catholic schools, who pretty much were considered all stars, being that they had people from all over towns. We just had a public school - we beat three of those teams in a row and made it all the way to the finals. Played in TD Bank Garden. That was a huge deal for our town and stuff. It was a pretty cool memory. It was a pretty cool accomplishment by us. I was a freshman at the time. So I was just a little guy out there but it was cool to remember that. So I love thinking about that."

Most Painful Moment: "That's a tough one. I'd probably say last year in the playoffs. Either getting hit in the face with the puck was one, or I hurt my shoulder as well. Hopefully there's more to come."

Favorite Uniforms: "Ours. And I think I gotta go with the Bruins, my home team, growing up with it."

Favorite Rinks To Play: "I like playing at the XCel Energy Center. And it's always nice going back to Boston."

Why Do You Love Playing Hockey: "It's just fun. It's the adrenaline rush. It's an exciting sport to watch and play. I've had fun doing it all my life. I like meeting new people and you make a lot of friends in the sport."

Funniest Players Encountered: "Keith Ballard has a pretty dry sense of humor. Zenon Konopka. Torrey Mitchell. Jason Zucker is sitting next to me, he's raising his hand, but I don't know if I can put him in there [smiles]."

Fiercest Competitors Encountered: "There are a lot of them out there that play like that. Against - Zdeno Chara, he's always tough, he brings it all the time. You know when you're out there he's gonna be all over you. He always plays tough. He's a strong guy and a big defenseman."

Most Memorable Goal: "Not too many of them so far. I'll go with the first one, I guess. Always remember the play, how it happened and who you scored against."

Embarrassing Hockey Memory: "Probably too many to choose from. I just can't think of one right now."

Favorite Sport Outside Hockey: "My one regret is not playing football. I liked playing with my friends in the backyard but I never played on a team."

Three Athletes You Like To Watch & Follow: "Tom Brady, definitely. He's up there for sure. I'd have to really think about the other two...I'll just leave it at Tom Brady."

Mark "Scoop" Malinowski is the author of the new tennis books "Facing Federer" and "Facing Hewitt" which are available at amazon. He's currently working on "Facing Probert."