Cody McCormick

Status: Buffalo Sabres center.

Ht: 6-foot-3 Wt: 221 pounds

DOB: April 18, 1983 In: London, Ont.

First Hockey Memory: "Probably skating with my brother (Jesse) and my dad (Chris), it was a local outdoor rink. He would take us there right after work and we'd drag him out there. That was something that he reminds me of every once in a while, now that I have a kid."

Hockey Inspiration: "My family, they always supported me. My dad and mom. Took me to countless rinks. My brother was always there for me. That's something that you can't really forget."

Nickname: "’Mac’, ‘Chief’ a bit, with my native background. They just kind of come and go sometimes. But those are the ones that are kind of sticking."

Last Book Read: "Right now I'm reading a Band of Brothers, war memoirs of Dick Winters."

First Job: "I think I was helping out baling hay on a farm back home."

Current Car: "Ford F-150."

Greatest Sports Moment: "Probably just playing in the NHL. Something that I always thought of growing up. That's the first thing you want to do growing up and I was able to do it."

Most Painful Moment: "Just kind of the ups and downs of hockey, with the minors and that sort of thing."

Favorite Uniforms: "Buffalo Sabres vintage jersey. Chicago Blackhawks red ones."

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: "Cookie dough."

Most Memorable Goal: "I was with Colorado, game-winning goal. It was regular season against Vancouver. Just an intense game and we were battling for position in the standings. And I was able to get one there."

Closest NHL Friends: "Jeff Finger in Toronto and Cody McLeod in Colorado. We hung out a lot together."

Funniest Players Encountered: "Andrew Brunette was always one to make me laugh. They were always going back and forth and he's got a pretty good giggle on him I guess."

Toughest Competitors Encountered: "Playing against guys like Chara, who play hard and they're big and they're always out there playing their game. It's something you want to play against; it's a challenge to go down against him."

Strangest Game: "Out of the ordinary...lot of games that were just blowouts and stuff like that. There was a game in the playoffs where we lost like 7-1 and it was just, come on, nothing was going for us."

Funny Hockey Memory: "I've seen it where about three or four guys had their sticks cut probably half-way and they went to shoot a couple times and about four guys broke their stick on the same line. That was in Belleville, my junior days."



Embarrassing Hockey Memory: "I tripped on a breakaway once when I was younger. That stuck in my mind for a bit."

Favorite Players To Watch: "A guy like Datsyuk, how he can control the puck and that sort of thing. The plays he makes are fun to watch."

Favorite Sport Outside Hockey: "I play a little bit of volleyball, a little bit of basketball. Tennis. Try to stay busy with them I guess. I like 'em all."

People/Personality Qualities Most Admired: "Honesty. If you have that, you have something that can say a lot about yourself. Drive, I guess. Courage, I guess. There's so many ways you can have courage. And I've seen it with a lot of people."

Mark 'Scoop' Malinowski is the author of "Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson-Lewis Championship Battle" and creator of two websites: www.thebiofile.com and www.tennis-prose.com.