Status: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman.
Ht: 5-foot-10 Wt: 194 pounds
DOB: March 18, 1975 In: Kuopio, Finland
First Hockey Memory: "When I was seven, going outside and playing hockey with my brother (Tommy)."
Hockey Inspirations: "Been a lot. Obviously now is to win the Stanley Cup. That's my goal, everybody has the same goal. When I was young, obviously it's a good sport I enjoyed, I had a lot of friends, you don't think about Stanley Cup. I had a really good time when I was young. I had a lot of friends in hockey, so it's one of those things you like to play with friends."
Last Book Read: "Last book was Finnish. But last American - actually it was one of those Stieg Larsson books, I can't remember the name."
Current Car: "Range Rover."
Nicknames: "There's a lot of different ones, but probably the Finnish version is Kime (pronounced Key-May)."
Greatest Sports Moment: "There's a lot of good memories. Probably winning the silver medal in Olympics 2002."
Most Painful Moment: "Losing that final."
Favorite Uniforms: "I like my own team - KalPa. (NHL?) Obviously Flyers."
Favorite Arena: "Wells Fargo Center."
Closest Hockey Friends: "Scott Hartnell."
Funniest Player Encountered: "Scott Hartnell."
Toughest Competitors Encountered: "My buddy Saku Koivu. (Why him?) Well, he never gives up. That's his...I know him for many years. He never give up."
Most Memorable Goal: "Probably my first NHL goal against Florida in 1998."
Strangest Game: "Well the outdoor games, that was kind of weird. Nice, but weird."
Last Vacation: "Turks and Caicos."
Favorite Sport Outside Hockey: "Soccer."
Pre-Game Feeling: "Try to be relaxed, not to think about much, try to be relaxed."
Favorite Athletes To Watch: "I don't really watch hockey that much, but when I do - Ovechkin, Crosby, those guys are great, Datsyuk. (Other sports?) Well I like soccer a lot, English soccer, Italian, Spanish, German."
Personality Qualities Most Admired: "Honesty, truthful."
Mark 'Scoop' Malinowski's second book "Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew" is available on www.amazon.com. Malinowski is the creator of two websites: www.thebiofile.com and www.tennis-prose.com