PLAYER POTPOURRI from Florida Panthers Website
(posted on Brethedican.com Dec. 2, 2000)

Q&A With Bret Hedican

Defenseman Bret Hedican, known throughout the National Hockey League as one of the fastest and smoothest skaters in the game, is in his third season with the Panthers. Acquired on August 10, 1999, in the trade that also brought Pavel Bure and Brad Ference from the Vancouver Canucks, Hedican's importance to the team is often overlooked. Hedican tied a career-high mark with six goals last season and scored a total of 25 points. During the summer, Bret married his longtime fiancée, professional figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi in a ceremony on Hawaii's big island.

Which defensemen do you pattern your game after?

BH: “I don't try to pattern my game after anyone in particular, but I do admire certain aspects that other players bring to the game. Chris Chelios plays smart. He's always in the right position. Brian Leetch is good at creating offense and jumping into the play.”

Which Florida defensemen will surprise Panthers fans this season with an outstanding season?

BH: “I think Brad Ference will. He looks good. He put on some weight working out this summer and he's skating well. I think he's going to have a good year.”

Which of the young blueliners at training camp impressed you as someone who can make an impact in the future?

BH: “Rod Sarich played well in camp. He plays real smart and moves the puck well. I just like the way he plays. He's going to be a good one in the future.”

The Panthers' blue line took some hits in the press last season. As a Florida defenseman, how do you deal with that kind of adversity?

BH: “At times last year I wasn't happy with my play either. If anyone is going to be hard on me, it's going to be me. I don't have to hear from the media about it. Your teammates know who had a good game and who didn't.”

Do you take it personally when you're criticized in the media?

BH: “Any professional athlete has to have a little thicker skin than most people. To some degree you take it a little personally at times, but you just have to believe in yourself. You can't let somebody who never played the game get to you. They don't know what it takes.”

This season has seen a new NHL team take the ice in your native Minnesota, as the Wild entered the league. Will there be a part of you that roots for the Wild to be successful?

BH: “No, not really. I'm a Florida Panther. I hope in the future that they have a winning team though. I know everyone in Minnesota is excited about it. I think they'll struggle a little bit, but in time they'll probably develop a winning program. This season they should be able to entertain their fans.”

There were several Minnesota natives on the gold medal winning 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. You were 10 years old at the time. Was the “Miracle on Ice” of 1980 a big influence on you?

BH: “It really did have a big influence on me. I decided then, as a 10-year-old, that that's what I wanted to be – a hockey player. That's what I wanted to do. Kids can be affected like that.”

You've played in several international competitions for the United States, including the 1992 Winter Olympics. How does it feel to represent your country?

BH: “It's a great experience. It was a goal of mine as a kid to represent the United States in international play. It's a very exciting thing to do. I'd recommend it to anyone who ever gets the chance.”

Do you set personal goals for yourself? If so, what personal goals have you set for the 2000-01 season?

BH: “I've set some goals for myself for this season, but I'd really like to keep them to myself.”

You're known throughout the NHL as a great skater. To what do you attribute your success in that area of your game?

BH: “It's one of those things that I've worked on since I was a kid. This year I'm going to keep on working on it. There are always ways you can always improve.”

Are there any rule changes you'd like to see the NHL make?

BH: “No, not really. It doesn't matter to me. It's hard to say what exactly would help the game. I think the obstruction rules help the game, when players don't obstruct other players who are trying to jump up into the play.”

How special an event was your marriage in Hawaii this summer to your fiancée, Kristi Yamaguchi?

BH: “The wedding was just spectacular, a highlight of my life. We had a great week beforehand also, getting to know each other's families. We had golf, basketball, and tennis tournaments for our families and friends.”

Were a lot of your Olympic and Panthers teammates on hand for the big day?

BH: “(Former Panther) Mark Parrish came to the wedding and several guys I played college hockey with at St. Cloud State also came. There were just lots of family and friends. Kristi had quite a few of her figure skating friends attend like Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano.”

People predict that you and Kristi will have children blessed with unbelievable skating abilities. Have you two discussed having kids at some point?

BH: “We'd like to have kids at some point. We'll see.”

How do you and Kristi deal with your conflicting schedules and all the travel?

BH: “Sometimes it's hard dealing with each other's schedules. Her schedule is tough from January through April, but in the summertime it's great. We have the same schedule off in the summer."

(interview by: Randy Sieminski)

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NHLPA.com: 10 Questions with Bret Hedican

Tuesday, April 25, 2000,  ES

"I can play probably 20-30 songs"

Ben Affleck. Vince Vaughn. Wayne Gretzky. Faith Hill. Metallica. Edwin McCain. Hootie & The Blowfish. What does Bret Hedican have in common with all these people? Read on and find out.

Apparently you can sing and play the guitar a little like Hootie & The Blowfish. Is this true?

“I don’t know, I don’t think that’s true. No. (laughing) I play a little guitar, I have fun with it, but it’s not something I’m overly serious about. One time, the guys threw me up on stage in Vancouver at the end-of-the-year party. And I’ve been on the radio station there in Vancouver, as well. I did play a Hootie & The Blowfish song but I wouldn’t say I sound like him. He’s good. But I did take my guitar into a radio station with a guy from that station who plays the guitar, too. We were both kind of jamming on the radio.”

Do you ever karaoke while you’re on the road with your teammates to show off your talent?

“No, I haven’t done that yet. I don’t have any real inkling to. Like I said, I’ve done it for fun for like the last five years. I picked up a guitar and I just played very casually. I’m not very serious about the guitar but I do play and I can play and I can carry a tune. I can play probably 20-30 songs.”

What’s your favorite type of music?

“I don’t want to cop out on the question but I just listen to everything. I listen to Metallica, I listen to Sade … I can just listen to everything. I enjoy country, I enjoy every realm of the spectrum, I guess.”

So who are some of your all-time favorite bands?

“I enjoy U2, they’re one of my all-time favorite bands. I enjoy a new band called Edwin McCain, I really enjoy this guy. He’s a kind of up-and-coming star. Seal is one of my favorites. I enjoy Metallica, they’re one of my favorites.”

Suppose you had the opportunity to do a duet with any musical star. Who would you want to sing with?

“Faith Hill … Faith Hill … Faith Hill!”

You’re getting married in the near future. If you could choose anyone to sing at your wedding, who would you pick?

“We’d probably need a good dance band. The Eagles would be cool. I guess they’re one of my all-time favorite bands, too. John Cougar and The Eagles. Those are two of my favorites. Those two would be cool for the wedding.”

Now suppose you and your wife are off on your honeymoon and you end up stuck on an island for the rest of your life. Choose one CD, one book and one board game?

“Probably the Eagles latest CD that they came out with which was just when they got back together. For a book, well, I’ll take a subscription to a magazine instead … probably People. And then for a board game, Twister.”

Pretend you’re still stuck on the island but only with your cell phone. Who would you call and what would you ask for?

“I suppose I’d call my mom and ask her if she’d like to come and cook me a home cooked meal!” (laughing)

Who’s the celebrity that you were most awestruck meeting?

“Probably Wayne Gretzky.”

What celebrity do people tell you that you resemble?

“People tell me I look like the guy from Swingers, Vince Vaughn. I’ve been told I look like Ben Affleck, too.”

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Page One: Transcripts from Interview with Bret and Kristi

 

CHARLES: An American love story, but was it love at first sight for Olympic gold medallist Kristi Yamaguchi?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT HEDICAN, FLORIDA PANTHERS: She doesn't remember. Come on, she doesn't remember who I was. And that was the funny thing about it, was that when I went over and introduced myself again in Vancouver, it was fun to kind of just go over and say hello.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES: Kristi Yamaguchi's heating up the ice again, but this time she won't be skating on a rink, she'll be gliding down the aisle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Coming up on PAGE 1, women's figure skating is considered a refined sport filled with artistry, so marrying a professional hockey player is one of the last things Kristi Yamaguchi could have imagined doing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI YAMAGUCHI, FIGURE SKATER: The hockey players come in and they're, you know, spitting all over the place and, you know, changing in the lobby of the rink, and, you know, they're just kind of a different breed from the...

HEDICAN: No class. No class.

YAMAGUCHI: ... from the figure skaters. So, you know, it was definitely the last type of athlete I thought I would ever date.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHARLES: Now, as he does each week on PAGE 1, Jim Huber joins us. This time, with the story of two athletes, who happily learned they had even more in common than they thought.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM HUBER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nick, America might need to find itself a new sweetheart, now that Kristi Yamaguchi is semi-officially taken. Hers is an interesting story. It's a relationship that was founded, literally, on very thin ice.

(voice-over): They met as fellow Olympians in Albertville. And it didn't take long for Bret Hedican to take notice of the newly crowned queen of the ice..

HEDICAN: She made an impression on all of us, because she would come up, and she was just excited to be there and happy to be watching the hockey team and the players and be a part of it. The United States and representing us, I guess,...

YAMAGUCHI: The Olympic spirit was there, you know.

HEDICAN: Yes, the Olympic spirit.

HUBER: Is it was three years before the two crossed paths again. Both had taken to professional ice: Kristi touring with Discover's Stars on Ice, Bret with the NHL's St. Louis Blues before being traded to the Canucks. Both were in Vancouver for the 1995 grand opening of the GM Place Arena.

YAMAGUCHI: It was pretty funny, because we had a post reception after the big event in Vancouver, and one of my choreographers was with me, and I said, oh, you know, I just met this guy. He was on the same Olympic team. He's like, oh, well he keeps looking over here. He's cute. Why don't you go talk to him? And I was so embarrassed, and, you know, I was back, you know, transported back to grade school.

HEDICAN: And I kind of embarrassed myself, walked over and said, hi, I met you in '92 at the Olympics, and I just wanted to introduce myself again and just say hello.

HUBER: They began dating soon after, but though ice was their common ground, it was an unlikely pairing.

YAMAGUCHI: Growing up, you're always fighting for ice time, the hockey players come in and they're, you know, spitting all over the place, and, you know, changing in the lobby of the rink, and, you know, they're just kind of a different breed from the...

HEDICAN: No class. No class.

YAMAGUCHI: ... from the figure skaters. So, you know, it was definitely the last type of athlete I thought I would ever date.

HUBER: Despite that, romance blossomed. But the distance made things difficult. The telephone often their only link for weeks at a time.

YAMAGUCHI: We're constantly in different time zones, and sometimes, you know, when he's in Vancouver, there's three hours difference. And by the time I'm back from a show, you know, he's out to dinner. And then by the time he gets back from dinner, it's 3:00 in the morning my time or whatever. So, yes, it was a challenge. But I think it kept the relationship, you know, fresh.

HUBER: By Christmas last year, Bret ready to propose. But even that was a challenge.

HEDICAN: The one thing I wanted for Christmas was just a night for her and I to go to dinner, and again she invites...

YAMAGUCHI: My sister and brother -- her husband...

HEDICAN: So I couldn't...

YAMAGUCHI: to go along with dinner.

HEDICAN: I obviously couldn't do at dinner then, so I had to wait for the right time.

YAMAGUCHI: I was just like, oh, my gosh. This is, like,...

HEDICAN: The moment.

YAMAGUCHI: ... the moment, you know. And, you know, you think about it all of the time and, yes, I was just speechless for a while. And -- but I knew my answer right away.

HUBER: Though they have the ice in common, they travel it in very different skates -- or figure eights.

HEDICAN: I had never tried figure skates before, so I put them on. I just wanted to see what it was like...

YAMAGUCHI: And they were rentals at that, so probably not in the best shape. But he was doing pretty good and, you know, trying to be graceful with his arms and, you know, doing crossovers still looking like a hockey player, though. But he was fine until I said, OK, let's do one fast lap around the rink.

HEDICAN: So as soon as you accelerate on hockey skates, you can. And on figure skates, you have the toe pick there. And down I went. I hit my elbow so hard.

YAMAGUCHI: It pretty much echoed through the rink.

HUBER: It's called falling head over heels, a malady they both hope will last the rest of their lives. And they will take their vows to that end next summer.

HUBER (on camera): Nick, marriage is about compromise, and there's been none tougher for Kristi Yamaguchi than the switching of allegiances. For years, she was a devoted San Jose Sharks fan. Now, of course, she must followed the Florida Panthers. I guess it makes for a little bit easier home life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES: Jim, to say marriage is a compromise is an understatement.

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Daily Diary-Bret Hedican
MARCH 6, 1999
By Brian Biggane
The Sporting News

Hedican: "I proposed to Kristi because of the type of person she is, not what she does." (pic included in article)

When the Florida Panthers acquired Pavel Bure in a blockbuster January 17 trade, they also picked up defenseman Bret Hedican, a 28-year-old native of St. Paul, Minn. Hedican spent three seasons with St. Louis before being traded to Vancouver just before the 1994 playoffs. He played all 24 games as the Canucks reached the Stanley Cup finals that year, then four and a half more seasons in Vancouver before being traded. Hedican has recently become more famous for his relationship with 1992 Olympic figure skating gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. The two got engaged this past Christmas, and Hedican talks to TSN correspondent Brian Biggane about their relationship.

Kristi has always been a big hockey fan. Back when I played for the Olympic team in '92 she was coming to our games, and we wound up being introduced at one of the functions. All the other hockey players and figure skaters were there, so I wasn't surprised she didn't remember when I mentioned it later.

Then three years ago, she was hired along with Canada's Kurt Browning to perform at the opening of GM Place, the new arena in Vancouver.

When she came up, I just went over and introduced myself. She didn't remember me, and I felt like I'd embarrassed myself quite a bit, but she came over and started talking to me, and we talked about the Olympics a little bit.

It was a big production that night. Shania Twain, Sarah McLachlan and David Foster all performed. We got together afterward and spent some more time talking.

The next week we had a game down in San Jose; she not only lives in that area but was a big Sharks fan and was going to quite a few of the games. I called her the night before, and we went out for ice cream and really hit it off.

As it worked out, we bumped into each other about seven times that year, when her tour was in the same place as we were playing. Then she did a Canadian tour after her U.S. tour, and that ended in Vancouver about the same time we got eliminated from the playoffs. So we spent the week together in Vancouver, and it's just gone from there.

Probably the question I get asked the most is how we get to spend time together. There is a time when we're both very busy; for about four months starting with Christmas she's constantly on tour and I'm playing hockey. But the rest of the year we get to spend time together, and especially so during the summer.

The last year and a half to two years it's eventually gotten more and more serious, and it finally got to a point where I decided to propose last Christmas.

There was a big snowstorm in Vancouver two days before Christmas, and I had a real tough time getting out, but finally I caught a plane on Christmas Eve and got down to San Francisco.

I was planning to do it at dinner, but then her sister and her husband decided to join us, so I put it off. Finally, after that, I decided to take her to a restaurant at the top of the hotel that overlooks the city. Then I got down on my knee and begged.

We've pretty much decided the wedding will be July 2000, but we haven't got an exact date yet. That gives us a whole summer to plan.

I get asked about what it's going to be like to have a life with a celebrity, but that wasn't a factor at all. I proposed to Kristi because of the type of person she is, not what she does. We just get along so well, we understand each other. That's the bottom line.

People also ask me if we're going to get together so we can breed skaters. I know it's a joke when they say it, but believe me, I'll take a healthy child and go from there.

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Transcript of Hockey Night In Canada Interview Feb 28, 1998

SCOTT: ...Minus leader, Bret Hedican, nursing an abdominal strain, how's it coming along?

BRET: I feel much better the last few days. It's really improved. I was on the ice for the last few days and feel good. Really this week I'll be out with the team skating in practice.

SCOTT: Based on what's happening to Jyrki Lumme, playing 36 minutes a game, how do you like that kind of a system where you're going to get that amount of time?

BRET: It's nice. When you're playing as much as we have -- I like it, you're playing 30 minutes a night -- it's a good feeling some nights, but when you're playing back to back games, those are the night you really got to play.

SCOTT: Bret, with the team, they're bigger and tougher, you got to be optimistic about a run at the playoffs.

BRET: Definitely, This team I think's got the capability.

SCOTT: Bret, thanks a lot. Good luck.

BRET: Thanks, thanks for having me on.