“When I got to the NHL, I was a maniac!

I had a Super Nintendo with tons of game cartridges that I was constantly swapping out.

I had, and I’m not even joking, about 35 or 40 game cartridges scattered on my floor.

When I woke up in the morning, I ate breakfast while playing.

Sometimes, I arrived late to practice because I wanted to finish a level.

After practices, I’d play for another 5 or 6 hours, eat, then play again late into the night.

It was really awful.

It ended up affecting my performance on the ice.”

– Alex Kovalev, who adds that he slept very little and constantly forgot things he was supposed to do on the ice because of it.