[FanIn80]

E-Rod interview on NHL.com:

After going undrafted, Rodrigues has played for the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche before arriving in Florida this season.

And in doing so, he has been a teammate of some of the game’s top players, with Jack Eichel in Buffalo and Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh and Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado and, now, Aleksander Barkov in Florida.

He is asked what he has taken from the centers, learned from them in his time around them.

“Honestly, the work habits. The competitiveness,” he said. “All these guys hate to lose. Like, they hate to lose. They may show it in different ways, some may be more -- the word 'theatrical' comes to my mind -- maybe more vocal about it. But down deep when you know ... they’re usually the most angry guy, whether they hold it in or whether they express it, usually the most angry guy in the room.

“I think that drive, the hating to lose, the wanting to be great, really drives them. I think it’s definitely a big quality to have in an elite player.”

So who is the most theatrical? It’s not Barkov, is it?

This is where Rodrigues starts laughing. This is where he clams up.

“That’s all I’ll give you,” he says. “It’s not him. That’s all I’ll give you.”

“All of them, they’re not the loudest guys in the room, but they all know when to speak up and it’s almost like they pick their spots,” Rodrigues said. “They don’t have to be yelling or motivating all the time, but when they do speak up, it’s almost like a shock to you. You get quiet and you’re like, ok, we’ve got to listen.

“I think they all have that in common. Obviously, all different people, but that extent of hardest working guys, usually most competitive guys and don’t speak all the time. But when they do, you’re listening.”

https://www.nhl.com/news/evan-rodrig...orida-panthers