SB: Do you remember the first time you were ever asked for an autograph, or someone wanted to interview you, and what that was like for you?
JS: I don't remember the first autograph, but one of the first interviews I did was with ESPN The Magazine when they were doing their 'Next' edition and E.J. Hradek came over to my house and that was kind of big -- the first big thing. I'd had some local media coverage when I was 13 and they'd come to my high-school games and I was scoring lots of points, and I'd do interviews that way. But the first big interview I did was with E.J. Hradek for ESPN The Magazine. I was like 14, 15 probably at the time. It wasESPN The Magazine, so they weren't really doing a whole lot of hockey at the time, so it was definitely pretty cool that you were getting recognized on more of a national level, I guess.
SB: What's the best advice you'd give to your 18-year-old self?
JS:That's a tough question, on the spot. I would say just keep enjoying the game, not take any day for granted because it's pretty fun getting a chance to do what you're doing. I think sometimes when you're a young player, you take for granted all the wins and all the days and the success you're having. I would just say just keep enjoying the game and try and grow with it.
SB: If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would it be?
JS: I would probably train smarter at a younger age maybe to avoid some back problems that I had. And I think I probably played through injury too much early in my career. I would say that's probably (what) my biggest one would be. I played through injury when I was 22 instead of just getting surgery right away. I think I made (the decision) on my own. I was influenced by how good our team was. It was in an Olympic year. I made the Olympic team and our team was one of the best teams in the league. So, I felt like it was an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup and to play in the Olympics, so I played through a herniated disc, but I couldn't walk and did some damage to my nerve. That probably took me a few years to recover from that.