Matt Stajan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

The 24-year-old is playing his fourth year in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. A native of Mississauga, Ont., Stajan notched a career-high 33 points in the 2007/08 season, with 16 goals and 17 assists.

CBCSports.ca: How did you get into hockey?

Stajan: "Well, I just loved it from the first time I saw it. I watched it on TV, my parents obviously liked the sport and would watch it Saturday nights. As a kid growing up in Canada, you know, you'd watch with them. I had a stick in my hand before I was 3 years old, playing around the house, hitting a ball around. I kind of grew up with it and I love it.

"I started playing house league at Port Credit Arena. They have a little paperweight league, and as I got older I joined the GTHL, which is the AAA league in the Toronto area. I stayed around this area all the way up until junior, when I went to Belleville."

CBCSports.ca: What was the first game you remember playing?

Stajan: "You play so many games throughout your life, but I would say I always remember the games when you win championships as a kid. It's hard to win a championship at the pro level and in junior, but when you're younger you seem to win them a little more often, so you remember all those.

"There's not just one game I remember there. You win a lot of championships growing up because there's more opportunity, and you love every single one."

CBCSports.ca: Who was your funniest teammate, and why?

Stajan: "There's a lot of guys with different personalities and different humour, a lot of funny guys, but Kyle Wellwood is a very funny guy. He's a good buddy of mine, so I understood his sense of humour. I would sit beside him in the dressing room, so I think that's probably one of the reasons I find him so funny. I'd hear the little jokes that he'd say, and he's a good guy.

"There's a lot of funny guys in the dressing room, constantly cracking jokes, but I'd say Wellwood is one of the funnier guys in the league."

CBCSports.ca: Where was the most memorable tournament you ever played, and why?

Stajan: "Definitely World Juniors. I played for Team Canada in Halifax, so it was in Canada, and it's a really special tournament. You watch it on TV when you grow up, you dream about being there, so getting a chance to play in it was unbelievable.

"As a kid, you know, there's a lot of memorable tournaments. Any travel tournament where you play mini sticks in the hall at the hotel, those are fun. In terms of my whole career, the World Juniors was a great tournament. It definitely stands out."

CBCSports.ca: Where was the worst arena you've ever played at? What was it like?

Stajan: "The worst arena in the NHL I would say is the New York Islanders or Pittsburgh's arena. They're both pretty old, but actually, I like playing in them. I seem to have good games in those arenas, so I'm not going to say they're the worst - maybe just the oldest.

"As a kid growing up playing in Toronto, you go to a lot of old rinks. Our practice rink at Lakeshore is pretty old and cold in the wintertime. We have a nice dressing room that's nice to come to every day, but in the rink, it's really cold. They're building a new one, so that's pretty good for us."

CBCSports.ca: Where was the coldest game of hockey you ever played?

Stajan: "Coldest? Umm, our practices at Lakeshore are pretty cold. You know what, all the rinks are warm now.

"I'd say growing up, I used to go to an outdoor rink in the wintertime in Etobicoke a lot. They used to have shinny there, and playing outdoors in the winter, it's pretty cold. There's a few rinks in Toronto that make your toes freeze. You block a shot or something and it doesn't feel too good at all. Now we're pampered, all the rinks are pretty warm - actually, a lot of them are too warm."

CBCSports.ca: Who is the most memorable hockey parent you ever met? Why?

Stajan: "My parents are pretty memorable obviously, they're the ones that drove you everywhere, but that's the easy answer. "Most memorable parents, I can't pick one. I had a few guys on my team growing up that had parents that were great. They'd always have a smile when you came to the rink, and you know, some of them were kind of like a second dad to me. I'd carpool with them, have sleepovers at their houses.

"During games the other memorable parents are the ones that get pretty into it, making funny comments at the refs. That's stuff's pretty funny, I find.

"Really, there's a lot of hockey parents that helped bring me up, but my parents were great, and still are."