Walker talks toughess

There's a story in today's print edition of the N&O about the toughness Scott Walker brings to the Canes. Here's more of what the veteran forward had to say:

On being called the toughest player, pound for pound, on the team by general manager Jim Rutherford:

"It’s a big compliment and something I pride myself on. I could be tougher mentally, I know that. But it’s really the reason I’m in the league.

"It’s not so much because I’m  fighting. It’s because when I first broke in the league, everybody was big. To be a small guy, I had to try to do not only something different but had to just make sure I was willing to battle with the big guys or the strong guys."

On his definition of toughness:

"There are many ways to define it. I've seen guys who aren't fighting tough but are tough. I played with a guy in Nashville who would block shots with his face if he had to. And he wasn't tough? He was tough.

"Then there are guys who are mentally tough. To me, the guys I like to play with are the ones who are going to play with a lot of injuries, a lot of adversity, the ups and downs. 

"It's easy when everything is going your way and you feel good about it and just go out and play. But when you're in a slump, are not playing well or not having a good year, but they're out there battling for you, I admire that. That's toughness to me."

On the necessity of team toughness:

"It's one of those things where you stick together. It's like you walk down a street and five guys are walking toward you. Somebody is going to say something to you, you know? But when you're walking with five guys and he's the one, he's not going to say anything.

"It's that old mentality: you walk together and when there are scrums and whistles, everybody sticks together and usually nothing will happen."

On using toughness to get into the league:

"I was a defenseman at first and wanted to play defense. Then they made me a forward. The biggest knock on me my first year in the minors, at Syracuse, was I was too small. When they say that, they usually mean they don't think you can compete.

"I had 317 penalty minutes that year in the minors. That helped me get noticed and showed the willingness to at least do it. Of course, you have to be half-decent, too."

On how much it helps having guys like Wade Brookbank and Tim Conboy on the team:

(laughs) "Sometimes, that can hurt. In Vancouver, I played with Donald Brashear and Gino Odjick and other guys like that. The guys on the other teams didn't want to fight them so it was like 'I'll just fight that Walker guy, he's smaller.' 

"People always ask does it help. It helps. But you've got to have the whole team be tough."