Dave Checketts Quotations

Next season we will move ahead and begin working toward the ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup championship. That's what I think is very possible and I want our fans clearly to know that.

I exist in a world that's pretty gruesome. All I can tell you is this: I'm trying to keep my balance.

If ambition is the desire to be the best at what you do, then I'm guilty.

The people here are very passionate about sport if it's presented in the right way. They want to be major league and they want to win. Two very simple things.

It enhances the whole game experience to have a soccer-specific stadium. That's what we'll do.

The fact that we have 44 to 50 alumni that still live here and still love St. Louis ... I want those guys involved with us, working for us.

We're not pursuing any other opportunities. It's not on our radar.

Success builds character, failure reveals it.

The aura of soccer is very different from other sports.

Sports fans have been mistreated for a long time. They have overpaid for inferior food and they have had poor service.

When you think about teams, one of the most critical things is stability. I want to just bring stability to this situation. The new owner's in place, a long-term owner, committed owner.

Bill Laurie still owns the team until we close.

What's been done in the past I really have no control over. Frankly, I like the fact that we have kind of a blank canvas with some young talent, some very good draft picks and a chance to really build.

We've got to get ready for that draft. It's real important. I want to understand what's done. If we have one of the first three picks, we could come away with a very good player.

There are a handful of legacy clubs like the Dodgers in each league. They're in major markets and have a history of winning where, if you do things right, there's an enormous upside.

When we traded him, I would say that was probably a lose-lose. It didn't work out well for anyone.

We've really battled through this. Now we have a change to build Soccer City USA.

Some people who know me might say, 'He's not a great example of a nice person; he's a malicious, tough and ruthless guy.' But when the day is done, as long as I've held to my values and been true to my family and my God, it won't matter what anyone else thinks.

You would never rule anything out that way, but I have to tell you, our total attention and focus is very much on establishing the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League.

If my children call me during the day and leave a message, I return those calls first, not last.

I've had experience running teams in very big markets, very rich markets like New York. I've runs teams on a shoestring in Utah, in some very small markets. The equation really doesn't change. What's critical is being responsible about it.

I want to bring stability to the team. We're going to be making long-term decisions to ensure front-office stability.

It's time for Salt Lake City to have another major league team.

The fans are the reason we get into this business. The fans here are worth a goal a game to the Blues.

I succeeded in turning a building into a business.

These things don't work unless there's some public-private partnership there. The notion that any of this money is just lining our pockets is just erroneous. They're (the county and city) taking over the land, just the way they do with any other private enterprise. . . . This just happens to be more public because it's private sports.

Any notion that we bought this to go elsewhere is silly at this point.

The good news for St. Louis fans is I understand what we did right in New York with the Rangers, and I also understand what we did wrong. Where we started to go wrong with the Rangers is when we got away from a drafting, developing, being careful about a team chemistry approach with an owner that just wanted us to buy every big name in the business. That doesn't work in hockey. I knew it then, I especially know it now.