Jake Gardiner

Jake Gardiner had 30 points in 75 games for the Leafs last season. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

Mark Malinowski
2012-08-26 10:34:00

Status: Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman.

Height: 6-foot-2  Weight: 193 pounds

DOB: July 4, 1990  In: Minneapolis

First Hockey Memory: Skating outside in the backyard, my dad and I were shooting at my brother, he was two years younger than me. I think I was four years old. I remember that we'd always shoot pucks in the backyard."

Hockey Inspirations: "Joe Sakic was always my favorite player and always kind of looked up to him."

Last Book Read: "Holes (by Louis Sachar)."

Current Car: "Jeep SRT8."

Greatest Sports Moment: "Winning the World Junior Championship."

Most Painful Moment: "Losing in the National Championship game to Boston College."

Favorite Uniforms: "Leafs."

Favorite Arena: "Winnipeg. (Why?) It's the loudest."

Closest Hockey Friends: "Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, all my former Badger teammates at Wisconsin."

Funniest Hockey Person Encountered: "There's a lot of funny guys, Joey Crabb's pretty funny."

Toughest Competitors Encountered: "Dion Phaneuf's up there. (Why?) He's had some big hits for us and he's tough to play against. Him, Brian McGratton - that guy's scary. He's huge. Saw him fight Rosehill last year. Rosey did a good job. Rosey's pretty tough too."

Most Memorable Goal: "My first NHL goal probably (against Al Montoya, New York Islanders)."

Embarrassing Hockey Memory: "I think maybe I stepped on the ice with my skate guards once. And fell. I didn't just fall once, I fell twice. Got up and fell again. I didn't know what was going on. That was pretty embarrassing."

Strangest Game: "I played an outdoor game at Camp Randall (Stadium) in (Madison) Wisconsin and there was 35,000 people there, so that was out of the ordinary."

First Famous Hockey Player You Met Or Encountered:  "One of the Wild players, I think it was Andy Sutton or Darby Hendrickson. Darby Hendrickson was probably the first."

Favorite Sport Outside Hockey: "Golf, for sure."

Personality Qualities Most Admired:  "Funny people, definitely. Easy-going, fun to hang out with year-round. Talkative. Like to do activities, not just sit on the couch and do nothing."

Mark 'Scoop' Malinowski's second book "Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew" is available on www.amazon.com. Malinowski is the creator of two websites: www.thebiofile.com and www.tennis-prose.com