"SAY WHAT?!" In 10th NHL Season, Noah Hanifin As Excited As His First Game As A Rookie

LAS VEGAS -- Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin has been in the NHL for 10 years, and to hear him talk, he still makes his way to the rink as excited as the rookie he was in 2015 with the Carolina Hurricanes.

After all, Vegas is playing its best hockey heading into the holiday break, it's arguably playing the best hockey in the NHL, and in February, the 27-year-old is looking forward to representing the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Life is good, and he couldn't be more appreciative.

"It's such a privilege to play in the NHL," Hanifin told The Hockey News recently. "I think for me right now, it's just that I'm in my 10th year, and it feels like I just started playing NHL yesterday, and it's just how fast it goes by.

"Just appreciating every single day you get to come to the rink and play hockey. It was my childhood dream, just to be able to do this every day. I'm very lucky and fortunate to be able to do that and just trying to enjoy the ride."

In March, the Calgary Flames traded Hanifin to the Golden Knights in a three-way deal that also included the Philadelphia Flyers.

Since arriving in Vegas, he's tallied 28 points (6 goals, 22 assists), and this season ranks second on the team with 52 blocked shots.

As part of our "SAY WHAT?!" series, here is a little more with Hanifin:

THN: What have you enjoyed most since arriving?

NH: "Just the people in the organization, the guys. I mean, it's such a great group. I've played on a lot of teams over the years, it's my 10th year, and I think obviously it's always good when you're on a team that's winning, but just a group of people here, the people on the staff, the equipment guys, trainers, everybody here is just top notch."

THN: Mental Health has become a big topic in sports, in general, as a veteran when you come into a locker room like this, who's kind of been your go-to guy to kind of lean on.

NH: "I think there's just a lot of guys. I think obviously Jack, somebody I knew growing up, he's one of my best friends. But there's a lot of veteran guys in this room, Brayden McNabb, Petro, Stoney, guys that are just natural born leaders that I think for anybody, there's a lot of ups and downs throughout the season, I think just to have that support when guys are hanging down a little bit, just to be able to pick somebody up, I think this room is great for it. And I think it speaks volumes about the organization."

THN: With seven Knights headed to 4 Nations, your thoughts on the leadership each person will bring?

NH: "I think there's a standard. I think that's something I noticed right away when I came here, is there's just a very high standard. And I think that just comes from having a winning organization. And in order to have it, you have to have a lot of guys that have experience with winning and kind of know what it takes to get there. And I think that's something this room is full of."

THN: You got married recently. What's been the best thing about being married life?

NH: "Nothing really has changed, to be honest, too much. She's great, it's great having her support. She loves Vegas, she loves living out here. I think just having her support throughout the season. It's a grind for our bodies, and having her just be able to support me and help out with everything around the house, it's just stuff's been great."

THN: Which teammate is most likely to ignore a text message?

NH: "Jack Eichel. Happens all the time. He's bad with his phone."

THN: What's one of your favorite stories that you can reveal for us about Jack Eichel?

NH: "He's always been the funny guy, right? Like, he's always been a jokester on the rink. Even when we were at the national program when we were 16,17 (years old). He was always like that. But I think Jack's just great at, for as talented and gifted as a hockey player he is, he's always since he was a little kid, he's always been an extremely hard-working guy. He puts the time in, he takes care of his body. He works really hard. So I think, it's not just all talent. His success. I think there's a lot of work that's gone into it, and I've seen that since we were young."