Battle of the Badges

Last night we went to another Old timer game where 4 former NHLers were playing in a charity event. It turned out, our godson and her parents showed up and sat with us. After the first period, I said I would show the grade 3 godson and his friend how to get some autographs. I gave him a book and his friend a black ccm helmet. We all went down to ice level to wait. They ended up playing 2 periods straight. So the kids went back to the parents and my wife warmed up inside. I really wasn't worried about the game so we just went back to the gate at the 5 minute mark. At the buzzer, Dennis Polonich came over and my godson asked for an autograph, he is a great signer so he signed all out stuff. He grabbed Warren Skorodenski, a goalie in the early 80's. Our stuff got signed and we looked for Jack Valiquette, a 70's Maple Leaf, found him, not a problem and the 4 of us looked for Cliff Ronning. They said he was in another dressing room. We spent 10 minutes looking for this stupid room, we found in in the back of the stadium and it turned out to be a Montreal Canadiens replica dressing room from the 1970's. Cliff Ronning had switched jerseys so no one really recognized him. I looked and thought that looks like him, looked down at his pants and it had the Phoenix Coyotes logo on them. busted....Nice guy but did not offer we had to ask. My godson went over and we got our haul signed. I asked him if it was true that in game 7 of the 1995 finals against the New York Rangers, he had a broken hand. He said oh yah, I asked if it was bad and he replied, it still bothered him. So we walked back and i went and put all the stuff in my vehicle. I felt bad cause the godson was pumped and the other kid had nothing. I went to the table selling signed stuff told him to pick out a signed mini stick. He took a Bryan Trottier and was happy. At the end of the game I took him back to the dressing rooms and he got his stuff signed. I have no idea who this kid is but thought that was right to do for him. The parents were taken that I gave a book and bought a stick for the kids. I laughed and told my wife the truth and people, I never do this but the kids were the perfect approach to get my stuff signed. The helmet turned out great.
So the haul with pictures was this.
Vancouver Canucks jersey
Black CM helmet
Chicago Blackhawks Goalie mask-singed by all four nhlers.
Dennis Polonich signed 1980 OPC hockey card
Jack Villequtte signed 4x6 and Maple Leaf puck
Warren Skorondenski signed 8x10
Lanny Macdonald signed mini stick
Gary Peters signed puck
Cliff Ronning signed 8x10

Fiona Smith Bell Team Canada Olympian

Ok, on Sat I heard an autograph session in Saskatoon for a Canadian Olympian, I did not make out the name but they were opening a new Royal Bank. They fed you lunch had draws, pop, games and Fiona smith bell signing for people. I thought to bring my camera, always a mistake when I don't. But she is a Canadian Woman's Hockey player. She won a Silver Medal in Nagano and has 3 World Championships. This team won a record 9 straight World Championships. She had all her medals there and you were able to touch them. She was really cool but I laughed when you could touch the silver, she had a loop around her figure. Hey I would too. I have many Team Canada jerseys and helmets but I had nothing. She had the Promo Royal bank shot of her and Team Canada sticks. We got our freebies signed chatted for a bit and had some lunch. She gave my wife 9 signed cards for her female hockey player students. Cool lady. A neat Saturday!

Great Pull from the Bronx Tristar Hidden Treasures

I bought a Tristar Hidden Treasures Baseball on ebay curious about the
autograph baseballs with every package. I got the first one today,
and raced home to open it. It was a guy I had never heard of but cool
none the less. It was Denny Mclain, 3x AllStar, 1968 World series,
1968 AL MVP, 2x Cy Award Winner and 3x 20 Game Winner, plus the last
guy to win 30. and the ball is signed 68 Cy Al. Not a bad pull I
guess. Pricey packs with shipping, about $40 CAN. I have a Bronx
Yankee Pack coming next week. Of course with both packs the hidden
gem is a Ruth signed ball.


Well for me I thought it was cool. Dave Winfield, but no inscription,
his card with the ball was full but nothing extra on the ball. He was
on the Blue Jay team that won the World Series in the early 90's, so
for a Canuck, cool....
12x all star
1992 Babe ruth Award
1994 roberto clemente award
3000 hit club
465 career hr's
92 WS Champ
7x Gold Glove
HOF 2001
but nothing on the ball......oh well..

Tim Cheveldae Signed Team Canada Jersey

On SAT of the Canadian Hockey Fan Fest, I had 15 mins to check out who was
signing before I had to Usher at a wedding where my wife was the a
bridesmaid. I walked up expecting Tim Cheveldae, he was not there. The fellow working the front said this is Gary Peters, 1964-65 Stanley Cup
winner. I asked him to sign my Team Canada jersey, he was cool and did. He showed me his Stanley Cup with the Montreal Candiens team names. Richard, Believeu, Ferguson, among others. Ok, I thought, you have my respect now.
LOL....I thanked him and zipped off to the wedding 3 blocks away. Did my job as usher and raced back for Tim Cheveldae at 5:00. He was really cool, signed a puck and my jersey. Got a really neat pic with him and off I went
to be at the reception at 5:30. My wife asked what I did in between and laughed when I told her. 3 really great NHL alumni! PS>>>These Team Canada Jerseys sign real nice, inexpensive and no Canadian hockey player ever turns down signing these!

Garage Sale

My wife and I went garage saleing today. We were at this estate sale and I
noticed a couple of art prints for sale. They appeared to be signed by
Bobby Hull 1 Stanley Cup and the quickest to score more than 50 goals in 50
games and Jean Believeau 10 Stanley Cups and Hockey Hall of Fame(NHL). I
looked close and they were signed in pencil on both. I bought both for $40.
They are Signature Authentic Walter Burden art prints from 1995. I have
Hull but not Believeau so a pretty cool find! Has anyone else found graphs
at garage sales or flea markets?

NHL Hockey Fan Fest

Our exhibition is on this week, this year they had a setup called Hockey Fan
Fest, memorabilia, games, trophies all from Canadian Hockey Federation.
Sounded cool, Calgary had a whole what of Flames and Flames old-timers. We
checked it out today and it was ok at best for memorabilia. There was a
older fellow was sitting at the front desk. Over the intercom, they said
the autograph session has started, and Ralph Klassen of the St Louis Blues
will sign for 2 hours. I walked over got a team Canada jersey signed,
personalized and chatted for a bit. Never really heard of him but an NHL
graph is a NHL graph. After I got home, I learned he played 497 games in
the NHL in the 70's and 80's. So not a real name but a solid player in the
NHL. Tim Chevldae tomorrow.

Missed Chance

Over the weekend, we went to see a Canadian tour golf event in our town.
Some rather big name began on the CAN tour, a good learning tour. We
attended the Friday round about 8:00 am. We watched some guys tee off and
noticed 3 guys hit rather large drives. So off we went and followed. No
other people just a rules official, their caddies and us. We followed for
what turned out to be their back 9. They were cool guys, acknowledged when
we clapped for birds or long putts. The one guy had a larger Taylor Made
staff bag. So after the round we walked in to the restaurant, and its not
the PGA so the guys ate with the spectators. The guys looked up and thanked
us for following them, we said hey it was fun and asked what they shot.
One shot 70 and the other 65. really cool guys again. now when we got back
home, we googled the guys to find out, the 70 was in the US Open last year,
and the 65 was on CAN's World Cup team, with oh yah, Mike Weir, see earlier
post. A real good chance for the PGA in a few years. oh well....

Mike Babcock-Stanley Cup

Well, after a 2 hour wait in the blazing sun, a red truck drove up with the Stanley Cup on the back. People rushed to get pics of the Cup. As a Canadian, yah its pretty cool to see that trophy. I got some really cool pics of it, including one with Mike standing right in front of it. The keeper of the Cup was on hand, Mike Bolt. His job is to travel with the Cup, but more in charge of the security. Mike was greeted by many and then back to the line. We know the game so we were there 1 hour early, about 20th in line, in front of 300 people waiting for a picture with the Cup, proceeds going to the children's hospital. 15 bucks for a pro 8x10 with it.
My wife and I put our arms around it and smiled! Mike was signing for people off to the side so we got in another line. They were selling Red Wing merchandise so I bought a couple of pucks, a poster and had a Wings jersey and photo in my bag. They announced only 1 item per person, never
thought of that whilst I dropped $25 on merchandise. Oh well, money goes to charity. Well, remember my wife? WE get to Babcock, long story short, 3 things signed. Oh yah! Backed off the jersey; no more room!!!!We walked to a restaurant festival, had lunch and an hour later, I said we should go back
and see how many people are there. Grabbed my photo walked down there, 10 people in line, got it signed and we called it a day! Nice guy, very approachable chatted with people and it was a great cause. But I do hate the Wings....LOL

Mike Weir

Mike Weir, 2003 Master Champion was in town today to raise money for a
children's hospital. They will raise about $600,000 in 2 days in a charity
golf tourney. We were at the golf course early, waited for about 45 mins
and Mike showed up. He warmed up on the range, then took some pics with the
tournament players, it cost each group 10, 000 to enter. At the first tee,
my wife wiggled her way right behind him and got my Masters Scorecard
signed. 200 hundred people around the tee and it took her 5 mins after the
warmup to get the auto, I never had a doubt. My friend said she could not
get a picture with him. Within 30 mins, she got a pic with him. She wanted
me to ask to, but I felt he might say no so I thought why wreck a perfect
day...On the 8th tee, I wanted my 11x14 Masters picture signed, with Tiger
putting the green jacket on Mike. My wife whispers "Mr. Weir", he turns and
sees me standing there. He signed my picture and we were set. 2 autos in 8
holes. He was an eager signer, signed lots and was a real cool guy.

Jarret Stoll and Robyn Regehr-NHL Autographs!

Tonight we had a double whammy, from 5-6 Jarret Stoll of the Edmonton Oilers
signed for people outside a local Boston Pizza. 12 or so guys from NHL signed whatever was put in their face. Scott Hartnell (Flyer's) was the first guy, the 2 in front of us had no idea who he was, did not ask him to sign anything and said "Who are you?" He replied his name and that he
played for the Flyers. I had the perfect moment. I was standing behind him, held up my Flyer Jersey and he smiled...I said just for you Scott. He spend a little more time with me, signed my jersey, personalized it and I got a cool pic with him. My wife got the ccm helmet signed and when we got to Stoll, he laughed and said that looks like my helmet! A few of the guys`said that helmet is going to look pretty cool. I got really cool pics of most of them including Stoll. WE then raced 45 mins north to Robyn Regehr charity supper. If was very low keyed, a great supper, got Calgary Flames Jerseys signed and 2 cool pics with him.

IP Sask Roughriders, whole team

The 2007 Grey Cup Champs; Saskatchewan Roughriders had their annual
Saskatoon day of training camp today. They had a scheduled 45 autograph
signing along with their practice. My wife and I were there 15 mins early
and waited. Ken Miller the new coach, who replaced Kent Austin who left to
be an Offensive coach at U Mass. Anyway, Coach Miller was very nice and
signed for a few people before the guys came out. The PR people said the
guys will spread out so we should do the same. So out they came. My wife
said we should stay close but within 5 mins, we were off getting our own
stuff singed. I had a CFL official football and she had a Sask Roughriders
ball (silver) On the way up she said this was my thing not hers. By the
time the guys came out she was having as much fun as I did and actually got
2 of the guys I missed. Then she shows me here photos she got, now she
loves the Riders, or I mean Andy Fantuz. She got some neat pics with some
of the guys, including a guy I went to high school with, Gene Makosky. When
I finally got to Fantuz for my ball, he looked at it and looked at me and
said, that is a nice signed ball. I used a silver paint marker to give to
the guys, I guess it looked good if the player who was the longest wait
liked it! Then to boot, my wife ended up with 33 sigs, me 31...A fun day
ended with watching them practice.

IP Sask Roughrider

Today I had the chance to meet Kennedy Nkeyasen, a Safety for the CFL's
Saskatchewan Roughriders. Or the 2007 Grey Cup Champions, remember, they
could have beat the Patriots too....Anyway, he came to our school to speak
about literacy. He was a very energetic speaker and actually played some
touch football with the kids. Got some cool pics with him and he signed my
football and Rider hat. A good haul for the day....A grade 4 student wanted
to get more than 1 thing singed. There was 50 kids in line and he was mad
he could not get a few. I told him to be good for the autograph gods will
be good to him then. I will have to explain that one to him on Monday. I
honestly believe there are Autograph Gods as cheesy as that sounds. I have
never pushed more than I thought proper, and the next time, some NHL is
standing in the lobby with no one around. AT the Skins game 2 years ago,
one of the caddies asked my wife if she wanted Jack Nicklaus's autograph,
she said she did have it and the guy got it for someone else. The next day,
we were golfing at a nearby course and Steven Ames (#40 ranked player in the
world), who was also at the skins game, was in the parking lot of the
course. He walked over to us and chatted for 15 mins. It was 7:30 in the
morning! Does anyone else believe in this Autograph Karma?

Bret Hart signed Winged Eagle Belt

In today's mail was my autographed Bret Hart winged eagle wwe belt. My
friend works for him and got it signed (personalized) along with a signed
8x10 of him. I threw a camera in for some shots of him so I can not wait to
get them developed. COOOL

NHL Oldtimers-charity game

Oldtimers Last Night-NHL'ers
Bryan Trottier-HHOF-6 Cups
Larry Melynk-2 Cups
Dave Ellett- 17 years in NHL
Jimmy Mann-Tough guy Winnepeg Jets
Cliff Ronning-Small but great skater
Bob Bourne-4 Cups
Billy Smith-4 Cups HHOF
Glenn Anderson-5 or 6 Cups
Gary Leeman-1 Cup, 50 goals 1 season
Bernie Nichols-70 Goals in 1 season
Dave Tiger Williams-3999 min in Penalties


Last night we went to a charity NHL old-timer game. Had my usual bag of
stuff to get singed. We went early to see if we could skate with some of
the NHL'ers but missed the time. No biggie I thought and went to the table
where they were setting up the signed stuff for sale. The guy said if you
buy one of the jerseys, you get to go down to the dressing room to get it
signed. $100 for the jersey and signed. I jumped at it, knowing I did not
have to fight during the game to get my stuff signed. So Sue, I remembered
what you said about always being ready with stuff to sign and sharpie. I
had my Team Canada jersey on and walked around the arena. Bryan trottier
(NY Islanders-6 Stanley cups-Hockey Hall of Fame) was standing with some old
friends (he is from the area). I waited 5 feet back and when they were done
said "I can I bother you for an autograph?" He said " That's never a
bother." and signed my jersey. I walked back to my seat smiling and my wife
looks and started to laugh, saying well you got one.
Before the game, the lights were off for a presentation and I noticed Gaston
Gingras (Leaf/Canadien) sitting in the box. I walked over tapped the glass,
show my Leaf jersey and motioned if he could sign it. He said sure and I
threw it over. He took the jersey down the bench and got 5 other guys who
were sitting there to sign. Super guy! Keep reading for who was the jerk
though. After the first period we went down to the dressing room but it was
not as great as they make it sound, they line you up facing a wall say hold
out your jerseys, the players will come out and sign. Kinda weird....So
they all came out and signed, I got my Leafs jersey signed by the old leafs
and my Islanders jersey singed by Billy Smith, and Bob Bourne from the
Islander dynasty in the early 80's.( got trottier on the bench later)Tiger
Willams signed my leafs jersey, this was great. Until Glenn Anderson comes
out. He signs my Oldtimer jersey and I asked him to sign my Edmonton Oiler
jersey number '9'. He looked mad and asked "What's this for?" and looked
like he did not want to touch it. Thinking I was going to sell it. Bernie
Nichols had signed it earlier. I said "you can personalize it, it's for
me..." He asked who the other signature was, I replied it was Bernie's. He
then signed it, not personalized. but oh well. He figured it out, the guys
on their were Oiler number '9's.
I am not a seller of autographs, just do it for the chance to meet these
people and he kinda pissed me off.
Signed my stuff but not the nicest of people. Smiles when the camera is on
though!

More Roughriders....CFL

As stated earlier, I met a couple of the 2007 Grey Cup Champs Saskatchewan
Roughriders at a hotel, and had nothing to sign. So my wife tells me Mike
Abou-Mechrek, a lineman for the Riders is coming to her school not mine. So
I got a couple of nice b and w's to sign. She calls me at my school and
says she got the pics signed but he would be a the local confectionery until
4:30. So I ended up buying a football of a student drove 35mins to my town
and got the ball signed. I asked for a picture with him and he grabbed me,
put me in a headlock and took the coolest picture. An awesome guy again!

Saskatchewan Roughriders

At a local teacher convention in Feb, I left my session early to wait in
the hotel lobby for my wife. I looked around and noticed 1/2 of the
Saskatchewan Roughriders team waiting to leave. They are the current
Canadian Football Leagues' Grey Cup Champions, and they too could have beat
the Patriots last month. Sorry had to be done. Anyway, I had nothing for
them to sign and was a little po'ed cause I had missed a couple of chances
right after they had won. So I did not waste the chance and walked up
congratulated them, chatted for a bit, and one of the players tells me, Matt
Dominguez is standing right behind you, say hello! Nothing signed but a
great bunch of guys and a cool story to really piss off my teacher friends
who stayed for the whole session!