New York Islander Fan Fare Saskatoon

The radio claimed that good ole' John Tavares would be there, I have figured him out already, I was 95% sure he would be a no show but he played in Edmonton so maybe... I had my Islander #1 but knew it was a long shot. I saw lots of Tavares jerseys, some older men had to obviously get signed and young boys, just to wear. I felt kinda bad for them, $200 for the jersey. I found the park OK and hiked down to where the tents were. Not many there so I just hung out. A local Islander fan and hound buddy walked up and we started chatting, killing the hour or so wait. The players were late and showed about 5:40 or so. They came down the hill and I looked for some 'name' players, no luck. Dwayne Roloson was the last guy down so we were optimistic. This was the really cool part, there were numerous Alumni around and Clark Gillies, said go find them and chat. We got Trent Klatt right away on my Islander logo, along with Mike Dunham, the Isls goalie coach. However, Mike was chatting with Rolly so we waited and got him on the Team Canada puck. I did not push my luck this time so I did not ask for two. LOL! I asked if he knew if he was playing on Saturday and he said, "No." He found Ken Morrow and began our usual questions, a very large man stood back and Ken grabbed him and said this is Eric Cairns, and then Eric grabbed Trent Klatt and introduced him. So we exchanged introductions and chatted for about 10 minutes with Ken, great person and great alumni. We got more of the young guys but then went looking for more alumni. We got a picture with Butch Goring, did not ask him for an autograph, he would not have remembered us but he did sign already. We waited and got Clark Gillies on a Team Canada puck, chatted for a bit, put my foot in my mouth asking how Colton Gillies was, he said, "Who?" I said your son, he laughed and said he's my second cousin, oops. We walked over and started chattind with Eric Cairns, great guy and we just talked hockey. We walked by the VIP tent and my hound buddy recognized Pat Price so he was next. We got a picture with him and he actually went and got Gerry Hart to pose with us. We went back for the last Isls young guys, and got Jeff Tambellini on a blank puck, good luck getting anything Islanders in this town now. I asked him why he was born in Calgary, he laughed and said his dad was playing the Flames in the first round of the playoffs in Calgary. Neat story I guess. The boys were all rounded up and put back on the bus and we head off. Alumni golf tournament tomorrow am, then the games in Saskatoon this weekend. Wow, I am tired...It was clear that the Alumni was trying to sell a product, hmm John T, do you get this 'game' yet?
On the Islander logo:
#54Tony Romano
#33Scott Munroe
#71Mark Katic
#20Sean Bergenheim
#15Jeff Tambellini
#9 Clark Gillies
#6 Ken Morrow
#2 Pat Price
#4 Gerry Hart
#11Nate Thompson
#67Sean Bentivoglio
#17 Jeremy Reich
#28Tim Jackman
#42Brett Westgarth
#30 GM Garth Snow
Also 2 Player Personal, strength coaches I think
Mike Dunham