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....