Thursday, January 15, 2009

Autograph Hounding the All-Star game

A few of my buddies, and I, will be heading to Montreal next weekend to attempt getting autographs from some of the NHL's biggest stars. The amount of star power in one place is a huge draw for any autograph seeker. I would like to hear from anyone else that is heading up there. I do have a bit of insider information on good hounding spots. There is plenty going on up there everyday. Lays Fan Fest is happening in the parking lot in front of the Bell Centre as well as a card show hosted by Spawn and UpperDeck at the old Windsor station. There is some stuff happening at the Pepsi Forum which I believe you have to have some sort of a travel package to get in there. We have tickets to the Saturday morning all-star practice. These tickets cost us $32 on www.kijiji.ca from a selling in Montreal. Of course there is also the NHL Super Skills Competition on Saturday night and the Youngstars game on Saturday afternoon.
I just read yesterday, that Carey Price may not play in the all-star game. I would be extremely disappointed if I don't at least get the opportunity to get his autograph.
I will post after the weekend to let everyone know how we made out and which stars signed without problems and which ones were rude.

Lecavalier a Hab???

So everyone has heard the rumors on the Lecavalier trade to Montreal for a plethora of players and draft picks. If not, here is the skinny. Montreal has offered, Tomas Plekanec, Chris Higgins, Josh Gorges, P.K. Subban and 4 draft picks at the 2nd round or higher. I am a Habs fan and would love nothing more than to see this happen. However, I don't think it ever will happen. The ownership group of the Lightning would be telling their fans to not come to the arena by making this trade. Lecavalier is the fan favorite in Tampa, and he has done so much volunteer work in the community down there. Vinny has won a Stanley Cup already and he has a good 10 years or so left in the NHL at the very least. Rebuilding is difficult for sure, but with a few years of good draft picks, Tampa could become the Penguins very quickly. Stamkos is struggling this year, mostly due to poor coaching and a revolving door of players coming up from the AHL. He will be alot better over the next few years for sure.
Vinny's no trade claus comes into effect on July 1. So, in effect, the Lightning can move him any time they want to before then, but out of respect for the player and the fans, any deal would not be done without asking him first. If Vinny says that he doesn't want to leave Tampa, and they trade him anyway, the fans will be mad and will not come to games(attendance is already low). If he does get moved, I think the Habs would be the only team he would consider.