Ottawa Senators IP

A friend's wife was offered 200 level private box tickets for Game 6 between the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins.  She took them but had family in town for the weekend, so she gave me her ticket!!!  Anyway, the suite was awesome.  Right at centre ice in the 200 level.  We thought we would try to hound the Penguins again.  This turned up totally fruitless...again.  The Penguins are absolutely ridiculous it seems.  Their team security is insane and won't let anyone near them.  So, we went to the Scotiabank Place and figured we would hound the Senators on their way out of the morning skate.  Slowly, but surely the players came along.  Alfredsson and Spezza did not stop though.  Most of the rest of the team did though.  We also waited after the game to see if Alfie and Spezza would stop.  There had to be 50 people out there this time.  I knew there was no way either of those guys would be stopping.  I was right.  Only a small handful of players stopped after the game.  Here is what I got:

Pascal Leclaire signed 8x10.

Jesse Winchester, Brian Elliott and Zack Smith signed mini-helmet.

Matt Carkner, Jonathan Cheechoo, Zack Smith and Ryan Shannon.

Jared Cowan, Chris Campoli, Brian Elliott and Brian Lee.

Nick Foligno, Shean Donovan, Chris Phillips and Jesse Winchester.

Chris Campoli TTM Success

Mailed:  01/29/2010
Received:  04/26/2010
Days:  87
c/o:  The Ottawa Senators

I mailed 2 cards to Chris and just got them back.  He signed them with a black sharpie that looks like it was running out of ink.  Its funny that I got these today.  I got him in person on the weekend as I was up for the Pens/Sens playoff game.  More on that in the next post.

Alex Foster TTM Success

Mailed:  04/07/2010
Received:  04/26/2010
Days:  19 c/o:  The Toronto Marlies

Alex was limited to only 30 games this year due to injuries.  He did finish out the season at least.  Hopefully he comes out next season completely healthy for the Maple Leafs' training camp.

David Desharnais TTM Success

Mailed:  04/07/2010
Received:  04/23/2010
Days:  16
c/o:  The Hamilton Bulldogs

16 days for a guy that spent a bit of time with the Montreal Canadiens this year.  I am sure that he will be a bigger part of that team next year, once they clear some room for him.  I watched a game in Hamilton in February and he is definitely a stand out for them.

Kyle Calder TTM Success

Mailed:  03/10/2010
Received:  04/20/2010
Days:  41
c/o:  The Toronto Marlies

It has been a bumpy ride for Kyle over the last few years.  He had 14 games this year with the Ducks, and had 2 assists before they sent him down to the Toronto Marlies.  Right now, he is playing in the ECHL playoffs for the Bakersfield Condors and has a point a game.  He once had 59 points in a season in the NHL, so who knows, maybe he can work his way back in.

Jordan Caron TTM Success

Mailed:  02/11/2010
Received:  04/20/2010
Days:  68
c/o:  TheRouyn-Noranda Huskies

Great return from this young star.  The Boston Bruins drafted him 25th overall in last year's draft.  He was great for Team Canada at the World Jrs.  He may be back in the QMJHL for another season, but look out down the road.

Tyler Kennedy IP

We went to stake out the Pittsburgh Penguins hotel in Ottawa before the game on Sunday.  Tyler Kennedy was the only player that would sign.  Just in case anyone wants to know, they stay at the Brookstreet Hotel off of March road.  They head over to the Scotiabank Place between 3-4:30pm for gametime.  The buses pick them up around back where a ramp comes down near the above ground parking garage.  Hopefully, someone has better luck than us.  Sidney Crosby did sign, but only for kids.

Carey Price TTM Success

I mailed 1 8x10 and 2 cards to Carey Price, c/o The Montreal Canadiens on 12/30/2009 and received all 3 items back on 04/15/2010.  106 days.  The 8x10 is a photo that a buddy of mine took with his own camera at the All-Star game practice in 2009.  The signature is one of the biggest and best Price autographs that I have ever seen.  He signed all 3 in black sharpie.  This is an amazing return for me as I am a MASSIVE Carey Price fan.  I think he will end up getting traded somewhere and I will lay money that he wins the Stanley Cup within 3 years.

Trip to Denver NY Mets and Colorado Rockies IP

I was in Denver, CO for a conference this past week.  So, I took in 2 Rockies vs Mets games.  The first game was 11-3 for the Rockies on Tuesday April 13.  The 2nd was a 6-5 extra innings win for the Rockies thanks to a walk off homerun by Chris Iannetta.  Coors' Field is an amazing place to watch baseball.  It was extremely cold though at night.  So, since I was in town, I thought I would try to get some autographs.  I went early to the Tuesday game to see if I could get some of the Mets while BP was going on.  I was able to get Jason Bay's attention and told him that I am a Canadian, and he gladly signed for me asking me where I was from.  That was the only auto I got at that game as I went with some colleagues.  I went by myself to the game on Wednesday night so I waited after the game to get more autos.  None of the Rockies players stopped.  I thought it was going to be a complete bust until Johan Santana walked out of the gate and signed for us.  Melvin Mora picked him up in his car and signed for us as well.  One of the gate operators told me that the players arrive between 8-9am for an afternoon game the next day.  So I got up early and headed down to the park.  Again, the Rockies players were terrible.  The gate operator knew I was from Canada and wanted to get Jeff Francis on a ball.  So he told me that he knew him well and would get him to stop for me.  Sure enough, he did and Jeff signed a ball for me and chatted for a bit.  The mets players all took cabs to the stadium.  New stadium rules states that cabs can't enter the parking lot, and they have to drop the players outside the gate.  So, we were able to get most of the NY Mets team.  David Wright was a really nice guy and signed for all of us.  Jason Bay arrived with Jeff Francoeur and both signed willingly.  John Maine was really nice as well and chatted with us for a bit.  I had a baseball to use for guys I didn't have.  So I got Frank Catalanotto, Henry Blanco, Fernando Tatis, Alex Cora and Francisco Rodriguez on that ball.  There was a guy named Chris there that had a game used Giambi jersey from last season and he had it hanging out so that if Giambi seen it, maybe he would stop.  Sure enough, Giambi saw it and motioned for all of us to come over.  He was a really nice guy.  I didn't know what to expect being that he played in NY, but he was amazing.  I asked for 2 sigs because my buddy is a huge Yankees fan.  Mistakenly, I handed him 2 Athletics cards.  I realized the mistake and asked him if he would sign the Yankees card I had.  He said, "No problem." and signed it too.  Super nice guy.  Anyway, here are the pics.

Jason Giambi

Jeff Francoeur

John Maine

Jason Bay

Melvin Mora

David Wright

Jeff Francis

Clint Barmes

Johan Santana

Francisco Rodriguez, Frank Cattalanotto, Alex Cora, Henry Blanco, and Fernando Tatis

Garnet Exelby TTM Success

Mailed:  09/18/2009
Received:  04/09/2010
Days:  203
c/o:  The Toronto Maple Leafs

Garnet personalized the 2 cards I sent him, and he also included a postcard sized photo autographed as well.  On one of the cards he also inscribed "Big Dreams" and on the other card and photo, he inscribed "Believe!".  Very neat auto from the Leafs' tough guy.  Definitely worth the wait.  The Leafs need some pieces up front for next season, but they are getting there.

Jean Beliveau 06-07 UD Ultimate Auto

In September of 2008, I pulled an autograph redemption card of Ron Sutter out of the Legends Masterpieces set by UD.  I redeemed it right away on their website in which it was stuck in "Athlete committed to signing." phase ever since.  In February, I found that UD has a swap program for long lasting redemptions.  So, I filled out the form and sent it in with the list of players that I would accepts as a replacement.  I filled the list with Habs players as well as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.  I couldn't be happier with the replacement auto that I got.  JEAN BELIVEAU!!!  I will take that over Ron Sutter any day.  Very nice card.

Nicolas Deschamps TTM Success

I mailed 2 cards to Nicolas Deschamps, c/o The Moncton Wildcats on 03/24/2010 and received 2/2 back on 04/08/2010.  15 days returned from the east coast.  Nicolas is a 2nd round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2008.  The Moncton Wildcats are flying through the QMJHL playoffs right now as well.  Very nice auto of a future NHLer.

Fredrik Sjostrom TTM Success

I mailed 2 cards to Fredrik Sjostrom, c/o The Toronto Maple Leafs on 02/11/2010 and received 2/2 back on 04/07/2010.  55 days.  The Leafs are really hit or miss.  I have a bunch of requests out for them for a long time, and yet I get this one in relatively short order.  Freddy has been great since the big trade with the Flames.  He has proven that if given a chance for more ice time, he can be a very good 3rd or 4th liner. 

Casey Janssen TTM Success

I mailed 2 cards to Casey Janssen, c/o The Toronto Blue Jays on 09/01/2009 and received 2/2 back on 04/07/2010.  210 days.  I honestly had thought I would not get these back.  Casey had some injury troubles over the last 2 seasons, but hopefully, this year he can stay healthy and help the Blue Jays.  They will need all the help they can get.