2012 NHL All Star Game in Ottawa, Ontario (part 2)

Evgeni Malkin signed McFarlane.  Geno was awesome and signed this with his usual signature.  It has definitely gotten smaller over the years, but he seemed pleasant to me.

Daniel Alfredsson was definitely front and centre through the whole weekend.  I have been waiting to get this McFarlane signed for years, so it was awesome to get it finally done.  Alfie was awesome in the game and came as close as a goal post from having a hat-trick and stealing the All Star Game MVP from Marian Gaborik.

Colin Greening, Brian Campbell and John Tavares signed cards.  I gave the only photo I had of Tavares, to a buddy to get signed, so I only had a card left.

P.J. Stock was doing an interview for CBC's broadcast, so I had him sign a puck when he was done.

Erik Karlsson was doing a free signing at the Scotiabank booth, so I got him on the free photo, and a puck.

Anson Carter was outside the hotel for a bit.  So I got him to sign a puck.

John Tortorella came out and signed autographs, so I thought, what the heck, and got him on a puck.

Brendan Shanahan was around all weekend.  I managed to spot him leaving the hotel and got him to sign a puck.

I spotted Luc Robitaille walking up the street.  I got "Lucky Luc" to sign a puck.

Rangers' rookie Carl Hagelin was walking back to the hotel, so I got him to sign a puck.

2012 NHL All Star Game in Ottawa, Ontario (part 1)

Ottawa is only about a 2 hour drive away from where I live.  So, a few friends and myself drove up there to take in the festivities.  My sister had been given some tickets to the game on Sunday night, and we ended up getting scalper tickets for the Skills Competition on Saturday night.

The Fan Fair at the Convention Centre, was lined up as far as the eye could see.  There were some really good autograph guests in there too, but there was no way we wanted to stand in line for hours just to get in, and then stand in more lines to do anything inside.  So, we ended up going to the Chateau Laurier, where the players were staying.  There was a ton of asshole dealers there getting as many autographs as possible.  I suggest you don't buy anything on EBAY from AUTHENTICSIGS.  When I can find out who the others were, I will post their IDs too.  The giant, fat russian that we have seen before was out there too.  He would literally run people over to get to someone.  It was really sad.  This had a huge impact on the autographs that we were able to obtain for sure.
Now to the positives.  This is who I did get.

 Steven Stamkos signed 8x10 photo.  I love this pic and the auto is awesome.  I am going to have to make some room on my wall for this one.

Jarome Iginla signed puck.  I was really lucky in getting this signed as he was really annoyed with the dirt bag dealers that were getting 5 photos signed each.  I asked him to personalize it and told him that he didn't sign for me yet, so he signed it.

I was able to get Henrik Sedin to sign this photo of the twins, but I wasn't able to get Daniel.  The only opportunity I did have, he was carrying his daughter and there was no way I was going to even bother him.  I let the dealers piss him off in that case.

Henrik Lundqvist came out of a side door.  I had to follow him down the street a bit and he got a red light.  I asked him to sign the McFarlane base.  He seemed a bit annoyed but signed it anyway.  I have always liked his play and I have had this figure for about 5 years waiting to get it signed, so it was nice to cross this one off.

Joffrey Lupul and Shea Weber signed cards.

My buddy had a Carey Price jersey to get signed, we were all on the lookout for him as it was the only thing he wanted to get done.  Once he got his autograph, I slid in to get another McFarlane signed.  Carey is quiet but always signs for us when we have met him.

Lars Eller TTM Success

Mailed:  10/19/2011
Received:  01/25/2012
Days:  98
c/o:  Montreal Canadiens

Lars is really starting to come around.  He now has 19 points in 45 games.  He was brought over in the trade with the Blues for Jaroslav Halak.  Its nice to the Denmark native, producing.  I like his energy out there.  He just needs someone to play with consistently.

Danny Taylor TTM Success

Mailed:  01/04/2012
Received:  01/24/2012
Days:  20
c/o:  Abbotsford Heat


I actually only sent him 2 cards, so he sent me back the Young Guns card signed on his own.  I met Danny last summer at a local charity event.  I have been using his old goalie pads for the last 5 years or so.  I asked him in my letter, if there would be some way that I could buy a game used stick off of him so I can hang it on my wall.  No letter was sent with this, so I will have to hope for the same local event next year.  After signing as a free agent with the Springfield Falcons, he was released after only 10 games.  In those 10 games, his stats were actually better than the other goalies the team had, however, they decided to sign Manny Legace which left Danny the odd man out.  He signed on right away with the Abbotsford Heat due to an injury to Henrik Karlsson of the Calgary Flames, which in turn, forced the call up of Leland Irving from the Heat.  Danny has been amazing for the heat so far.  In 17 games, he has a 2.19 GAA, and .935 save PCT.  Hopefully, we will see him in the NHL again.

Alex Auld TTM Success

Mailed:  11/11/2011
Received:  01/19/2012
Days:  69
c/o: Ottawa Senators


Alex hasn't played a whole lot this year.  Craig Anderson has been awesome for the Senators this year.  Alex was the backup to Carey Price in Montreal last year, which meant he didn't play a whole lot there either.  He has been a bit of a journeyman over his career to say the least.  Though, he did have a 33 win season with Vancouver in 05-06.

Manny Malhotra TTM Success

Mailed:  11/18/2011
Received:  01/13/2012
Days:  56
c/o: Vancouver Canucks


Manny has 13 points in 45 games so far this season with the Canucks.  He suffered a gruesome eye injury last season near the end of the year and was not supposed to play for the rest of the season and playoffs.  He made his return to the lineup in game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  I watched him play with Guelph in the OHL and always liked his speed and energy.  He has been more of a role player throughout his NHL career.

Mark Giordano TTM Success

Mailed:  11/23/2011
Received:  01/04/2012
Days:  42
c/o:  Calgary Flames



The Flames continue to be the best TTM team in Canada.  Mark didn't really take the direct route to the NHL.  He played in the OHL for the Owen Sound Attack.  After being undrafted, he signed a contract with the Flames.  After 2 stints in Russia, he became a mainstay in Calgary.  Last season, he had a career year with 43 points.  This season, the Flames have struggled and Mark only had 8 points before going down with a hamstring injury.  Hopefully he is back real soon.