NHL Alumni Game 2012

The NHL Alumni tour came through Napanee, Ontario at the Strathcona Paper Centre, last week.  It is a more low key tour than the Oldtimers Hockey Challenge Tour that comes to Kingston, Ontario every year.  We got a deal on the tickets through my daughters' school, which was cool.  If you want to check out the tour schedule, go to www.benefithockey.com for more information and to see if the tour is coming near you. Walter Gretzky was the ambassador for the event and he signed autographs for the entire 3 hours.  He really is a cool guy.  He was joking around with people and posing for photographs and signing tons of autographs.  I got him to sign a puck for me, and he also signed this notepad type of paper for me.

Marty McSorley was the last guy to come out.  I was there with 2 friends and ran into another guy I knew, so there was only 4 of us getting autographs.  He went over to a chair and sat down to sign.  He said he had both hips replaced and the plane ride from LA, left him really sore.  He always takes his time signing the autographs, but he was chatting with us about the lockout and also about the 1993 Stalney Cup Finals where he got targeted for having an illegal stick.  It was interesting to get his take on that as I am a huge Habs fan and I watched every minute of those cup playoffs.  It was just so cool of him to sit around and chat with us for about 30 minutes at the end of a long day.

Dave Reid also spent a bit of time with us.  He used to own a card shop in Whitby, Ontario, so I asked him if he collected his own cards.  He said they always got a bunch of the base cards by the company that produced them, but he didn't go after the memorabilia or autographed cards.

Gary Leeman.

Bill Derlago.

Brent Gretzky.  I watched him play junior with the Belleville Bulls.

Mike Krushelnyski.

Brad Marsh.

Medigas Celebrity Classic Golf Tournament IP Part 2

Shawn Matthias is a former Belleville Bull and is now with the Florida Panthers.

Mike Murphy is another Kingston, Ontario product.  He played for the Bulls and was CHL goalie of the year.  He is now a Carolina Hurricanes prospect and is playing for their farm team, the Charlotte Checkers.
He also is big on twitter, so follow him @MichaelMurphy31

 Peter Mahovlich(the Little M) was there this  year as well.  He is now a scout for the Florida Panthers.

Ric Seiling, Brad Richardson, Shawn Antoski.

Danny Gare, Tony McKegney, Rick Meagher.

Gilles Gilbert, Butch Goring, Mike Murphy.

Medigas Celebrity Classic IP

P.K. Subban.  As a Habs fan, this was awesome to get!!!  He wouldn't sign unless it was personalized.  I told him I was completely fine with that as this one is going on my wall.  There were a  couple of "dealers" there who were clearly trying to make money off of these guys.

Brad Richardson.

Billy Smith.  He is always great at this event.  Chatting with the fans and truly in a great mood.  After the oldtimers' games, he isn't so much. 

NHL Alumni IP

I went to an NHL Alumni game in Belleville, Ontario on Sunday Feb. 21.  The list wasn't published ahead of time accurately, so only 2 guys from the original list were actually there.  There was a vendor setup selling some 8x10 photos for $5 which was really nice, but I just wanted cards of most of these guys.  Anyway, here is what I got.

Marty McSorley was one of the main guys there as he played Jr. for the Bulls.  I got him on an 8x10.  He is always very nice and chats with the fans.  He is a real class act.

 

I got Bill Derlago on this Scotiabank handout.  Better than nothing I guess.  I would have like to get one of my 80s cards signed by him though.

Dennis Maruk would have signed everything I had probably.  I only asked him to sign the 2, but he saw the rest and said he would sign those too.  Great guy.

Rick Vaive also signed all of the cards I had for him.  He was really nice with everyone as well.

 I got Dave Reid on a Leafs puck.  I would have like to have an Avalanche puck instead, but this is all I had with me.

I was able to buy this Doug Jarvis 8x10 and get it signed.  I would have liked a puck or some of my old cards signed by him.  He was a great defenceman for the habs and won 4 Stanley Cups.