So, surprise, surprise, I went. It was a pretty fun event, I have to say. They held the autograph signing in the lobby of the River Rock Casino Hotel. Got there only to find out that Richard Brodeur wasn't able to make it to the signing. There were people there, mainly guys, with their hockey binders and wearing old canucks jerseys with the skate logos. It was pretty awesome to see. I went over to guest services and asked them who exactly was going to be signing. As you can see from the poster, it only has two names. I knew that Dave Babych and Greg Adams were also supposed to be there. However, I found out that there were going to be three waves of player signings. The first was at 2pm. As people lined up, I waited til it died down a bit and then went in for picture with all of the players since I had nothing for them to sign. I had only brought my Kirk McLean Rookie Card with me and the only person signing that was going to be McLean.
The first wave of players were Dean Malkoc (not a Canuck, ex-Bruins player who is a Vancouverite), Harold Snepts and Ken Lockett. As I stood in front of them for the group shot I asked "I'm not blocking anyone am I?" They all laughed. Good times!
Once they were done signing, the went over to the bar in the back for some food. The second wave of players were to show up soon so I waited around for a bit and then stood in line again. The players were Glen Hanlon, Gary Nyland ( not a Canuck, ex-Leafs/Islanders player), Barry Bromley and Dave Babych. I had met Dave before at the Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer last year. All these guys were pretty awesome to meet.
There was a bit of a wait for the last group of players to arrive. I was standing in line close to the end cause I wanted pics again. While I was waiting in line, a young man and his young son lined up behind me. He had a hockey binder with him and we started talking. Told me that his son had found a box of his old hockey cards at his mom's house and put them into a binder. Now they belong to his sons and his son has been adding to it. We went through the book together. He had some nice cards. A couple more guys lined up behind us and they had a black and white photo of McLean in action. I asked where they had gotten them. They hesitated before telling me that they got it from Subway. I said I only wanted to know cause I saw a few other people with them earlier getting them signed. We all laughed about it. I had no idea that Subway was giving out pictures for the event. They said that they had heard about from Team 1040. Lucky them!
The guy in the back of the line wanted to get his jersey signed by Dave Babych. I told him that he already had his signing session. The young son had also mentioned to his father that he wanted to get Harold Snepts to sign his card and get Babych to sign his jersey. It was his luck cause first Harold Snepts came out from the bar and we watched as he headed into the washroom. I told the kid to go stand outside the bathroom and wait for him and get him to sign his card. But not to follow him into the bathroom. We all watched him go and then he dissapeared around the corner. Until I saw his hands from the corner. He was just waiting on the inside of the passage way to the bathroom. He did manage to get the card signed though as we all watched Snepts sign his card happily. Mission was a success! lol.
Then we spotted Dave Babych in a black jacket standing in the lobby talking with Joey Kenward, Canucks TV Reporter, who was there covering the event. I told the guy in the back who was wanting Babych's signature that he could get him to sign it while he was still here. He did go over and he got his jersey signed. The kid also went over for his signature at the same time a few others from the line did. We all laughed as we watched Babych get swarmed at once. He was nice and accommodating though and signed everyone's stuff before he left the building.
Once that was done, the last wave of players showed up at 4:20pm. It was supposed to start at 4pm. Better late than never, I guess! I had noticed before that the name plates on the table were Greg Adams, Kirk McLean and Orland Kurtenbach but only Adams and McLean were there.
As I got close to the table, the canucks volunteer who had been taking all these pics for me saw me. I asked if she could get a pic of me with them players again. So, once I was close enough to Adams, I talked to him. He remembered me from the Pro-Am Scotia Bank Alzheimer's Tournament I volunteered for last year. Adams was also there and we had talked then but never got a pic with him cause he left early. So, I asked if I could get a pic with him. He was very accomodating.
Then I moved on to the last player. I watched as the person a couple places ahead of me put on a Kirk McLean goalie mask and took a picture with McLean. So it kinda looked like a "Kesler bomb". It was pretty funny. I was up next and I had taken out the card for him to sign. Also asked for a pic and he agreed.
We were trying not to bust out laughing when the pic was taken cause of all the paparazzi that all of the sudden appeared. There was a professional photographer there who took pics of me with all the guys all day. When he showed up, I told Kirk, "This guy likes taking pics of me. He's been doing it all day. Get ready to smile." I have no idea where those pics are going to end up. lol. There must have been three or four cameras on us at this time anyways, including mine. We all had a great time though.
My signed Kirk McLean Rookie Card.
Love talking to the Canuck Alumnis. No egos or attitudes to put up. Just a lot of fun. If you ever get a chance to meet them, I totally recommend it. I told Adams I'm gonna get him to sign his card at this year's Pro-Am Scotia Bank tournament. He said he would. See ya then, Greg Adams! :)
