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Me in front of the Air Canada Center in
Toronto.
Click on the ACC to view the Draft
Gallery!
Introduction
I've been getting autographs in San Jose for a few years now, but I've never
hounded at a major event before. We had the All Star Game here in 1997,
but I hadn't discovered autograph collecting back then. When I accepted
admission to Gonzaga University a month ago, I knew that college would take me
away from NHL hounding. Then I thought, what better way to end my regular
hounding career with a trip to Toronto to hound the NHL entry draft!
Toronto had lots of attractions other than hounding, and my family would go
visit those (Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower, Chinatown, etc.) while I did my
hounding. They (reluctantly) agreed, and then the preparation began for 3-4 days
straight of hounding. Plus, I would be heading into Toronto, the hockey
capital of the world, where tons of autograph seekers mob the players.
Preparation
I put together a binder with cards for every for every former player that was
affiliated with an NHL team, as well as a few that I brought just on a whim that
they might be around. I used regular 9-pocket binder pages, putting 2-3
cards maximum per player, and one player per pocket. Even with those space
limits I imposed, I still ended up having a heavy and thick binder containing
600 cards of former NHLers alone. I continued to make trips to the card
shop to find more cards for retired players, but I knew that I couldn't
anticipate every single person who would be there. Next, I needed to know how hounding worked
in Toronto. A few Toronto hounds whom I frequently deal with gave me some
pointers, and soon I had a faint idea of which hotels and arena exits to go
to. My dad booked plane tickets and a room at the Crowne for the four of
us in my family, and this would turn out to be a very good choice. The
final step was finding something for the draftees to sign. I had a couple
cards of Jay Bouwmeester and Rick Nash, but not much else. I decided to
make my own cards for the top draftees to sign, printing them out on photo paper
and then cutting them down to card size. I made cards for 32 of the top
ranked prospects; here's an example of
what one looks like. There's nothing on the back of them, so it's just to
get signed.
Hounding Starts Immediately
My flight got into Toronto around
3:30, and we got a cab that took us downtown to our hotel, the Crowne
Plaza. As we pulled up around 4:00, I noticed a lot of hounds waiting
outside already. The cab went around the corner into an underground
parking area; as soon as I got out, I went straight out into the front, and
right then and there Kristian Huselius was signing! I got him on one card,
which he had never seen. He looked at both sides and showed it to his
friend. After that, my brother came outside and gave me my room key, and
the rest of my family went upstairs to the room.
Scoping Out the Hotels
I talked with a few hounds and then found Andre, a collector whom I have traded
with many times. I would be hounding with him and his friends who were all
knowledgeable hounds. They spotted Rick Nash walking around, and I went
after him and got him on two cards; he was very polite. We didn't see any
other players coming out, so we decided to walk around and check out the other
hotels. We walked over to the Royal York and nothing was up there, so we
made our way to the Westin through some underground shopping walkway. On
our way, we spotted Isles head coach Peter Laviolette on the phone with
someone. I waited around for him and when he got off the phone, he said
"You have something for me?" and he signed the one card I brought for
him nicely! We continued over to the Westin where nothing was really going
on, except that Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk had left; we had just missed
them.
Back at the Convention Center...
The awards were taking place at the Convention Center, which is
right next to the Crowne. So we headed back there; on the way, we spotted
John Muckler by the ACC, and I got him on an index card; when I told him I was
on vacation from San Jose, he seemed surprised and said "Wow, must have
been a long bicycle ride!" We waited around the front of the Centre
and nothing was really happening, so we took a walk around the park behind the
Convention Center. We spotted a couple of well-dressed women walking
towards the Convention Center; a hound recognized them as Jennifer Botterill and
Geraldine Heaney! I got both of their autographs, and they were very nice!
Cassie Campbell also signed, but she doesn't sign index cards because of how
easy it is to counterfeit them. We went back out front and waited around for cars to drop personnel off. We spotted Lanny McDonald walking across
the street towards where we were. I got him on two cards, and he seemed
pleased to sign. During the afternoon, cars dropped off a bunch of people
at the front. Bob Pulford signed for everyone but didn't seem all that
thrilled about it. Claude Larose and Willy Lindstrom signed; they were
about to go inside but we called both of them, and while Claude seemed to be in
a hurry, Willy was nice about it and took his time to sign. We got Anaheim
scout Lucien DeBlois to sign, he was nice too. The Calgary Flames group
came walking up to the front: Greg Gilbert and Craig Button were there, as well
as Jim Peplinski! Dammit! I didn't know he was going to be there so I had
to settle for an index card on him. (This would become a common thing as the
trip went on.) Greg Gilbert was very nice, signing two for me with his
neat-looking autograph. I then got Flames GM Craig Button on an index
card. Down at the far end of the Convention Center, Darryl Sittler had
gone in, so we missed him.
Wayne Eludes Us
The next one to show up was none other than the Great One himself! Wayne
jumped out of a car and speed-walked straight into the Convention Center, with
his trademark muttering of "gotta go, guys, gotta go...". I was
now 0 for 2 with Wayne in my seeking career. It happened so quickly, I
barely had time to get my card of him out, by then he was already over to the
door. Crap... anyway, we saw the New York Islanders group come up...
owners Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar were there with Peter Laviolette and...
Alexei Yashin! Whoa! I had nothing for him, so I had to get him on
an index card. Atlanta coaches Tim Bothwell and Curt
Fraser signed and were very nice. Later, after nothing happened for
awhile, we spotted some prospects walking on the other side of the street.
One of them was Scottie Upshall! I went and got him to sign a card, he was
very nice; one of the other prospects looked really familiar; when I got
back to where the other hounds were, I checked my Hockey News and it was
Johnny Boychuk. Oh well, I would end up seeing him at the draft anyway.
A Total Mob Scene
That was pretty much it... we didn't see anyone around right after the Awards
began, so I went back to my hotel room and had dinner with the family.
Then I went back out to the Convention Center to join the hordes of autograph
hounds who were there. The first thing I noticed about Toronto (besides
the overabundance of hot dog stands) is that most of the autograph seekers were out there for the big names
(Chelios, Kovalchuk, Lidstrom, Blake, etc) but I wasn't as worried about them as
I was about getting retired players. Some of the hounds out there
(predominantly kids) were acting really crazy, every time they saw a player walk
inside towards the hotel, they would just take off running down to the hotel and
inside, or would go inside through another entrance in the Convention
Center. These Toronto hounds were, for the most part, desperate to get the
current NHLers.
Retired Players Outside
I wasn't as desperate, obviously. The
only current player I really needed was Chris Chelios, who probably wouldn't
sign anyway. The folks waiting for retired players weren't as nuts.
Glen Sather signed one-per for everyone, while Rick Vaive signed everything
people had; for me, that was just an index card. Henri Richard came out
and was swamed; he pulled out a black Sharpie from his coat pocket and signed
one per for everyone! I was happy to get him. The night went on and
more people exited. Guy Lafleur came out and signed one for most people
there; I got him on one card. I got a couple of behind-the-scenes
personnel (Mike Smith of Chicago and Mike Illitch, owner of the Red Wings) who
were very good about signing. Then someone came running back from down the
street and said that he got Paul Henderson! A few of us went after him; I
got him on an index card; I was kicking myself because I had a great card of him
at home. Michel Goulet came out but practically nobody went after him
which was odd; I got him on two cards, he signed them nicely.
Inside the Lobby
Well, I've told you about most of the retired players I got after the
Awards. But I did get some current guys. Dany Heatley came out the
front of the Convention Center; he was swarmed by hounds. He did sign for
most of them though, spending a good five minutes signing. I got him on a
new card of his. Then when Kovalchuk came out the front, the 40 or so
hounds mobbed him, and he only signed for a few as his agent guided him over to
his ride, trying to stop the hounds from blocking their path. When that
started happening, I didn't even bother, that's when I got Michel Goulet
instead. The rest of the stuff I did took place in and around the Crowne
Plaza lobby. Some players were walking through the Crowne Plaza's lobby to
either get back to their rooms or to get outside and hop into a cab. Jere
Lehtinen was walking towards the Crowne Plaza's lobby through the Convention
Center, so I and a few other hounds dashed over to an entrance and got him
inside. Then, I went inside the Crowne's lobby by myself; and, of course,
a hotel employee walked toward me, probably to tell me to get the hell
out. But I showed the guy my room key and he left me alone. Holy
crap, I thought. I might get a few good signatures in here since
nobody can come in. But that was not to be. I saw Chelios and
Lidstrom coming towards me. I had my Lidstrom and Chelios cards out and
ready. They were walking into the Crowne... that's when I heard a
stampeding noise in the distance. Loud shouts and footsteps against the
tiled floor reverberated through the lobby. The crazy hounds from outside
all ran inside and swarmed the two, who of course would not sign. They
followed the pair of Wings as they walked outside and into a cab. Some of
the hounds rudely chanted "Go Leafs Go" as Lidstrom and Chelios got
into the vehicle. Come on! Glenn Healy was outside the hotel so I
got him to sign; he's one of the coolest guys you could meet. I went back
inside and a few minutes later, Markus Naslund walked into the lobby from the
convention center. Yup, another one I didn't know would make an
appearance. So I had him sign an index card, and it's definitely the
best-looking Naslund autograph I've ever seen! He was surprisingly
pleasant, and shook my hand after signing. Very classy! I looked
outside and saw a mob of hounds around someone, so I went out and saw that it
was Darryl Sittler! He was obviously tired of the mob, and signed a few
more before saying "That's it, I gotta go." Needless to say, I
couldn't get him. After waiting around a little longer and seeing nobody
come out, I looked at my watch and it was midnight. I went back to the
hotel and got some sleep; but not a bad day! I had gotten a decent
introduction to how things go in Toronto.
Thursday Totals: 40 autographs (25 before the Awards, 15 after).
Morning: Just Waiting Around
Friday morning hounding began early in the morning (9:30 or so). I went
outside the Crowne, and Andre and the others were out there already. The
first player we saw that morning was former NHL-WHA player Gene Ubriaco. I
got him on an index card, he signed his full name - an old-time hockey
signature! Willie O'Ree was just standing around outside the hotel so he
signed an index card for me. We saw Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios
inside the hotel, they went to the hotel restaurant to eat breakfast, so we kept
that in mind. A few retired players walked by the hotel: Rick Vaive
signed for us again; I got him on a card that someone generously gave me; I
snapped a photo of Vaive signing (I would
later get it signed). Pierre Mondou walked by and signed his tiny
autograph on three cards for me. Mike Peca signed one for me; I had
forgotten to bring my set card of him so I had to settle on an extra that
someone let me have. Lanny McDonald showed up and signed the one that I
had left, nice as always! Robbie Ftorek signed one for me; I only showed
him one because he's not the most autograph-friendly former player. Then,
we saw Lidstrom and Chelios stand up inside the restaurant. I went inside,
once again using my room key to prevent the hotel people from kicking me
out. I waited outside the restaurant exit, and Lidstrom came out first,
alone; he had no problems about signing one card for me. Chelios, however,
did; he said he was in a hurry and turned me down. It seems like there's a
better chance of winning the lottery than getting Chelios in person. They
both headed downstairs to the Crowne's underground parking. I went outside
and told the others, and they took off around the corner and down the hill to
the underground parking entrance. They never got either of them. I
went inside and saw Chris Higgins talking with some fans. He was extremely
cool, signing for me and chatting for awhile. About fifteen minutes later,
I was back outside and we saw Rob Blake exit the hotel! He said he'd sign
in a minute, and got on a cell phone. We waited patiently, and sure enough
he signed one-per after he was finished. Not bad! A decent morning;
after getting Lidstrom, Chelios would've been just a bonus to me.
The Prospect Preview!
Our next stop was the Prospect Preview event that was taking place a couple
blocks north of the Crowne. We went over there and they had a whole stage
set up, with a band playing. We looked around for awhile, until Bill (the
hound that seems to know what every single retired player looks like) spotted
Jiri Crha and a couple prospects standing around in the shade. I got Crha
on a card; he seemed surprised that someone recognized him, and even more
surprised that someone had his card. Bill showed him five copies of the
81-82 O-Pee-Chee Crha card, and he was even more astonished. So were the
two prospects; I showed one of them the card and we got to talking; turns out,
the prospect I was talking to actually got drafted last year... in the first
round by Edmonton! It didn't even occur to me who it was until he told me
when he was drafted and by who. It was Ales Hemsky! He was there
just to watch the festivities. I got him on an index card; he was really
cool about everything. After more waiting around in the park, we went over
to the left side of the stage, and saw Wendel Clark! He was there to help
introduce the draftees; I got him on two cards (one for my Score set!).
Wendel was way cooler than I thought; some people had told me he was tough to
get when he played. We then got Bob Nystrom, who was sitting down on one
of the benches in front of the stage. He was super-cool, signing an 8x10
and a new Fleer Legacy card of him. One of the Nystroms' family friends
saw the Eric Nystrom card I had made, and wanted some extras of it! I told
her I would send her some extras. I sat down in the front row and snapped
pictures of the prospects as they came out. I was chatting with the man
sitting next to me, turns out it was Ryan Whitney's father! Right after
the preview, we spotted agent and former NHLer Norm Dupont in the crowd, and I
got him on one card.
Prospect
Preview Photo Gallery
Click on the above link to see pictures of the draftees! Some are
autographed,
and some aren't. Plus, if you move your mouse over the pics, the player's
head-shot picture pops up. Try it!
Signing Session
After the preview was over,
the draftees exited to the right of the stage and went over to the grass area
where they posed for another group picture, then started to sign for fans
and talk for media. I got the photo-cards signed that I had made. I
went for Jeff Deslauriers and Steve Eminger first, while Jay Bouwmeester was
being interviewed. When the media was done interviewing him, he signed for
everyone; I got him on my photo-card, a Beckett magazine, and a card from the
Upper Deck Prospects set of 00-01. I got Russian prospect Alexander Semin
next, his signature is the smallest and shortest of the draftees. After
getting the two Finnish phenoms (Lehtonen and Pitkanen), I got the college
guys. Ryan Whitney was very nice, signing my photo-card; Eric Nystrom
signed for me as well. I let Chris Higgins go since I had gotten him
earlier. Joffrey Lupul and Petr Taticek signed for me and then I got
Martin Vagner, whose signature is second-best only to Jeff Deslauriers.
This was the best opportunity to get the prospects; they were in their jerseys
and were there to sign, pretty much. It doesn't get any better than that.
Who's That in the Card Store?
Nothing was really happening after the Preview; we went back to the Crowne for a
little bit and all we saw was Alexei Yashin walking down the sidewalk across the
street; I didn't go for him since I had nothing for him. After that, we
went for lunch, then walked over to check out the Legends of the Game card shop
a few blocks away. I went in and bought a 1992 Red Ace set that had Irbe
in it. The set also had an Alexei Yashin in it, so if he showed up again I
would have something for him! Then we noticed two young Finns with folded
up Finnish jerseys walk into the store. Kari Lehtonen and Joni Pitkanen!
I had nothing left for them but it was interesting to see their curiosity and/or
interest in sports memorabilia.
Retired Player Mania
One of the collectors gave me a Curtis Joseph photo and told me that CuJo was
doing a signing at 4:30PM at a card store in suburban Toronto. A couple of
them went; I thought about it for awhile but decided just to get retired guys
instead, and boy am I glad I didn't go to the signing! The weather had turned to crap; it was humid as hell out, and for a guy who's
not used to humidity, it was brutal for me. When we got to the Royal York
to get retired players, it started to pour, even though it was 90 degrees
outside. (I feel sorry for the people at the signing who had to wait
outside in line while it was raining!) The positive aspect of the rain was that it deterred some of the
retired guys from going outside, so everyone stayed inside for the most
part. The York didn't care if we were in their lobby because there weren't
very many hounds inside. This was another prime opportunity! Before
we went inside, we spotted Inge Hammarstrom who signed a card for me with his
full name, then his number 17 with a circle around it! That's great for a
guy whose name is long. We went inside and waited around; there were tons
of personnel in there talking! Now all we had to do was recognize
some. Somebody pointed out Floyd Smith who was talking with a few other
old-timers. I got Floyd on a card and one of the other old-timers said
"You should be getting this man's signature too!" He pointed to
Harry Sinden! I got his signature right there, then of course he was
bombarded by the other seven or eight hounds inside. He signed for a
few before darting into the elevator. Ken Morrow came through the lobby
and signed three for me! A class act. A few Vancouver personnel came
down; I got Ron DeLorme on two cards, one of them signed very nicely on
the "V" stripe! Mario Marois was sitting down talking in
French with a friend; we waited until they were finished and then Marois signed
everything while remaining seated, his autograph came out nicely. Awhile
later a familiar-looking face came out, and nobody else seemed to recognize who
it was. That's because it was Jim Wiley, former Sharks coach (and
currently working with the Sharks' farm team in Cleveland)! He had only
played a few NHL games and didn't have a very successful run as head coach of
the Sharks in 1995-96. I said "Hey, are you Jim Wiley?" and he
stopped, surprised that someone had recognized him! I introduced myself,
he signed for me and seemed pleased to see a Sharks fan somewhere in
Toronto! John Ferguson also came down and signed for everyone. We
then spotted Randy Carlyle talking with some Vancouver personnel! Damn! I hadn't
brought any Carlyle cards with me, so I got him on an index. The
Philadelphia entourage of personnel all came down at nearly the same time!
I went for Ron Hextall first and got him on a card for my Score set, then got
Craig Hartsburg on two cards and the elusive Bob Clarke then signed a card for
me nicely! I had missed Paul Holmgren, Al Hill, and a couple others that
were in the group walking out of the hotel, but I got the big names I
needed. We saw these two younger guys with spiky bleached hair in the
lobby and someone recognized one of them as Patrick Jarrett! He was a
draftee; I got him on an index card, and right then I found out that the other
guy was Cole Jarrett! I got Pat's brother on the same index card, so I
have the Jarrett Brothers on one item. Bob Nystrom was in the lobby and at
first I didn't want to approach him since I'd gotten him earlier; I did have one
more card left of him. However, he seemed to have no problem about it and
I got my last Nystrom signed, he said "No problem at all." After
getting Colorado personnel Bob Hartley and Pierre Lacroix on an index card, our
luck turned for the better as we were waiting around for more personnel.
A Little Help from Perry
Thanks to a friendly Kings scout, we would have
definitely missed a couple guys. We were standing around just watching the
scene, and a scout from the Kings saw what we were doing and said "Hey, do
you needs need Mike Donnelly?" and pointed to Mike, who was sitting on the
same couch quietly. Mike was a very friendly signer, and I got my two
cards signed. I then overheard that the Kings scout, Perry Shockey, used
to coach with the Spokane Chiefs. Since I'm going to attend college in
Spokane next fall, I got into a conversation with him about Spokane and Gonzaga
University. Perry also helped us spot Vaclav Nedomansky. I asked him
"Say, do you know if Nedomansky is around?" "Yeah, he just walked
over there a few seconds ago." I looked over where he pointed and saw
Vaclav walking down the hall. "That's him," Perry said. We
went over and all got Nedomansky; he was a very willing signer; his signature is
amazing on the two cards I showed him - almost his full name on both
cards! I went back over to Perry and thanked him for his help, and of
course he said "No problem at all."
More Retired Players
After that great help, we continued to wait around. Dave Taylor walked out
of the elevator and I quickly pulled out my Triple Crown Line photo and got him
to sign it! Nashville personnel Paul Fenton and Paul Gardner came out; I
got Fenton first on two cards, then Gardner on one (I've gotten Gardner many
times in person before). Then the New York Islanders personnel came
out. Peter Laviolette, Kelly Miller, Billy Smith, and of course Alexei
Yashin! I got Yashin on that Russian card,
while Billy Smith refused to sign, using the old "I don't sign in the
hotel" excuse. I thought I had nothing for Kelly Miller so I let him
and Laviolette go, but then I realized that I had put my Miller card in a
different part of my binder. Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish came out and I
got them on one card each. The Toronto hounds were excited to get Lowe and
MacTavish since they were Western Conference coaches, while I thought "Naah,
might as well get another MacTavish to add to the ten I already
have." I got Ron Sutter on this 8x10 composite photo I made of the Sutter
Brothers. Tony Granato was also around and he signed two cards; I
congratulated him on his new position with Colorado. Thomas Gradin, one of
my favorite players from the 1980s, came down and signed two for me; his
signature is small! This was a great day, I got tons of former players,
even though I wasn't nearly done in that department. And surprisingly,
there was more to this day after hounding ended.
The Gretzky's Restaurant Washroom
Incident
After the end of my hounding day, I went back to the hotel room and my family
had walked around and seen lots of Toronto already. I suggested that we'd
go to Wayne Gretzky's restaurant (if you're a hockey fan on vacation in Toronto,
that's a must-see point of interest). Just in case Wayne was there, I took
a card or two along in my pocket. I thought, Yeah right, like Wayne's
gonna sign anything even if he's there. We walked over there and went
inside. The place was buzzing with excitement about the draft, and the
wait to get a table was at 30 minutes. After looking at some of the
displays, I told my dad that I had to go use the bathroom (or, if you're
Canadian, the washroom). All down the hall by the restrooms there
was a huge display of Gretzky memorabilia, I looked at some of it and went
inside. As I went to the only available stall in the bathroom, I stopped
dead in my tracks for a second. Rick Bowness was in the stall on the left,
the one in the middle was empty, and the one on the right was occupied by none
other than the Great One himself. HO-O-O-OLY SHIT!!! I
thought. The two ex-players were chatting about things (how's the kids,
etc.) Of course, I didn't ask him for his autograph, out of simple
decency. (I'm sure some of you know the story of how basketball great Bill
Russell stopped signing autographs after a fan asked him to sign in a
bathroom...) I got out of there quick and didn't bother him one bit.
So that's my Unbelievable Story of the trip. Didn't
result in an autograph, but I think that's actually a good thing. We did see Kevin
Lowe, Craig MacTavish, and Dave Semenko eating there. I needed Semenko but
of course I didn't ask because I was sure I'd see
him later. The whole day was great, although it ended with an unbelievably
bizarre twist.
Friday Totals: 74 autographs (55 retired, 5 current, 18 prospects).
The ticket to get into the Draft.
Outside the ACC
Hounding started even earlier than yesterday; Andre and I got to Gate 2 of the
Air Canada Center at 7:45 in the morning! We didn't see anybody for a
little bit, but it's a good idea to get there early. Ken Dryden didn't
sign for us, rambling off some excuse. There wasn't many of us there that
early so that was a surprise. Gary Bettman showed up a little after that,
and signed an index card for me. When I told him that I was in from San
Jose to see the draft, he said (and I quote): "San Jose?! You must be a
real hockey nut to come this far!" Quite a compliment (?) coming from
the commissioner of the league! Petr
Svoboda came out of a van and signed for everyone; I got multiples from him
(one for me and one for my friend David). Doug Wilson came out, and I
immediately pulled out three cards and went over to get him. He's one of
the ones I've wanted the most, since he rarely shows up in San Jose. He
signed all three for me nicely. Rick
Wamsley signed two for me; I had gotten him during the season too.
ESPN announcer John Buccigross signed for everyone who recognized him (mostly
American people). I told him that it's a shame Bill Clement and Gary
Thorne don't come to the west coast more often. He said "we like to
call him Bill Cement!" Then someone asked if Darren Pang was there,
and he said "Nope, no Pang Chung tonight." He sure likes his
puns. His signature is really cool by
the way. By now, there were a crapload of autograph seekers out there...
this picture shows how crowded it
was. John Brophy, a former Toronto Maple Leaf coach, signed for
everyone. I'm not too familiar with him (I've heard the name
though). The players were starting to come in quick. I saw Paul
Holmgren and Kevin Lowe, and I went for Holmgren first getting him on two
cards. Then I just caught Kevin Lowe as he was about to go inside, and got
him on the last card I had. I immediately recognized Andre Savard when he
got out of his car, and got him on two cards; his signature was kind of a
scrawl.
Come on, Wayne!
After watching Pierre Mondou sign for some hounds (didn't have anything left for
him), there was a big commotion. Hounds rushed to get their items out, and
crowded around the car. It was Wayne Gretzky! He got out and started
his trademark speedwalking. Everyone who was out there went after him; he
signed only about three or four autographs, saying "I gotta go, guys.
Gotta go." Of course, I wasn't one of the lucky few who got Gretzky
to sign. The signatures he gave out were alright, considering he was more
concerned about trying to get inside.
What?! Why are
they here?
After getting denied by Gretzky, I got some other retired players that
were around. Ron Harris signed a card for me. Doug Risebrough signed
one per, while Phil Myre signed
everything. Lindy Ruff was in a great mood, signing two for me.
Former Toronto player Rudy Migay was in a real hurry; he signed one for me and
then a few others. Rick Dudley signed a Pro Set card for me (only one I
had of him). I also ran into some former NHLers that I weren't expecting
to show up; the one that hurt the most was Dan Bouchard! I had tons of
great cards of him at home but I settled for an index card. Same with Mark
Osborne and Brad Shaw. Ryan Walter was there too, and I got him on an
index card even though I had a couple at home. I had previously gotten
Walter during the 99-00 season. Retired players were walking underneath an
overpass on their way to the draft, so we decided to go wait up by the north end
of it, that way we would be able to get away from the crowd. We didn't see
anyone of superstar status, but I did get Adam Creighton on two cards and Duane
Sutter on my Sutter Brothers photo. Don Jackson also signed one for
me. We went back to the crowded area, where I got draftee Petr Kanko on a
card.
The floor of the Entry Draft.
Draft Time!
We decided to go inside after awhile, when things got quiet. Inside there
were a few personnel talking. We recognized them as Alain Vigneault and
Guy Charron. After they were done talking, they signed for me. Steve
Weeks was around, too, and he signed three cards nicely. We all entered
the ACC, and went up the escalators to the 300 level. The ACC is an amazing
place; much bigger than the Tank that I'm used to. We watched the
first half of the first round of the Draft from our seats. The crowd in the arena was
actually pretty sparse; I had expected a little more. The crowd cheered
loudly when Rick Nash was picked first. We left the ACC after the 16th
pick and had lunch at a burger joint. After that it was back to the
concourse to look for players.
Draftees In the
Concourse
The draftees were easily recognizable, most of them had their jerseys on. Jay
Bouwmeester signed for a good ten to fifteen minutes; I got him on the Draft
Day Beckett, the photo of him at the prospect preview, and the Hockey News
profile. Rick Nash signed my Hockey News for me, while Steve Eminger
signed my Prospect Preview pic of him. Pierre-Marc Bouchard signed a card
and the Hockey News, while surprise Oilers pick Jesse
Niinimaki signed happily for everyone. Too bad that Jesse's signature
is nothing more than a bunch of scribbles. Mike
Liut signed two cards for me, he was generally a good signer. We
spotted Brent Sutter getting a hot dog at a concession stand. I got Brent
to sign my Sutter Brothers photo. Four down, two to go! (Rich and Darryl).
Orr Signs... for One Person
We were in the main concourse searching for former players, when all of a sudden
some hounds ran out of the ACC chasing after someone. I decided to join
them, and as it turned out, they were after Bobby Orr! He was on his way
out of the draft, and didn't sign anything all the way until he got to his car
across the street. He was gonna get in there, when a hound said "Hey
Bobby, why don't you just sign for a few of us?" Bobby agreed, and he
only signed one autograph; he took Andre's book, and signed "to Andre, Best
Wishes, Bobby Orr." It's the best Orr I've ever seen; the signature
was big and looks amazing. Of course, as we were walking back to the ACC,
I didn't forget to call Andre a lucky bastard; after all, he got Gretzky and Orr
in one day!
Vaive and Paiement
Former Leaf players Rick Vaive and Wilf Paiement were doing a signing outside
the Galleria entrance to the ACC, so we headed out there and got in line.
Of course, I had nothing for Paiement since I didn't know he'd be doing the
signing, so I went over to the card show and found a dealer that had pucks for
sale; I got a Maple Leafs puck and got back in line. As we got closer to
the booth, I saw a draftee in a Senators jersey walking out of the ACC.
Jakub Klepis! I left the line briefly, got Klepis on a card, and went back
in line with the others. Vaive and
Paiement happily signed everything put in front of them. I got Vaive
on a 4x6 photo (of him signing
on Friday), and Paiement on the puck. I
had a bunch of cards for Paiement at home, but at least I got a nice puck
signed. Wilf's signature is not as good on cards; I got a better version
on the puck. And notice how he signed #99 on the puck; not many others can
say that they had that number!
Getting Them As They
Leave
After the draft, the crowd was just as big, if not bigger. Fans had
received copies of the exclusive Beckett Hockey Collector, and about half
of the people there were getting the cover of those signed by
whoever. Since this outing was sort of a blur of players leaving the
arena, I only remember a few good details... Brad Park and Dave Brown
(Rangers scouts) left the ACC and went across the street to the parking
lot. We had to jump over the median and chase them. Most of them
were going after Brad Park, who was not in a real signing mood. Instead, I
went for former Shark Dave Brown and got him on two cards. Pelle Eklund
was one of the best signers, signing pages for people with his amazing
signature; I got three from him. Greg Malone seemed to be in a bit of
a hurry, but he signed for everyone nonetheless. Tom Kurvers and
Warren Rychel were more than willing to sign; Tom's autograph is a bit sloppy
but I can't complain because he was very nice about it. I missed Shane
Churla, who was with Rychel and Kurvers. Phil Myre came out and I got him
to sign the other half of the index card that Dan Bouchard had signed
earlier. I now had both of the main Atlanta
Flames goalies on one card! The Steens (Alex and Thomas) came out at
the same time; I got Alex on my card of him first, then went and got Thomas
Steen on two out of three. Another cool signer was Harry Howell; he signed
two cards for me with his awesome, full-length signature! I saw a bunch of
ex-players walking in the other direction, towards the Westin Harbor Castle, so
I went down that way and got Ken Holland, Detroit's general manager, on an index
card, then saw Jim Nill! He signed two cards for me; I thanked him for
doing the interview and he immediately recognized me and said "Oh, no
problem! Actually my kids found that on the internet, that was
interesting!" That was cool, to know that some NHLers (current or
former) see my site! Dale Hunter signed three cards for me, two of which I
got done for Bill (who let me keep the third one). Dale was great about
signing, seemed to have no problems doing it at all. Ville Siren signed
2/2, and was surprised that people had stuff for him. Brian Lawton was
talking to a friend as he left, and he took forever to sign them! He
signed one, talked for about a minute, and signed the other one, then waited for
another half-minute, then handed them back to me! At least I got his
signature; he seems like he was a little more focused on the conversation.
We caught up to Charlie Hodge a block south of the ACC, just south of Lake Shore
Boulevard. I only had one item for him, and before signing he said "I
only sign one, and you know why? Because people sell them." I got my
one, and as we went back to the main hounding area, we wondered exactly how
often his signature was sold. I got back from getting those players, and
Andre told me that Vladislav Tretiak had signed and was on the other side of the
overpass, north from where we were. Shit! I wanted Tretiak so I ran
down to the other side of the overpass and saw him crossing Front Street, going
towards the Hall of Fame. I got him just after he crossed; I had covered a
few blocks in a matter of minutes. Back to the ACC I went, and as I came
back I saw a crowd following Robbie Ftorek as he desperately tried to get rid of
the autograph seekers. "Guys, I gotta go, the wife's back at the
hotel..." I got him on one card, then snapped this photo
of him speed-walking as other hounds struggled to keep up. I'm surprised
this picture came out at all. Wayne Thomas came out and I got him; another
Shark exec I don't see much! Bob Clarke didn't sign very much, he tried to
be nice about denying people, saying "Guys, come on, I don't want to be
impolite..." as if to say "Don't make me yell at you!" Joel Quenneville was a great signer; one
collector handed him a stack of about ten of his cards, and he signed them all
patiently! I said, "Wow, that must be the whole collection there,
huh?" and he said "Pretty much!" He signed the one card
that I brought for him. Kent Nilsson was a great signer too! He
signed three cards for me and had no problems signing pages for others. I
didn't just get former stars though. I got Tomas Jelinek, a Calgary scout
who only played one season in the NHL, with the Ottawa Senators. Jarmo
Kekalainen, a former Senator and Bruin who only played a couple seasons, signed
two for me. He has a crippled leg and had to use a small crutch to walk
around, but he had no problem signing, even if we said "you sure you want
to sign?" The collector from Montreal recognized Daniel Doré,
who unfortunately made a name for himself as the biggest bust draft pick in
Nords history, but had lots of potential in his junior career. He signed
for everyone that asked. Rick Knickle, a Nashville scout, used to be a career minor league goalie
who had a stint with the Los Angeles Kings in the mid-90s but played the bulk of
his career in the IHL. He signed a card for me and, like other
lesser-known former players, was pleased that someone knew who he was.
Sometimes, it's just as cool to get guys like Knickle, Dore, and Kekalainen as
it is to get the big-name retired players like Tretiak, Clarke, and Lafleur.
Why? Because you hardly see them in person, and getting them is even
tougher than trying to get someone over and over again in person, because you
never see them!
Part Two of
"What?! Why's he here?
Again, players showed up that I hadn't even thought of bringing.
Enrico Ciccone and Danton Cole signed index cards for me; I have literally
dozens of cards of them at home. Dennis Maruk was the one that surprised
me the most. He's the director of hockey operations for the Baton Rouge
Kingfish, an ECHL club. He signed an index card and I asked if it was
alright to send him a couple of cards since I didn't know he'd be at the draft,
and he said "No problem at all." Gord Donnelly, a former NHL
enforcer from the mid-late 1980s, was another surprise, I got him on an index
card too. I also got Lou Lamoriello, New Jersey Devils owner, on an index
card, just for the hell of it.
Draftees Like
Signing...
...especially after they've been drafted! We only saw a few
draftees outside, but they all hid big smiles on their faces; I got Colorado
draftee Johnny Boychuk to sign my Hockey News (I had seen him with Scottie
Upshall on Thursday). He was in an understandably
happy mood. Joni Pitkanen signed a couple more items for me: a
Prospect Preview picture and a Hockey News profile. People seemed to swarm
any draftee they could find; Moncton Wildcat prospect Francois
Caron signed for a ton of people! He wasn't even drafted until late
Sunday, but had no problem signing for people. We had already gotten him
on Friday in the York. Patrick Thoresen was signing for people, and of
course nobody knew who it was; I checked my Hockey News and found his picture
and was 99.9% sure it was him, and I was right! People knew who it was
then. Unfortunately, Patrick was not drafted. We also saw 2001
first-rounder Ales Hemsky leave the draft. I had gotten him on an index
card, but we realized that he was featured in the month's Beckett under
"Junior Gems"! I got him to sign that and he was cool as usual.
Me with former Sharks enforcer Marty
McSorley
Marty McSorley's
here?!
So far, the retired players that had shown up unexpectedly were guys that I had
nothing for but index cards. And I kept having to bum index cards off
other people since I kept running out. But finally I was able to get one
of the surprise players on something good. I had brought an 8x10 photo of
McSorley in a Sharks uniform, just on a hunch that the new Springfield Falcons
head coach might be there with the Coyotes staff. Well, that sure paid
off! I didn't see many other people with McSorley items; he was mostly
signing people's index cards and Beckett covers. He signed the photo with
his amazing signature; if you look at it, it's very complex and it's amazing how
he signs that signature the same on everyone's items! After he signed for
me, I watched him sign for other people and thought, why not get a picture with
him? So I waited around. And waited. And waited. You
see, people were talking to him; one collector asked some, uh... interesting
questions. "Marty McSorley... now you were in the movie Con Air,
weren't you?" The collector said in a fake British accent.
After a good laugh and waiting around for another minute, I finally got a pic
with McSorley; he had no problem with that. That's a great success for me!
After getting McSorley, I immediately went for Dave Semenko, who I got to sign
two cards!
Postscript
After a whole day of hounding, I went back to the Crowne Plaza and
waited for the elevator to take me back to my room; and Chris Higgins was there
too waiting for an elevator! We chatted again, I congratulated him, he
signed a couple of items for me, and I wished him all the best! I hope he
has a great career because he's one of the coolest hockey players I've ever had
the privilege of talking to. Unlike Friday, we didn't see any hockey superstars when my family went
out to eat. Actually, it was in Chinatown, the last place you would find a
former player! Although my dad thought one of the people eating there
looked like a hockey player. But that happens all the time. Anyway,
this was my most productive autograph day in my career, beating the December
2000 Edmonton outing by 9. I got lots of former players that I
wouldn't normally see, so I'll call this day a major success!
Saturday Totals: 112 autographs (95 retired, 16 prospects, 1 announcer).
Team personnel wait in a line to get into
the Air Canada Center.
Getting People I Missed
This would be a cleanup day. I still needed a bunch of players - Craig
Patrick, Mike Murphy, Brad Park, just to name a few - but today I'd only have
the morning to get them. Not as many hounds came for the second day, but
there were still quite a few. This was even more of a blur than Saturday
because I forgot which players I let go by me since I'd already gotten them this
weekend.
Traffic Jam!
Since the draft was taking place earlier today than it was on Saturday, the
personnel arrived quicker than before. This resulted in gridlock, as
personnel had to wait in line to get
into the Gate 2 entrance. This was a little more convenient but I didn't
need many of the players that were in line. I think the only one that I
needed was Kelly Miller, who I got to sign one card. I found it sort of funny that
even the former NHL players have to wait in line to get into an arena. Bob
Clarke signed one for me, and I was surprised that he was in a good mood.
Colin Campbell signed 2/2, so did Mike Murphy. Both of them had sons who
were NHL draftees, so they were there. (Also, both of them work for the
NHL in some capacity.) The Pittsburgh personnel had to wait in the
gridlock, so this was a great chance! I got Herb Brooks on a card, Craig
Patrick on a card, Rick Kehoe on two cards, Ed Johnston on one, and Randy
Hillier on, surprisingly, 1/2. Phoenix assistant Pat Conacher was there
and even though I had gotten him many times in person, I decided, what the hell,
get him again! He was very nice as usual! Same with Guy Carbonneau,
who signed the one that I showed. His autograph is still an amazing work
of art if he wants to sign his good version, and that's what I got from him this
time! Huddy, MacTavish, and Lowe came up to the ACC again, and I got
MacTavish and Huddy while letting Lowe go by. Ron Hextall showed up and a
collector gave me a card to get signed since I had nothing left but still wanted
his autograph. Bob Gainey signed the small version of his autograph,
staying one per to save time and accommodate as many people as he could.
And in my favorite success of the day, I got Rich Sutter on the Sutter
Brothers 8x10, leaving me with just Darryl to get! Barry Dean, Barry
Long, Terry Murray, and Rick Paterson all signed for me that morning too.
Milan Tichy, a former Chicago prospect who appeared in just a handful of games
for the Hawks in 92-93 and a few for the Isles later, seemed extremely surprised
that people asked him to sign. He gave out a nice signature on both of my
cards, and was super-nice! After getting Gord Dineen on an index card, it
was time to go in.
...And Missing Some of the Same People Again
Of course, I couldn't recognize and stop everyone. I missed Larry Carriere,
Murray Oliver, Ilkka Sinisalo, Bob Janecyk, Keith Gretzky, Shane Churla, and a few others.
Our dear friend Billy Smith was being a putts again. When we asked, he said "If I
sign for you, I have to sign for everyone. Plus, you're going to sell them
later." Way to assume, Bill. Even more ironic was the fact that
he said that to the collectors while signing for a few dealers that day.
And Wayne, good old Wayne. He walked to the arena from his hotel! If
I would've been on the other side of the overpass, I would've gotten him.
But alas, he walked into the arena and I can't recall him signing for one person
while he was near the mob of people.
Inside the ACC
This was not as productive. The second day of the draft was much lighter
so there were fewer people around. The only highlight of this part of the
draft was getting Vladislav Tretiak. We went down to a section of seats
just a few rows up from the draft floor. We spotted Vladislav Tretiak
talking to new draftee Ivan Koltsov. A hound actually handed his card of
Tretiak to Koltsov, who handed it over and had Vlad sign it. Then I did
the same thing. That worked great. Later, the Sharks called a
familiar name out. "The Sharks select, with the 139th pick, from
Sarnia of the OHL, Kris Newbury." Immediately a deafening cheer from
Kris' family a few rows behind us practically knocked me out of my seat! I had cards of Kris at
home, and not only did I not bring them, he was drafted by the Sharks too.
Ouch. At least I might be able to get him at a future training camp.
It was almost time for me to leave; I got Mark Hunter in the concourse on an
index card, and that was it for me.
Horrible Postscript: What Happened After I Left
My parents had told me to be back at the hotel room by 12:15 PM. Despite
my obvious protests, I was pretty much forced to. They were already a bit
ticked off that I had pretty much ditched them to do my hounding; even though I
told them it would only take a few hours, that didn't work. Meanwhile,
while I was having lunch in the C.N. Tower restaurant, Wayne Gretzky was
signing. For 3/4 of the people there. When I found out, there was
non-stop cussing in my room for a good minute or so. Oh well.
I guess Gretzky signing was good news, maybe he'll lighten up. Or, that
was just pure luck. I knew one thing for sure: I would've gotten Gretzky
if I was there, no doubt. So the quest continues for him. Other than
that, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Sunday Totals: 30 autographs (all retired).
So what. I missed Gretzky. Although that was sort of a downer, everything else was a big success. There's not many chances in my career to get the players I got in person this weekend. It was a thrill to hound in the biggest hockey city in the NHL; like I said to some Toronto, collectors, "If you can make it here, you can make it in any of the NHL cities." The collectors in Toronto that helped me the most were very knowledgeable and picked out players that I couldn't have recognized to save my life. The crowd had its share of nitwits, but I just sort of ignored them. Overall, I got 255 autographs in Toronto, of retired players that I'll probably never see again in my life as well as prospects that I will one day get in San Jose when they are NHL regulars. This experience was awesome, and will never be matched by any other Entry Draft I might go to in the future. What could be better than a Draft and an Awards in one weekend?
So, That's It,
Huh? You just got your autographs and went home, right?
Absolutely not, you stupid underlined paragraph title! After I
finished hounding, my family went and saw the top attractions of the area.
We had lunch at the revolving C.N. Tower restaurant, spent a good few hours
looking around the Hall of Fame, and on Monday we took a day trip to Niagara
Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. That was cool too. But not as cool as
the autograph seeking!
2002
NHL Draft Scan
Gallery!
Click on the link above to view autographs of every current and former player
that I got at the draft!
Looking Towards Next Summer...
At this point, it's hard to say whether or not I'll be able to make it to
Nashville. If I do, I'll be on my own and will most likely have to stay at
a cheaper hotel. Right now it's doubtful but I would really like to go; I
can imagine it being a lot easier to get autographs there than it was in
Toronto. At least the amount of people hounding shouldn't be that bad.
But I don't think as many personnel will make it to Nashville since it's not
exactly the same hockey hotbed that Toronto is.
Thank Yous
My experience in Toronto wouldn't have been as good as it was without
the help of some great collectors: Andre Andrijiw, Marco Espinola, Bill, Rom,
Paul from Cobourg, Jeff, Theo, the guy from Montreal who goes to the draft
every year, and many more.
Paul Buxton is the
webmaster of this site and gets autographs regularly
in San Jose. He
can be reached at pbuxton6@sonic.net.
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