Edited Aug. 7, 2023 at 7:18 p.m.
Quoting: NorthernLeafsFan05
The offseason is back to being boring again, so I figured I'd try and give people the opportunity to brag about the NHL players they have met. Here is my resume:
- Claude Giroux in Hearst, Ontario
- Chris Simon in Longlac, Ontario (Funnily enough, he ran a hockey school about anti-bullying)
Some honorable mentions:
- Ryan Graves' dad (Works for a local mine)
- Tyler Tucker's aunt (She taught me math)
Any cool NHL player stories on the forum?
My uncle is a ref. Other family members in player development. Growing up I’d go to games way before the public and could go anywhere, which I did.
When I was 12 I was running around the arena before the game and peed my pants super bad - just couldn’t find a bathroom and such. I ran into Jagr who I hadn’t met, he was super nice to me randomly, did not mention my piss pants. The giveaway was a calendar, and he grabbed one - maybe I had one? I can’t remember, and had everybody in the locker room sign it for me without me asking or anything. I still have it and the signature of like 20 other dudes he took it to individually for me. (Including Mario)
I do not remember if I stayed for that game with the piss pants. I also drank a ton of alcohol earlier in life and that screwed my long term memory, but I’ll never forget how nice Jagr was. That calendar is the only autograph I’ve ever saved, and is probably the single document I’ve kept the longest besides my birth certificate.
Then I dated into an ownership family. That didn’t last long as the relationship part of the ordeal sucked. Lasted a few seasons tho. Got to again just go wherever I wanted in the arena anytime; but now older so I didn’t go around the players as much. Plus the locker room is just a bunch of half to full naked dudes all preoccupied with stuff, weird place to go as a teenager. My priorities were which box had the free food selection I wanted that night. Weird ass family. I’d tell stories about this but I’m not gonna blast some powerful ppl online for no reason. That being said I’ve seen true evil. Mostly with this life perk I’d go to the vip lounges after the game, whether it be the one in the stadium or the ones at the bars. For a lot of this I wasn’t 21 yet, didn’t matter if you were “with the team” or going to a private section of the bar. Most nights it was free. I guess the team paid? I don’t know. We’d just go behind the bar ourselves, or some of the vips just had stocked fridges you’d go to. We’d (including the girl who’s part of the ownership fam) follow the players randomly and watch every single girl hit on them. There are lines. Sometimes there’s literally 25-50+. It’s silly. They’re all fun but if you’re not on the team then you aren’t gonna chill with them, and I never tried to like go bro up with them, but I was around most nights with a little group that would go to the game then get drunk after. We all “knew” each other. Occasionally I’d bring a friend and take them down to the locker room, get somebody to come out and sign a jersey, have a quick chat, etc. Alexander Steen was always very kind to me. Tyson Nash tried to engage with my girlfriend, would stare at her in the seats occasionally during the game. Like middle of the second period I’m sitting there into the game, Nash is absolutely not paying any attention to the game even tho he’s literally on the ice: he’s staring at my gf pre faceoff. We’d sit anywhere but usually right behind the bench - maybe 4 or 5 rows, or a box. I’m not mad about it, but at the time I was and Nash kinda sucked so I let him have it a bit, anyway she sucked, he can have her. I don’t think he was successful but I don’t think she would admit if he was. In hindsight these were Pronger years and I can say I never saw that dude out partying ever. Not once.
Side note, in stl cigarette smokers used to get a hand stamp. Even before the first period if you wanted a smoke you got a stamp and went out. With my insider connections I found the stamps they bought, and bought a set for myself. For about 5 years post insider relationship the nhl was free as I’m fully capable of stamping my own hand. Then I got season tickets.
Pro tip: if you aren’t a lunatic and just want to share the ice with some players - get beer league good and attend a lot of open skates and stick and pucks. If you do this at-least in the regions I’ve lived you’ll run into players eventually. Ps: go to the rinks in the nice part of town. If you’re a goalie you’ll get to face a few shots. My friends kids are kinda into hockey, we skate about once a month, they’ve gotten to say hi to quite a few people over the years.
NorthernLeafsFan05, Sharkie69, Tintin and 1 other person liked this.
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