Sunday, February 13, 2011

52nd Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament - My 1st Outing

Well it’s that time of year again! This weekend was the first of the 2011 Quebec International Pee-Wee Tournament.

I went to the Colisée early this morning to catch Manon Rhéaume and Igor Larionov, whose respective sons were both playing for the Detroit Honeybaked team. I saw Ms. Rhéaume as she was entering the building and she signed these 2 cards for me:


When she noticed I was also carrying cards to get signed by Mr. Larionov, she mentioned that he should be there soon, as he usually followed his son wherever he played. Sure enough, as I wished her good luck for the tournament, Igor Larionov was at the gates, so I waited for him to enter and asked him if he would sign my 3 cards, which he kindly did!



He said he had never seen the 2006-07 ITG International Ice card of him in a Russia uniform. I asked him if he would like me to bring him one at a later time during the tournament (I knew I had a duplicate at home) and he said that’d be great, as he already had the other 2 cards he signed for me, but not that one. It’s always nice to see players collect their own cards!

Shortly after, I was surprised to see Keith Tkachuk making it through the same gates, as the Pee-Wee team he is the assistant coach of, the St. Louis Blues, was only scheduled to play in the evening. I went up to him and got these 2 cards signed:


Later that morning, I saw Michel Goulet in the corridor. His son is the coach of the Denver Pioneers team. He signed these 2 cards for me:


Around 11 AM, an official autograph signing session was scheduled. It was announced as a signing with Michel Goulet and other ex-Nordiques. Before leaving home this morning, I even read, on the Facebook page of one of the tournament’s sponsors, that Joe Sakic would be there! Therefore, I had brought cards of about 15 ex-Nordiques. Turns out only Michel Goulet was there... At least I was able to get 2 more cards signed by him, as well as the 4" X 6" card they were handing out:



After lunchtime began the waiting for Mark Messier, who usually accompanies the New York Rangers as their assistant coach. His father, the coach of the team, arrived with the team, but there was no sign of his son. Eventually, I had to leave, so I didn’t get a chance to see if he finally made it in time for the game or not (or if he had already arrived through another entrance)... I hope I’ll be able to catch him another time during the tournament!

3 comments:

Captain Canuck said...

those are awesome! I've been trying to get a Rheaume auto for awhile now...
congrats!

Canadian Sports Autographs said...

Awesome stuff man! The Larionov's look great! His autograph has definitely got better through the years.

Dave Herrington said...

Would you like to trade for the 01-02 Fleer Greats of the Game card of Goulet? I am collecting that set.