Montréal Canadiens vs. Carolina Hurricanes Preseason Game

Earlier tonight, a preseason game between the Montréal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes was played at the Colisée Pepsi in Québec. I went to the game with a few cards of players of both teams, not expecting much. At the beginning of the game, I noticed a few players sitting together up in the balconies. I went up there (it was accessible to the public, although nobody sat there for the game - the game wasn't sold out) just before the 2^nd intermission and found out that the players hanging out up there were all Carolina players (those who weren't playing tonight, obviously). Unfortunately, I hadn't done my homework and couldn't recognize most of them (always do your homework, kids!). One I did recognize was Jordan Staal, who signed my 2 cards:

Also up in the balconies, but in another section of the Colisée, Ron Francis stood alone as the 3^rd period was about to begin. With the help of Justine, a hounding colleague, I was able to get 2 cards signed by him:

After the game, I waited outside the arena for the players from both teams to come out. Save for Brandon Prust, none of the Canadiens players came out and signed, as their team bus was parked in the garage inside the arena. As for the Hurricanes, they had to come out of the arena to get on their team bus. There was almost no security there, which should have helped, but most of the players went straight to the bus without stopping for anyone. One player who was generous of his time and signed for a few minutes was Eric Staal, who signed this card for me:

That wrapped up the night for me!

2008 IIHF World Championship - Russia vs. Finland and Canada vs. Sweden

The semifinals were played today, so I took the afternoon off, not knowing how the weather would be like this weekend... The afternoon's game was between Russia and Finland. Here's what I got after the game:

As you can see, very few Russian players stopped to sign...

After going home for dinner, I got back to the Colisée at the end of the game between Canada and Sweden. When Team Canada came out, I had Jonathan Toews sign my Chicago Blackhawks puck once again, but this time with my new silver marker (I had removed the ink from his previous signature with lighter fluid). It worked great!

Here's what else I got signed by the Canadians:

Team Sweden came out soon afterwards and all I got signed is this card of Henrik Lundqvist:

I was wondering why he signed it with #35, but after doing a bit of research on the Internet, I found out that he had used that number for Sweden in 2005.

2008 IIHF World Championship - Canada vs. Finland

Tonight I went to an exhibition game between Canada and Finland. Right before the game, I met Jari Kurri in the corridor. He was there as the GM of Team Finland. I got him to sign these 2 cards:

During the 1st intermission, a friend and I went to the section leading to the press gallery and saw Mathieu Garon hanging there. He wasn't dressed, but he was there as the 3rd goalie for Team Canada. He signed this card for me:

During the 2nd intermission, we went back to the section leading to the press gallery and saw Steve Yzerman about to go up on the press gallery. I asked him for an autograph and he agreed to sign both of my cards:

Right after the game, my friend and I went back to the same place hoping to catch Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman, cause my friend still hadn't got Mr. Robitaille's autograph. We did catch them both as they were coming off from the press gallery! While my friend was getting a card signed by Luc Robitaille, who was very friendly once again, I asked Steve Yzerman if he wouldn't mind autographing my Red Wings puck. He didn't look very friendly though. He didn't say a word, but he signed my puck!

I was happy to see that my silver Sharpie worked well this time! I really didn't expect to get 3 autographs from Mr. Yzerman in the same night, as I had heard he was a tough signer in person... After we got Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman, we went to the back of the Colisée to wait for the players to come out. Fortunately, the barrier configuration had changed and the barriers were now right next to the garage door where the players were coming out! We did really well! All the players stopped to sign! Here's everything I got:

Finally, I also got a Chicago Blackhawks puck signed by Jonathan Toews, but once again, my silver Sharpie acted up and the autograph is barely visible. I'll probably just remove the ink with lighter fluid and try my luck some other time before the end of the tournament...

Eric Staal TTM

Eric Staal c/o parents' house - 21 days - 1/1