2008 IIHF World Championship - Russia vs. Canada

Today's game was the big final between Russia and Canada that would determine who would win the gold medal and who would have to leave with the silver medal! I got to the Colisée early because I wanted to catch some VIP guests as they arrived. There were about 5 or 6 of us waiting outside for autographs... One of the others told me he had heard on the radio that Ken Dryden would be coming to the game with other politicians. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought anything of him. :o(

Unlike the other games, many players from Team Canada got to the arena in tournament shuttles by groups of 2 or 3. I got Martin St. Louis to sign my Tampa Bay Lightning puck when he showed up with Jason Spezza:

When Team Canada's bus arrived, none of the players signed. I guess they wanted to keep their focus on the game...

A bit later, Glenn Anderson and Kevin Lowe arrived together. I was happy to get an autograph from each of them, since I had missed them after the Legends game last Thursday!

Many politicians arrived afterwards, including the Prime Minister of Canada. Ken Dryden also showed up. He signed everything that was handed to him, but he would personalize everything. He signed for about a minute or two before heading inside. I had a blank index card I wanted to get signed, but I left the chance to the others who had photos and cards...

A few minutes later I was a bit surprised to see Viacheslav Fetisov arrive, since he was supposed to play last Thursday at the Legends game, but hadn't! It's a good thing that I had left my 2 cards of him in my small box of cards! He signed them for me:

Another one that was even less expected was Borje Salming, who arrived soon after Mr. Fetisov. I didn't have any cards of Mr. Salming with me, but I still got his autograph on a blank index card:

About 5 minutes after the game had begun, I was about to leave since it appeared unlikely that anyone else would be showing up. My plan was to go home, watch the game on TV, find my cards of Borje Salming and Ken Dryden, get back to the Colisée near the end of the game and try to get my cards signed. That's when I noticed a guy from the tournament talking to a family of four that was hanging out at the back of the Colisée (presumably so that their kids could see the players come in - they were a bit late I guess!). Anyhow, the guy asked them if they had tickets for the game and they told him they didn't. The guy took out a pile of tickets from his pocket and handed them a ticket each! As the guy from the tournament was about to get inside the Colisée, I ran up to him and asked him if he wouldn't have an extra ticket available for one person (by that time, I was the only one left at that entrance). He said he didn't mind giving me one, since the game had already begun!!! Here's a scan:

So I ended up going to the gold medal game! I was ecstatic! It was such a surprise, so unexpected! When I got to my seat, the score was 1-1 and only 6 minutes had been played in the 1st period. From what I could gather, the ticket I was given came from a batch that the tournament was keeping for VIP guests. For instance, if Wayne Gretzky had decided to come to the game without a ticket, he could very well have been sitting next to me! Kevin Lowe, Glenn Anderson and Jyrki Lumme were all in my section...

Autograph-wise, my day was not over! During the first intermission, I was walking in the corridor when I stumbled upon someone who I had been looking for the whole week: Alexander Yakushev! I asked him if he would autograph my card and he did!

I'm not sure if he spoke or understood English though. Furthermore, he looked as though he had never seen the card I asked him to sign! :o) I can't blame him, since it's only limited to 240 copies...

Before getting back to my seat for the 2nd period, I also saw Valeri Kamensky in the corridor, so I had him sign this card:

After the game, I went to the back of the Colisée to get autographs from the players, but there were MANY Russians there to greet their team. Many were pushing, so I felt it wouldn't be any good for autographs, seeing how I didn't even have much space to move and I didn't want to damage the cards I was holding! I then moved to the North-West entrance and waited there.

Rick Nash came out from that entrance way before any of the other players came out from the garage door behind the Colisée. I guess he felt bad for causing the power play during which the Russians scored in overtime and he wanted to avoid the media, or something like that. I could have asked for an autograph, but decided this would probably be a bad time...

A bit later, Craig MacTavish came out. I got his autograph on this card:

Once Team Russia had come out and their bus left, the Russians that had been waiting behind the Colisée also left. Team Canada had yet to come out, but their bus was parked in the garage for the first time of the tournament, which wasn't a good sign! Even though the remaining fans kept shouting "CANADA" and wanted them to come out, the players were already in the bus when it rolled out of the garage and left.

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...

2008 IIHF World Championship - Team Canada practice

This year the IIHF World Championship is held in 2 North American cities for the first time ever. 8 teams will be playing in Quebec City, QC and 8 will be playing in Halifax, NS. Also, Canada, Finland and Russia will be holding their training camps in Quebec City, although Canada and Finland will then be playing their games in Halifax. The semifinals games and the medals games will all be played in Quebec City too...

Enough about the tournament! Tonight's practice of Team Canada was open to the public, so I went. After watching the practice for a couple of minutes, I went outside the Colisée and saw Luc Robitaille visiting the installations. I got him to sign this card:

He was really friendly too, but since he was with other people, I only asked him to sign one card. I expected Steve Yzerman to be with him, but he wasn't around... After the practice, I went to the back of the Colisée and waited for the players to come out. The way it was set up, the barriers were maybe 150-175 feet from the players' exit! It really sucked, you really had to shout a player's name if you wanted him to come, so it was easy for them to ignore you if they didn't feel like signing. Pascal Leclaire came and signed for the few fans that were there (maybe 10-15 people?). He signed these 2 cards for me:

Shane Doan also came and was very generous with his time, signing for everyone there until the bus had to leave. Here are the cards I got autographed by him:

Finally, I got Martin St. Louis to sign a Tampa Bay Lightning puck for me with my silver Sharpie, but my Sharpie didn't work very well, so I didn't scan the puck. :oS

Martin St. Louis TTM

Martin St. Louis c/o Tampa Bay Lightning - 21 days - 2/3