Acadie-Bathurst Titan vs. Québec Remparts Game

I went to the game between the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the hometown Québec Remparts earlier tonight and waited for autographs after the game. From the Remparts, I managed to get autographs from Adam Erne, Anthony Duclair and projected 2012 NHL Entry Draft 1^st round pick Mikhail Grigorenko:

I didn't need anyone from the Titan's autograph, so I then waited for Patrick Roy to come out. He eventually did (I was the only one left waiting for him then) and he signed my 4 cards:

He insisted on using his own black Sharpie but I don't mind, the cards look great!

Québec Remparts vs. Lewiston Maineiacs IP

Earlier tonight I attended the game between the Québec Remparts and the Lewiston Maineiacs at the Colisée and stayed after the game for autographs. The first autographs I got were from Steven Finn, who's now the Maineiacs' assistant coach:

A few minutes later I spotted Mr. Finn chatting with Stéphane Fiset, who's now an agent. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought cards of him, not knowing he'd be there. About the same time, I almost got to ask Kirill Kabanov to sign my card as he jogged around the Colisée after the game, but I wasn't quick enough... :o\

From the Remparts, I was able to get these cards signed by Louis Domingue and Joël Champagne.

Once again, I set out to try and wait for Patrick Roy. It got to a point where there were only me and a guy who wanted to get his Habs jersey signed waiting. I ended up catching Mr. Roy as he was about to leave the arena and he signed the 2 cards I had:

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited that he completed the dual card that was already signed by Martin Brodeur!

Québec Remparts IP

Earlier today I read in a local newspaper that Ray Bourque was in town to see his son Ryan, who plays for the Remparts. The article mentioned that Patrick Roy had invited Ray to take part in on-ice practices with the Remparts yesterday and today, so I thought there was a good chance that he would be at the game tonight to see his son play. I went after the game and stayed there until 11 PM, but I never saw neither Ray nor Ryan leave, so my guess is that they were still inside when I left, especially considering how I saw a big rental SUV in the parking when I left...

Even though I didn’t get Mr. Bourque's autograph, I still managed to get these signed by Patrick Roy, who’s always a great signer in person:

Québec Remparts IP

My friend and I stayed after tonight's Remparts game at the Colisée to get some autographs. Here's what I got signed:

Québec Remparts Training Camp

This afternoon I went to the Québec Remparts training camp in Val-Bélair, just north of Québec City. Here's what I was able to get signed at the end of the afternoon:

Québec Remparts Autograph Session

Earlier tonight, Remparts season ticket holders and members of their fan club could skate on the ice of the Colisée Pepsi for free. That skating session was followed by an autograph session by the whole team. You had to wait in line for each player. Obviously, some lines were longer than others: Patrick Roy's (duh!), Dmitry Kugryshev's, Mikhail Stefanovich's, Kelsey Tessier's and Charles Lavigne's come to mind. The players didn't sign long enough for me to get everyone's autograph, so I had to make choices, but overall I'm pretty happy with the quantity and quality of autographs that I got! Every player had their own 3½" X 5" team-issued cards they were signing and handing out, but I also got cards from my team set as well as other cards signed. Here are the highlights:

Québec Remparts IP

Tonight the Remparts were playing against the Drummondville Voltigeurs. I went to the Colisée after the game and got these autographed:

2008 IIHF World Championship - World Stars vs. Gazprom

There were no games scheduled today as part of the tournament, since they had planned some time for the two semifinalists from Halifax (Canada and Finland) to get back to Quebec City. On the other hand, a Legends game had been announced earlier this week for tonight. The game featured a team of IIHF legends (the World Stars) playing against Gazprom, the biggest corporation of Russia. The referees were René Fasel (IIHF president) and Paul Stewart.

Team Gazprom's best known players: Alexander Medvedev (Gazprom vice-president and president of the Russian club SKA St. Petersburg), Valeri Kamensky, Darius Kasparaitis, Vladimir Lutchenko and Sergei Makarov.

World Stars' best known players: Jim Balsillie (CEO of Research in Motion - currently looking to buy an NHL franchise), Ray Ferraro, Patrick Roy (playing as a forward), Esa Tikkanen, Glenn Anderson, Michel Goulet, Igor Larionov, Mats Naslund, Tony Granato, Vladimir Malakhov, Scott Young, Philippe Bozon, Doug Brown, Jyrki Lumme, Bob Sweeney, Mark Fusco, Angela James, Cammi Granato and Geraldine Heaney (as a coach).

Scotty Bowman, Sean Burke, Jari Kurri, Alexander Yakushev and Viacheslav Fetisov were also supposed to play (or coach in Mr. Bowman's case) according to the lineup sheet, but they weren't there. Actually, I heard Mr. Bowman watched the game from a seat in the arena. I was really disappointed to learn that Alexander Yakushev was not playing tonight, as I bought a card of him earlier this week after seeing him on the JumboTron at Monday's game! :o( As for the game, well it was pretty boring, but it was worth the $5 admission ticket!

After the game, I went to the back of the Colisée hoping to score some autographs, but I didn't know if the players had come by bus, since it wasn't a regular game... It turns out there was one bus in the parking lot and it appeared to be for the Gazprom players. Some players eventually came out and I got this card signed by Valeri Kamensky.

The players only came out to drop their equipment in the bus though; they all got back inside afterwards. As it happened, a private party was held for the players at the restaurant on the 3rd floor of the Colisée. I entered the Colisée through the North-West entrance and saw some players taking the escalator to the restaurant. I got Scott Young's and Jyrki Lumme's autographs as they were waiting for the escalator.

Once the players were all upstairs, the only thing to do was to wait for them at the entrance of the Colisée and hope that they were only upstairs for a quick drink. Patrick Roy came out early and signed for everybody that was waiting. I got him to sign a Colorado Avalanche puck, but he was using the same black marker for everyone and wouldn't switch to my silver marker for my puck, so the autograph doesn't show very well. I didn't bother scanning it... Scotty Bowman also came out early, but when the 5 or 6 people waiting for autographs asked him for one, he wouldn't sign. I saw him sign an autograph to some woman as he was about to get in his ride though, so I went up to him and asked him if he wouldn't mind signing just this one card that I had. He did!

I didn't know Mr. Bowman was such a tough signer in person! I had already gotten his autograph on 3 custom index cards through the mail, so I had figured he must be great in person too...

After getting his autograph, I went back to the entrance of the Colisée and saw Vladimir Malakhov come out. He signed the 2 cards I had:

After that I had to leave, so I missed everyone else, unfortunately...