Welcome to a long read.
22 in 15
Sunday, October 18th, 2009 was a date marked on my 'autograph calender' for over a month. Frozen Pond (Woodbridge Ontario) was to host the first-ever autograph signing with Jonas 'the Monster' Gustavsson, star-rookie with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I recently had gotten Gustavsson's signature on a puck (see prior blog posting), and thought about getting the goaltender again, this time on an 8x10 photo. I figured that the $20 asking price was a fair deal, so I told Corinna about the signing and my desire to get Gustavsson a second time. She thought it was a good idea to get an authenticated photo of 'the Monster', in a Leafs uniform. She also went on to mention that her work was soon going to host an auction, to raise money for the wonderful charity, the United Way. I figured whynot? So, for $40 plus the cost of the photos, I'd get an autograph plus donate a cool item for charity!
I donated an 13 player signed Leafs jersey to her work's United Way auction last year, and it was a smashing success! The jersey raised over $250.00 for the charity, and created a cult-like following for Corinna! You see, all her co-workers were stunned by the multi-player signed jersey, and were curious on how it was obtained! So, after explaining my hobby, or 'obsession' as she calls it, her friends found out about my pasttime. Ever since that Leafs jersey auction, she gets co-workers asking about my hobby...almost everyday! "Can he get me something?", "Who is he going for next?", "What's his most valuable autograph?" and "Did he go out for autographs, this weekend?" are some of the common questions asked of my wife, at her work! Believe it or not...she answers them all, with pride.
That's my girl.
Anyways, as the weekend grew closer...Corinna and I talked about what time we'd leave for the Frozen Pond signing, and what selection of photos we would to choose from. Frozen Pond usually has 4 or 5 different photos to choose from, which I like. When it comes to goalie photos, we both like pictures taken with "the net cam". We also enjoy pictures taken from above the rink, focusing in a nice goalie save. We were pretty confident that we'd be happy with our signed photos of Gustavsson. One for me, one for the United Way.
Then it all changed.
Frozen Pond, Gustavsson, the authentic autographed photos...all out the window.
Let me explain...
Friday, before going to work (on the afternoon shift), I was visiting my usually news websites. I hit 570news.com, and was stunned by their lead story.
"NHL's Thrashers to practice in Elmira"This is the article that followed, concerning the community that is 25 kilometres from my front door;
"Elmira - The NHL's Atlanta Thrashers will be in Elmira this weekend.
The team is holding a practice at the new Woolwich Memorial Centre to honour the memory of former teamate and friend Dan Snyder who died in a car crash in 2003.
They will also hold an autograph session and fans can enter a draw to have lunch with the team.
There is also word the Thrashers might even skate with the Elmira Sugar Kings.
Residents in the town tell 570 News they are touched the team would take a detour to visit the town where Snyder was born and raised.
The Thrashers visit comes between their Saturday game in Buffalo and their Tuesday game in Montreal.
The practice begins at 1 p.m. in the Dan Snyder Memorial Arena."Oh boy.
You can imagine what was going threw my mind!
I told Corinna immediately, about my findings. She asked what I wanted to get signed? I really had no true idea. Do I find an Ilya Kovalchuk jersey, the Thrashers superstar player, to get signed? Do I get a blank-back Thrashers jersey, and have the entire team sign the front of it? Do I get a bunch of 8x10's and try to get individual players to sign their photos? Should I get a blank hockey stick, and hve the team sign that? What about helping out the United way?!
AARGH!
Then, Corinna mentioned about getting a team signed jersey. Okay, this gives me a sense of direction to go with. I agreed to her idea, but I did not want to spend more then $70 bucks on a blank-back Atlanta jersey. Time was of the essence here, as I had to leave to go to work. Thankfully, Corinna agreed to out a check the local "Pro Hockey Life" for jerseys. With that said, off to work I went.
When I talked to her, on my break, she had bad news. Apparently, PHL had 3 Atlanta Thrashers jerseys, however they were $130 dollars...$50 bucks more than I wanted to spend. I told her a 'Plan B' idea I had, if we couldn't locate another jersey store on Saturday morning. there was a few more stores that I thought could have an Atlanta jersey, but I'd have wait until next morning to do the leg work.
As I went back to work, I thought of possible options to do. I decided that I would go to PHL myself to check out their 8x10 photos. You see, they do sell photos, but they also have discounted 'traded players' 8x10's...something that intrigued me. Since there is two former Leafs on the current Thrashers' roster, Nik Antropov and Pavel Kubina, I was hoping to get cheap 8x10's to get signed for myself...and for the United Way auction! If I could manage to get autographs on an couple Maple Leafs' 8x10's...maybe it could raise some decent money for the charity! I also ran through my mind, some stores that could have some Ilya Kovalchuk and Kari Lehtinen memorabilia to get signed. But first, I wanted to get a jersey, under budget.
Saturday morning, after seeing a private screening of "Where the wild things are" (thanks Manulife!) we set out on finding Thrashers stuff. We went to Sportszone, nothing. We went to National Sports, no luck. Next was Preston Collectables, no dice. We called Most Wanted Sports, negative results. We called Frozen Pond...good news! They had two jerseys in stock! Bad news...they were 50 km's away, and their jerseys were $110 dollars. In the end, after exhausting our ideas, we gave up on the team signed jersey wish.
We decided to go to PHL and check out their 8x10's, and visit a couple hockey card stores also...for any 'different' Thrashers collectables, like a Kovalchuk McFarlane or a Lehtinen Upper Deck statue/bust. After finding absolutely nothing worth while in the card shops, we hit the Pro Hockey Life. We saw their 8x10's, and I figured I get a Kovalchuk 8x10 to get signed for myself. No dice. Not a single Thrasher 8x10 in the house. This was not my day.
Regardless, PHL did have 8x10's of Nik Antropov and Pavel Kubina, in Maple Leaf uniforms, so I purchased 2 of each...1 for my collection, and 1 for the charity auction. So with our discounted 8x10's, I headed for home to plan my next move.
Sunday morning I got up early, and scoured the internet for large images of Kari Lehtinen and Ilya Kovalchuk. I found real cool images of both, rather quickly. I found an awesome image of Kari Lehtinen sitting on top of the goalie net, with his stick dangling in front.
I decided on Kovalchuk's image, just a few minutes later. I found a shot of Ilya, in an Russian uniform, celebrating the game winning goal over Team Canada, in the recent World Championships. It's a intense picture, and I liked it immediately.
With the two stars' images ready to save to my jumpdrive for quick printing at Walmart, I wanted to find something to get the entire team on. After searching for various types of ideas...I just couldn't find an image large enough to print into an 8x10 size. Then I hit paydirt. I found a Thrashers logo, on a dark background large enough to print. After figuring it would look sharp with it signed in silver or gold Sharpie, I saved it to the jumpdrive, for Walmart printing.
I went to my personal collection, for anything that required any Thrasher players' autographs. I found a couple of things. I've been trying to get all the cards signed in the 2004/05 Upper Deck SP Authentic hockey card set. I've been collecting autographs, for this set, mostly by mail. I've been doing pretty good with it, actually! Of the 150 cards in the set, I've gotten 44 signed, equally 29% of the entire set signed. Not too shabby, eh? Well, Maxim Afinogenov has a card in the set, that needs a signature on it! There are Kovalchuk and Lehtinen cards in the set, but I have gotten their autographs earlier. I also found a program that needs a Thrasher signature on it. I'm a huge fan of OHL hockey, and two years ago, I purchased a 2007 OHL All-Star game program. The Saginaw based game, featured a program that had 8 OHL stars on the cover. Over the time since I picked it up, I've gotten 6 players on it. The autographs on it are; Ryan O'Marra (now with Oilers' farm club), Tom Pyatt (now with Canadiens' farm club), Ryan Parent (now with the Flyers), Steve Downie (now with the Lightning), Sam Gagner (now with the Oilers), and James Neal (now with the Stars).
I need 2 more autographs on it to finish the mini-project. Marc Staal, currently with the New York Rangers, and Bryan Little...whom is with the Atlanta Thrashers. Hopefully I could land Little's autograph, and bring the program 1 signature away from completion.
With the extra items collected, I put it all together, and Corinna and I headed to Walmart to print the 3 8x10's. After getting our prints, we headed for Elmira.
On the drive, I thought of all the seperate things I wanted signed...2 Kubina's, 2 Antropov's, 1 Kovalchuk, 1 Little, 1 Maxim, 1 Lehtinen, and an 8x10 of all of those players plus everyone on the roster!
This could be an long day...and I would've done to it to myself, by overloading everything.
When we arrived Elmira's Woolwich Memorial Centre, quickly parked, and entered the facility to see if the Thrashers had arrived or not. I spotted a bunch of tables lined up with chairs, which I presumed would be the signing area. After counting the chairs, I realized they were short of the entire team. There was 12 chairs set up, and on any given day, an NHL team can carry 21 players. I got nervous immediately. The tables backed against a staircase, that went up to an observation level overlooking the Dan Snyder Memorial Arena. I looked up with stairs, and breathed a sigh of relief. At the top of the stairs, was another set of tables set up.
After figuring out that we would have to line up for the players downstairs, we would have to line up again for the players upstairs. Not good. The players were scheduled to sign for only an hour, and with over one-thousand people here...it didn't look good for getting the entire team. Poor organizing, could do me in.
After talking with Corinna, we decided to go outside to where the team bus was expected to arrive, and try to knock off as many players as we could.
We stepped outside of the main doors, into a beautiful day. Corinna and I, strolled across the front of this lovely facility, commenting on how nice it was here. I took the corner of the building first, towards the back...and starting running immediately!
50 metres away, the Atlanta Thrashers were exited their bus, and entering the Arena. When I got to the entry way, Maxim Afinogenov just entered. Damn! When I looked back at the bus, only one player was left...Ilya Kovalchuk was signing for a kid. YES! I quickly pulled out my Kovalchuk 8x10, and reached for my Sharpie. When I looked up, Kovalchuk walked by me. I spoke to him, "Ilya, can I get your autograph please?". He didn't even flinch, he just walked into the arena.
I thought it's now, or never...and followed Kovalchuk into the arena, without access!
I walked into the family reception area, where players can spend some private time with the families. Oh boy! I immediately spotted Kovalchuk, who was chatting with Dan Snyder's parents. I walked towards him, but did not interupt this moment. After waiting a few seconds, which seemed an eternity as security looked elsewhere, their conversion ended.
Then I pounced.
"Ilya, can I get your autograph please?" I spoke aloud, this time he responded. "I've got this awesome picture of you scoring against Canada!" I said. He didn't respond to that, or just didn't care...as he took my Sharpie. He signed a very fast autograph in the corner of my 8x10, and I thanked him. Yes! I immediately turned to see what players remained in this area, before going to the dressing room.
Then I saw Bryan Little. Little was chatting to a lady, as was about to walk away. When I got close...he did just that. I spotted security to my right, and figured if I was going to get the boot...Little would be a good reason! I was about 2 metres behind him, as he was about to take the corner to enter the dressing room, when I called out to him. "Hey Bryan, can I get your autograph?" I spoke out. He stopped and turned around, as I approached him. Unfortunately, Bryan Little wasn't the only one to hear me. Security walked towards us, as Little agreed to sign for me. As I pulled out my OHL All-Star program, a newspaper photographer started taking pictures of our interaction. Thankfully, the photographer cut off security's approach! Bryan spoke up, as he took my program; "I haven't seen this in a long time!". I pointed to his picture on the program, and he signed his autograph on my book. Awesome!
After thanking him, security finally spoke to me. "Are you with someone's family...can I see your bracelet?" he asked. Not lying, I said no...I'm just a fan. He said that this was a private area for family and friends only, and that I would have to leave. I left without incident.
When I stepped back outside, Corinna said that she couldn't believe I followed the team inside! Laughing, I told her I couldn't either! But, in the end it worked out. We decided to wait for a few minutes, at the doors, to see if there was any latecomers. This idea turned out to be a good idea. The assistant coach of the Atlanta Thrashers and former NHL veteran of 866 games, Randy Cunneyworth walked out of the arena to see some people. I always liked Cunneyworth, mainly because he was a former Hartford Whaler...and I always had a soft spot for the always underachieving Whalers! When he finished chatting, I approached him for a picture...which he more than happy to pose for! After our picture together, I thanked him for his time, and he went back inside.
No more than two minutes later, I got a second chance at a missed opportunity. Maxim Afinogenov walked outside, on his cell phone...half dressed! We decided not to bug him during his call! I even was hesitant to approach him while his was in his "Under Armour"! I made up my mind to ask him when he was done, so I got my hockey card ready to sign. When he did finally finish, he practically ran back inside...but I quickly intercepted and asked him for his autograph! He didn't see me, and was surprised when I spoke to him, but said sure to my request!
He quickly signed my card, and I thanked him for his time.
After a few more minutes, we decided that no one else would be coming out, and we went inside to get seats to watch the Thrashers practice.
We went inside the arena, and took seats. While waiting for the Thrashers to take the ice, I notice the Thrashers' General Manager; Don Waddell. We approached him to thank him for bringing the team to our area, and to ask for a photo. He was very glad to hear our thanks, and happily posed for a picture with me. Class act.
After our interaction with the GM, we went back to our seats. Shortly after, the Atlanta Thrashers took the ice, and the Elmira crowd went nuts! The people of Elmira, a good 3000+, were very loud and happy to see the NHL team!
The Thrashers went through their normal warm activities. First, they did laps around the arena, followed by laps in the opposite direction. A few players grabbed pucks and started some stick-handling drills, while doing laps. After a few minutes of laps, they broke out of that drill and headed to the centre of the ice to do their stretching.
As I watched the Thrashers stretch it out, I realized something that made me cringe. Goaltender Kari Lehtinen, who's picture I printed out less than 90 minutes earlier, wasn't on the ice. I quickly scanned the two dressed goalies for their names, just to make sure. First, I clearly saw the goalie closest to us...#31 Ondrej Pavelec. The second goalie was further away, but stood up, and started skating towards us. things went bad for the prospects of getting that 8x10 signed, as #1 Johan Hedberg skated by. Crap. Oh well, I thought, can't win 'em all. Perhaps, I'll mail the 8x10 to Lehtinen later, to get signed. I put the Lehtinen situation behind me, and focused on the team in front of me. 2 Antropov's and 2 Kubina's were the only individual autographs I desired, besides the entire team on the Thrashers 'logo' 8x10.
After watching the practice for another half hour, we decided to go check to see if an line-up had begun at the autograph tables.
It did.
So we lined up about 10-15 people back, from the front of the line. I was happy with the spot. After Corinna went to speak with organizers about the rules of the signing, she returned with some info. Apparently, the signing is start at 3pm sharp, with the all the players coming out then. Some will be on the lower level, with some going upstairs. The line will begin moving along the lower level's tables, and once everyone has signed for you, then go up the stairs to meet and greet with the players on the upper level. Once the team has signed for you, you re-enter the ice area and go down the stairs in that particular area.
Seemed easy enough.
And surprisingly, it was.
Once the clock struck three, the Thrashers were pretty much all sitting down. A couple of late-coming players went upstairs, but the line hadn't progressed that far anyways. The players had just finished a private lunch with friends and families, and were brought out into the lobby, where their fans were waiting for them. The line was probably 500+ people deep, one of the largest lines I've ever seen for a signing.
The line began to move.
First up, for us, once Christoph Schubert. I pulled my silver Sharpie out, after spotting that the whole team seemed to have black pens. Since my Thrashers 8x10 was very dark, I wanted bright signatures on it...so they stand out nicely. Schubert, a former Senator, took my Sharpie and placed a nice signature on the bottom left corner of my 8x10. I thanked him, took my marker & 8x10, moved 2 feet to the next player.
1 down, many to go.
Next up was #23, Jim Slater. The former first pick, signed his name on the bottom right area of my 8x10.
After Slater, Anssi Salema was next, and signed my photo just below Schubert's autograph. In less than 2 minutes, 3 Thrashers had signed my photo.
After Salema placed his cool looking autograph, I moved to a goalie. Ondrej Pavelic, who has an impressive 2.60 GAA as I write this, took my silver Sharpie and signed his name to the left of Salema, on the bottom left area of my photo.
Tobias Enstrom #39, was next for me. He placed his nice signature below Slater's on the bottom right of the 8x10. I thank him, as he handed me back my silver Sharpie.
The next player along the table, wasn't a "player". Johan Hedberg, the veteran and well-traveled goaltender, took my silver Sharpie and place his autograph on the bottom right corner of the Atlanta Thrashers' logo 8x10.
Twenty-two goal scorer, last year, Todd White was friendly. #12 placed his signature on the top right corner. I thanked the former Senator for his time.
Marty Reasoner and Mark Popovic, both veterans, signed my photo after White.
After the two veterans, was a former Toronto Maple Leaf. Nik Antropov was the 1st of 2 former Leafs I needed on seperate photos. I had Nik sign my team photo first, as I mentioned to Corinna that this was Antropov...so she could get an 8x10 signed for the United Way. After he signed my Thrashers photo, I took my silver Sharpie back, and handed him my Leafs photo of him, which he signed nicely with his own black pen. After my photo, he signed Corinna's 8x10 for charity. He was a nice guy, during our switching of photos!
When, I noticed the player after Nik Antropov, I got excited! The Russian superstar, Ilya Kovalchuk was waiting for his turn to sign my team photo. The team captain, took my silver Sharpie, and autographed my photo on the left side. This was my 2nd Kovy today! Kovalchuk was the final player on the lower level. After thanking Kovy, Corinna and I ventured upstairs for the remaining Atlanta Thrashers.
When we got to the top of the stairs, we stood behind 3 other people who were in front of us. Bryan Little was the first player to sign, but Zach Bogosian showed up late and sat down...right in front me! The 3rd overall pick in 2008, signed my photo near the right top side. After Bogosian, I moved to Little, who quickly signed for me a second time today.
After Little, was another player who signed for me earlier in the day. Maxim Afinogenov placed a very nice autograph on my photo, just inside the logo.
Fergus, Ontario native Rich Peverley signed my photo next. Peverley, who had 33 points in 35 games last season, signed his autograph on the right side of the photo and added his number 47.
Vyacheslav Kozlov was next. Kozlov, who won 2 Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings, is the alternate captain with the Thrashers. The seasoned veteran, signed my photo beside Afinogenov.
The 2009 4th overall selection was next. Evander Kane, who won a gold medal with Team Canada's juniors last year, signed my picture. He was very cool, and I thought that I should of had something extra for him to sign. Kane is going to be an exciting player to watch, in the future.
Colby Armstrong, a former Pittsburgh Penguin, signed my picture next. Armstrong is the other alternate captain for the Thrashers this season. He autographed my photo next to Antropov.
After Armstrong, things got pretty funny.
Pavel Kubina, the final former Toronto Maple Leaf I wanted to sign separate photos, noticed that I was pulling extra photos for him. So did Armstrong, who spoke up; "Hey man...you're really popular today, everybody wants your autograph on everything!" Kubina laughed at this ribbing, and responded; "Yeah, after this...I'm going to sign the table!". Chris Thorburn, who was sitting on Kubina's left laughed in..."Look at this picture, you're about to go end to end with the puck!". Kubina quipped; "Look at this Red Wing, he's afraid to come near me!".
There was some good laughs between the guys, at Kubina's expense. Corinna and I were glad to be there, to see these guys having some fun during the signing. At the end of my time with Pavel Kubina, I had 2 Leafs photos signed by him...and the team photo autographed also!
I moved along to Chris Thorburn, and he signed my Thrashers photo with my silver Sharpie. I thanked him for his time.
Beside Thorburn, sat the final Thrasher. Eric Boulton is the current Atlanta Thrashers tough guy. He was very approachable though, he signed my photo, and thanked us for coming out. His autograph is basically his initials with his number 36, but I was very happy to have it.
Corinna and I stepped out of the signing area, and walked into the arena's concourse. We were very excited to recieve autographs from an entire NHL team! I looked at the Atlanta Thrashers 8x10, and started counting how many autographs that were on it. I counted 22 players.
I looked at Corinna, and said; "There's twenty-two autographs on this picture! That was so easy!"
She looked at her watch, and spoke; "Chris...that was only 15 minutes". "Really?! The whole team in only 15 minutes! Wow, that's gotta be some sort of record!" I responded.
"Are you going to blog about this?" she asked. "Of course! People got to hear about this success!" I answered.
On the way home, we were talking about the signing, when she spoke about my blog again; "Hey, how about you call this blog story '22 in 15'". "22 in 15?" I asked.
"Yeah, 22 autographs in 15 minutes...it'd be a cool title" she said.
She was right.
