Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Part 2

So, I had hopes of doing one or two entries per month this year. Not so much. Well, alot has happened with my hobby...I've worked with AJ's Sportsworld alot, and have had alot of experiences with celebrities. Since the 1st entry of "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" was well recieved, I decided to follow it up with another. This entry wouldn't happen without the trust of Andrew Goldfarb, owner of AJ's Sportsworld, who continues to let me help out with both his private & public signings. Without the access to the celebs, these types of entries couldn't happen. Thanks Andrew. So here we have it, experiences that have happened...working with the who's who of the autographing world! Let's roll...

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Part 2

Guy Lafleur, Darryl Sittler, Pat Lafontaine, and Bobby Hull, are the signers who press the hardest on Sharpies...they went through ALOTof markers, during their signings! Cody Hodgson, current Buffalo Sabre, asked Gilbert Perrault for autographs for his mom and grandmother, in the back of the 2012 Spring Expo! Pat Lafontaine, who was signing nearby, joked that Perrault was older than Hodgson grandmother! Believe it or not, Hodgson signed over 100 autographs publicly at the Expo...great turn out for a short-term Sabre! Gilbert Perrault arrived almost 2 hours early for his appearance...talk about promptness! When Pat Lafontaine arrived, he made sure to shake everyone's hand and ask their name...and surprisngly, said their names as he shook their names when he left for his afternoon flight! Kirk Mclean finished his mail order autographs about 20 minutes early, before his public signing at the Expo...for those 20 minutes, we chatted about growing up in Toronto, my time in the military, and his time in Afganistan during a "Support the Troops" tour! During his mail order signing, Gilbert Perrault, just randomly started singing Elvis songs! Bobby Hull greatly prefers to sign in blue over black...he'll tell you why, just ask! During a signing of a picture of Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe, I asked Orr if he was ever a victim of Gordie's elbow? Orr stopped signing, looked at me quickly, and simply responded..."Yup". Pat Lafontaine, one my all time favourite players, still resides in Long Island, NY. Kirk McLean currently works for the Colorado Avalanche. Guy Lafleur has restaurants in Quebec. Both Bobby's...Orr and Hull...have personal handler's named Ron! If you ever want to move to the front of the line during a Bobby Hull signing...bring a crying baby! He will personally fast-track you immediately to next in line! Former Leaf, Larry Hillman, often asked people where they got photos he signed, if he hasn't seen it before...and asked if they has an extra copy! Bobby Hull, agreed with former teammate Dan Bouchard, that the 1976 Team Canada entry into the '76 Canada Cup was the greatest team ever assembled. Guy Lafleur is a helicopter pilot, and went to Bell Helipcopters in Florida, the week after his signing, for more training! When I asked Bobby Orr if he'll ever do a public autograph signing, he answered "No". The rumour that Bobby Orr wont sign/add his "#4" to his autograph...isn't true. During his mail order signing, Guy Lafleur (along with a couple of employees) took a cigarette break! Oddest thing I've seen signed recently? ...Bobby Orr signed a sweetspot baseball! Funny enough, 2 days later...Bobby Hull signed a baseball also! (Not on the sweetspot though!). When I asked Orr to sign the "sweetspot", he knew exactly what I meant, and said "sweetspot, no problem!". Bobby Hull calls Winnipeg the coldest place on Earth! The item signed the most, after photos, during the Pat Lafontaine public signing? ...jerseys! Only other player that I saw as many jerseys as Lafontaine during a public signing was Gordie Howe. Dominik Hasek finished his public signing, and went into the backroom to finish his mail order signing at the Expo. When he entered the room, he spotted Ted Lindsay signing...and put his own signing on hold, to chat with the Red Wings legend and his wife privately for 10 minutes! Bobby Hull prefers to sign "1961 Cup Champs" over "61 Cup" as an inscription! Pat Lafontaine helped coach his son's hockey team last season, which was documented on the NHL network, and the team went on to win a national championship! Lafontaine was incredibly proud of his son, and told the story multiple times during his signing...and 'beamed' telling it everytime! Dominik Hasek took a break during his mail order signing, to walk around & check out the Spring Expo! ...so yeah, that was the Dominator checking out cards, if you saw him near closing time! Hope you enjoyed this quick blog! C