Crossing paths with Crosby (Part One)

Hello readers!

I know that in my last posting, I mentioned I would write about my encounter with Kevin "Silent Bob" Smith. However since the Stanley Cup Final concluded last night, with Sidney Crosby winning his first ever Stanley cup, I figured I'd write about my adventures getting Sid the Kid's autograph!














Don't fret readers, my Kevin Smith autograph adventure is coming, soon enough!

Back in 2003, I heard about the "next big thing" in hockey. Some kid, that Wayne Gretzky dubbed 'the one' who would break his records. When my favourite player said something like that, I paid attention. Ever since, Sidney Crosby had been on my hockey mind. I said to myself, back then, if he's supposed to be that good, I'll get his autograph one day.

PART ONE (of two)

My wife, then girlfriend, mentioned to me in December 2003, that the Canadian World Junior Hockey team was to hold it's training camp in Kitchener...10 minutes from Guelph. She also said that Sidney Crosby was invited to attend. My response was, want to try to get his autograph? She said sure, and history was made! This was Corinna's first time getting autographs...and what a challenge for her first time out!

Not really having much Crosby memorabilia to get signed, we went to "The Aud" with a Team Canada puck. I actually brought a few pucks, as word was that a few big named prospects were there, including 'number 1 pick' Marc-Andre Fleury! We arrived to find about 20 other people seeking autographs too. You could quickly spot the 'pros', as they had 'big time stuff' to get signed. Believe it or not, most of them were there for Fleury, as he was the hottest prospect going.

The bus arrived, and the players entered the arena, with most stopping to sign for whomever asked. Fleury came in and signed for everyone, including us on an Team Canada puck. After the likes of Dion Phaneuf, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and Ian White passed by (and all signed), there was something wrong. Young Crosby never arrived. Everybody was shocked, as the 'hype' didn't come in. After about a minute, a smallish young kid came rushing in...and everybody went to him. Sidney Crosby said "I'm sorry guys, but I'm late...I'll catch you all later", and blew into the change-room.

Damn it!, Corinna and I said. She was hopeful however, and we were both happy that we just got Fleury's autograph! We decided that since it was an open practice, we would stick around to try get his autograph, and watch him play. We wanted to see what the hype was all about.

Team Canada took the ice, and went through their drills. There was well over a hundred people there that morning, and most of them were scouts. Everybody wanted to see Crosby though. After the drills and scrimmage, they decided to do breakaways...how cool was that?!!

First, Mike Richards went in on Fleury, save. Then Jeff Carter tried, save. Sidney Crosby was next. As he broke in on Fleury, he kicked back his leg...something I've never seen before...and deked out Fleury, a scored a beauty! Right there, we became Crosby fans! These breakaway drills carried on for awhile, and finally Crosby was coming off the ice.

I was positioned right beside the door leading off the ice, heading to the dressing room. As Crosby stepped off the ice, and turned to Corinna and I (and a couple other collectors) and said "Sorry I didn't sign earlier guys!" and took my paint-pen and signed my puck! Imagine that...Crosby apologized to us for not being able to sign an autograph! He handed my Team Canada puck to me, and kept my pen to sign for others. After a minute, he thanked me for my paint-pen and went to the dressing room. We just got the autograph from 'Sid the Kid', and he was super to deal with!

Corinna really enjoyed the experience, and mentioned how easy it was to get autographs at 'The Aud'. After talking about the whole thing, we decided to do an autograph project. We wanted to get all of Team Canada's autographs on a Team Canada jersey. After finding a Canadian jersey, we went back to the arena, the next morning. This time we waited outside the dressing rooms, deep inside 'The Aud', 'til practice was finished...so we could ask players as they left their dressing room. One by one, they all came out, and signed for Corinna and I. Sidney Crosby came out last, because of interviews, and stopped to sign our jersey. It was then, I noticed how shy and soft-spoken he really is. He signed our jersey, and a few other people's things, but didn't really speak other than "You're welcome". Regardless, our project of getting Team Canada's autographs was completed in less than an hour! That team-signed jersey is framed, and is hanging on my wall today. It features a who's who of today NHL's young stars!

When it was all said and done, we recieved 2 autographs from Sidney Crosby over those 2 days, and had the previledge of seeing him play...wearing a Team Canada jersey! I'm incredibly thankful to Sid, for being kind enough to sign autographs those two mornings.

Here's our finished project;
















Here's a close up of Sid's autograph (circa Dec. 2003)















Thanks for read, I'll write 'Part two' of "Crossing paths with Crosby" within the next 48 hours!

Chris

Ps- The second part will be even better!