Number 4

I'm often asked, who've you met in hockey that's famous? I always reply, it's not whom I've met...it's whom I've haven't met. I haven't met; Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, or Bobby Orr. All stars and superstars in NHL history. Everyone else you can think of...I've met.

Well, a few weeks ago...I got to scratch one off of that short list.

Let's do this, with a timeline.

Let's roll.

"Number 4"















7:41am; Sleeping, quite nicely. Then the bloody phone rang. It's Ernie's number. I decided to answer my co-worker's way-too-early call.

7:42am; "Chris, wake up man. Bobby Orr is going to be at 570news, for a 9am appearance" Ernie yelled at me! "What?!!" I replied, still half-asleep. "Buddy...Bobby Orr is in Kitchener, and is going to be at 570news...we need to go and try for his autograph!". I instantly went from neutral to 5th gear, in a nano-second!"















7:43am; The conversion continued. "Alright man, I've got a 12 inch McFarlane figure, I'm going to try to get him to sign the base" I said. "I've got a puck and a 6 inch McFarlane base, I'm trying for" Ernie responded. "You know, I heard he only personalizes autographs and is strict one per person!" I mentioned. "Gotta try!" Ernie responded. "Alright, let's try to get him on the way in...I'm grabbing a quick shower and I'm out" I said. "See ya there, he's supposed to be on the air for 9am". "Ok, see you there". I said, hanging up.











7:44am; I decided to text my army buddy Richard to see if he wanted to come along. "Going to try for Bobby Orr, leaving in 10 minutes, coming?" I texted him. I text my friends Ryan and Bill with the news also.

7:46am; Stepping in shower, my Blackberry went off. "Yes!" Is all Richard said!

7:57am; Out of shower, deodorized, and dressed.














7:59am; Got McFarlane base, heading out the door.












8:03am; Picked up Richard, about to turn Highlander in Kitchener's direction.

8:10am; Hitting traffic on Hwy 7. Very common between Guelph and Kitchener. Big pain in the butt though!

8:22am; Searching for parking spot, 570news building is in our sites...one hound outside.

8:25am; The Highlander is locked up, and is safe. Richard and I quickly walked across King St., headed for the front door.


















8:26am; No sign of Ernie yet. Funny...he lives in Kitchener!

8:27am; The hound says that Orr went in, and his manager said no autographs to him. Orr is just with his manager, and no other entourage. The fact that Orr didn't sign for one person...makes my heart sink.

8:30am; I call Ernie to see where he is, and to give him the update.

8:33am; No sign of Ernie, but people are walking out of the 570news building with signed Orr stuff. Starting to feel upbeat again.
















8:37am; Richard and I scout out the building for exits, finding only 2. If Orr leaves out the back door...we'll see him!

8:40am; After chatting with the hound, Richard and I decide to investigate which vehicle Orr came in.

8:43am; We discover that Orr and his manager has parked on King St., in a new Equinox. Now we know, where they're headed after Orr's interview!

8:45am; Sitting outside 570news, enjoying the sunshine.

8:47am; Guess who shows up?! Ernie comes walking down King St., Richard gives him a hard time about showing up late! Lotsa laughs!

8:51am; More people coming out with autographs. Maybe it's time to try going into the radio station?

8:54am; Ernie and I consider going up...but pass, as it's time for his interview. Maybe afterwards.

9:04am; Ernie tunes in 570news on his iPhone (Boo!) and we all listen to his interview.

9:06am; Both Ryan and Bill respond with "good luck" on getting Orr. They can't make it.

9:09am; Richard decides to help Ernie get his puck signed. Ernie's going to try to get his 6 inch McFarlane base signed.



















9:14am; We're sitting around chatting about Orr's website and authenticating company that handles his autographs.

9;21am; Ernie show us the pictures he brought along. If he can, he'll try for more. I'm content with my base, at this point.

9:28am; Take a walk showing Ernie the back of the building, and Orr's ride.

9:30am; Orr's interview ends. Now the nerves are jumping.

9:31am; A mother and her 2 daughters show up, trying to meet Orr also. Now our group is at 7.


















9:36am; Ernie and I decide to make a leap of faith, after hearing on the radio that "Bobby Orr wanted to know, how many people are outside?". My heart sinks again. If Orr wanted to know how many people there are...he probably won't sign leaving! Ernie and I make our move. We enter the building.

9;38am; In elevator heading up to 570news office.

9:41am; Turned away at the front desk! Secretary repeats what we just found out...Orr wants to know many people are outside.

9;44am; Back out front, in the sunshine. I love summer!

9:47am; Action! Out walks Orr's manager! No Orr though. Not good.

9:49am; The manager walked out to the car (we were right!), and drives off. I figure he's going to bring to the back of the building...so we walk to the rear of the 570news building.

9:51am; I was right. The car pulls up. Suddenly, the garage door opens...and the car heads underground.

9:53am; With the car now out of sight...it's gone from tough to impossible. I explain to everyone, that Orr will just hop in the vehicle...the car will drive out...and keep going. He won't stop for our group, which now has 2 more people...as a young couple arrived with a McFarlane figure of their own.

9:55am; Ernie's nervous. I'm panicked. Richard was cautiously optismitic. "Don't worry guys, Bobby will see the 2 young daughters and their signs, and stop and sign. Hopefully he'll sign for everyone else too!" The retired soldier said. I liked Richard's attitude.

9:59am; No sign of Orr. Another person joins the group. He's wearing a Orr jersey. This is getting far too big, I think to myself.

10:04am; We hear a car start, inside the building. The 2 young girls stand near the garage door...good move, as Orr would see them, and their Orr signs first!

10:06am; Things start to move in slow motion for me. Here we go, I thought, as the garage door began to open.

10:07am; The GM product began to roll forward towards the exit and our group, with the manager driving, and the greatest defenseman of all time in the passenger seat. For the first time in my life, I saw Bobby Orr! I grinned at the sight. That grin turned into a full blown smile, as I saw something that made me feel great. Bobby Orr reached down, and lifted up...A BLACK SHARPIE!

10:08am; Bobby Orr rolls down his window and greets the 2 young girls, thanking them for their cool signs! After a second...he says "This isn't working for me!" and opens the door, and steps out of the car to sign autographs!

10:09am; Richard spots a pin on Orr's shirt, and asks him if that's a 'Support the Troops' pin? Orr said yes! Attaboy Bobby...support our Canadian Heroes!

10:10am; After almost 20 years of waiting, I finally get to meet (arguably) the great hockey player of all time! I said "Hello, Mr. Orr!" He replies "Hello, whom do I make this out to?", as I hand him my McFarlane base. "My name is Chris, and thank you for stopping to sign for us!". "My pleasure" Number 4 answers. I looked down, and watched him sign "To Chris, Good Luck Always, Bobby Orr". And in the span of about 3 or 4 seconds...I got Bobby Orr's autograph! I thanked him, and stepped aside for Ernie!










10:11am; Things kinda turned into a blur at this point. Call it shock...happiness...whatever! I was just stunned looking at my autograph! Ernie got his base signed...and a picture with Orr. Richard got Ernie's Boston Bruins puck autographed.














10:12am; Instantly, my mind clicked. I didn't get a photo with the Hall of Famer! Orr was autographing for the man with the jersey, when I asked Bobby directly for a picture with him! "Sure, just give me a minute...I need to sign for everybody!" Incredible answer! Simply incredible.

10:14am; With my Blackberry in his hand, Richard zoomed in on Bobby Orr and I. I was standing next to the legend, with our arms around eachother...when Richard took our picture together!












10:15am; Looked at Richard's pic...and loved it!














10:16am; We all thank Bobby Orr, as he finished signing for every person waiting...and hopped into his car, waving goodbye as we watched the GM pull away!














10:17am; We highfived eachother on our success!

10:20am; Still on a personal high, we walked back to our vehicles! Ernie discovers something...his picture didn't turn out! Oh no! Well...at least he got 2 autographs in total!

11:00am; Back home, with a new autograph. The autograph of number four...Bobby Orr. A new highlight of my large collection.


































Epilogue; Many thanks to Ernie for tuning into 570news, so early that wonderful morning, and waking me up! Thanks to Richard for coming out, staying positive, and helping us out! And the biggest thanks to Mr. Orr, for being incredibly kind...when most would've driven on by their fans!


















Thanks for the read! As always, your comments are welcome! (Don't forget to leave your name!)

Ps- Just a side note...Ernie finally did get that picture with Bobby Orr, after all...as we met Orr the next day in Waterloo! (No autographs)

Autograph Questions With...Wendel Clark

I'm sitting here, finally on vacation, on a rainy day...thinking, I've ignored my blog long enough.

Let's roll.

So, awhile back...I went to Wendel Clark's Restaurant. The Oakville location was celebrating it's one year anniversary, and had an open house to the public. So, I decided to go with a couple friends. Richard, Ernie, and Ryan all wanted to check out Wendel's restaurant, and the event that was planned.














Normally, I would talk about the celebrity...but hey, it's Wendel! Everyone knows Wendel! Captain Crunch! Number 17! Bleeds Blue & White! Yup...you know whom I'm talking about!


















A few former NHL players were to attend. Johnny Bower, Tom Fergus, Gary Leeman, Doug Gilmour, and Wendel Clark, himself, were scheduled to attend. When we arrived, Wendel was already there, greeting guests!

We sat at the bar, enjoying the restaurant! They had free food, beer, power drinks...they were doing it up!

After pictures and autographs with Wendel, I decided to approach him again and talk about my blog...hoping he'd agree to a quick interview about autographs. He agreed to answer a few questions.














I was very, very surprised about his attitude on autographs.

Here's the interview, enjoy!

"Autograph Questions With...Wendel Clark"

Who was the first person you ever asked for an autograph?
"I've never asked for an autograph. Just not my thing, I understand why people ask for autographs, I just don't collect them."













What's the coolest thing, you've ever autographed?
"To me...it's just an autograph."


















What's the weirdest thing, you've ever autographed?
"I've autographed people's skin, and had them come back and show me that they had it tattooed onto the them!"













What item do you autograph most? Cards, photos, equipment?
"Hockey cards, by far."


















Did you ever collect other player's memorabilia like...sticks or jerseys, during your playing days?
"No, not at all. I know other players collect stuff like that, but not me."



















Did you keep your own memorabilia things like cards, sticks, jerseys, and other equipment?
"Not really, I do have important goal pucks and sticks...but that's about it."

















"Thanks for your time, Wendel!"
Thank you!


I would love to say it was a interview that he wasn't into, but he was. He gave honest answers, but he made his point clear that...he understands why people ask for autographs, and that he signs no problems...but for him, he's not a collector!










And that's fine with me...just as long as he keeps signings!

Thanks for the brief read!

The Next Johnny Bower Or Eric Fichaud?

Welcome back.

This is one of three entries I'm working on.

This blog entry is about 'the hype', as I refer to him.













James Reimer, the rookie goaltender of the Toronto Maple Leafs, has captured the attention of 'Leafs Nation'...dragging the team to the doors of the NHL playoffs, only to miss the dance by the narrowest of margins...8 points.

I, for one, was stunned the Leafs made it so close to the playoffs. But, unlike most Leafs fans, I'm a realist when it comes to the 'Blue & White'...but once I looked at Reimer's numbers, I quickly knew the truth about the Leafs. He was almost single-handily pulling the team along.

Reimer made his NHL debut for the Leafs on December 20th, 2010. He was put into the game, against the Atlanta Thrasher, when Jonas Gustavsson was pulled...after allowing 5 goals on 18 shots. Reimer played 14:09 of that game, stopping all 4 shots he saw. The Leafs lost, surprise...surprise.















Reimer would finally get into another NHL game, this time starting for the Leafs against their rival...the Ottawa Senators, on New Year's day. On the 33 shots he faced, Reimer let in one goal. Toronto destroyed the Sens, 5-1 that day. Strangely, he wasn't one of the three star selections.

James Reimer has gone onto to play in 37 games for Toronto, this season.

He has won 20 of them.

Currently his personal statistics are; 20 wins, 10 losses, 5 OTL. 2.60 goals against average. .921% save percentage. And 3 shutouts.

He's played in less games than the season holds, put has more wins than all the other Leafs goalies...COMBINED. Funny enough, he has less losses than both of the other goalies too.

It's plain to see, the Leafs are just a better team, with 'Optimus Reim' in the net.












Now...is he the real deal? ...or just a flash in the pan?

We've seen this before, with Leaf goaltenders. Bring up a kid, let him win a few games...burn him out. Or have the Leafs done it right this time? Keep him in junior, then mature him in the AHL, and finally give him a shot?

Reimer could be the next Johnny Bower...cool under pressure, no fear, and led the Leafs to the promised land, winning 4 Stanley Cups...in the Leafs final dynasty.













Or could he be the next Eric Fichaud? Drafted 1st round, 16th overall in 1994, by the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his draft year, he led his team to the Memorial Cup finals, winning a host of awards, including the top goaltender and playoff MVP awards. A classic butterfly goaltender in the Patrick Roy mold, Fichaud looked to be a future NHL starting netminder. Fichaud never lived up to the lofty expectations his fantastic junior career had led to, bouncing between the minor leagues and the NHL. In only 95 NHL games, Fichaud won 22 games, losing 47.

















Time will tell.

However, the 23 year old is hot.

...And he's doing a free signing.

That's just enough fuel, for me to get his autograph!

It was announced that on Sunday, April 10th, James Reimer would be making his first ever public autograph appearance. Pickering Flea Market is hosting the free event.

I decided instantly that I would go. Hard part is...I figured every other Leafs fan out there will be going too.

I also decided that I would blog my travels...in a different format. I decided that I would make this entry, 'real time based'. Hope you like it.

Let's roll.

The Next Johnny Bower Or Eric Fichaud?

Saturday, April 9, 2011 (Day before autograph signing)

12:35pm; Freshly out of shower, deodorized, and fully dressed, I find myself on my laptop seeking out images of James Reimer...suitable for signing. I decided that I would print out a 16x20 of Toronto's hottest rookie, in years, and have him autograph the large picture.

12:38pm; Found the image I wanted. It's abit different...but definitely cool!













12:43pm; Finished searching internet for JR pics, loaded image onto flashdrive.

1:12pm; Absolutely beautiful day! Glad I'm in t-shirt and shorts for the first time in 2011! Arrived at Wal-mart, hitting up the Kodak printers.

1:29pm; After realizing that the Guelph Wal-mart is apparently now allergic to McFarlane figures, time for a quick lunch at McDonald's. Gave this stuff up months ago, just having 2 Chicken snack wraps, while 16x20 is being printed.

1:55pm; With 16x20 in hand, and happy with it's turn out, I'm out of Wal-mart. I'm now ready for the signing.

4:15pm; 16x20 is now in spare top-loader for safe keeping. Safe from Caesar's sharp Chihuahua teeth!


















7:31pm; My great friend, Richard, just messages me from New Brunswick saying he found 2 McFarlane variants for me! What a guy! He's now going to bring a Jimmy Howard (Detroit Red Wings goalie) and a Dion Phaneuf (TML Captain) home for my collection! I tell him thanks...and that I'm going to Reimer's signing tomorrow, he mentions that he'd like JR's autograph on his Leafs jersey. Not a problem for my, retired soldier, friend.














11:49pm; After watching dozen's of episodes of Battlestar Gallactica, I just found out the Leafs lost to the Habs. Now, I'm going back to update all the stats I listed earlier about Reim's!

Sunday, April 10, 2011 (Day of autograph signing)

8:40am; Alarm goes off.

9:02am; Awake. Kind of.

9:27am; Hit shower. Super hot...loosen up sore, tight muscles. Meh.

9:55am; Walking out front door, with 16x20...in need of caffeine. Something feels off though.

10:07am; Hitting the 401 eastbound (and down!), looks like rain. Still feeling weird about something.

10:09am; Text both Bill and Ryan, to see if they're on their way, and to save a spot in line.

10:11am; 680news says smooth sailing throughout Toronto, however there seems to be alot of traffic this morning. Making good time. ETA is 11:10am, for Pickering.

10:18am; Both Bill and Ryan, respond...on their way to Reim's. Am I breaking the law, here?

10:28am; Fully caffeinated. But, something is still off.

10:36am; Feel bladder filling up. Not good. Passing Yonge Street, starting to rain. Also, not good. Glad I put the 16x20 in a top loader, where it should be ok from the rain.

10:43am; Passing the Scarborough Town Centre, and it hits me like a tonne of bricks...I suddenly realize what's wrong! I FORGOT RICHARD'S MAPLE LEAFS JERSEY, BACK IN GUELPH. Frak.

10:44am; Feeling terrible, can't turn back.

10:51am; BBM from Corinna; "You forgot Richard's jersey". The return of the guilty feeling, again.

11:01am; Entering Pickering. Downpour. Meh.

11:07am; Text from Bill; "Hurry up!". I knew it...it's going to be a madhouse!

11:20am; Parked, not easy. At least I'm here. Pickering's current population...plus one.

11:22am; Inside the Flea Market, shaking off rain from myself and pic. Still glad I wore t-shirt and shorts, though. Gotta love the spring!


















11:25am; Find Bill and Ryan in line. Not too far back, good spot. Line is massive already though. They're both chatting with the promoter of the signing, Aaron. (Of The Heritage Stick Co.) Free plug.














11:28am; Just dicussed that I have to pay for my 16x20 to get signed...because of its size, but if I purchase an 8x10...that'll get signed for free. Well, I'm buying the 8x10 photo...I owe that much to Richard. I'm thinking I'll get it personalized to him, too.

11:31am; With our spot saved in line, we check out the photos available for the rookie. Looks like 6 different images. I select the 'licensed NHL/NHLPA' image. Acutally, I really the pic...that's why I selected it. Man, they have alot of pics here, to purchase. They also have game-model goalie sticks, and tonnes of pucks. Hope they sell a few.

11:35am; Looking at promoter's old signed stock. He's selling autographed 8x10's for $5 bucks, and signed pucks for $10. Nice looking stuff. But I'm a 'in person' guy. Unless, someone gets it signed for me. So, I pass on various signed items...however Bill and Ryan make a healthy donation to Aaron's company!

11:41am; Wandering around the market, with Ryan, looking at the various booths...searching for a ATM for him, and the washroom for me.

11:47am; Various McFarlane dealers/booths are distracting us, from our goal! I just saw a Buffalo Bills Drew Bledsoe variant for 8 bucks! I have one opened...but I'd love another is mint packaging!

11:48am; Bladder wins, I pass on the DB variant. Another time, Drew...another time.

11:52am; Ryan has cash, and I have an empty bladder. Back to the line.

11:56am; We're not good at this...we keep getting distracted! We just spotted a James Reimer painting, framed, for $90 bucks. Ryan is checking it out. Then turns to me and says; "It was $60 earlier". Nice.

11:59am; Return to the line, tell Bill about the painting. Then find out, Ryan can get it for around $20. He might be on to something here.

12:05pm; BBM Corinna that I'm getting Richard an 8x10. She agrees with the idea.

12:17pm; Various chats about current Leafs, and their signing habits. James Reimer? Great signer.

12:24pm; Find out that Bill is going to the Marlies game tonight, against the Heat. No, not Miami...the other Heat. The Abbotsford Heat. He's hoping to get Leland Irving. Another goaltending prospect.

12:26pm; Quickly counted we're around 60th in line. Impressive. I'm guessing there is around 500 people here now. Good for the promoter!

12:31pm; Bill, Ryan, and I are checking out what we brought to get signed by Optimus Reim. Bill has a Marlies giveaway, cards, and a photo. Ryan has a team jersey, photos, and cards. I still only have my 16x20 and Richard's 8x10.

12:34pm; Ryan shows the Leafs jersey...looks great! Already has Dion Phaneuf, Clarke MacArthur, amongst others.

12:35pm; Bill has been here since 10:30am. That's commitment to a hobby, baby.

12:41pm; Line moves forward. No JR isn't here yet, it's security moving line tighter together. Meh. Bill notices the line has actually circled where we are.

12:46pm; Part of line that circled us...just moves forward now! Bill notices this, we all share a little laugh in amazement!

12:47pm; I mention that I'd like a picture of the line for my blog...Bill says why don't you go for walk along the entire line and video tape it to for the amount of time to walk the length of the line! Great idea...not sure if I have the memory available for the walk on my Blackberry! This is one monster line!

12:49pm; I take a quick pic of the line.
















12:51pm; Bill shows us a picture he had taken at a travelling "Wipeout" display, promoting the Canadian broadcast of the TV show. It's Bill getting punched in the face, along the boxing glove wall! Hilarious! All free!












12:56pm; Bill and Ryan step outside for a quick cylinder of tobacco. Still raining.

1:00pm; Start of signing. However, James Reimer still isn't here yet! Actually Bill & Ryan are still outside.

1:09pm; Hearing applause from front of the line. Guess I know, who's here!

1:10pm; Bill & Ryan return. Bill says he walked in behind Reimer!

1:14pm; Line is moving. Good news.

1:22pm; We find ourselves in front of the booth selling the merch. All the photos are sold out! Incredible! Simply incredible! Good for Aaron's company! Seems like this is a total success! We're about 10 feet away from TML's goaltender of the future.

















1:23pm; It's Ryan first, myself second, and Bill third. Two people in front of us.

1:24pm; One person. They got the "Optimus Reim" inscription...that's great!

1:25pm; Uh oh...Ryan is having problems getting his stuff out of protection! He remains calm, and tells me to go ahead. I quickly hand my ticket to the handler, pull out both the 8x10 and 16x20 out of protection, and step in front of the signing table...where Aaron is sitting beside James Reimer. It's my turn.

1:26pm; It put my 2 items down, putting the 8x10 first to get signed...Richard first. Then the 16x20 image. Aaron comments that the 16x20 is really a cool shot! I agree, and pull out my BB and get the camera going. I greet James Reimer with a hello! He says hello, and I quickly ask him to make the autograph out "To Richard". Instantly he starts with the personalization! He signs it afterwards, near the bottom right corner. I took a quick shot of JR signing for Richard.














1:27pm; I move the 16x20 in front of JR, and he stops to check it out. I told him, this is the final shootout of the season, where you won the game for the Leafs! I mentioned; "I like the picture, because it has you buried in the net, looking up to the Lord...thanking him!". James smiled at that, and reached for the blue Sharpie. I quickly spoke again. "James, can you sign a large autograph and add the Optimus too?". "Sure" he said. James Reimer signed a large autograph in the perfect spot on the 16x20, adding the 'Optimus Reim' inscription! I took another quick shot of JR signing for me.

















1:28pm; I gathered my items, and thanked James for signing for me. He looked at me and said; "No problem...that's a real cool picture!" I smiled and said thanks again.

1:29pm; It's Ryan's turn with Optimus Reim. I took a quick shot of Ryan getting his stuff signed by the rookie.
















1:31pm; Finally, the last of out trio is up. Bill is now with the goaltender. I took a quick picture of Bill getting his items signed...however Bill moves like the '6 million dollar man', and blurs the shot!














1:33pm; As we do after every signing, we show eachother our stuff signed. Ryan isn't too happy with some of his cards. A couple of them bled, making the autograph kind of watered-looking. We try to figure out, if the problem is because of the gloss, Sharpie, or if Reimer signed it too quickly. Bill showed his cards...not as bad, but a few thin parts in JR's auto. I'm chalking it up to a quick signature.

1:36pm; We all agree, that was pretty cool. I throw out the idea of lunch. Bill mentions he has to run to the Marlies game, and that Ryan has to head home. Oh well, next time.

1:40pm; We say our goodbyes, shake hands, and part ways...all with our newest additions to our ever-growing collections.


















1:42pm; Started up the Highlander, and BBM Corinna..."I'm on my way home". Looks like the rain has passed.















Epilogue;
For the record, I think that Reimer is a fantastic piece to the Leafs puzzle. Will he be a Cup contender goalie? Time will tell. However, I hope the Leafs don't burn him out, like they have with rookies of the past. If the Leafs can add a touch more firepower up front, continue to develop youngsters (like Kadri, Colborne, McKegg, etc...), and use Reimer and Gustavsson properly next season...The Toronto Maple Leafs will make the 2011/12 playoffs. You heard it here first.

Thanks for the read.
C.

Autograph Questions With...Hayley Wickenheiser (2nd Edition)

In memory of #17 Mandi Schwartz. Cancer took away a future gold medalist on Sunday.

Note; Believe it or not, I am working on a normal, full length blog entry...but I thought I'd give an quick entry, in the mean time.

Back on May 5th, 2010, I introduced a new feature to my blog. "Autograph Questions With..." was a success with my readers, friends, and family. I still get questions, now and then, about who was the nicest person I've ever interviewed for my blog. My answer is still the person I interviewed first. I got so much positive feedback from interviewing Hayley Wickenheiser last year...that when the oppourtunity presented itself on April 3rd, 2011, to speak to her again...I jumped at the chance.














This past weekend, Hockey Canada brought in around 30 hopefuls to make the 2011 IIHF World's Women Championship. Hayley was one of the invitees. The camp was held at the Mastercard Centre, in south Etobicoke (Toronto).














On Sunday, I made my way down to hopefully gain a few autographs. When I arrived, Hayley and the rest of the Team Canada's hopefuls arrived afterwards. Hayley signed for everybody, who asked for her autograph.













It was at this point, I thought I would ask her again, if I could interview her for my autograph blog. After a few moments in the dressing room, Hayley came out to the stands surrounding the ice surface...to tape up a few hockey sticks. She walked into the seats, sat down, and began to tape up her sticks. I decided, it would be now or never!

I walked over to where she was sitting, and introduced myself; "Hi Hayley, my name is Chris...we met at a Canadian Tire signing you had last year...where you were kind enough to answer some questions about autographs and autographing, for my blog!". She said she remembered, but kept on taping. I continued, "I was hoping if you had a minute or two, that I could ask you a few more questions about autographs and autographing...I had alot of positive responses from that entry!". "Sure", she responded...and kept on taping.

Let's roll.











Autograph Questions With...Hayley Wickenheiser (2nd Edition)

How often per week do you get asked to sign an autograph?

HW; "I get asked everyday!"














What do you get asked to autograph the most?

HW; "Mostly, hockey cards and pictures."











Where is the weirdest place you've ever been recognized and asked for an autograph?

HW; *Gave this question some thought, before answering "I would have to say...on a beach!"














Can you remember the first item, you were ever asked to autograph?
HW; "Yes, my first hockey card."


















Do you have any autographed items, on your walls, at home?

HW; "Yes, I have autographs of Jann Arden, Mark Messier, and Bill Clinton!" *She didn't mention was items were autographed by the three celebrities, and I didn't ask.














And finally, Hayley, do you collect your own memorabilia?

HW; "No. I mean, I kept some things like 'key pucks and sticks', but that's it."











...And with that, I thanked her for time, shook her hand, and left her to continue taping her hockey sticks.

She was kind enough to sign to sign a puck & card (thanks for the card, Bill) for me this past weekend...and posed for a quick picture! Of note, she was super-kind enough to give an inscription on the Team Canada puck; 02, 06, 10 Gold...representing all 3 Olympic victories!














Hayley, even when appears to be busy, always has time for her fans. Something truly appreiciated here, and by my close friends. Not all celebrities are like that...making Hayley truly a Canadian icon!














Thanks for the read,
Chris

PS- "4 out of 5" is half way done. Watch for it, in the next 2 weeks.
PS deux- Comments are always welcomed! However, PLEASE leave a name/handle! If you just say..."nice"...I have no clue in who you are! :)