It’s happening in……Brantford

There’s a couple of things making news in Brantford recently. The first is old news (about a week old)

 

Wayne Gretzky stick fetches over $38K at auction

Stick used to score 1,000th lifetime goal

The hockey stick that a 13-year-old Wayne Gretzky used to score the 1,000th goal of his lifetime sold for $38,838 US at a recent sports memorabilia auction in Chicago. You can read the story below. I don’t think I would spend my money on this (if I had it). I am curious who the winning bidder is. I wonder if we’ll ever find out.

Gretzky 1000 goal stick

 

Next up.

The second annual Hockey Night in Brantford next Wednesday, August 14th.

Patterned after the annual Hockey Night Games in Barrie, Peterborough, Owen Sound and St. Catharines, the Brantford Game will mix NHL Players, Minor Hockey Players, MP's and celebrities into a celebration of our community's hockey heritage - The Homecoming Game.

Current Brantford hometown NHL players and those who have gone on to play at hockey's highest levels will be asked to play an integral role along with national and local sponsors in the community's first annual Hockey Night in Brantford.

The world knows that Brantford has a rich hockey history, with many current and former NHL players who will be invited to play in the homecoming game. This event is a great opportunity to raise funds to be put back into the community and an opportunity to showcase the new Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre.

The real winner will be The Brant United Way who will receive 100% of all proceeds raised.

All will be invited to share in the Homecoming Game at the newly constructed Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre which will host the event on Wednesday, August 14, 2013, with Opening Ceremonies at 6:45 pm, Homecoming Game at 7:00pm.

5:00pm - Doors Open
5:30pm - Brant County Sledge Hockey Demo
6:45pm - Opening Ceremonies

Also check out:
- Hockey Hall of Fame display
- Zamboni display
- RBC Shoot Out Challenge

Giveaways!!!

“Local “ boys Adam Henrique and Zac Dalpe will be opposing team captains. So far, former NHLer’s include Pat and Greg Hickey, Jay Wells, Paul MacKinnon, Tom Fergus and Dan Gratton.

Nick Spaulding of the Nashville Predators and Kory Nagy, drafted by the New Jersey Devils and currently playing in the ECHL have just been added.

I should be able to attend this year as I was unable to attend last year’s inaugural game.

Link to Facebook page for this event

Hockey Night in Brantford

 

Number three

 

 

Donation page here

In front of the newly renovated Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre, there will be a bronze monument to stand outside paying tribute to Brantford’s most famous family.  The monument will feature the Great One lifting the Stanley Cup in celebration as a member of the Edmonton Oilers, with smaller, life-sized statues of a young Wayne – sporting a Gordie Howe jersey – his father, Walter, and mother, Phyllis, looking up toward Wayne’s successful future.

With more than $300,000 of a $500,000 fundraising goal raised, the statue should be finished and installed in time for the Gretzky centre’s grand opening celebration, scheduled for Sept. 29.

 

And finally, it was confirmed yesterday that

 

It's going to be a GREAT grand opening

 

Wayne Gretzky will help officially open the newly redeveloped sports centre that carries his name on Sept. 29.

His attendance was confirmed during an event held Tuesday afternoon announcing the main elements of the program for the grand opening, scheduled to run from noon to 6 p.m.

"Gretzky will be a part of the opening ceremony scheduled for 3 p.m., which will include the unveiling of the Gretzky Project statue of him with the Stanley Cup facing life-sized statues of a younger self with his parents

Here's a schedule of events for the grand opening of the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre on Sept. 29

• noon, multi-faith blessing

• 12:30 p.m., community Zumba class

• 1 p.m., Steven Branchaud performs

• 1 p.m., free skate with the Brantford Jr. B 99ers in Rink 1

• 2 p.m., Harvest Moon performs

• 3 p.m., opening ceremonies

• 4 p.m., Jully Black performs

• 4 p.m., free skate with the Brantford Blast in Rink 1

Throughout the day:

• Brantford & Area Sports Hall of Recognition

• Pools, gymnasium and running track open

• Tours of the facilities, running every half-hour

• Ferris wheel rides

 

Will definitely be attending this.

 

Kind of a long post. But there is a lot going on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday part three or its finally over

Well, after part deux, I thought that my gifts were all done. Apparently not or I wouldn’t be posting this. Now my youngest daughter (who went to all the trouble to set up everything), has a contact with the Blue Jays. That’s how she got tickets. We were also tentatively scheduled for a quick introduction to Casey Janssen. But he came in to pitch an inning so wasn’t available. My daughter’s friend did come through with something as compensation. Now adding to my collection:

Item Number 1: Official MLB baseball from the bullpen. Not autographed or anything but scuffed up and shows some wear.

 

 

Item Number 2: Lineup card from the bullpen for July 6th game vs the Twins (6-0 loss from Dickey). I love this unique items that find their way into my collection. Even though I have no way of authenticating either item, it’s not like I’m going to sell them. I know what they are and the story behind them.That’s what matters to me.

 

 

Even though my focus is mainly hockey, I do collect anything sports related. Cards, magazines, posters oddball items. I have them all. As I say to my wife

Welcome to my nightmare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz0lXNNkqac

Birthday, Part Deux

The rest of my birthday present happened this past Sunday. As part of the combined Father’s Day/birthday present, my youngest daughter treated me to a baseball game. This is the daughter that I coached in baseball for 10 + years. She enjoys and understands the game which makes it all the more fun. Now the nitty gritty.

 

 

Minnesota Twins vs Toronto Blue Jays

 

The day started out with me receiving my first gift.

 

 

Brett Lawrie jersey.

 

Free samples of Spitz sunflower seeds.

 

And look who the spokesperson is. Coincidence. I think not.

 

 

This was also J.P. Arencibia Bobblehead Doll Day.

 

 

Photo a little fuzzy but bobbleheads all look alike (nod of head)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some photos of the game and me and the daughter.

 

Good day overall.

 

New jersey. Check.

Free seeds. Check.

Bobblehead doll. Check

Jays win. Check.(Todd Redmond;s first W in the bigs)

Colby Rasmus homers. Check.

(my daughter has a bet that Colby will hit 25 homers this year. He’s now at 16.

She had the same bet last year but he stumbled through the second half and ended up with 23)

Food. Check (went our for a post game meal)

I’m ready for the next one. Hope someone is listening.

HHOF NHL Team Fan Days

I’m going to try and make one of these. If one is going to go, might as well get something you want. I wonder what day August 20th is.



On 30 selected days this summer, the Hockey Hall of Fame will spotlight a different NHL team. COME EARLY for your ONE-OF-A-KIND 'GAME-WORN' COLLECTIBLE

• First 1,000 guests with HHOF paid admission on each Fan Day will receive one FREE Hockey Hall of Fame 'Game-Worn Jersey' trading card of the captain from that day's spotlighted NHL Team. These cards have been produced by Upper Deck exclusively for this Hockey Hall of Fame summer campaign.

DATE
TEAM
CAPTAIN'S CARD July 8
Anaheim Ducks
Ryan Getzlaf July 9
Boston Bruins
Zdeno Chara July 10
Buffalo Sabres
Jason Pominville July 11
Calgary Flames
Mike Cammalleri (A) July 12
Carolina Hurricanes
Eric Staal July 13
Chicago Blackhawks
Jonanthon Toews July 14
Colorado Avalanche
Gabriel Landeskog July 15
Columbus Blue Jackets
Derek Dorsett (A) July 16
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn (A) July 17
Detroit Red Wings
Henrik Zetterberg July 18
Edmonton Oilers
Shawn Horcoff July 29
Florida Panthers
Brian Campbell (A) July 30
Los Angeles Kings
Dustin Brown July 31
Minnesota Wild
Mikko Koivu August 1
Montreal Canadiens
Brian Gionta August 2
Nashville Predators
Shea Weber August 3
New Jersey Devils
Bryce Salvador August 4
New York Islanders
Mark Streit August 5
New York Rangers
Ryan Callahan August 6
Ottawa Senators
Daniel Alfredsson August 7
Philadelphia Flyers
Claude Giroux August 8
Phoenix Coyotes
Shane Doan August 16
Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby August 17
San Jose Sharks
Joe Thornton August 18
St. Louis Blues
David Backes August 19
Tampa Bay Lightning
Vincent Lecavalier August 20
Toronto Maple Leafs
Dion Phaneuf August 21
Vancouver Canucks
Henrik Sedin August 22
Washington Capitals
Alexander Ovechkin August 23
Winnipeg Jets
Andrew Ladd

DRESS UP for ADMISSION DISCOUNTS
Wear the apparel (jersey, clothing or headwear) of the scheduled team and receive:

• ½ PRICE Hockey Hall of Fame general admission*

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN PRIZES**:

• A chance on each NHL® Team Fan Day (see schedule at right) to win a complete 30-card set of the limited-edition Hockey Hall of Fame Captains Game-Worn Jersey trading card series. Approximate retail value: $500/set.
  
  
• GRAND PRIZE - A trip for two to the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® on January 1, 2014 in Ann Arbour, Michigan. Prize includes roundtrip transportation for two, 3 days/2 nights accommodation and two tickets to the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®. Approximate retail value: $3,500.

PLUS receive discounts on NHL merchandise in the Hockey Hall of Fame's Spirit of Hockey store- 25% OFF NHL branded Reebok jerseys and apparel & 40% OFF NHL branded New Era headwear of the scheduled team.*** And catch the limited-time exhibit, 'NHL CAPTAINS - CLASS OF 2013', opening the 1st of July.      

You say its your birthday, it was my birthday too

 

Since I had a big milestone birthday last year(read about it here My big fat birthday milestone ), this year was low key. We go together with a few friends to celebrate the June birthdays in the group. Here’s a look at the gifts I received in no special order.

 

 

Box of Toronto Maple Leaf tissue

 

Maple Leaf stationary kit

Maple Leaf pencils and pencil case

These items will come in handy in my new home office as I am now working from home.

 

Blue hair spray that will have to wait until next year—hmm, maybe I can use it for the Jays playoffs

 

A card related item—2 packs of cards—54 trivia cards and 54 question and answer cards. I guess I’ll post these occasionally .

 

First up, the Joker trivia

Did you know

 

 

Now some Joker Q & A’s

 

 

 

 

Received 3 repacks of 15 cards each. This is a small assortment of what I received.

 

 

 

Three postcards from 75/76 Leafs top line. These are in great shape.

We also had a little family celebration and my wife said no gifts, only cards

 

 

So my oldest daughter complied and gave me cards. The two visible fat packs were 09/10 UD Series 2 and 11/12 Score. The one hiding was 10/11 Victory.

 

I’ll just show the highlights.

 

 

10/11 Victory

 

11/12 Score

 

09/10 UD

 

Thought I get this post in before tomorrow, Canada’s birthday. A day off work means work around the house, in this case the garden.

 

I’m Back

I’ve haven’t been posting as much as I used to. As with pretty much everyone else, other things get in the way and take precedence.But I hope to be a more frequent blogger now. For one thing, after about four years, I’ve finally been approved to work from home. I’ve now almost completed the first week and I’ve got to say, I love it. Of course, there are pros and cons. The biggest thing for me is not having to do the daily 3 hour round trip commute. Even I can only stand so much of me singing or talking back to the sports radio station. But at home, I do enjoy my company. What’s not to like. I will also try and get more involved in the collecting community. I’ve still got a lot of stuff to bring to show and tell. Lets start now.

 

My sister and brother in law were cleaning out some books and wanted to know if I wanted any. I took a few that included some sports books.

 

From Publishers Weekly

The authors of four Hall of Shame books that highlight strange and embarrassing moments in baseball and football, Nash and Zullo now turn their sights on a variety of other sports. From the world of golf, they recount the time during the 1968 Masters when Tommy Aaron erroneously added a stroke to partner Roberto de Vicenzo's scorecard, resulting in de Vicenzo's loss of the tournament to Bob Goalby. In racing, they note Kevin Cogan's dubious distinction of having caused a four-car crash at the 1982 Indianapolis 500 on the relatively slow 80 mph pace lap. They reach back to 1853 to tell the story of heavyweight boxer "Yankee" Sullivan, who was ruled the loser in a bout for failing to answer the call to fight because he was busy punching his opponent's second. And they recall the snooze that lineswoman Dorothy Cavis-Brown took during a match at Wimbledon in 1964, to the crowd's amusement. The authors' energetic style and humorous anecdotes will make this a popular title for jocks of all stripes.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc

 

 

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1985

It was not an unusual play, at least for me.

I was just blocking the plate, trying to save a run in a scoreless tie.

Nothing heroic.

Nothing foolish.

Just trying, as I had since joining the Jays in 1981, to remind a runner that in any game against Toronto, home plate belonged to Buck Martinez, and no one else.

It’s a play that gets me hit on more occasions than I have time to count. I’ve been run over, knocked down, and even (several times) knocked out; but I’ve always escaped unscathed, unhurt, determined more than ever to protect that very private piece of turf I call my own.

That’s just the way I feel about home plate.

My teammates know this. The players with the other clubs know it. I’d even guess that most baseball fans who have ever seen me play know it too.

It’s not just home plate, it’s my home plate.

The only trouble on that fateful night in Seattle’s Kingdome, was that somebody had apparently
forgotten to tell Phil Bradley.

From spring training to season end, Martinez writes about the players, the coaches, the key games and the emotion of the team winning its first championship.

Buck’s story is sprinkled with first hand commentaries: the Bell-Kison incident, both crucial series against the Yankees, the best game the Jays ever played and post season games down to the final out.

 

 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Ryerson; 2nd edition (1961)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007JYZ5U

 

This is the revised edition of the October 1953 edition.

 

One book with stories of many different sports and books of my favourite Toronto teams, the Blue Jays and Maple Leafs. Looks like some good summer reading lies ahead for me.

PWE from that Carlsbad address

Waiting for me in today’s mail was this PWE.

 

 

 

The Carlsbad address had me wondering what I was going to receive. I knew what was coming but not exactly what I was getting. This was the free card from UD’s NHCD Facebook promotion. You can read my story here.

http://hockeykazi.blogspot.ca/2013/02/hockey-day-in-canada-national-hockey.html

 

After some e-mail miscommunication and other delays, it was finally here.

 

 

Here is the card from Chris Carlin apologizing for the delay.

 

 

 

And here are the goodies.

 

 

My autographed Team Canada alumnus autograph of

Jamie Benn

 

Playing in his second WHL season, Benn was named to Team Canada for the 2009 World Junior Championships. He contributed 4 goals and 2 assists in 6 games, helping Canada to its record-tying fifth straight gold medal, defeating Sweden 5–1 in the final.

I had to look this up as I don’t really remember him on the team.

 

My bonus card to make up for the problems encountered was

 

from your Toronto Maple Leafs

 

# 41

Nikolai Kulemin

 

A big thanks goes to Chris Carlin for making it right. I wasn’t expecting anything other than the card i was to receive. The bonus of a Leaf was all the better.