Bulldogs Meet & Greet/Autograph Signing

 Back again y'all. On Feb 26. Brantford Surplus held a meet & greet/autograph signing with the OHL Brantford Bulldogs from 14:00-15:30. Odd time during the week but I guess that was t he only time available. There were free T-shirts, gift card giveaways and draws for future home game tickets. There would be four players attending. Unfortunately, they didn't know who was coming. I arrived around 13:45 and there was a line of about 50 people. They were getting T-shirts, jerseys and papers signed. I brought some 4" x 6"  blank photo paper to be signed. I just printed the photos I found to the matching signatures. My wife, who has zero interest in my card/autograph collecting, commented "Isn't that cheating?" I replied if I knew who would be there, I would have printed them beforehand to get better placement of the autographs. So here is what I obtained.

#89 Ben Bujold

#24 Thomas Budnick

#27 Daniel Chen

#11 Noah Nelson

All in all, was a good afternoon Talked with a lot of fans about the Dawgs. As of this writing, the Bulldogs are up 2-0 against the North Bay Battalion in first round playoff action.

Go Dogs Go.

Puck Junk

 A little late posting this about a package I received from Sal at Puck Junk. Sal launched his blog on Oct 5, 2007 and I somehow found his site on Oct 8, 2007. We've had contact off and on since then. I requested his series 2 Bad Hockey Card Hall of Fame card set and got his letter with all his socials to follow him.

Here's the front and back of his cards. These are nice glossy cards and will go with my series 1 set.

And somehow Pete Stemkowski is creeping the scan of the card backs.

So, if you are a hockey fan, give Sal a follow at any or all of the QR codes in his above newsletter.

Oot & aboot

 Time to go oot and aboot again.

This past weekend was the annual  town wide yard sale in Burford, just down the road a ways. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to check a lot out. I made my way to the fairgrounds where there was a lot of vendors. Alas, there was only the one guy selling sports cards. In one of the buildings was this jersey hanging on  the wall.

Burford's own Adam Henrique Devils jersey from 2012 SCF.  I have previously done oot and aboot segments showing the Burford Welcome sign , Home of Adam Henrique with the team logo of his current team at the time.

From the card dealer, I had to pick this card up after looking through his boxes. Very apopros.

So ends another episode of oot and aboot. Happy trails.

In Person signing event 2

July 17th was designated as Camp Day for Tim Hortons and 100% of the proceeds from hot and iced coffee sales donated to Tim Hortons Foundations Camp. The one location by me had an opportunity to get autographs from present Brantford Bulldog and 2024 NHL number 27 pick by the Chicago Blackhawks, Marek Vanecker.

Bulldog mascot Bruiser was there to greet people.

Marek signing for Bulldog fan Zak.

I printed up these 3 4x6's and got them signed. Talked to him a bit about development camp and the upcoming season. Another Blackhawk signing was former Hawk Mackenzie Entwistle a few weeks ago). Need to get Connor Bedard here. LOL

In Person Signing Event

 Today I went to an in person signing event at Northway Ford Lincoln here in Brantford, ON, home of The Great One. They were hosting MacKenzie Entwistle of the Chicago Blackhawks and former Hamilton Bulldog. Scheduled time was from 12-2. I arrived around 11:50 and was third in line. My friend Dennis was first and was getting his book signed. The next person got their jersey signed and then it was my turn. I didn't have any of his cards so I printed up a few photos to be signed.

 

Dennis's wife Jen took this photo of me and MacKenzie.

It's been a while since I've done an IP event and was successful.  He asked if I had anything else to be signed and I said no. I jokingly said I should have printed out 100 photos and he said he would have signed them all. He is also picking the Panthers to win the Cup. He also confirmed that Connor Bedard is a pretty good player. LOL 

Oot & Aboot

 Its been a while since I last posted and a while since I've done an oot & aboot segment. Just in time for the Stanley Cup Finals, the town of Burford has updated their welcome sign. Previously, they had signs for the part of eight seasons he played in New Jersey and seven seasons in Anaheim. Now for his first season in Edmonton we have this.

Burford's favourite son, Adam Henrique.

Now I should take a trip to Oshweken in the Six Nations to see what they have for Brandon Montour. 

At least, the Day with the Cup will be in the vicinity. I'm thinking around July 18th as that will be when the Fourth Annual Henrique Montour Golf Classic will be held. Details here

Another day oot & aboot. Go Leafs Go.

RIP Ryan

 Hello everyone, I'm posting here in one of my infrequent times. I'm kept pretty busy with the cat rescue my wife and I run. I'm still buying and selling on a smaller scale.By the end of the day, I just want to relax and chill out. That's when I start checking out some of my favourite blogs. I don't leave a lot of comments but just enjoy keeping up with things. In late September, Chris of Nacho Grande: A Baseball Card Blog shared some sad news. Ryan R (roddster" in blog comments) passed away. You can read about his work and relationship with Chris in the above link. I had been a recipient in the past of some of Ryan's custom A & G minis. To honour his memory, Chris was sending out some of the cards to commenters. I just love the look and feel of them and wished to dd a few more to my collection.

And here they are in all their glory. Mostly baseball, but a superhero and golfer thrown into the mix. And I received one of the variant backs. I don't know if Chris did this on purpose or not, but it was a Blue Jays Jose Bautista 8/25 Bazooka back. (Jays are my team.) Thanks Chris for these and remembering Ryan at the same time. 

Oot and aboot

In todays episode of oot and aboot, we aren't travelling far. We are staying right here in Brantford. In 2008, Brantford City Council approved the design and structure of a new walk of fame monument. This was to honour the outstanding achievements of local citizens, past and present. A diverse group, that includes athletes, writers, philanthropists and inventors to artists scientists, actors and writers. The design was around the theme of the Grand River, the concrete and tempered glass structure includes a water channel pattern to channel the concept of the flow of time and the lives that have shaped the community.

View of the wall with the glass looking wave like.

Canada's favourite hockey Dad.

It's fun coming in as the second or third lead. If the movie or TV show bombs, you aren't to blame.

Mr. Warson, come here. I want to see you.

A former Toronto Maple Leaf draft pick.

The Great One

I didn't take photos of all 24 members, just the hockey ones and a couple I thought were more well known world wide.

Again, until next time , oot and aboot.

Hayley Wickenheiser Day

On Tuesday May 23, 2023 the local Ladies Who Lead  group added Hayley Wickenheiser to this years speaker series. Ladies Who Lead is a network of dynamic professional women who believe that by building business, building self, building relationships and building community, we can lift each other up to achieve our goals. The speaker series is an annual fundraising event used to support the goals of Ladies Who Lead. As well, funds from this years event will go toward the Arnold Anderson Sport Fund, Brantford Girls Hockey Association Brantford Minor Hockey, Paris Minor Hockey and Brantford Community Hockey League.

The City of Brantford proclaimed May 23rd as Hayley Wickenheiser Day.

 

Program from the event.

Thanks to Picture Perfect Window Coverings, I was able to secure a pair of tickets. Listening to Hayley talk was inspiring as she has accomplished a lot in her life. In the audience were a lot of girls and young women who I'm sure enjoyed this very much. As the father of 4 girls, I've always championed for them to be able to play any sport they wanted to. I've also done coaching on the girls side. All in all, a great time even though I didn't get an autograph.

And coming soon, another hockey related event I attended. 

National Hockey Card Day

 This post is a little late and cleans out some of my saved scans. Upper Deck's National Hockey Card Day 2023 took place on April 15. A departure this year was one set for both the Canadian and American markets. That meant a base set of 30 cards and 1 checklist instead of 2 sets of 15 plus the appropriate checklist. Since I don't have any LCS's, (usually pick up a set later at a garage sale etc), I went to my Toys R'Us to pick up the nine card sheets as I've done in the previous years. Looked sort of promising as the manager was wearing a Lightning jersey but saw no signage. I found out at customer service that their shipment was delayed and they would be getting them in "shortly". He said he could take my name and put a set together and call me to pickup when ready. I was in a few hours after store opening and was surprised to be third on the list. Thought there would have been more. A call came on Tuesday that it was ready. I went in Wednesday and they couldn't find my name on any of the sets put aside. Luckily there was still a lot of sheets left and was able to put together a couple of sets. You've probably seen the cards but here are the sheets in all of their glory. (front and back)

The one thing with collecting the sheets, you do get some doubles, which is not a bad thing.

Enjoy.

OH CANADA

 Good day, eh. Greetings from the Great White North. I'm late posting this mailday  but what better day to get caught up.

Jon over at.A Penny sleeve For Your Thoughts recently had some giveaways during his Take my Stuff Tuesday and Free stuff Friday. I was able to grab a few cards fitting my collecting needs. Correspondence was great as Jon informed me he would be sending by PWE and I was fine with that.

A few weeks later I came home to not one, not two but three PWE's all on the same day. He had mentioned he might find some other cards to send with my "winnings". 

Envelope number 1 contained some Monkees cards, baseball (and Blue Jays content), hockey and 2011 ITG Canadiana.  Gotta love Stompin' Tom and The Hockey Song.  

I has a few cards from this set and glad to add these. I guess I should put this on my "set to be completed" list. 

Envelope number 2 contained some Jeter cards and more Canadiana. I wonder why they were classified as Athlete and not Wrestler. Met Dave Thomas ("Coo loo coo coo, coo coo coo coo" ) once at the Gretzky Tournament and got his autograph.

Envelope number 3 had baseball Topps 50th Anniversary and non-sports-Howard the Duck and Desert Storm. Actress, actor and author. America's Sweetheart, Pa Cartwright and this adaptation of one of Leacock's short stories.

What could be more Canadian than Canadiana?

Oot and aboot

 Had these pictures on my phone and finally getting around to share.

Today we visit Paris. This would be Ontario, not France. We bring you some history of Paris native Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps. (Jan 18 1915-Dec 24 1998). He was a pretty incredible man. He captained the Toronto Maple Leafs and won Stanley Cups. He won a gold medal in the British Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games). He represented Canada at the Olympics. He was a member of the provincial parliament. He's a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Canadas Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Is it any wonder the arena in Paris is named after him.

Here are some shots of the exterior and interior of the arena. Enjoy.

90/91 Score Young Superstars # 19

# 19 Trevor Linden

Young--20 years old  

Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services

Regular season

GP 1382    G 375  A  492   Pts 867   PIM 895

Playoffs

GP 124   G  34   A  65    Pts. 99  PIM  104


Currently president of hockey operations and alternate governor of the Vancouver Canucks.

NHL debut Oct 6 1988.

2 AllStar game appearances 1991 and 1992

NHL All Rookie team 1989 
King Clancy Memorial Trophy 1997
NHL Foundation Player Award 2008

1996 World Cup
1998 Olympic team
1998 World Champonships

Young, yes but no superstar in my opinion.

Young  13/19, superstar 5/19

Oot and aboot

Continuing with this series visiting hockey related places while day travelling through Ontario.

Today we visit Hagersville, Ontario. Hagersville was named to honour brothers Charles and David Hager in 1852. They had bought up most of the land in the area where a small village existed. It's located 94 km (58.4 miles) from Toronto. Population in 2016 was 2815. Just a little background before we get to the reason for this post.

This isn't about Neil Peart, best known as the drummer for Rush, born in Hagersville in 1952.

No, the sign is out for

3 time Olympic Gold Medalist and 4 time World Champion Becky Kellar.

She retired in 2010 and is now a motivational speaker and runs a hockey camp with former teammate Cheryl Pounder.

While there, had to stop at Timmies to get my double double. (my fellow Canadians will understand this) This particular store had the Tim Horton picture in the window by the entrance door. (notice the hockey stick shaped door handles) The colour bars in the bottom right corner is a timeline for the teams he played for. St Michaels Majors, Pittsburgh Hornets, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.

Then it was off for a little relaxation.

Until next time, when we visit somewhere oot and aboot. Stay safe.