Yesterday was Family Day here in Ontario. It is celebrated on the third Monday of February. It is a day off with pay to spend time with your family and loved ones. It's also a day off between New Years and Easter, which is supposedly a long time. I'll take it. I used it mostly to rest up but I did make it to one event. It was a free Family Skate Day presented by RBC Canada. In Brantford, this year they brought in Tyler McGregor, a sledge hockey player with the bronze medal team at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics.
Here's Tyler holding that bronze medal. I'm always surprised to find out how heavy those things weigh.
As a RBC Olympian, he had these postcards to autograph and give out. This event was held at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre and there was a hockey tournament being played. From what I observed, there were a lot of kids getting his autograph on this as well as mini sticks and pucks. ( I didn't get either of those)
I did get these two custom index cards signed that I made sure had plenty of white space for his signature.
He also had his sled ("sledge") there on display so you could see up close what it looked like. I should have taken a picture but neglected to do so.
Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services
Regular season
GP 635 G 195 A 216 Pts 411 PIM 301
Playoffs
GP 35 G 6 A 8 Pts. 14 PIM 12 Selected by the New York Rangers in the 6th round (114th overall) in the 1986 Entry Draft) Debuted on Oct 6th, 1988 playing left wing with centre Marcel Dionne and right winger Guy Lafleur. He was a pure goal scorer with a quick shot. Missed a lot of time due to various injuries including 13 games in 96/97. He puncture his eardrum with a cotton swab, affecting his balance. Played in the 1991 All-Star Game.
Young 10/16 Superstar 5/16 Not a heck of a lot to say. Again, another not young, not superstar. He does get props from me as he did own some card stores during the "junk wax" era.
Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services
Regular season
GP 943 W 454 L 352 T/O 90 SO 51 GAA 2.79
Playoffs
GP 132 W 63 L 66 T/O 0 SO 16 GAA 2.45 Signed as a free agent by St. Louis Blues in 1989. Selected to play in the 1994, 1999 and 2000 All-star Games. 1996 IIHF Worlds and World Cup of Hickey 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics 2007 Spengler Cup Winner of the 2000 King Clancy Memorial Trophy. He has the most career wins of any goalie who never played on a Stanley Cup winning team. Also the first goalie to have 30 or more regular season wins for five different teams. I've scanned in the card I got signed IP last year. As a long suffering Leafs fan, he did bring us to the playoffs but not the promised land. I have a very difficult time labelling him a superstar. Star yes . My opinion.
Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services
Regular season
GP 1181 G 342 A 414 Pts 756 PIM 448
Playoffs
GP 141 G 44 A 43 Pts. 87 PIM 64 Selected 11th overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by the Hartford Whalers. Also played for Pittsburgh, Quebec, Colorado, Anaheim, St. Louis and Dallas. Was a member of the 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 1996 Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup winning teams. He played in three world juniors, three Olympics, three world championships, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and twice with the US national team's regular season. He was an All-Star defenceman at BU but spent most of his professional career at right wing. Scott was a reliable performer who had speed, a heavy shot and ability to read plays made for a long NHL career.
In my opinion, I don't consider him young (except for the surname) or a superstar. Scores total so far
Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services
Regular season
GP 862 G 85 A 238 Pts 323 PIM 668
Playoffs
GP 53 G 3 A 16 Pts. 19 PIM 35 A ninth round pick, 189th overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. Despite being picked that low, he played 14 seasons in the NHL. Despite being a 6'2" 200 lbs, Gord was more of a finesse player. He relied on positioning, a poke check and wrapping up his opponent than using the body. He won the Barry Ashbee Trophy in the 89/90 season as the Flyers top defenceman.
One of the times using his body. I say not young and no superstar here.
A couple of weekends ago, the Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour visited Brantford. It promised a weekend of free outdoor hockey activities culminating with an outdoor viewing of the Oilers vs Sabres game. Coincidentally, the annual NHL Alumni team vs local law enforcement team game was happening during the same weekend. This was an added bonus. And they raised $10000 for Special Olympics.
I already have autographs from all these guys ( Vaive, Daoust, Napier, Pelyk, Iafrate et al) but did get some signatures from one television personality.
Tara Slone, co-host of Hometown Hockey. She's led a varied life in the entertainment industry.
2002 Juno nominee while in the band Joydrop. I already had this band signed photo but she signed it in black on black. Had her sign again in blue sharpie.
Co-hosted Breakfast television in Calgary.
Have an extra one of this available.
Just Look pretty and sing
She has appearrd on television and on the big screen (Foolproof with Ryan Reynolds). Not many people recognized her so we were able to have a good chat.
So when the call went out for volunteers for this event, I was there like white on rice.
Marty McSorley and Darryl Sittler were there signing autographs. I was working when they were signing so did not get any signatures. Also, I was not working this area.
Here's a complete list of the events for the weekend.
There were interactive experiences inside the Rogers truck. Wasn't working in this area either but did get these.
They had a list of players you could choose from to get a virtual autograph. You input your name and e-mail address and this gets sent to you. Can't argue with a Messier autograph.
You could also choose from a list of players to get a photo with.
I was hoping to get a plum job but as you can tell from the reflective vest, I ended up working parking and the fire pit and roasting marshmallows. There was a KidsZone filled with hockey themed games,activities and skills and drills competitions.
You could get a hockey card done at the McDonald's booth. There was also free coffee and hot chocolate. At one of McDonald sponsored activities, I met Captain Canada Tom Stewart. He's actually a Brantford native.. I helped him replace some netting on the nets. His story is pretty cool.
Here's his business card if anyone is interested.
Zamboni used at Air Canada Centre until 2000.
Talked to and received autograph from 3 tine Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Botterill.
Talked to sportscaster and author Ken Reid. His book Hockey Card Stories is pretty good. He informed me that he just signed a contract for a second book in the series. I posted that tidbit in one of my Facebook groups. Bruce Dowbiggin, reporter, broadcaster had just interviewed Ken on this very subject. Listen to it here.
And what better way to end things off than with Fireworks (in December) .
If you have an opportunity to visit this event when it's in your neighbourhood, I recommend it. Volunteer if you have a chance. I met a lot of new people which is not a bad thing. It's fun and you can help your city out. Can't wait for the next big event whatever and whenever that happens.
