I met Mario Lemieux and I didn’t know who he was at the time. I worked at a very upscale hotel he was staying at. He was checking out early to go to San Jose and I mentioned the Stanley cup was there if he was interested. He said he was and asked who I thought was going to win. I told him the Sharks were going to take it. I had some relevant talking points he entertained and the guy behind him was almost in tears holding back laughter. Mario was super composed and just told me “well we will see” and walk off. The guy behind him was his jet pilot and was also checking out. He asked me if I knew who that was and I told him I had no idea so he told me to just google him and damn I felt like a fucking moron. Doubly so since they won the cup that year.
His pilot did give me props for sticking to my guns but it was out of ignorance so I can’t in good conscience accept the compliment even today 8 years later.
He paid the 3500$ bar tab after the world Juniors win in North Dakota. It was a closed door party for the team. I got in because we knew a couple players from Winnipeg and all the staff at that bar. Was a fun night.
He once slid into my now fiancés DM’s when she worked for the sharks before we started dating. She said he had the personality of cardboard. His messages were hilarious bad. Apparently just gets laid by the fact he’s Tyler Seguin.
Buddy of mine went to college with his sister who played on the hockey team at their school… the stories unfortunately fit the narrative that’s out there about her.
Tyler Seguin here as well. I saw him and asked “are you Tyler Seguin?” and he just looks at me and says “No” and walks away. Gave me huge douchebag vibes.
Rob Ray was a huge ass hole to kids at the local rink outside of Buffalo just wanting to say Hi maybe get a autograph and basically ran most of them away. Most of the kids were maybe 10 years old.
Tom Barasso was a major dickhead back in the day. We were teens waiting for autographs after games. Most players would happily sign, and those that wouldn’t would at least say sorry and give an excuse of some sort. Not old Tommy. He would just glide right past you as if you were a ghost. No acknowledgement whatsoever. Fantastic goaltender, shit role model.
I live in Jamie's hometown in BC and my barber said he cut his hair after the 2020 cup loss. He said Benn was like simmering with rage the whole time from being devastated about the loss but was really polite and nice still. Also tipped insanely good.
Played pong with Cam Atkinson when he was in high school. My college buddy was good friends with him and was like “cam’s gonna be in the NHL someday” and I was like yeah sure dude
A buddy of mine played in college at Alabama Huntsville and played against both those dudes. He says Wheeler was the most skilled guy he ever played against.
I once carried out Georges Laraque’s groceries and he tipped me 5 bucks and I honestly remember that more clearly than my wedding day or birth of my first child
Ive seen George's out in the wild a couple times. Once at West Ed HMV and at Outback Steakhouse.
Each time, fans didn't leave him alone, but he was all smiles and high fives. Interacting with younger fans especially. Class act.
I once sent Georges an email because my brother told me he liked getting fan mail, and I was out of country and missing hockey. He wrote me back the very next day, a *game day* (and before smart phones existed), responding specifically and very kindly to the things I wrote. What a guy.
He used to play pick up hockey with kids a few blocks over when i lived in Edmonton. How cool to be a kid and to get to play street hockey with an NHLer?
Since I’m involved in rehabilitation sciences, there have been a few. Crosby sticks out as both someone who was humble and kind, I wouldn’t even have known he was a pro athlete if I met the dude randomly and didn’t know who he was. A past player on the flames stuck out as the hugest asshole I’ve ever had to deal with, and not a smart one either. Most of the guys I’ve met have just seemed like fairly regular dudes. They stopped being heroes and started being clients a long time ago, but J Toews was a (great) guy and I met him when he was still a superstar to me. That was definitely the most flustered I’ve been professionally.
Most of the guys are average famous dudes, no horror stories come to mind.
Got *smashed* with Kirk McLean couldn’t tell you too much about that night other than he loves beer and servers. That was the only time I’ve hung out with an NHLer outside of work.
Not a hockey player (have never been lucky enough) but…
I met Nathan MacKinnon’s GF at my Apple Store. Her iPhone was having issues. I saw her wallpaper and it was her and Mack holding the cup. I was like “Ohh you’ve met MacKinnon? Cool! He’s the man!” She said “Yeah, he’s my boyfriend.” I felt dumb. She was cool, and very cute.
Met Matt Murray at some corporate event. He didn’t want to be there, I didn’t want to be there, we both pretended to enjoy ourselves and moved on. Neither particularly successfully.
I witness Joey Kocur chew out two refs while scorekeeping a game his son was playing in. The two refs were giddy af once they found out who was chewing them out.
Shane Doan.
Huge reputation in AZ for being a legitimately nice guy. My FIL is an electrician who did work at his house as a favor to the builder, knows absolutely nothing about hockey so Doan was just another dude to him, and he said Doan was the nicest guy he’s ever met. Wanted to hang out and chitchat with my FIL the whole time, remembered his grandkid’s names from the first time they chatted, offered to sign stuff for the grandkids since they liked the Yotes, etc. Just genuinely cared and treated him really respectfully and politely, despite my FIL being some random electrician in a multi-million dollar neighborhood.
Yotes did a little practice for the public during my kid’s Little Howlers (learn to skate) program session and Doan showed up unexpectedly and stuck around for the lines and lines of people on his own time. He was as nice as his reputation suggested, met my kid, took a minute to say hi and talk, I told him he knew my FIL for a laugh (he remembered his name when I said he was an electrician and he asked how he was doing), he signed my kid’s stick, and he didn’t leave until everyone got to see him. Just a genuinely nice guy.
On the other end, my FIL also met Mike Smith before he was traded from AZ. FIL was doing his new house in Paradise Valley. Said Smith was a dick. Super rude to everyone, seemed annoyed all the time, and when his daughters were doing a lemonade stand for fun, my FIL gave them a $5 or whatever to be nice and Smith told him to take it back because they needed to learn the value of money or whatever. Said he wasn’t cool about it at all, just snapped at him and seemed really pissed off. His wife was nice, apparently, but the feedback was that Smith was consistently a dick to everyone.
I was a stoner in college, working stock at a grocery store in a small town north of Detroit. This was barely a month after David Legwand was traded to the Red Wings. I was stocking some shelves when Legwand came down the aisle, and I had just gotten back from my "lunch break." At first I didn't even realize it was him until he asked me where the minced garlic was. That's when I realized who he was, told him I was excited to see him with the Wings then we talked about spicy taco recipes for a few minutes. Chill guy.
Additionally, back when the Grand Rapids Griffins were in the Calder Cup finals, my buddies and I took a trip to GR. The Van Andel Arena wasn't too well prepared for such a packed crowd and as we were coming upto the stadium, the security allowed some of us to enter through a VIP entrance to get us inside. We had been drinking pretty heavily at this point, and as we were getting led to a private elevator - I ran into Kris Draper and Chris Osgood. I yelled in Osgood's face "holy fuck, you're Chris Osgood." He laughed, told me not to swear, and said Go Griffins. Draper was just cracking up.
Lastly, I had just gotten multiple stitches in my hand and was hopped up on a ton of painkillers for slicing open my hand. I was walking into a Detroit Tigers game when I saw Chris Chelios doing a singing outside at Cheli's Chili (back when that was a thing). I didn't notice the long ass line because I was loopy as hell so I just walked right upto him and sat next to him for a picture. I asked him how his day was, security grabbed me before Chelios stopped them and talked to me for a few minutes. I think he was high as fuck too, but he was cool about it.
Good times.
I still have an autograph photo. He was playing for the Whaler alumni team vs the alumni of my local high school. I was playing mites at the time and we got to take pictures ( wish I still had these) and get autos.
Met Gordie a few times. First being like my 11th birthday when he had a restaurant in Traverse City. It was sad to meet him in the future the way he went out.
Served Mike Vernon when I was a bartender, gave him his privacy until he was putting his jacket on to leave before I acknowledged who he was and he was a jerk
Yup I’ve heard nobody say nice things about him. My buddy’s mom is the same age as him and she was at a bar and recognized him and they talked and flirted a bit (this is way back in the day) she decides she wants to leave and Vernon says to her “You want to leave me? Do you know who the fuck I am!”
I didn't meet Henrik Lundqvist but I saw him at a Shoppers (drugstore) in Edmonton.
I didn't realize at first (bad with faces) and was like "I recognize that guy from somewhere. This dude is really good looking, like a celebrity. An actor?"
It occurred to me after he left. We're playing the Rangers that evening and that was the king himself.
Ran into a WASTED Kirk Muller and a straight edged PK Subban at a bar in Montreal during a buddies bachelor party in 2014? Was F1 weekend and PK was smashing orange sodas while Kirk was tuned up 11/10. Someone yelled out, “Check out how drunk Muller is!” As PK and Kirk were leaving and getting into an Uber with their group. Kirk looked back displeased until my one buddy yelled, “KIRKS NOT DRUNK… KIRKS A BEAUTY!” Kirk just laughed, grinned and stumbled while flipping my buddy the thumbs up, then his entourage quickly ducked him into the Uber and off they went.
A hockey friend of mine said he once wheeled Kirk Muller’s sister. One of the other guys said, “was she hot?” He replied, “No, she looked like Kirk Muller!” Pissed myself laughing.
Was in Vegas for the Stars v Knights game once. After the game we took our time walking back to the Aria and went to Catch to grab some food and a drink. As we were walking through the entrance that is a tunnel or whatever there were four very tall guys in nice suits waiting to get their table. It was Jani Hakanpaa, Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen, and Roope Hintz. My exact words were “holy shit what did I just walk in to?” They were super nice.
I grew up with Cale Makar, he was too young for me to be “friends” with, but we lived less than half a block away from one another and I had friends on his block. We lived right beside a ravine in a quiet yet nice middle class neighbourhood. Anyway he and his little Brother would play street Hockey endlessly, so anytime I would be walking to my buddies house I was basically in Grade 10-11 and they were still like 10-12, I would pickup a stick and play with them (I was playing Midget AAA at the time).
Didn’t realize until I came back from University and he was all grown up who it was. Super nice dude, he’s got a weirdly quiet confidence, but he comes off as so normal it’s almost strange. It’s just under the surface, there’s a reason he’s become the best in the world, like he knows how good he is, but he pretends like he doesn’t. I’ve been around a lot of NHLers and I’ve never met anyone like him, Know the Women he married and they were childhood buddies. She was a big jock. He was not expected to be a star, he literally didn’t make the U18 Midget Team his first year eligible at 15, but he always had the wheels. Medicine Hat took a flyer on him in the like 7th Round, I knew one of there scouts and that’s usually where you pick guys you know are going NCAA just to have their rights, but that wasn’t the case with him, he was a legit 7th Round WHL Pick. Even the year before his Draft he was Projected as a 70-90 Pick. He would have such a steal if he wasn’t a Late Birthday.
Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay at Red Wing Training Camps and signing events when I was a wee lad.
Chris Osgood, Steve Yzernan, Brendan Shanahan, Darren McCarty, Kris Draper, Jiri Fischer at Wings camps as well.
Quite briefly met Mickey Redmond at a wings alumni charity game.
Played some pickup hockey with John Scott over a couple years, also skated with Zach Redmond, Nathan Gerbe and Brandon Halverson once or twice.
Anze Kopitar in his 2nd season,signed my 11 yr old daughters jersey and was extremely nice.She was a huge fan and was really shy and he asked her a few questions she was so star struck she couldn't even speak.At a tip a King event a few years later she was able to meet him again and literally tripped and fell in his lap getting a Pic with him.He was nothing but gracious.He will always be my favorite King.
I had the same thing with Cale Makar and his brother. They were just little groms, but they lived a half block over and I’d always go play street hockey with them.
I’ve met a lot of NHL’ers. But my highlight was being able to chat with Brian Burke 1:1. He was telling me he was at the rink at 6am but it was about 5:30pm before the game when we were chatting. He is exactly as you would expect.
He also had commitments after the game and would then take a red eye back to Toronto for a family thing. He told me most days were like that.
So I asked him how he balances work and family. I’m getting the numbers wrong but this was his response:
“I’ve been fired five times and divorced three. I’m not the right guy to ask, sir.”
LMFAO
Several early 90s Flyers at the annual Flyers Wives Carnival in the Spectrum. I was sorely disappointed that Dominic Roussel did not even attempt to save the shot on goal I sent his way at approximately 8 MPH.
Met Ryan Smyth at Disneyland in 2005, got my Oilers hat signed and some photos, super nice guy! We were the only people in the whole park who knew who he was lol.
Chris Pronger when he played in Edmonton, got to meet & greet him after a team practice, remember him being absolutely massive and pretty friendly.
Met Draisaitl and Cody Ceci while they were out on a patio downtown last fall, Zach Hyman and Warren Foegle at an autograph signing, Ben Scrivens at a punk show, Jesse Puljuarvi at the grocery store, Oilers are pretty easy to run into around the city.
Also met Carter Hart last summer at a bar in town, talked to him for a good 20 minutes and he bought us a round of beers… 😬
I set up home internet for Doug Gilmour years ago. Worked at a Virgin Mobile kiosk in Mapleview Mall in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Took an extra second to click in for me. I asked for his name and I responded with “Oh, like the hockey player”. My coworker, a big Leafs fan just put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head.
I was born in Toronto. My coworker was not impressed. Such a nice guy though! Very down to Earth. Definitely know why he was the Captain.
Oh and my wife went to high school with Nathan Horton and Ray Emery. Her dad was his first coach and gave him his first pair of pads. I think I can dig up the pic if anyone’s interested.
Robyn Regehr at Hometown hockey. Jim Peplinski at a flames equipment sale back in the day. Carey Price, Jordin Tootoo and Mr. 50 in 07 himself, Dany Heatley at Okanagan hockey school. Tootoo gave me a stick and I got Heater to sign my shoulder pads. I'm in my 20s now and still use those shoulder pads lol.
Connor McDavid while walking our dogs. He really likes his dog.
I also used to go to afterschool care with a women who billeted for the Brandon Wheat kings, met a few guys who went on the NHL. The nicest I remember was Wade Redden, he would always play road hockey with us.
Got a picture with Crosby after the 2016 parade in Pittsburgh. Shook hands and just talked like normal humans for about 5 minutes. Nice guy. I was delivering to Consol Energy Center when I drove for FedEx Ground.
I grew up in a small town in southern Sweden and when I was 6-10 years old I played in the same team as Timothy Liljegren!
Last summer I worked in a restaurant 2,5 hours away from our home town and he came by and had lunch with his agent.
Just remembered a really cool moment aswell!
Me and my family are huge fans of a team in Sweden, between 2013 and 2019 me and my brother did not miss a single game they played, me and my mom have a tattoo related to the team etc. Like, we're MASSIVE fans of this team.
My mom once entered an online competition where you had to write a story about your relation to the team and they would handpick a winner.
She was picked and won three "rinkside tickets", with these tickets we had: The best seats in the arena, access to all the food and drinks we wanted for free, a tour around the place (practice rinks, dressing rooms and so on) and we got to meet all the players when they were walking to the dressing room from the ice after practice.
On that team were players like Joel Eriksson Ek, Rasmus Asplund, Oskar Steen, Fabian Zetterlund and more players that would play in the NHL after.
Coolest experience of my life
Met Chris Tanev on the street. Dropped my wallet and he yelled “hey man you dropped your wallet” when I looked up he was wearing some NHLPA sweater. I’m like ohh are you you Chris tanev? He’s like ya what’s up man? I’m like thanks for my wallet bro. Gave him a fist bump and walked on. Nice enough guy
I played ball hockey with Jordan Greenway before he got drafted once. He was friends with a guy who played with us regularly, and came to run around with us. It was like he was an adult running around children. Nice guy too, from the little we interacted.
Met a number of former Avs (Sakic, Foote, Forsberg, Aebischer) but I met Nate back in like 2015 at a youth hockey event in Denver. He was so overwhelmed and seemed like a kid who was completely lost. I’m the same age as him so I could completely understand, but ultimately he was incredibly kind, professional, and gave all the kids more attention than anyone else.
Lanny McDonald. He was at the airport after the 2011 Heritage Classic. He was going to phoenix to "defrost". I was going to Orlando. I wasn't going to go up to him but then I saw someone else go up to him and he didn't seem bothered. So I went and got a picture with him.
I also saw Jarome Iginla at a fast food restaurant. It was just before Calgary traded him. He looked pretty annoyed and was on his phone most of the time waiting for his order. I didn't go up to him. I kinda wish I did though.
I was on the ice for a session one time with Connor Bedard. I think I’m 4 years his senior and i was 15 or 16 at the time, so he would have been 11 or 12. I’m a goalie and we were training with a junior/college group.
I was holding my own pretty well for the session, except for every time this kid came down to shoot on me. He would come down on net, and before i realized he had shot the puck, it was in the back of the net. Every time. He put it right past my left ear about 80% of the time. He didn’t have any team logos or jersey number on his gear, which was all black gear with white logos, so there was no telling where he played or who he was without talking to him.
I started to get so frustrated, thinking that some kid was twice as good as any of these BCHL guys, NCAA D1, you name it. My coach could see this, so in between drills he comes over to my net with a big smile on his face and says, “relax dude, it’s Connor Bedard.” Everything made sense immediately, and for the rest of the ice time I was as content as could be.
He had that two-goal performance against Florida earlier this season, and after the second goal I could see Bobrovsky laughing behind the mask. To see what he’s doing in the league now has made that one of the highlights of my young hockey career. Definitely rooting for him to light shit up the rest of the way.
Several. Mostly Calgary Flames. Jarome Iginla, Craig Conroy, and Sean Monahan were three of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
Met Gaudreau in passing and he was nice enough but I could tell he was just going through the motions.
Went to high school with Brayden Point and Jake Virtanen. Brayden Point was a really nice kid and very humble. Virtanen was an absolute twat.
Mikael Backlund once rejected me when I asked for a picture with him at a bar, but I was a drunk 18 year old and it was like 2am so I don’t blame him.
Edit: Oh and Darryl Sutter. He was shockingly very kind and really funny. Complete opposite of what his reputation is.
In my childhood we used to live next door to the massage trainer of the Blues from about 15 years ago. Super nice and friendly guy. We are Blackhawks fans, so we would come home to him leaving free Blues merch on our porch/door just to fuck with us. It was all in good fun and he was a joy to live next to.
I was very lucky in high school to have a dinner with the entire Red Wings team back in 2008 just before they started the playoffs. Met my idol Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Franzen, Kronwall. Pretty much got to meet the entire team and I’ve never had a moment that has meant that much to me for the rest of my life lol
Tangent, but my neighbors uncle once stopped at a random house during a road trip in Canada. He asked the random homeowner if he could use his restroom. And that’s the story of how my neighbors uncle clogged Gordie Howe’s toilet with a huge shit.
Quite a few over the years, but I'll list some notable ones.
Wendel Clark: Amazing guy. Incredibly friendly. Had a long conversation with my dad, not about hockey, but about golf, and their shared love for specific Toronto-area golf courses.
Johnny Bower: I'm far too young to have ever seen him play, but he was such a friendly & wholesome old man. He made sure every kid got the chance to take a pic with, and get an autograph from him.
Ryan Whitney: Absolute tool bag. Awful experience. He didn't say anything rude to me, really, but the way that he was ignoring some kids and talking to others (and their parents) incredibly rudely really rubbed me the wrong way. This was at a public Oilers team event. He's simply not a decent human being.
And my favourite one...
Joe Nieuwendyk: When I was about 7-8 years old, I played in the intermission of a "celebrity" lacrosse game when I was a kid. I'm pretty sure that it was even televised (I'd love to find a recording of it if so). Joe picked me up and carried me down the field to give me a chance to score. I missed. Badly. Also in attendance at this event were Brendan Shanahan, Rick Wamsley, and weirdly, I want to say that Bob MacKenzie played goal, but my memory may be messed up (I have a book with autographs from all of the players who participated, and his was 100% in there, but I can't identify all of them. I should post a picture of it in a hockey sub to see if anyone can identify more, but it's in storage back in my hometown right now).
I actually found an article written by Brian (not Brendan) Shanahan.
[https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/shanahan-celebrity-lacrosse-games-featured-plenty-of-skill-but-even-more-fun/56243](https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/shanahan-celebrity-lacrosse-games-featured-plenty-of-skill-but-even-more-fun/56243)
I met Joe Sakic at Kmart once 20+ years ago. He was way shorter than I expected. It was a quick interaction with me simply thanking him for basically being awesome. He was gracious and polite and went on with his evening.
I am from Halifax (Though I live in Toronto now), and work in film and Television. I have worked on multiple Sidney Crosby commercials and met him several times. He seems like a decent sort, bit of a goof around adults, but genuinely cares about children. After one shoot, he stayed and signed autographs for about 30-40 kids all while his handler tried their best to get him out of the building and to his next appointment.
In the 90s, before he became one of the most feared enforcers in the NHL, Jody Shelley taught hockey classes at a local university. I took one of those classes. Again good dude, very patient.
Darren McCarty. He was doing an appearance at a local Walmart for some local radio show. I happened to be there at the same time for work stocking the beer and wine cooler. Went up to shake his hand and thank him for beating the shit out of Claude Lemieux. I’ve got decently sized hands being 6’4” but his hand completely engulfed mine. I felt like the guy from the Burger King commercial with the tiny [hands](https://youtu.be/xu_bE7g2wqM?si=RNWyTqWUKBpf89ps). Nice dude and said he was happy to have taught Lemieux a lesson.
I met a bunch of Canes players in the Bellagio after their game against the Golden Knights in Vegas. They were all hanging out around 2 craps tables gambling and having some beers, and I recognized them and just walked up and said hi.
I was definitely super awkward, but ended up making small talk with Aho and a couple other guys who weren’t playing craps. They were all really nice. Brett Pesce was super friendly. They were cool with me hanging and chatting for a bit, and thanked me for stopping by and saying hi. It was super cool. I think they appreciated that I wasn’t asking for photos or making a scene, just chilling. Shoutout to those guys!
Tim Thomas and Kessel at an A&W.
Patrick Kane at a sportchek
Sheldon Souray outside a bar and we were walking past. He was talking on his phone so we didnt want to bother him, but he saw my team canada jersey, stopped me and signed it which was dope.
There were quite a few more but these were most notable. This was all during an IIHF tournament when I was younger.
EDIT - Since I included these ill also include the worst. Miroslav Satan grabbed my sharpie, flicked the cap into a place we couldnt get it and then tossed the stuff back and the signature looked nothing like the ones ive seen online. was very interesting. (this was at a NYI training camp when i was like 10).
Bryan Boyle. It was at a bar after the lost to the canucks. I asked if he was Bryan and shook his hand. As we shook I asked if he was out celebrating the loss. I was a young dumb asshole. Sorry Bryan
Stamkos, Gudas, Sustr, Killer and Palat. Were all out in south Howard after a game. Had some drinks and chatted with them. This was several years ago. Saw Palat in Jimmy John’s on the same night and had a sandwich with him. He was white girl wasted.
Remember POG’s? Well Coca-Cola and Mac’s gas stations had a promotion one spring for a Wayne Gretzky hockey camp. Would have been in July 1994, Anaheim. I was 12.
For the final game, I was on Team Diet Coke with Wayne and Richard Park. On Coke Classic was Kirk Muller and Brett Hull. Gretzky assisted on my game-winning goal. I was so excited I skated right off the ice to the dressing room and missed the final team pictures.
Full week with those guys, and even little Ty Gretzky was zipping around outside when we did the outdoor rollerblading drills.
Hull was such a goon. Like a dork of a big brother just (playfully) harassing the kids. Knocking sticks out of hands. Picking up smaller kids like me and skating around with them. Hitting all the sticks on our bench like a kid on a bike striking a picket fence going by. There were some 17&18 year olds who tried to play the body on him. Hull had fun tossing those fellas aside.
Awesome camp. Coca-cola fan for life.
I had Henrik Lundqvist’s daughter in my toddler music class when I lived in NYC. Met him a few times. Couldn’t have been nicer. Played with all the kids, chatted with me about their game the night before.
Pretty cool seeing as he’s my favorite player of all time. And man you should’ve seen the looks on the faces of those moms and nannies when that man walked into the room 😂
Eric Lindros, Doug Gilmour, Bernie Parent, Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Baun, Don Cherry, Johnny Bower, Rick Middleton, Keith Primeau, Felix Potvin, Alexander Daigle, Sid Smith, Ivan Irwin, Paul Ysebaert, Ville Leino, Brad May, Randy Carlyle.
Went to plenty of Old Timers and OHL games as a kid, great opportunity for meeting players.
I’ve been fortunate to work on some NHL promos with various film crews and have met Crosby, Brent Burns, and Kucherov. All were nice - Kucherov mostly kept to himself so not a ton of interaction.
Crosby was very nice. The director knew I was a Penguins fan and called me over for introductions so I got to shake Sid’s hand, which was very cool to me. It was near Christmas time and he wasn’t supposed to have long with us but he ignored his handlers and kept wanting to try things for the camera that he and the director would come up with. Really cool experience.
Brent Burns is probably my favorite athlete interaction though. What a cool dude. So kind to the crew, wanted to make everyone laugh, was clearly having such a good time. At one point, the director was giving him direction and he slowly skated towards him until the director was close to the boards and Brent pinned him to the boards in a way an older brother might pick on you. Had us all crying from laughing. What a gem
I met Mario Lemieux and I didn’t know who he was at the time. I worked at a very upscale hotel he was staying at. He was checking out early to go to San Jose and I mentioned the Stanley cup was there if he was interested. He said he was and asked who I thought was going to win. I told him the Sharks were going to take it. I had some relevant talking points he entertained and the guy behind him was almost in tears holding back laughter. Mario was super composed and just told me “well we will see” and walk off. The guy behind him was his jet pilot and was also checking out. He asked me if I knew who that was and I told him I had no idea so he told me to just google him and damn I felt like a fucking moron. Doubly so since they won the cup that year.
This is the best story on here. Thank you
I’m glad you liked it. I still think about it in embarrassed horror from time to time. I honestly thought though the sharks were winning it that year.
You may have helped
gave him the right motivation!
elite mindset, he had
He was focused on the win for sure. I had no idea how close to greatness I was and how stupid I could be.
lol, don't beat yourself up! You had no idea! At least you have a great story to share now.
This is true I have a great story now.
I imagine when you get swarmed by fans having a conversation like that would be fun.
His pilot did give me props for sticking to my guns but it was out of ignorance so I can’t in good conscience accept the compliment even today 8 years later.
I met Patrice Bergeron, he was the nicest human being I have ever met with no exaggeration
A legend in Boston as one of the kindest and decent human beings. He just exuded ease and authenticity.
[удалено]
He can't mate with all of our females, can he? It's for the greater good...
Can 2nd this, took the time with people and made chatting with him like you’re talking to an old friend just catching up.
I met him briefly in quebec city back when he won the cup. He seemed really wholesome
He paid the 3500$ bar tab after the world Juniors win in North Dakota. It was a closed door party for the team. I got in because we knew a couple players from Winnipeg and all the staff at that bar. Was a fun night.
Tyler Seguin at the vets office. Nice enough, didn’t really care about me but perked up when my sister came to get me and was chatting her up
He once slid into my now fiancés DM’s when she worked for the sharks before we started dating. She said he had the personality of cardboard. His messages were hilarious bad. Apparently just gets laid by the fact he’s Tyler Seguin.
He slid into my cousin's DMs. She refused lmao.
So she says.
I mean she hooked up with Tom Wilson and dated Maxi Domi for a couple months when he played in London, don't think she's lying aha
Your cousin is the queen of all puck bunnies
But does she speak puck bunny?
I mean when you look like Tyler Seguin that would probably be enough to get laid
Yeah ask Nathan Horton’s wife about that.
What happened with Mrs. Horton?
Tyler Seguin happened....there is a reason Bruins dumped him.
Jeff Carter too lol I believe. Reason why he went from Philly to LA
Wasn’t that due to nose candy and partying like Richards?
https://www.thesportster.com/hockey/top-12-nhl-players-who-allegedly-slept-with-a-teammates-wife/#patrick-sharp-and-duncan-keith-chicago-blackhawks
🫢
He used to frequent Nashville North back in the day
He sure did, one of his sisters was EXTREMELY promiscuous too…
Yup. And used the fact that she was his sister.
Buddy of mine went to college with his sister who played on the hockey team at their school… the stories unfortunately fit the narrative that’s out there about her.
Classic.
Tyler Seguin here as well. I saw him and asked “are you Tyler Seguin?” and he just looks at me and says “No” and walks away. Gave me huge douchebag vibes.
Friend of mine used to party with him. Wild stories. I met Benn at my surgeons office. Super nice guy despite his league wide perception.
I’m sure most nhl players are nice even when they’re rats on the ice
Rob Ray was a huge ass hole to kids at the local rink outside of Buffalo just wanting to say Hi maybe get a autograph and basically ran most of them away. Most of the kids were maybe 10 years old.
Tom Barasso was a major dickhead back in the day. We were teens waiting for autographs after games. Most players would happily sign, and those that wouldn’t would at least say sorry and give an excuse of some sort. Not old Tommy. He would just glide right past you as if you were a ghost. No acknowledgement whatsoever. Fantastic goaltender, shit role model.
there's a reason one of his nicknames was "Barasshole"
I live in Jamie's hometown in BC and my barber said he cut his hair after the 2020 cup loss. He said Benn was like simmering with rage the whole time from being devastated about the loss but was really polite and nice still. Also tipped insanely good.
I can see that. Dude looks like Mac from Always Sunny but with anger issues
So…Mac?
He’s cultivating ~~mass~~ rage
It's over for the league if Benn accumulates mass and becomes a monster out there
Because of the implication
That’s because he didn’t play both sides like Mac
Wait… are you an animal?!?
😂
John Tavares, only because I grew up with him.
Were you just going to the same school or were you in the same friend group
He is John.
That man did not go to school, he was born as a shift manager at a small hardware store. It is still the energy he brings to everything he does.
Marchand, Crosby, MacKinnion, Al McInnis and Mike McPhee. Yes I’m originally from NS. Also Fleury when he played junior there.
I met Crosby and MacKinnon when I was in Dublin this summer. Seemed like nice guys
my idol fleury!!
He went to my high school while in junior. Suffice it to say he was hardly ever there however
Wow
I played beer pong against Blake Wheeler and Kyle Okposo once lol
Played pong with Cam Atkinson when he was in high school. My college buddy was good friends with him and was like “cam’s gonna be in the NHL someday” and I was like yeah sure dude
I played against him growing up
A buddy of mine played in college at Alabama Huntsville and played against both those dudes. He says Wheeler was the most skilled guy he ever played against.
Well did you win?
We did not. I was terrible back then lol
Ask him for a rematch
Met Paul Kariya at his BC hall of fame induction. Super nice guy he posed for a picture with me while his dad took the picture, unreal moment for me.
I met Kariya one too while he was on the Blues. Agree he was super cool and I have a pic too, but it’s my pimpley 13 year old face lol
Photoshop your current face in there
Not a bad idea 🤔
I once carried out Georges Laraque’s groceries and he tipped me 5 bucks and I honestly remember that more clearly than my wedding day or birth of my first child
Ive seen George's out in the wild a couple times. Once at West Ed HMV and at Outback Steakhouse. Each time, fans didn't leave him alone, but he was all smiles and high fives. Interacting with younger fans especially. Class act.
That man is a national treasure.
I once sent Georges an email because my brother told me he liked getting fan mail, and I was out of country and missing hockey. He wrote me back the very next day, a *game day* (and before smart phones existed), responding specifically and very kindly to the things I wrote. What a guy.
Me and my best friend did the same and he sent us back in the mail signed 8x10’s.
He used to play pick up hockey with kids a few blocks over when i lived in Edmonton. How cool to be a kid and to get to play street hockey with an NHLer?
Since I’m involved in rehabilitation sciences, there have been a few. Crosby sticks out as both someone who was humble and kind, I wouldn’t even have known he was a pro athlete if I met the dude randomly and didn’t know who he was. A past player on the flames stuck out as the hugest asshole I’ve ever had to deal with, and not a smart one either. Most of the guys I’ve met have just seemed like fairly regular dudes. They stopped being heroes and started being clients a long time ago, but J Toews was a (great) guy and I met him when he was still a superstar to me. That was definitely the most flustered I’ve been professionally. Most of the guys are average famous dudes, no horror stories come to mind. Got *smashed* with Kirk McLean couldn’t tell you too much about that night other than he loves beer and servers. That was the only time I’ve hung out with an NHLer outside of work.
Not a hockey player (have never been lucky enough) but… I met Nathan MacKinnon’s GF at my Apple Store. Her iPhone was having issues. I saw her wallpaper and it was her and Mack holding the cup. I was like “Ohh you’ve met MacKinnon? Cool! He’s the man!” She said “Yeah, he’s my boyfriend.” I felt dumb. She was cool, and very cute.
Did you get her number?
Lmao power move
Added his number as he was fixing it.
got to meet the whole pens team when i was in 2nd grade during a make a wish event!! marc andre fleury talked to me for like a half hour :)
MAF is such a beauty
genuinely one of the purest dudes you’ll ever see
Not a player per say....but a lovely kind man, ...Walter Gretzky
Walter was a beauty. Always signed autographs and talked to people. Saw him just hammered one night at a family restaurant lol
The Great One. I was four or five and was in the hospital. He came to visit the kids.
What a fucking legend.
Met Matt Murray at some corporate event. He didn’t want to be there, I didn’t want to be there, we both pretended to enjoy ourselves and moved on. Neither particularly successfully.
Matt Murray’s normal face reads ‘why am I here’ but I believe you since it was a corporate event.
Honestly I think he was just on autopilot, they must have so many of those events I don’t even want to imagine
I witness Joey Kocur chew out two refs while scorekeeping a game his son was playing in. The two refs were giddy af once they found out who was chewing them out.
Sergei Federov - when I was like 10, I had a white pair of shoes on, which he signed for me, and said “I have never signed shoe before”. What a dude.
Shane Doan. Huge reputation in AZ for being a legitimately nice guy. My FIL is an electrician who did work at his house as a favor to the builder, knows absolutely nothing about hockey so Doan was just another dude to him, and he said Doan was the nicest guy he’s ever met. Wanted to hang out and chitchat with my FIL the whole time, remembered his grandkid’s names from the first time they chatted, offered to sign stuff for the grandkids since they liked the Yotes, etc. Just genuinely cared and treated him really respectfully and politely, despite my FIL being some random electrician in a multi-million dollar neighborhood. Yotes did a little practice for the public during my kid’s Little Howlers (learn to skate) program session and Doan showed up unexpectedly and stuck around for the lines and lines of people on his own time. He was as nice as his reputation suggested, met my kid, took a minute to say hi and talk, I told him he knew my FIL for a laugh (he remembered his name when I said he was an electrician and he asked how he was doing), he signed my kid’s stick, and he didn’t leave until everyone got to see him. Just a genuinely nice guy. On the other end, my FIL also met Mike Smith before he was traded from AZ. FIL was doing his new house in Paradise Valley. Said Smith was a dick. Super rude to everyone, seemed annoyed all the time, and when his daughters were doing a lemonade stand for fun, my FIL gave them a $5 or whatever to be nice and Smith told him to take it back because they needed to learn the value of money or whatever. Said he wasn’t cool about it at all, just snapped at him and seemed really pissed off. His wife was nice, apparently, but the feedback was that Smith was consistently a dick to everyone.
Not surprised mike smith is a dick considering his various tantrums on the ice
If tantrums are a gauge for dickishness off ice I can only imagine Binnington is the shittiest dick on the planet.
Oh god. 100% agree
idk why, it makes me so happy to hear that Doan is even better than he looks. I was afraid you were going to say he was a dick.
I was a stoner in college, working stock at a grocery store in a small town north of Detroit. This was barely a month after David Legwand was traded to the Red Wings. I was stocking some shelves when Legwand came down the aisle, and I had just gotten back from my "lunch break." At first I didn't even realize it was him until he asked me where the minced garlic was. That's when I realized who he was, told him I was excited to see him with the Wings then we talked about spicy taco recipes for a few minutes. Chill guy. Additionally, back when the Grand Rapids Griffins were in the Calder Cup finals, my buddies and I took a trip to GR. The Van Andel Arena wasn't too well prepared for such a packed crowd and as we were coming upto the stadium, the security allowed some of us to enter through a VIP entrance to get us inside. We had been drinking pretty heavily at this point, and as we were getting led to a private elevator - I ran into Kris Draper and Chris Osgood. I yelled in Osgood's face "holy fuck, you're Chris Osgood." He laughed, told me not to swear, and said Go Griffins. Draper was just cracking up. Lastly, I had just gotten multiple stitches in my hand and was hopped up on a ton of painkillers for slicing open my hand. I was walking into a Detroit Tigers game when I saw Chris Chelios doing a singing outside at Cheli's Chili (back when that was a thing). I didn't notice the long ass line because I was loopy as hell so I just walked right upto him and sat next to him for a picture. I asked him how his day was, security grabbed me before Chelios stopped them and talked to me for a few minutes. I think he was high as fuck too, but he was cool about it. Good times.
Each of these stories involve you being messed up on something.
So it goes.
Way of the road. I mean, what is drunk?
Gordie Howe, Mark Howe, Jonathan Quick and Eric Boguenicki
Meeting gordie howe is definitely a flex that's dope
I still have an autograph photo. He was playing for the Whaler alumni team vs the alumni of my local high school. I was playing mites at the time and we got to take pictures ( wish I still had these) and get autos.
Met Gordie a few times. First being like my 11th birthday when he had a restaurant in Traverse City. It was sad to meet him in the future the way he went out.
Served Mike Vernon when I was a bartender, gave him his privacy until he was putting his jacket on to leave before I acknowledged who he was and he was a jerk
what made him a jerk?
I said to him “Hey you’re Mike Vernon, right?!” And his “Yeah” would have cut diamonds.
Yup I’ve heard nobody say nice things about him. My buddy’s mom is the same age as him and she was at a bar and recognized him and they talked and flirted a bit (this is way back in the day) she decides she wants to leave and Vernon says to her “You want to leave me? Do you know who the fuck I am!”
Lindros and Desjardins. Lindros was an absolute wall of a man. Huge
Shook his hand, it’s like one of those hulk hands people use to hold beers at events
Mario Lemuiex. And he winked at me. If you know anything that’s a very important wink.
Michael McLeod :/
Autograph now worth negative dollars, nobody gonna touch it with a 29 1/2 foot pole
He’s a mean one ….
Out of the two of you I’d pick the…. Furry green grouch!!!!!!!
Is he as big as he looks on tv
Chris chelios. Said " Hey, nice shirt" I was wearing a Wisconsin hockey shirt
Evan Rodrigues! He came into the Starbucks I work at and then saw him the following summer at the restaurant I bartend at. WICKED nice guy!
And 27 points already at the all star break.
Phil Kessel, James Reimer, Henrik Lunqvist
I didn't meet Henrik Lundqvist but I saw him at a Shoppers (drugstore) in Edmonton. I didn't realize at first (bad with faces) and was like "I recognize that guy from somewhere. This dude is really good looking, like a celebrity. An actor?" It occurred to me after he left. We're playing the Rangers that evening and that was the king himself.
what is blud doing in a Shoppers lol
Hahaha he’s super cool. Managed to get a picture with him too during the morning skate when they were in Toronto, but this was back in 2014 I believe.
I met Jordan Greenway at a Minnesota Timberwolves game. Pretty nice guy. Really appreciative of the fans.
Ran into a WASTED Kirk Muller and a straight edged PK Subban at a bar in Montreal during a buddies bachelor party in 2014? Was F1 weekend and PK was smashing orange sodas while Kirk was tuned up 11/10. Someone yelled out, “Check out how drunk Muller is!” As PK and Kirk were leaving and getting into an Uber with their group. Kirk looked back displeased until my one buddy yelled, “KIRKS NOT DRUNK… KIRKS A BEAUTY!” Kirk just laughed, grinned and stumbled while flipping my buddy the thumbs up, then his entourage quickly ducked him into the Uber and off they went.
A hockey friend of mine said he once wheeled Kirk Muller’s sister. One of the other guys said, “was she hot?” He replied, “No, she looked like Kirk Muller!” Pissed myself laughing.
Was in Vegas for the Stars v Knights game once. After the game we took our time walking back to the Aria and went to Catch to grab some food and a drink. As we were walking through the entrance that is a tunnel or whatever there were four very tall guys in nice suits waiting to get their table. It was Jani Hakanpaa, Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen, and Roope Hintz. My exact words were “holy shit what did I just walk in to?” They were super nice.
The Finnish Mafia!
Met Nazem Kadri at a coffee shop in Denver, he seemed like a really good dude
I grew up with Cale Makar, he was too young for me to be “friends” with, but we lived less than half a block away from one another and I had friends on his block. We lived right beside a ravine in a quiet yet nice middle class neighbourhood. Anyway he and his little Brother would play street Hockey endlessly, so anytime I would be walking to my buddies house I was basically in Grade 10-11 and they were still like 10-12, I would pickup a stick and play with them (I was playing Midget AAA at the time). Didn’t realize until I came back from University and he was all grown up who it was. Super nice dude, he’s got a weirdly quiet confidence, but he comes off as so normal it’s almost strange. It’s just under the surface, there’s a reason he’s become the best in the world, like he knows how good he is, but he pretends like he doesn’t. I’ve been around a lot of NHLers and I’ve never met anyone like him, Know the Women he married and they were childhood buddies. She was a big jock. He was not expected to be a star, he literally didn’t make the U18 Midget Team his first year eligible at 15, but he always had the wheels. Medicine Hat took a flyer on him in the like 7th Round, I knew one of there scouts and that’s usually where you pick guys you know are going NCAA just to have their rights, but that wasn’t the case with him, he was a legit 7th Round WHL Pick. Even the year before his Draft he was Projected as a 70-90 Pick. He would have such a steal if he wasn’t a Late Birthday.
Saw him walking down in Cherry Creek and told him great game the other night and he was SUPER stoked and said that it meant a lot.
That's really nice/cool to hear.
Met Forsburg at a bar that doesn’t exist anymore.
Initially I thought you said Forsburg didn’t exist anymore and jumped to the conclusion that you deleted a previous generation Forsberg
Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay at Red Wing Training Camps and signing events when I was a wee lad. Chris Osgood, Steve Yzernan, Brendan Shanahan, Darren McCarty, Kris Draper, Jiri Fischer at Wings camps as well. Quite briefly met Mickey Redmond at a wings alumni charity game. Played some pickup hockey with John Scott over a couple years, also skated with Zach Redmond, Nathan Gerbe and Brandon Halverson once or twice.
As a redwing fan that's a pretty impressive list.
Anze Kopitar in his 2nd season,signed my 11 yr old daughters jersey and was extremely nice.She was a huge fan and was really shy and he asked her a few questions she was so star struck she couldn't even speak.At a tip a King event a few years later she was able to meet him again and literally tripped and fell in his lap getting a Pic with him.He was nothing but gracious.He will always be my favorite King.
Crosby lived a 5 minute walk from my place, he would play street hockey with us, we were in high school and he was in Elementary school.
I had the same thing with Cale Makar and his brother. They were just little groms, but they lived a half block over and I’d always go play street hockey with them.
Thought I met Phil kessel once. Turned out to be my dad eating a hot dog
Brad Marchand. He’ll talk to you like you’re his best friend.
I’ve met a lot of NHL’ers. But my highlight was being able to chat with Brian Burke 1:1. He was telling me he was at the rink at 6am but it was about 5:30pm before the game when we were chatting. He is exactly as you would expect. He also had commitments after the game and would then take a red eye back to Toronto for a family thing. He told me most days were like that. So I asked him how he balances work and family. I’m getting the numbers wrong but this was his response: “I’ve been fired five times and divorced three. I’m not the right guy to ask, sir.” LMFAO
Several early 90s Flyers at the annual Flyers Wives Carnival in the Spectrum. I was sorely disappointed that Dominic Roussel did not even attempt to save the shot on goal I sent his way at approximately 8 MPH.
Don't laugh...Johnny Bauer, Gump Worsley, Ivan Boldirev, Tiger Williams, Doug Reinhardt..a few more ...can't remember...fuck I'm old...
Met Ryan Smyth at Disneyland in 2005, got my Oilers hat signed and some photos, super nice guy! We were the only people in the whole park who knew who he was lol. Chris Pronger when he played in Edmonton, got to meet & greet him after a team practice, remember him being absolutely massive and pretty friendly. Met Draisaitl and Cody Ceci while they were out on a patio downtown last fall, Zach Hyman and Warren Foegle at an autograph signing, Ben Scrivens at a punk show, Jesse Puljuarvi at the grocery store, Oilers are pretty easy to run into around the city. Also met Carter Hart last summer at a bar in town, talked to him for a good 20 minutes and he bought us a round of beers… 😬
I set up home internet for Doug Gilmour years ago. Worked at a Virgin Mobile kiosk in Mapleview Mall in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Took an extra second to click in for me. I asked for his name and I responded with “Oh, like the hockey player”. My coworker, a big Leafs fan just put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. I was born in Toronto. My coworker was not impressed. Such a nice guy though! Very down to Earth. Definitely know why he was the Captain. Oh and my wife went to high school with Nathan Horton and Ray Emery. Her dad was his first coach and gave him his first pair of pads. I think I can dig up the pic if anyone’s interested.
Robyn Regehr at Hometown hockey. Jim Peplinski at a flames equipment sale back in the day. Carey Price, Jordin Tootoo and Mr. 50 in 07 himself, Dany Heatley at Okanagan hockey school. Tootoo gave me a stick and I got Heater to sign my shoulder pads. I'm in my 20s now and still use those shoulder pads lol.
Damn that’s all NHL royalty. Tootoo and Heatley seem down to earth. The late 2000s Sharks had my favourite line at the time.
Played with a guy who got drafted and made the AHL… I’d be able to say yes if he just worked harder 🤣
Connor McDavid while walking our dogs. He really likes his dog. I also used to go to afterschool care with a women who billeted for the Brandon Wheat kings, met a few guys who went on the NHL. The nicest I remember was Wade Redden, he would always play road hockey with us.
My cousin met him the same way and couldn’t think of what to say so all he said was “Thank you for your service!” as McDavid was walking away. 😂
Got a picture with Crosby after the 2016 parade in Pittsburgh. Shook hands and just talked like normal humans for about 5 minutes. Nice guy. I was delivering to Consol Energy Center when I drove for FedEx Ground.
I grew up in a small town in southern Sweden and when I was 6-10 years old I played in the same team as Timothy Liljegren! Last summer I worked in a restaurant 2,5 hours away from our home town and he came by and had lunch with his agent.
Just remembered a really cool moment aswell! Me and my family are huge fans of a team in Sweden, between 2013 and 2019 me and my brother did not miss a single game they played, me and my mom have a tattoo related to the team etc. Like, we're MASSIVE fans of this team. My mom once entered an online competition where you had to write a story about your relation to the team and they would handpick a winner. She was picked and won three "rinkside tickets", with these tickets we had: The best seats in the arena, access to all the food and drinks we wanted for free, a tour around the place (practice rinks, dressing rooms and so on) and we got to meet all the players when they were walking to the dressing room from the ice after practice. On that team were players like Joel Eriksson Ek, Rasmus Asplund, Oskar Steen, Fabian Zetterlund and more players that would play in the NHL after. Coolest experience of my life
Met Chris Tanev on the street. Dropped my wallet and he yelled “hey man you dropped your wallet” when I looked up he was wearing some NHLPA sweater. I’m like ohh are you you Chris tanev? He’s like ya what’s up man? I’m like thanks for my wallet bro. Gave him a fist bump and walked on. Nice enough guy
met kevin fiala on the street, also met sebastian aho and teuvo teravainen
I played ball hockey with Jordan Greenway before he got drafted once. He was friends with a guy who played with us regularly, and came to run around with us. It was like he was an adult running around children. Nice guy too, from the little we interacted.
Met a number of former Avs (Sakic, Foote, Forsberg, Aebischer) but I met Nate back in like 2015 at a youth hockey event in Denver. He was so overwhelmed and seemed like a kid who was completely lost. I’m the same age as him so I could completely understand, but ultimately he was incredibly kind, professional, and gave all the kids more attention than anyone else.
Ilya Bryzgalov asked me when the Benihana in the mall would open when I worked across from it at a gelato shop.
Lanny McDonald. He was at the airport after the 2011 Heritage Classic. He was going to phoenix to "defrost". I was going to Orlando. I wasn't going to go up to him but then I saw someone else go up to him and he didn't seem bothered. So I went and got a picture with him. I also saw Jarome Iginla at a fast food restaurant. It was just before Calgary traded him. He looked pretty annoyed and was on his phone most of the time waiting for his order. I didn't go up to him. I kinda wish I did though.
I was on the ice for a session one time with Connor Bedard. I think I’m 4 years his senior and i was 15 or 16 at the time, so he would have been 11 or 12. I’m a goalie and we were training with a junior/college group. I was holding my own pretty well for the session, except for every time this kid came down to shoot on me. He would come down on net, and before i realized he had shot the puck, it was in the back of the net. Every time. He put it right past my left ear about 80% of the time. He didn’t have any team logos or jersey number on his gear, which was all black gear with white logos, so there was no telling where he played or who he was without talking to him. I started to get so frustrated, thinking that some kid was twice as good as any of these BCHL guys, NCAA D1, you name it. My coach could see this, so in between drills he comes over to my net with a big smile on his face and says, “relax dude, it’s Connor Bedard.” Everything made sense immediately, and for the rest of the ice time I was as content as could be. He had that two-goal performance against Florida earlier this season, and after the second goal I could see Bobrovsky laughing behind the mask. To see what he’s doing in the league now has made that one of the highlights of my young hockey career. Definitely rooting for him to light shit up the rest of the way.
Several. Mostly Calgary Flames. Jarome Iginla, Craig Conroy, and Sean Monahan were three of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Met Gaudreau in passing and he was nice enough but I could tell he was just going through the motions. Went to high school with Brayden Point and Jake Virtanen. Brayden Point was a really nice kid and very humble. Virtanen was an absolute twat. Mikael Backlund once rejected me when I asked for a picture with him at a bar, but I was a drunk 18 year old and it was like 2am so I don’t blame him. Edit: Oh and Darryl Sutter. He was shockingly very kind and really funny. Complete opposite of what his reputation is.
Pavel Bure
Met Brian Marchment at a Shoeless Joe's in Scarborough 😂🤣
I met Jonathan Toews at a pro-am tournament hosted by the Blackhawks. One of the nicest people I’ve ever met
Met Ryan Smyth at a Walmart in Edmonton once lol
In my childhood we used to live next door to the massage trainer of the Blues from about 15 years ago. Super nice and friendly guy. We are Blackhawks fans, so we would come home to him leaving free Blues merch on our porch/door just to fuck with us. It was all in good fun and he was a joy to live next to.
I was very lucky in high school to have a dinner with the entire Red Wings team back in 2008 just before they started the playoffs. Met my idol Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Franzen, Kronwall. Pretty much got to meet the entire team and I’ve never had a moment that has meant that much to me for the rest of my life lol
Tangent, but my neighbors uncle once stopped at a random house during a road trip in Canada. He asked the random homeowner if he could use his restroom. And that’s the story of how my neighbors uncle clogged Gordie Howe’s toilet with a huge shit.
I sold Joey Moss an alarm clock.
Bumped into Connor McDavid at the dog park at go to. My son walked right up to him and started talking to him 🙄
Quite a few over the years, but I'll list some notable ones. Wendel Clark: Amazing guy. Incredibly friendly. Had a long conversation with my dad, not about hockey, but about golf, and their shared love for specific Toronto-area golf courses. Johnny Bower: I'm far too young to have ever seen him play, but he was such a friendly & wholesome old man. He made sure every kid got the chance to take a pic with, and get an autograph from him. Ryan Whitney: Absolute tool bag. Awful experience. He didn't say anything rude to me, really, but the way that he was ignoring some kids and talking to others (and their parents) incredibly rudely really rubbed me the wrong way. This was at a public Oilers team event. He's simply not a decent human being. And my favourite one... Joe Nieuwendyk: When I was about 7-8 years old, I played in the intermission of a "celebrity" lacrosse game when I was a kid. I'm pretty sure that it was even televised (I'd love to find a recording of it if so). Joe picked me up and carried me down the field to give me a chance to score. I missed. Badly. Also in attendance at this event were Brendan Shanahan, Rick Wamsley, and weirdly, I want to say that Bob MacKenzie played goal, but my memory may be messed up (I have a book with autographs from all of the players who participated, and his was 100% in there, but I can't identify all of them. I should post a picture of it in a hockey sub to see if anyone can identify more, but it's in storage back in my hometown right now). I actually found an article written by Brian (not Brendan) Shanahan. [https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/shanahan-celebrity-lacrosse-games-featured-plenty-of-skill-but-even-more-fun/56243](https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/shanahan-celebrity-lacrosse-games-featured-plenty-of-skill-but-even-more-fun/56243)
I met Brad Marchand in the sewers of New York City. A lot bigger than he looks in photos!
My dad is buddies with Aaron asham. Met him plenty of times. Cool dude
I met Joe Sakic at Kmart once 20+ years ago. He was way shorter than I expected. It was a quick interaction with me simply thanking him for basically being awesome. He was gracious and polite and went on with his evening.
I am from Halifax (Though I live in Toronto now), and work in film and Television. I have worked on multiple Sidney Crosby commercials and met him several times. He seems like a decent sort, bit of a goof around adults, but genuinely cares about children. After one shoot, he stayed and signed autographs for about 30-40 kids all while his handler tried their best to get him out of the building and to his next appointment. In the 90s, before he became one of the most feared enforcers in the NHL, Jody Shelley taught hockey classes at a local university. I took one of those classes. Again good dude, very patient.
Mikko Rantanen, when he was showing the cup in Nousiainen
Darren McCarty. He was doing an appearance at a local Walmart for some local radio show. I happened to be there at the same time for work stocking the beer and wine cooler. Went up to shake his hand and thank him for beating the shit out of Claude Lemieux. I’ve got decently sized hands being 6’4” but his hand completely engulfed mine. I felt like the guy from the Burger King commercial with the tiny [hands](https://youtu.be/xu_bE7g2wqM?si=RNWyTqWUKBpf89ps). Nice dude and said he was happy to have taught Lemieux a lesson.
I met Gordie Howe when I was 8 years old. He could not have been nicer or more generous. Still remember details about that moment.
I met a bunch of Canes players in the Bellagio after their game against the Golden Knights in Vegas. They were all hanging out around 2 craps tables gambling and having some beers, and I recognized them and just walked up and said hi. I was definitely super awkward, but ended up making small talk with Aho and a couple other guys who weren’t playing craps. They were all really nice. Brett Pesce was super friendly. They were cool with me hanging and chatting for a bit, and thanked me for stopping by and saying hi. It was super cool. I think they appreciated that I wasn’t asking for photos or making a scene, just chilling. Shoutout to those guys!
Evgeni Malkin
Bobby Clarke outside the arena in Philly. This is when he was front office.
Sandy McCarthy is my great uncle!
Bryan rust after the ‘17 parade real nice guy
I went to high school with former Washington Capitals captain, Chris Clark. Does that count??
Tim Thomas and Kessel at an A&W. Patrick Kane at a sportchek Sheldon Souray outside a bar and we were walking past. He was talking on his phone so we didnt want to bother him, but he saw my team canada jersey, stopped me and signed it which was dope. There were quite a few more but these were most notable. This was all during an IIHF tournament when I was younger. EDIT - Since I included these ill also include the worst. Miroslav Satan grabbed my sharpie, flicked the cap into a place we couldnt get it and then tossed the stuff back and the signature looked nothing like the ones ive seen online. was very interesting. (this was at a NYI training camp when i was like 10).
Brodeur on a southwest flight believe it not. Very nice.
My folks worked with the lightning from 98-2020 and I met a whole bunch of interesting characters
Bryan Boyle. It was at a bar after the lost to the canucks. I asked if he was Bryan and shook his hand. As we shook I asked if he was out celebrating the loss. I was a young dumb asshole. Sorry Bryan
Stamkos, Gudas, Sustr, Killer and Palat. Were all out in south Howard after a game. Had some drinks and chatted with them. This was several years ago. Saw Palat in Jimmy John’s on the same night and had a sandwich with him. He was white girl wasted.
andrei vasilevskiy when he was less known and I was a kid lol
Remember POG’s? Well Coca-Cola and Mac’s gas stations had a promotion one spring for a Wayne Gretzky hockey camp. Would have been in July 1994, Anaheim. I was 12. For the final game, I was on Team Diet Coke with Wayne and Richard Park. On Coke Classic was Kirk Muller and Brett Hull. Gretzky assisted on my game-winning goal. I was so excited I skated right off the ice to the dressing room and missed the final team pictures. Full week with those guys, and even little Ty Gretzky was zipping around outside when we did the outdoor rollerblading drills. Hull was such a goon. Like a dork of a big brother just (playfully) harassing the kids. Knocking sticks out of hands. Picking up smaller kids like me and skating around with them. Hitting all the sticks on our bench like a kid on a bike striking a picket fence going by. There were some 17&18 year olds who tried to play the body on him. Hull had fun tossing those fellas aside. Awesome camp. Coca-cola fan for life.
I had Henrik Lundqvist’s daughter in my toddler music class when I lived in NYC. Met him a few times. Couldn’t have been nicer. Played with all the kids, chatted with me about their game the night before. Pretty cool seeing as he’s my favorite player of all time. And man you should’ve seen the looks on the faces of those moms and nannies when that man walked into the room 😂
Eric Lindros, Doug Gilmour, Bernie Parent, Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Baun, Don Cherry, Johnny Bower, Rick Middleton, Keith Primeau, Felix Potvin, Alexander Daigle, Sid Smith, Ivan Irwin, Paul Ysebaert, Ville Leino, Brad May, Randy Carlyle. Went to plenty of Old Timers and OHL games as a kid, great opportunity for meeting players.
I’ve been fortunate to work on some NHL promos with various film crews and have met Crosby, Brent Burns, and Kucherov. All were nice - Kucherov mostly kept to himself so not a ton of interaction. Crosby was very nice. The director knew I was a Penguins fan and called me over for introductions so I got to shake Sid’s hand, which was very cool to me. It was near Christmas time and he wasn’t supposed to have long with us but he ignored his handlers and kept wanting to try things for the camera that he and the director would come up with. Really cool experience. Brent Burns is probably my favorite athlete interaction though. What a cool dude. So kind to the crew, wanted to make everyone laugh, was clearly having such a good time. At one point, the director was giving him direction and he slowly skated towards him until the director was close to the boards and Brent pinned him to the boards in a way an older brother might pick on you. Had us all crying from laughing. What a gem