It has always seemed to me that of all the professional athletes, that hockey players are some of the friendliest and classiest. Just the other day, I was in a diner with my 6 year old son when the waitress took my son by the hand because she wanted him to meet someone. She took us over to Jeff Hamilton of the Blackhawks, who was eating breakfast by himself. He was on the phone, and could only wave to my son. The next time we were in the restaurant, the waitress gave us a card that Jeff Hamilton had given to her. He felt so bad about not being able to say hi to my son, that he gave her a card to give to my son. It was good for two tickets to a Hawks game. I thought that was so nice!
I was wondering if any of you have nice stories to share, because I'm sure there are many more.
2007-02-10 11:09:48 · 12 answers · asked by Liza 6 in Sports ➔ Hockey
I am fortunate enough to be a season ticket holder for the Dallas Stars and before the start of the season all the ticket holders had a chance to meet all the players and get their photo with the players.
The place was set up where all the players were each with the line mates then you would go to a different line/defensive pairing. I am in a wheelchair and all of the players were on these really tall chairs so that when people stood with them the photos would turn out reasonable well. Most of the players got down off of the chairs and squatted down or got down on one knee to have their head level with mine in the photo. The final place my friend and I went was to see goaltender Marty Turco and backup goalie Mike Smith. The two goalies each got down to a knee and were level with me, the woman who took the photo had her finger over the flash and Marty pointed it out to her and asked her to retake the photo. I told him it wasn't a big deal I could just fix it on my computer and he goes "no we will get it right for you buddy".
The year before that I met Bill Guerrin and I was wearing my Boston Red Sox hat and we talked baseball for 10 minutes it was very cool. Those are my stories.
2007-02-10 12:39:57 · answer #1 · answered by needingajob 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have met a bunch of NHL and AHL hockey players. The AHL guys are way more friendly then the NHL guys. I hung out with the Phantoms at the bar after they won the Calder Cup in 2005. I guess thats the perks of being a season ticket holder and sitting next to the tunnel. Then again having a son that the whole team liked helped alot too.
2007-02-10 11:29:06 · answer #2 · answered by ahl_phantoms 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
About 15 years ago, I met Rob Zettler between his rookie and sophomore years. He was a total jerk.
Then I met Ron Flockhart in '96 and he was a really good guy. He gave me some good hints in a clinic he put on.
I've met a few retired player for the Canucks, notably Garth Butcher. He is a really good guy whose off-ice personality and attitude is much different than his enforcer style when he plays.
A couple of years ago I reffed a couple of guys in a men's league who were called up for a cup of coffee. Those guys were the calmest, most respectful players, and usually dominated play.
I had a friend who worked for the San Jose Sharks on an on-call basis. He had worked around pro baseball, football, and basketball organizations, including minor-league teams and told me that while none of them can boast to have the smartest athletes, hockey certainly has the most approachable ones. He says they are the most friendly and easiest to talk to and are pretty friendly in many situations, unlike other sports stars who run the gamut from being happy to talk to a fan for a few minutes to those who think fans are scum.
2007-02-10 12:10:51 · answer #3 · answered by eldren_coralon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hockey players are really nice.
I live outside of Detroit, and a lot of the Red Wings players have kids that attend the local schools. Some of the players live in the regular subdivisions because they enjoy having all the neighbors.
I wonder why hockey players are so much classier than, say, basketball players?
2007-02-10 12:06:44 · answer #4 · answered by Kate M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I have met a few Vancouver Canucks members. I met the Sedin twins on a ferry in BC once and I joined them for a cardgame. They are both great guys. I have met Rory Fitzpatrick, and his family. He is a really nice guy. I have also met Naslund, Anson Carter, Matt Cooke, and Trevor Linden. All of these guys were all very nice and welcoming. That is Vancouver though and hockey is life here so it may be different somewhere else.
2007-02-10 11:17:19 · answer #5 · answered by Andrew 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Brendan Shanahan stayed with my grandparents when he played in the juniors. He is definately one of the most caring, classiest men I have ever met. I just recently got back from a trip to New York to visit him. He paid for most of our expenses and when walking us back to our hotel after the game, took about 45 minutes outside the arena to sign autographs for everyone, and I mean everyone, that was there.
Yzerman also stands out in my mind in the players I've met through Brendan, all I can say about him is a class act all around
2007-02-10 13:33:14 · answer #6 · answered by heather j 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I've met a lot of NHL players, and Darby Hendrickson is one of my neighbors. He and his brother grew up in Richfield, and he is a hockey icon in our town. Someone in our town got into a horrible accident, and since they played hockey, he got all of his hockey friends, about 30 professional hockey players, and they all came to our rink and signed autographs, then played in a game. It raised a lot of money, even though it was only about $5 to get in to it. Then after that they took the high school girls and guys varsity teams out for dinner at the local VFW!
2007-02-10 13:02:29 · answer #7 · answered by b_ridge_it122 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I met the whole Chicago black hawks team from 93. I was 8, I am now 22. Any way, my dad knew a lot of the players because he and my uncle were both drafted to play, but they were both getting married and bla bla bla. So we went to a game and got to sit right behind the box and and in between periods one of the players picked me up, took me into the locker room and I got to have my picture taken and got autographs from all of them. Also I have met Chris Chelios again when i was older and he was so sweet to me even after my Brother totally embarrassed me and told him i had his card up in my locker and had a huge crush on him. He gave me a huge and said he thought i was pretty cute! HOW GREAT!
2007-02-10 11:34:07 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
My wife and I went into the Cheesecake Cafe in Edmonton for supper one night. When I was walking through the tables I noticed someone I recognized but couldn't place him. We exchanged nods and said hi and I carried on to my table. Ends up that it was Todd Marchant having supper with his family. I've always thought highly of him after that day. The guy was quite popular in his time in Edmonton, had lots of money but came and sat right in the middle of the restaurant and had some cheesecake with his kids.
2007-02-10 12:47:52 · answer #9 · answered by ceemcee05 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jed Ortmeyer of the Rangers is extrememly fan friendly and approachable. He's very humble, and very appreciative oft he Rngers supporters.
2007-02-11 04:42:02 · answer #10 · answered by nyrmetros 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋