NHL players you've met

[Hipster 5]

When I was in high school (long, long ago) I worked at a nice public golf course outside Chicago as a starter. I went in one day to see how busy I would be the next day and I saw a twosome signed up under the name "Mikita". I took a chance and asked for the day off and signed up for the other twosome. Sure enough, it was Stan Mikita (recently retired) and Jeff Larmer(just getting started) and they didn't mind playing with a couple of star struck young hockey players. They were both really nice and asked us as much about our hockey as we asked about their's.

[team50 20]

Do you mean Steve Larmer?

[pass the bisk 0]

My brother was in Pittsburgh for the Winter Classic and got a chance to hang around the Capitals a bit.

First of all, most perceptions of the images of players on the Caps are completely false.

Its funny I thought Mike Green would be a douche, but turns out he is a gem. My bro said he's one of those guys who just gets it.

Brooks Laich may be the most likable person alive.

Backstrom is also another guy who is really nice.

Bruce Boudreau is a good guy. Genuinely is interested in other people.

Ovechkin is actually a real good guy off the ice. Bunch of people were asking for his autograph, but he doesn't sign for adults, only kids, which I can respect.

Semin is apparently the worst. Won't give fans the time of day.

[Hipster 5]

Do you mean Steve Larmer?

Yeah, Steve not Jeff, although Steve did have a brother Jeff who came to hit balls on the driving range a couple times with Steve. He was playing IHL in Milwaukee at the time. A lot of the Hawks lived in and around Elmhurst and our course was nearby, so we saw a lot of those guys in the summer. Goulet, Sutter, Savard, Talon, Magnuson. Just regular, nice guys.

[team50 20]

Nice story and good catch on the name and being able to join Larmer and Mikita for a round.

As for me, I met Bob Rouse in the early 90's. Quite uneventful. Still have his autograph on my office wall.

[BuckleyHockey15 0]

Well, now that he is an Nhler I can add him to my list, Mark Fayne. Grew up in the same town, our parents were friends, he was a counselor at the summer camp when I was a kid, him and my brother played together up until high school, then they played against eachother in H.S. Haven't seen him in a while, but he is a great kid and its great to see him in the show now.

[icewalker_bg 126]

did karting with komisarek, played with lecavalier for 5min, met darche and desharnais

[NathanOnFire 0]

Met Todd Harvey when he was a Dallas Star at my birthday party. Was nice and autographed a picture for me. There were a few others I met there too but I dont even remember who they were. One was the redhead backup goaltender to Andy Moog.

Just this January met Brad Richards, Jamie Benn, and Mark Fistric. They were all very kind and willing to take pictures. They were all pretty laid back and funny. Speaking of Benn, hes turning into a stud!

And now I see why people hate Mike Modano...never knew he was like that off the ice. Kindve sad for a guy who was the face of the franchise for 20 years.

[AIREAYE 248]

Met Todd Harvey when he was a Dallas Star at my birthday party. Was nice and autographed a picture for me. There were a few others I met there too but I dont even remember who they were. One was the redhead backup goaltender to Andy Moog.

Just this January met Brad Richards, Jamie Benn, and Mark Fistric. They were all very kind and willing to take pictures. They were all pretty laid back and funny. Speaking of Benn, hes turning into a stud!

And now I see why people hate Mike Modano...never knew he was like that off the ice. Kindve sad for a guy who was the face of the franchise for 20 years.

The backup...Darcy Wakaluk?

[NathanOnFire 0]

The backup...Darcy Wakaluk?

Thats actually what I was thinking, but I didnt want to be wrong...or misspell. haha. Good call.

[Caz 0]

I play a lot with Matt Taormina, of the NJ Devils, really good player, got hurt this year, sad to see, hopefully he makes it back.

I played with a few no namer CAPS guys, and Lightning guys in spring training for juniors a couple times.

I've played with a lot of guys that play in Europe now, that use to play a few games in the show.

[mfd1068 0]

Played against Jeff Beukeboom at a 3 on 3 tourney. Met Brad May.Super nice guy. Last summer met Mike Keenan. Talked to the wife and I for over 30mins. I was impressed!

[Thinkingjack 51]

I've met some cool players, Jussi Jokinen was awesome guy hugged me and high fived me for congratulating him on his forsberg style goal vs phoenix back in his rookie year in dallas, Shane Doan as always was amazing, very great guy to speak with,

The best one though was not an experience for me but for my then 12 year old sister, it was her second hockey game nhl wise that is and she is a very shy kid, anyway we apparently sat in the lower concourse behind my culinary teacher and she gave us her tickets to go to the club where the players converge with fans, so we went up there and my sister couldnt get a single players autograph, that is until Freddy Sjostrom walked up saw her standing there with her program and said "hey can i sign that? it'd be awesome if i could sign that, oh by the way you mind taking a picture with me i think your school friends will be jealous, or hope they are"

all she could do was nod man, but with a big smile. took their pics and autographs and he even made a few other players sign for her, he asked her if it was her first time meeting players? she nodded and the guy slammed into her hugged her and basically yelled "WELCOME TO HOCKEY!!!!!"

That was just amazing.

most hilarious meeting was me standing, turning and slamming face first into zbynek michalek's face, poor guy.

the worst player i've ever encountered was rape face....errrr wait you guys know him as olli jokinen, since day one with meet and greets he was a jerk to every single fan the one time i met him i wished him the best in the season all i wanted was to say hi and pleased to meet him wouldnt shake my hand and said "whatever" and refused to sign for children every single time.

[MatthewRoach7 130]

The best one though was not an experience for me but for my then 12 year old sister, it was her second hockey game nhl wise that is and she is a very shy kid, anyway we apparently sat in the lower concourse behind my culinary teacher and she gave us her tickets to go to the club where the players converge with fans, so we went up there and my sister couldnt get a single players autograph, that is until Freddy Sjostrom walked up saw her standing there with her program and said "hey can i sign that? it'd be awesome if i could sign that, oh by the way you mind taking a picture with me i think your school friends will be jealous, or hope they are"

all she could do was nod man, but with a big smile. took their pics and autographs and he even made a few other players sign for her, he asked her if it was her first time meeting players? she nodded and the guy slammed into her hugged her and basically yelled "WELCOME TO HOCKEY!!!!!"

That was just amazing.

This is a great story. Thank you for sharing it with us. Its nice to see great people in this world!

[Jason Harris 31]

Ditto to that. Kudos to Sjostrom for recognizing he could make a child's day.

[wrangler 157]

I've met some cool players, Jussi Jokinen was awesome guy hugged me and high fived me for congratulating him on his forsberg style goal vs phoenix back in his rookie year in dallas, Shane Doan as always was amazing, very great guy to speak with,

The best one though was not an experience for me but for my then 12 year old sister, it was her second hockey game nhl wise that is and she is a very shy kid, anyway we apparently sat in the lower concourse behind my culinary teacher and she gave us her tickets to go to the club where the players converge with fans, so we went up there and my sister couldnt get a single players autograph, that is until Freddy Sjostrom walked up saw her standing there with her program and said "hey can i sign that? it'd be awesome if i could sign that, oh by the way you mind taking a picture with me i think your school friends will be jealous, or hope they are"

all she could do was nod man, but with a big smile. took their pics and autographs and he even made a few other players sign for her, he asked her if it was her first time meeting players? she nodded and the guy slammed into her hugged her and basically yelled "WELCOME TO HOCKEY!!!!!"

That was just amazing.

Nice one, H! Must have been great to see your sister have such a good time.

[snype 0]

-rob niedermeyer- signed autographs nice guy talked with him for a bit

-steven stamkos at prospects camp- same thing got autographs but didnt get to talk with him tho

-marc crawford- while he was watching his son he signed autographs for me and my brothers

-both courtnalls- both really nice guys one coached my brothers team cus his son was on it and got them a canuks dressing room tour

-not and nhler but walter gretzky father of wayne of course- very VERY class act guy, during spirng tournments in british columbia he would walk around the arena talking to many kids, shaking hands and a signing a few autographs he also came up to me after i played a race car arcade game and made a joke about my driving

-len barrie- talked to him a few times got his autograph once nice guy aswell

-trevor linden- same as walter a great guy, my brothers different team (lucky kid i know) had him coach them for a practice and signed autographs, before the practice he talked to everyone about his career and answered any questions plus he pointed out either a cut or a black eye i gave him from a road hockey game and told him he looked like a real hockey player and my brother told him how he got it after the questioning when everyone was going to get ready for the practice he talked to me about how it happened.

-when my brother went to the canuks room tour and watched the ducks vs nucks game they ended up in the same hotel as the ducks so he met many players and was in the same elevator as pronger and marchand, and when they went to the pool george parros (healthy scratched that game) was laying down relaxing and talked to the kids

[mug25 2]

Met the following a few weeks ago...

Ryan Callahan

Derek Stepan

Brandon Dubinsky

Brian Boyle

Henrik Lundqvist (even though he totally ignored me when I asked him to sign a card of his for my little sister)

Marian Gaborik (total dick in person)

Vinny Prospal (hilarious!)

Mike Sauer

Matts Zuccarello (he's much smaller in person!)

I met Torts as well. I feel like I'm missing someone though...

[#96 0]

Met the following a few weeks ago...

Ryan Callahan

Derek Stepan

Brandon Dubinsky

Brian Boyle

Henrik Lundqvist (even though he totally ignored me when I asked him to sign a card of his for my little sister)

Marian Gaborik (total dick in person)

Vinny Prospal (hilarious!)

Mike Sauer

Matts Zuccarello (he's much smaller in person!)

I met Torts as well. I feel like I'm missing someone though...

You can see a lot of the guys leaving The Garden out towards 8th Avenue. The bar across the street is where Jagr and the Czech guys used to go after games, not any more though. Dancin Larry meets them a lot and posts pics on his Facebook page. Avery's bar waaaaaay downtown on Warren St. has players go through quite a bit. I met Avery and Shanny a few years ago. Shanny was really good with the fans. Avery came out right behind him and took pics and signed things as well. Shanny eventually had to call him over and they walked to 8th and got in a cab.

[mug25 2]

You can see a lot of the guys leaving The Garden out towards 8th Avenue. The bar across the street is where Jagr and the Czech guys used to go after games, not any more though. Dancin Larry meets them a lot and posts pics on his Facebook page. Avery's bar waaaaaay downtown on Warren St. has players go through quite a bit. I met Avery and Shanny a few years ago. Shanny was really good with the fans. Avery came out right behind him and took pics and signed things as well. Shanny eventually had to call him over and they walked to 8th and got in a cab.

Yeah Dubinsky was at Harrington's arguing with his girlfriend a few nights before (is that the bar you speak of?)

[Chadd 916]

Please link to stories, do not post them in full.

[Thinkingjack 51]

This is a great story. Thank you for sharing it with us. Its nice to see great people in this world!

thanks man, one thing i really liked about the coyotes is some of their players were and are great to the fans but thats almost every NHL player most of them understand the fans make them what they are besides their awesome skill

Ditto to that. Kudos to Sjostrom for recognizing he could make a child's day.

Thats what made him one of my favorite players, because he saw that and immediately jumped in, my sister still has all that stuff and just tells that to people about that story.

Nice one, H! Must have been great to see your sister have such a good time.

That was the best part man, it was possibly the greatest thing ever to see.

[flaming_june 2]

Played with Evander Kane yesterday. Used to play with him before he was a giant too.

[RiSeOnFiRe 0]

Not sure if this counts, because hes yet to play a pro game, but my friend just got signed by the Devils. Will start the season in the AHL.

http://devils.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=560104&navid=DL|NJD|home

Totally going to buy his jersey, or ask for a free one. ahahah

[MagicSpell20 0]

I met Bobby Hull at a signing at a local tournament. He was a very nice man, but of course I can barely remember because I was about nine or ten years old at the time. He signed my stick, which happened to break about a week after that. It was the youth or intermediate Bauer stick that got recalled, so I do not even own his autograph anymore, lol.