Iowa Wild @ Adirondack Flames 2/4/15

A couple weeks ago, I got to go back to Glens Falls again. This time, the Iowa Wild were in town to play the soon to be moving to California Adirondack Flames. I'll just jump right into all the fun.

While walking down the stairs while the Flames were skating, I noticed a puck in the stands. After picking it up, I noticed it was an Adirondack Flames official game puck. Once I looked at the ice, I saw that most of the pucks used in the skate were official game pucks. Maybe they figured that since they are leaving, they might as well use all the pucks while they can. Here's the puck near where I found it, it's a beauty. I don't know about everyone, but I'm a big fan of the classic Atlanta Flames 'A' logo that Adirondack adopted for this season

When I got over to the Flames side, I was able to get a few autographs from players as they were heading off the ice near the locker room. I got five players (Drew Shore, Max Reinhart, Mark Cundari, Mathiu Tousignant and Garnet Hathaway) to sign a basic Flames 4x6 logo sheet I had printed out. Here it is with the people that signed it.


I also got Shore to sign a 4x6 photo that I pritend out. Shore was recently traded to the Flames from the Panthers and promptly got sent down to Adriondack. I wouldn't be surprised if he's back up with Calgary real soon.

Later, assistant coach Todd Gill walked off the ice and came over to me, and I asked, "Mr. Gill, can you please sign?"
He joked, "No because you called me mister."
Then, he signed for a couple other people before coming over to me again. This time I called him Todd and asked him to sign.
He said, "No because you called me Todd."
Then he took my sharpie, signed the photo and said, "Call me mister because I'm older than you"
That was an interesting moment to say the least, but I'm happy to say Gill was just busting my chops.

The last Flames person who I got an autograph from was Trevor Gillies. I met Gillies earlier this season, but a friend gave me a couple cards of Gillies, so I tried to get them signed. Eventually, Gillies walked right over to me and signed all the cards. He's a nice guy.

That was all I got for the Flames. I missed a couple guys that I was hoping to get, but I'll give it another try later in the season. Eventually, the Iowa Wild came out for the morning skate, but they were missing a couple players I was hoping to meet. Former Islanders Ruslan Fedotenko and Joel Rechlicz both didn't make the trip to Glens Falls, and no reason was specifically given for why. That was disappointing, but there was nothing anybody could do about it. I took this picture during the Iowa skate.

The Wild had a rough morning skate, as a scuffle broke out in the middle of it. A couple players dropped their gloves, curse words were yelled, and a couple players had to be restrained. Ultimately, nothing too serious happened and the skate continued without incident.

The first one off the ice was starting goalie Darcy Kuemper. He was sent down because Devan Dubnyk has had a strong season for the Minnesota Wild. Kuemper walked off the ice, handed his blocker, glove, and stick to an equipment manager and started signing. I got him to sign a 4x6 photo and an Iowa Wild team sheet. He signed for everyone then went on to get a shutout in the game that night.

Later on, fellow goalie John Curry came off and also signed a 4x6 and my team sheet. He was a nice guy. I don't usually get AHL photos signed too much, but I didn't have much else for him so I figured I'd print out something cool. Curry was with the Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup a few years ago in 2009 even though he didn't play in a playoff game.

While the former Islanders weren't present for the Wild, the former Rangers were there. I had printed photos of Stu Bickel and Justin Falk to get signed, and as I was reorganizing my stuff, Bickel walked off the ice. I barely had enough time to fumble the picture of Bickel so he could sign it, but it his signature smudged onto Falk's photo as well. Falk later signed the photo as well as the team sheet. Here are both signed photos. You can see where Bickel's signature went onto Falk's photo. Falk's photo is on the right, Bickel's is on the left.

Those were all the photos I got signed. To the right is a photo of a player that I just can't remember signing for everyone. I'm a fan of the Iowa Wild practice jerseys. They have a good color scheme. If anyone knows who this player is, let me know.



Below is my signed team sheet along with a list of everyone that signed it and the number (if any) that they signed with in no particular order. I'm pretty sure I got every player that was on the ice except Bickel to sign the team sheet.

21-Brady Brassart 3-Jason Gregoire 29-Marc Hagel 27-Brett Sutter 

4-Tyler Graovac 25-Danny Syvret 2-Guillaume Gelinas 25-Darcy Kuemper 

19-Stephane Veilleux 17-Brett Bulmer 36-Michael Keranen 24-Alex Gudbranson 

44-Justin Falk 33-John Curry 39-Kurtis Gabriel 7-Jonathon Blum 

28-Raphael Bussieres 51-Zack Phillips 18-Zack Mitchell

That does it for this entry. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing! 

Hamilton Bulldogs @ Adirondack Flames 12/2/14

A few weeks ago, I was back in Albany after a brief break from school for Thanksgiving. Within a couple days of coming back, I went to Glens Falls Civic Center to try and get some autographs from the Adirondack Flames and Hamilton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. I had gotten pretty much anybody on the Flames last time, but I had a few things for some people that weren't there last time.

One of the main targets for this trip to Glens Falls was Devin Setoguchi, who was recently sent down from the Calgary Flames. I'm pretty sure this was his first skate with Adirondack since being sent down. After a few other players went off before him, Setoguchi stepped off the ice and started signing for everyone. He used someone else's dying Sharpie for all the autographs, but I got him to sign two photos anyway, which is always fine. Right out of the gate, I had one of my main targets.

One of the other targets for this day was Max Reinhart, older brother of Griffin, an Islanders prospect who I met recently. Max wasn't playing in that night's game, so he was getting some extra work in after the formal skate ended. Eventually, he came off the ice and signed a 4x6 photo for me. He's been up and down from the NHL, and it looks like it will stay that way for the near future.

The last player left on the ice for the Flames was former Islander Trevor Gillies. He is one of few enforcers and fighters left in professional hockey, and HERE is a great article about him from a few weeks ago. He was doing some drills with one of the coaches to improve his hand-eye coordination. I took the photo on the left a few minutes before he came off. Once he left the ice, he signed the picture I took with him last time. That was the last Flames autograph I got.

Shortly after the Flames left the ice, the zamboni came on, and I relaxed in the stands. During that time, I got an autograph from Vincent Riendeau, who is the Assistant GM of the Bulldogs and a former NHL goaltender. He signed my team sheet while sitting in the stands. Also before the skate started, assistant coach Donald Dufrense and player Connor Crisp sat down in the stands to talk before the skate. While a few people including myself wanted them to sign, we didn't want to interrupt their conversation. After about 15 minutes, they headed back into the locker room, but not before signing first. Dufrense signed a card that a friend had given me, and I got Crisp to sign the team sheet. The skate eventually started, and I took the panorama you see below.

The first player to come off the ice was former Islander Joey MacDonald. I met him many years ago when he was still playing for the Islanders. He was very nice, and he signed a photo, a card, and my team sheet for me before going into the locker room. When someone told him I was an Islanders fan, he joked about it a little bit. 

Another former Islander came off shortly after. Standing at 6 feet 8 inches tall, it is hard to miss Joe Finley. When he came off the ice, he walked right over to me and signed a 4x6 photo that I actually printed out last season when he was on Bridgeport. Good thing I didn't throw it out. He also signed his page in last year's Islanders yearbook. He made a joke about Evgeni Nabokov's face in the yearbook photo, which is pretty funny when you see it.

Davis Drewiske and Drayson Bowman also came off the ice at about the same time. Drewiske won the Stanley Cup with the Kings a few years ago, and Bowman recently played for the Hurricanes. I had some trouble figuring out who was who, but I figured it out well enough to get both of them to sign a photo and my team sheet. Drewiske said he likes signing the photo on the left, with good reason.

The last photo I had was of Canadiens top prospect Nathan Beaulieu. I hadn't heard of him before reading through the Bulldogs roster, but I figured I'd print out a photo and see what happens. When someone else recognized him coming off the ice, I went over to him and got him to sign the photo. That was the last photo I got signed on the day. That night's backup goalie Mike Condon came off after, and he signed my team sheet. I also took a photo with him after he took photos with a few other Canadiens fans.











One of the last autographs I got on the day was that of assistant coach Stephan Lebeau. I was given three cards of him, and he had no problem signing all three. A couple other people had about 20 cards each of him, and Lebeau had no problem signing them all and talking to us about his favorite card, one of him bumping into Wayne Gretzky, and telling us about his personal collection. I don't think he could have been any nicer.







And lastly, here is my Bulldogs signed team sheet with everyone that signed it and the numberer they put on it.

19-Christian Thomas 15-Drayson Bowman 21-Nick Sorkin  18-Jake Dowell

 9-Mac Bennett 24-Jack Nevins 39-Joey MacDonald 23-Connor Crisp

2-Greg Pateryn 5-Jarred Tinordi 11-Daniel Carr 1-Mike Condon 

4- Davis Drewiske 8-Nathan Beaulieu 20-Jacob de la Rose

TJ Hensick (center right) and Vincent Riendeau (bottom left) signed without numbers.

That will do it for this entry. Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays!! 

Chicago Wolves @ Adirondack Flames 11/18/14

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go up to Glens Falls for the morning skates of the Adirondack Flames, AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, and the Chicago Wolves, AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. The Flames are brand new, having moved to Glens Falls, N.Y. from British Columbia in Canada. Last season, the Adirondack Phantoms played in Glens Falls as the Flyers AHL affiliate, but they moved to Lehigh Valley, P.A. prior to this season, which left the Flames to come to New York.



After showing up bright and early for the morning skate, I just went up to the tunnel where the Flames would be leaving the ice after their skate. During the skate, one of the Flames goalies made a save, sending the puck over the glass and into the stands. With pretty much nobody else there, I walked over and picked up the puck. It is just a blank puck, no logos on it or anything like that. I'll probably end up getting it signed one day in the near future.


Eventually, the Flames started coming off the ice one at a time. I had a team sheet for them and a few 4x6 photos of some of the players. One of the first guys off was Joni Ortio, the starting goalie for that night's game. He was nice and signed. The backup goalie that night was Brad Thiessen, former Pittsburgh Penguin. He also was nice and signed as soon as he came off the ice. That's him signing on the left.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Glens Falls was to see former New York Islander Trevor Gillies. Many fans know him for being in this brawl against Pittsburgh in 2011. Earlier this season, he was suspended for an illegal hit against the Rochester Americans. He was back from his suspension by the time I was in Glens Falls.

After he got off the ice, he was going to sign, then realized he was really sweaty and needed a towel. He said he would come back in a couple minutes. A few minutes later, Gillies showed up without his jersey and with a towel. I told him I was from Long Island, and he extended his right hand and said, "Trevor, nice to meet you." I shook it and handed him a sharpie. He signed the two 4x6 photos I had of him and personalized one of them. He said he liked the photo he ended up personalizing, and I didn't even ask for it. He just did it once I told him my name. I then took a picture with him, wished him luck, and he went back into the locker room. The photo is on the right. You can see the autographs further down in this entry.

Since I spent a solid two minutes talking to Gillies, I missed a couple of players coming off the ice, but it was worth it to get to hang out with a player who has some sentimental value to me.

I got a few 4x6 photos signed by the Flames, and here they are in no particular order.

Trevor Gillies

Brad Thiessen

Trevor Gillies

Corey Potter

And below is the Adirondack Flames team sheet I got signed by as many people as I could, as well as the number they signed with. One player apologized for writing the wrong number with his signature. 

6-Dustin Steven 5-Tyler Wotherspoon 46-Bill Arnold 16-Matthew Tousignant 

7-Ryan Culkin 44-Corey Potter 28-Ben Hanowski 48-Bryce Van Brabant 

14-Mark Cundari 7-John Ramage 39-Brad Thiessen 31-Joni Ortio

14-Trevor Gillies 32-Patrick Sieloff 38-Nolan Yonkman

Assistant coach Todd Gill signed in the top left corner under Steven's signature. 

After the Flames left the ice, the zamboni went on the ice and I went over to the other side of the rink to watch the Wolves skate. I took the panorama below while the Wolves were on the ice. 

Eventually, the Wolves started coming off the ice. I got autographs from pretty much everyone that was on the ice for them, including a few Stanley Cup winners. As the Wolves were doing their skate, I was told that former goaltender Ty Conklin was on the ice as one of the coaches in the Blues organization. In the photo on the left, Conklin is the one in the Blues apparel mentoring young goalie Matt Clime. Conklin signed a puck for me once he came off. Clime is the goaltender in the photo the left who signed. He was quite sweaty, so some of his sweat dripped onto people's items. 

Here is the team sheet I got signed by the Wolves and names and numbers of everyone that signed it. 

49-Gergo Nagy 9-Shane Harper 28-Brett Regner 38-Sebastian Wannstrom 42-Jake Chelios  5-Mathieu Brodeur 33-Matt Clime 24-Colin Fraser 21-Ben Ferriero  

12-Pat Cannone 6-Jani Hakanpaa 4-Petteri Lindbohm 

7-David Shields 15-Jeremy Welsh. 37-Terry Broadhurst

Ty Rattie, Jordan Binnington, and Yannick Vielleux signed without numbers. 

Coaches Mark Hardy (bottom left) and Brad Tapper (top center) signed without numbers. 

Brent Sopel

I got other items signed by some of the Wolves. Here they are.

Colin Fraser

Colin Fraser

Ty Conklin

Mark Hardy (Index Card)

Ty Rattie

That's it for this entry. It was quite a successful day in Glens Falls. I have a few more entries to catch up on, and I will have those up as soon as possible. Thanks for reading, good luck graphing, and have a great day.