Springfield Falcons @ Albany Devils 4/19/14

For their last game of the regular season, the Albany Devils hosted the Springfield Falcons. I had already met many of the Falcons back in December. After the game, I was at my usual spot by the back door near the bus. 

I only had some stuff for a few of the Falcons, and they started coming out quickly after the game. There were a bunch of people outside in the back, and it made me wonder where those people were back in December when it was freezing out. 

The first Falcon out that I had something for was Tim Erixon, a former New York Ranger who was a part of the Rick Nash trade in 2012. He was very nice, signing everything for everybody. He signed the 4x6 photo I had. I'm pretty sure he signed six or seven cards for one of the other people that was there. I got a good photo of him signing for one of the other people that wanted his autograph.

The next person whose autograph I wanted was goalie Mike McKenna, a former Albany Devil. He came out, and signed for people who asked. He even stood and talked to the fans outside for a good 15 minutes. One person was wearing a McKenna jersey, and he seemed very happy to see someone was wearing his jersey. He signed that fan's jersey and signed everything for anyone else that wanted, including my photo. I also took a good picture of McKenna, in the backwards blue cap, signing for another person.

The last Falcon autograph I got was Dana Tyrell. As soon as he left the building, he walked far away from everyone to make a phone call. When he walked back to the bus, he signed very quickly. He only signed one item per person, good thing I only had one photo. It seemed like he made an effort to sign some cards for people as sloppily as he could. I thanked him for the autograph, and then he boarded the bus, which soon drove away.

I did get a couple autographs from the Devils, but I didn't have much for most of the team. The main person I was hoping to see was Jon Merrill. I printed out a picture from his first NHL goal, which was actually an overtime winner as well. He added the inscription that I asked for. He will most likely be with New Jersey for next season, but since New Jersey didn't make the NHL playoffs, he was back in Albany. He signed for the mob of Devils fans that assembled in the warm spring weather, then ducked into the parking garage and left.




The last autograph on the day that I got was of Tim Sestito. I had taken a picture with him back in January. I printed it out, and when he came out the door. He signed for everyone, including myself. I wished him good luck in the playoffs, and he went to his car and drove away.

That's it for now. I will be going to one of the Albany Devils playoff games this weekend. Thanks for reading! Good luck graphing! 

Albany Devils Autograph Signing 1/26/14

For the past month, I have been relaxing and enjoying my winter vacation at home. Now, I'm back in Albany for the spring semester of college.

The Albany Devils held their first post game autograph signing of the season after their game this past Sunday against the Binghamton Senators. After the Senators thumped the Devils 6-3, it was time for the signing to begin.

On the program that was being given to all fans, a list of all of the players and where they would be was provided. About a half hour after the game ended, the players emerged onto the Times Union Center concourse to begin the signing.

The first table I went to featured team captain Rod Pelley, notorious fighter Cam Janssen, and Dan Kelly, who scored a goal in the game. All three signed my team photo. Pelley signed two 4x6 photos as well. Pelley had never seen a gold sharpie before, and he was pretty surprised that it actually worked over the black background.

Remember in October when I got Arron Asham and Micheal Haley to sign photos of them fighting with Janssen? Three months later, Janssen signed both photos and also signed a card I found of him. When he saw the picture of the Haley fight, he said, "That's a horrible picture." I didn't have a good response to that, so I thanked him and went to the next table.

Later in the day, I went back to the table and took a picture with Janssen for the second time. Like the first time, it didn't come out like I hoped it would. Too blurry and I'm not smiling. I guess the third time is the charm for photos with Cam Janssen. The people standing behind me in the line were saying how they were going to ask Janssen if he could make out with them. I have no idea what actually happened, but I'll assume he said no.

After Janssen, the trio of Keith Kinkaid, Chris McKelvie, and Mike Sislo were waiting for me at the next table. I've had Kinkaid sign a whole bunch of stuff already this season, so I didn't need anything from him besides my team photo. McKelvie also signed my team photo. Mike Sislo got called up to the NHL and played in seven games for New Jersey during the winter break. I had a 4x6 of him, and he was happy to sign it. He also said that he liked New Jersey when I asked him about his time in the NHL.  I later came back and took a group picture with the three of them. 

The fun continued a short walk around the concourse later when I arrived to see Artem Demkov, Tim Sestito, Scott Timmins, and David Wohlberg at a table signing away. Here is a short video that I took.

The four players signed my team photo, and Timmins signed a 4x6 photo from his Florida Panthers days.

The next table I approached had the foursome of Raman Hrabarenka, Brandon Burlon, Reece Scarlett and recently sent down Reid Boucher. Scarlett, Burlon and Hrabarenka all haven't seen NHL action yet, but Reid Boucher had. He scored his first NHL goal on December 18, 2013 and I had a two 4x6 photos of him from his NHL action. One of my photos was of Boucher holding the puck from his first NHL goal. After some confusion over what number to put with his signature, he signed both of my pictures and wrote the First Goal inscription like I wanted. All four players signed my team photo.










Just a few feet away sat the trio of goalie Scott Wedgewood, Corbin McPherson, and Stefan Matteau. (The son of this Matteau.) Matteau was a healthy scratch for the game, but he was there for the signing. After Wedgewood signed my team photo in black, I went up to Matteau. Before I could say anything he signed the team photo in silver, which he was using for almost everything. He also signed the two 4x6 photos I had in silver, and they don't look that bad. McPherson also signed the team photo and said that he liked the photo. Someone asked Matteau to film a video for his son in French, and Matteau was happy to do it.

The next table had Joe Whitney, Alexander Urbom, Mattias Tedenby, and Seth Helgeson. Whitney had just played in his NHL debut two days earlier, but was already sent back down to Albany before the Devils' outdoor game at Yankee Stadium. Urbom signed my team photo and a picture of him from when he played with the Capitals earlier this season. Tedenby signed a 4x6 photo. I would put his signature in the 'worst autograph ever' category, but that is another story. Helgeson signed my team photo, asked me where I got it. When I told him I found it on google, that satisfied him and I walked away.

The last table I went to had Harri Pesonen, Kelly Zajac, Mike Hoeffel, and Adam Larsson. Larsson scored earlier in the game on a blast from the faceoff circle. The photo on the right is one that I took of Larsson blasting the puck into the net. All four guys signed my team photo then Larsson signed a 4x6 photo.




I took one last picture with Tim Sestito on the way out, then I was on my way into the cold Albany night.


Here is my team signed photo. All the Devils doing the signing signed it.  That's all I have for this entry! Thanks for reading!

Autograph Adventures: Albany Devils

As a student at SUNY Albany, I have a card that gets me on the Capital District Transit Authority bus for absolutely free. The bus goes downtown, right to the Times Union Center, home arena of the American Hockey League's Albany Devils. They are the minor-league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils. As a college student, I could get tickets for only $10 on most game nights.

During the NHL lockout, I went to a game in early November just to scope out the arena and watch some hockey for the first time in months. Overall, the Times Union Center is a beautiful, state of the art, and overall gorgeous arena.  When the arena is hosting the Devils, average attendance is between 3,500 to 4,000 people, largely because most of the upper level is covered off, giving everyone on the lower level a feeling that they are right on top of the action.  When the upper level is open for seating, there can be a maximum capacity of over 14,000 people.

The first autograph I got was at that game in early November, when the Devils were hosting the Adirondack Panthoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. I was sitting near the tunnel where the Devils would enter and exit the ice. Well before the game, assistant coach and former NHL player  Tommy Albelin was walking to the bench to watch warmups. I asked him if he could sign, and he politely stopped and signed my roster sheet for me, as I wasn't prepared with anything else. That was the only autograph I got that night.

I did attend a few other Albany Devils games, but there wasn't too much happening until I attended a game on February 17 between the Devils and the Binghamton Senators, AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. The Devils were advertising a free post-game team autograph session, so I couldn't refuse a $10 ticket and free bus rides.

I arrived at the arena well before the 3pm puck drop, and had a seat near the tunnel of the visiting Senators. Well before the game, Steve Stirling went to the bench to time his clock with the clock on the arena's scoreboard. I have fond memories of Steve Stirling, as he was head coach of the New York Islanders, my favorite team, when I was growing up on Long Island. Now a Binghamton assistant coach, Stirling had no problem signing a page in my autograph book as he was leaving the bench to go back into the locker room. I also told him that I had met him almost a decade earlier when he was the Islanders coach, and I was in the Islanders Booster Club, to which he said, "That's a long time ago."

That was the only autograph I would get before the game. During the game, I went down to the team store and bought a program for only $2. The program had small pictures of just about everyone on the roster, so that would be a good item to get signed. For the autograph signing, I had only printed out a few basic 4x6 photos. I made two Albany Devils logo cards and one New Jersey Devils logo card. I also printed out a photo of new Devil Andrei Loktionov, as he was on the Kings roster last year when they won the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for me, but good for Loktionov, he got called up to the New Jersey Devils about two hours before the game was scheduled to begin, so meeting him will have to wait for another time.


After the game, I went over to the table that would have the players with the most NHL experience. Cam Janssen and team captain Jay Leach would be there, with a couple other players that hadn't played in the NHL up to that point. Leach got pulled from the signing at the last second, but I still felt good to be at the front of the line for one of the most popular tables. I got Janssen (#25) to sign the New Jersey photo as well as one of the Albany Devils photos. He was also kind enough to take a picture with me.


I also got a picture with Matt Anderson, who had made his NHL debut at age 30 just a few weeks before this game. He signed a puck for me, as well as the program and the New Jersey Devils logo picture. He got his first NHL point in his 2nd career game, a loss to the Islanders. We won't be seeing too much more of Matt, as he is signed to play in the KHL in Russia for the 2013-14 season.

Tim Sestito signed the other puck I had brought with me. Here is a video I took of him signing. He also
played in the NHL this season. I got him to sign my program and New Jersey Devils photo also. Alexander Urbom was the last one to sign my NJ Devils photo. His signature is #6 on the photo, as you can see on the right.

 I kept wandering around the concourse, and eventually made it through and got everyone that was there signing in about 20 minutes. The session was 45 minutes long, so I made sure I got everyone before leaving the building.  Of the autographs I got, a few players ended up making their NHL debuts later on in the season. These players are goalies Keith Kinkaid (#35), and Jeff Frazee (#31). Other players on that list are Eric Gelinas (#24), and Harri Pesonen (#18), who has a great signature. More former NHL players that were on the Devils roster at the time were Steve Zalewski (#15) and Scott Parse (#20).


Here are the rest of my autographs on the day. I scanned the two Albany Devils photos and the two pages in the yearbook that have all the signatures. Click on them if you want to get a better look.

It was a great experience to meet the team, and as well as being very cheap, it was plenty of fun too. You never know, one of these guys that I didn't mention could end up being a big star in the NHL in no time. I'll post more of these stories up from time to time.

Thanks for reading and have a great day.