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! 

Jack McKeon and Multiple Jets: What a Weekend

Some weekends are more fun than others, and this weekend was one of them. Three straight days of graphing opportunities arose, and I took full advantage of all of them, and covered a wide variety of different sports while doing so.

Friday 1/30
Last season, the St. John's IceCaps knocked out the Albany Devils in the first round of the AHL playoffs. I met some of the IceCaps, the Winnipeg Jets AHL Affiliate, after game one last season. They were nice. This year, they were coming back to Albany, and I figured I'd try and get some more autographs.

Since I had some extra time on Friday, I went down towards the Times Union Center before the game, something I rarely do. I didn't have too much stuff, so I printed out a couple 4x6 photos to get a bunch of people on.

I didn't have much individual stuff, but one person I did have stuff for was Carl Klingberg. He came walking out and signed a 4x6 photo I had printed out of him. He is one of the Jets top prospects and he should be in the NHL again real soon. He also said that his hometown is Sweden is closer to St. Johns than we thought it was.


Many other players were walking toward me, and I got most of them to sign one of two other photos I had printed. One was a basic Winnipeg Jets 4x6 logo paper, and the other was a photo I took before game one of last year's playoffs. Here are both photos and everyone that signed them.

34-JC Lipon 16-John Albert 25-Blair Riley

8-Brenden Kichton 48-Carl Klingberg 7-Kris Fredheim

19-Kyle MacKinnon 26-Nicolas Blanchard 50-Austen Brassard

7-Keaton Ellerby 49-Julien Brouillette 9-Ryan Olsen 

That was all I got from the IceCaps on Saturday. The IceCaps then beat the Devils on Friday, and lost to them on Saturday. 

Saturday 1/31

A friend of mine works for the Amsterdam Mohawks, a collegiate summer-league team. Every year, the Mohawks have a winter hot-stove dinner with a guest speaker. Doc Gooden was one of the speakers a few years ago. My friend invited me to join him for the dinner, and I was happy to accept the invitation. This year, former Marlins manger and World Series Champion manager Jack McKeon was scheduled to be the guest speaker, as he played in the Amsterdam area in the 1950s. 

After getting a little lost on the way there, my friend and I made it to the event during the cocktail hour. An autograph signing with McKeon was scheduled for the cocktail hour, but my friend and I missed that portion of it. Eventually, we sat down for the dinner. A few people gave speeches, and food was served. I was able to grab photo that he already signed at the signing during the dinner. So, at least I wouldn't go home empty handed. 

Eventually, I noticed McKeon go into a room where a silent auction was being held. He was taking pictures with a couple people who were honored at the event. After the photos were over, I walked up to McKeon while he was standing by himself and asked him if he could sign a couple cards for me. He said he would and I handed him a sharpie. I put the cards on a nearby table and McKeon leaned over and signed them all beautifully. I then thanked him, shook his hand, and told him I was looking forward to his speech. Here are the cards he signed for me.

His speech was pretty funny. My favorite moment is when he recalled his playing days and said, "I hit three ways, right, left, and seldom." That drew a large applause from the crowd. He talked about his managerial days, his time in the Amsterdam area, and many other topics. He was pretty funny and one of his main messages was to follow your dream. He said his dream wasn't accomplished until he was 72 and managed the Marlins to a World Series title. He is the oldest manager in MLB history to win the World Series. On our way out of the dinner, my friend and I stopped McKeon and asked if we could get pictures. He happily obliged, and we left the dinner in a good mood. 

Sunday 2/1 

Super Bowl Sunday, always a fun day. Long story short, a few of the football coaches at my college played in the NFL, and I heard they were doing an autograph signing during a basketball game. I had found a card of longtime New York Jets center Jim Sweeney at home a few weeks ago. I was happy to get that card signed and a friend gave me a card of Nate Byham, a new assistant coach, which he signed. 

That is it for this entry. It was a fun weekend and I should have some more stories up soon. Good luck graphing and thanks for reading! 

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.

St. John's IceCaps @ Albany Devils 4/25/14

For the first time in my life, I attended a playoff hockey game. The Islanders haven't helped my cause, so I went to the Albany Devils game instead. They were hosting the St. John's IceCaps, AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, in game 1 of the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

The game itself was a very exciting. St. John's got on the board early off of an Albany turnover. The crowd at Times Union Center was large, as the upper deck was open to fans for the playoffs, unlike the regular season.

I had heard on twitter that New Jersey Devils President and General Manager, Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello, was at the game. At the first intermission, I went looking for him. After walking around the upper level, I spotted an older man wearing a suit sitting in the front row. After a quick google image search confirmed that it was Lamoriello. I went up to him. He was sitting in the front row by himself, and I asked if he could sign something for me. Once he said yes, I handed him a puck and silver sharpie. He signed it nicely, writing out every letter of his name and adding the Hall of Fame inscription that I asked for. I shook his hand, thanked him, then took a blurry picture of him as I left the upper level. When I got back from the game, I scanned the puck and you can see both below.

After I got back to my seat, the Devils began their second period charge. They got a power play and got their chance to tie the game. See what happened below.


Unfortunately for Albany, the visitors would win the game on a long range goal in the final minute of regulation. The game would end with a 2-1 IceCaps final score. Here are some pictures I took after the go-ahead goal got past Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid.

After the game, a slight drizzle began to fall and I went to my usual spot out back. Surprisingly, there was no team bus for the IceCaps. I learned that all the players would be walking to their hotel which is just a few blocks away. I got a few autographs from players on the IceCaps walking to the hotel. I was mainly staying under an overpass to not get rained on. A few of the IceCaps said they liked my photo. Here is the photo I got signed with a list of everyone that signed it.

44-Julian Melchiori 1-Tyler Beskorowany 19-Kyle MacKinnon 30-Eric Comrie

32-Cody Lampl 27-Will O'Neill 6-Josh Morissey 7-Kris Fredheim

14-Eric O'Dell 34-JC Lipon 17-Jerome Samson 10-Andrew Gordon

25-Blair Riley 18-Ben Chariot

That's all I have for now. I hope Albany wins so they play another home game here at the Times Union Center. Thanks for reading. Good luck Graphing. 

Card Show 4/12/14

I am back on Long Island for a few days. It figures that I picked the one weekend the Albany Devils had 3 home games in 3 days to go home, but I still got some graphing in.

This weekend was the time of the big Long Island National card show, taking place at Hofstra University. I've attended this show in the past, most recently meeting the late Ralph Kiner in 2011. 

Now, back to the present day. There were many good players at the signing, but there were only two that I were interested in getting autographs from. The first was former Islander and Devil, Glenn 'Chico' Resch. Before I talk about him more, take a look at this brief video below. Resch recently announced his retirement from the broadcast booth. Here is what he told the viewers of MSG on Saturday night.


I heard Resch is nice to meet in person, and I wanted to see for myself. He was also one of the two people signing at the card show that was free with paid admission to the show. Other people, like Mike Bossy, were charging for autographs.


Resch was scheduled to be there from 11-1:30. I got to the line at about 12:15, and was behind about 100 people. The line was moving slowly, and I soon found out why. Unlike the other people who were sitting behind a table and signing, Resch was standing at the side of the table, signing and talking to everyone that had a ticket for him.

After about 45 minutes of waiting, my father and I finally approached Resch. We bought an 8x10 photo and had a puck for Resch to sign. First, I shook his hand, and told him that I had seen the Albany Devils many times this season. He asked if they were going to the playoffs, and I told him they likely were as he singed the 8x10 photo. I handed him the puck which wasn't an ordinary black puck, and my gold sharpie. Resch asked if I was sure I wanted gold on the puck because it may not come out well, and I said it would be fine. He signed the puck, then he said it didn't look too good. To my surprise, he flipped the puck over and signed the back as well. Before I left, he wished me luck in my studies, shook my hand and my dad's, and thanked us for coming. My dad was taking photos of the whole thing, as you can see here. Here is the puck (both sides) and the photo that he signed for me. He was as good in person as I heard he would be.

As I was walking away from Resch, the second free autograph was just showing up. That would be Ron Blomberg, who was the first ever DH in MLB history. Not wanting to wait in another long line, my father and I wanted to explore the show. Before that, I took a selfie with Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, from very far away. From what I heard, he wasn't the friendliest person. He didn't show up until 20 minutes after his signing was scheduled to begin. He even left half an hour before it was scheduled to end.

After seeing almost every type of sports memorabilia that one could imagine, I went back to see how Ron Blomberg's line was. An hour into the two hour signing, there was no line! 

All the people waiting for the free autograph had gotten the signature and left quickly. I walked up to Blomberg with  two cards that I had found in my dad's old collection of cards, and handed his handler the autograph tickets. After telling him how I had to dig into my dad's collection to find the cards, I handed them to him to sign. He quickly signed them in blue as my dad took more photos. He then handed me one of his business cards, which took me to his website. After that, I thanked him, shook his hand, and went back to looking around the show. Here are the two cards that Blomberg signed for me: 

The show itself was very well organized, there were many tables with cards, autographs, and other memorabilia from almost everyone you can imagine. I even saw a photo signed by OJ Simpson and his lawyer, Johnnie Cochran. There were cards from over 100 years ago, balls signed by American Presidents, pucks signed by Ryan Strome, and pretty much everything in between. 

With all of those options, I just bought some display cases, a few Rawlings Official Major League Baseballs that I hope to get signed this season, and a 2014 Mets Yearbook. Overall, the deals were good, the people were nice, and I had a great time at this show. Hopefully I can come back one day if I am home for it.