John Robertson
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2021
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Looking for hockey anecdotes for new book
- Thread starter John Robertson
- Start date
John Robertson
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2021
- 32
- 31
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Target-rich environment here, editing should be your only challenge. Good luck to you & Mr. Madden. 
VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
I was at the Canucks NHL training camp as an NHL-accredited (it was a process) correspondent for the thrice-weekly newspaper Kamloops This Week when in practice Ohlund was lollygagging the puck once too often and was bodyslammed into the boards by Brashear, the reaction to which would have been great TV! (I did describe it in the newspaper 
)* At the end of that practice, Brashear joined Cooke in circling the ice to be the last player off,... a thing.... it took a long time, felt like an hour, but i didn't clock it until 5 to 15 minutes into it; the goons were either showing their ethic or stubbornness, but i dunno, 'cuz right after, my editor sent me on a goose chase.
*If you dig enough, this reveals exactly who i am.
)* At the end of that practice, Brashear joined Cooke in circling the ice to be the last player off,... a thing.... it took a long time, felt like an hour, but i didn't clock it until 5 to 15 minutes into it; the goons were either showing their ethic or stubbornness, but i dunno, 'cuz right after, my editor sent me on a goose chase.*If you dig enough, this reveals exactly who i am.
Probably not book worthy, but these are my couple go to hockey anecdotes:
chl.ca
I did a sports field trip in September 2014. Over a few days I saw a Tigers game, a Red Wings preseason game, crossed the border to see Connor McDavid play against Windsor, a Michigan Wolverines football game, and a USNTDP game (Matthews/M.Tkachuk, K.Connor on the opposing side).
All my Canadian friends told me that getting into Canada would be a breeze and that it would take longer to get through border patrol coming back into the US. That had been my experience driving from Seattle to Vancouver with a buddy; US Border Patrol made us pull over on the way back, unfortunately my friend has a common name so they had to make sure he wasn't the same guy with an outstanding warrant in Florida.
But for this trip it was the complete opposite. The Canadian border patrol didn't seem to buy my story that an Asian guy from California was coming in for a few hours just to watch a hockey game. I was probably only stopped for ten minutes but it felt much longer. I had no reason to be nervous, but was worried that I'd have to get out of the car for further interrogation like with my Seattle friend. Eventually they let me through. On the way back into the US, it took that border patrol gal like two minutes to understand that I was just a sports geek.
When I got back to my friend's place in Ann Arbor, I was checking the local news and saw this story:
windsorstar.com
After reading that, I was really hoping the Canadian border patrolman was sizing up whether I looked like a turtle smuggler.
Windsor Spitfires
chl.ca
I did a sports field trip in September 2014. Over a few days I saw a Tigers game, a Red Wings preseason game, crossed the border to see Connor McDavid play against Windsor, a Michigan Wolverines football game, and a USNTDP game (Matthews/M.Tkachuk, K.Connor on the opposing side).
All my Canadian friends told me that getting into Canada would be a breeze and that it would take longer to get through border patrol coming back into the US. That had been my experience driving from Seattle to Vancouver with a buddy; US Border Patrol made us pull over on the way back, unfortunately my friend has a common name so they had to make sure he wasn't the same guy with an outstanding warrant in Florida.
But for this trip it was the complete opposite. The Canadian border patrol didn't seem to buy my story that an Asian guy from California was coming in for a few hours just to watch a hockey game. I was probably only stopped for ten minutes but it felt much longer. I had no reason to be nervous, but was worried that I'd have to get out of the car for further interrogation like with my Seattle friend. Eventually they let me through. On the way back into the US, it took that border patrol gal like two minutes to understand that I was just a sports geek.
When I got back to my friend's place in Ann Arbor, I was checking the local news and saw this story:
Windsor man tried to smuggle 51 live turtles in his pants, allege U.S. authorities
A local man is facing charges after he was stopped at the Windsor-Detroit border with 51 live turtles in his pants, according to U.S. federal authorities.
windsorstar.com
After reading that, I was really hoping the Canadian border patrolman was sizing up whether I looked like a turtle smuggler.
Last edited:
My 2015 sports field trip started with a stop in Las Vegas for the NHL Awards Show, south Florida for the Draft, baseball games in Pittsburgh/Philly with quick stops to visit friends in DC/NYC. Right before I left for Vegas, I checked to see if they had announced the presenters. I saw Bill Guerin on the list, so I tossed in my Team USA Guerin jersey in the off chance that I might run into him.
I felt like being silly and wore a suit. I immediately regretted that decision. I underestimated the walk from my hotel to the MGM Grand and it was a typical hot Vegas summer day.
The organizers made the curious decision to hire Daughtry to play a full set after the show. Once the awards ended, most of the crowd headed for the exits. They didn't want to embarrass the band by making them play in front of a sparse crowd, so they told everybody that they could come down to the floor where the players had been sitting. I didn't have anywhere else to be, so I headed down.
It only took a couple songs for me to affirm that Daughty wasn't my cup of tea. I walked up to a security guard to ask where the nearest exit was. But since the band was still playing, the security guard probably didn't hear me. She proceeded to escort me backstage since she must have assumed that since I was wearing a suit I must be with the NHL people.
I loitered backstage for like 30-45 minutes. I didn't have the nerve to strike up a conversation with anybody, but Elliotte Friedman did compliment my Guerin jersey after I took a photo for him and somebody. I was unable to run into Guerin. Players were generally just relaxing, although I seem to recall Jiri Hudler being a bit tipsy.
The amusing thing was there was a couple dozen fans by the private escalator outside of the backstage area. As I was coming up, I got a few confused looks like "Who is this guy?" I regret not offering to sign a couple autographs.
Couple days later I flew to Florida for the draft. I only saw Guerin from afar. Next leg of my trip was Pittsburgh and unexpectedly the entire Penguins staff was slumming it with me on Southwest. I walked on the plane and Guerin's sitting there first row. I knew it wasn't ideal to corner somebody on a plane to ask for an autograph, but eventually I worked up the nerve. Thankfully Guerin was more than accommodating, he even asked another staffer to fish out a Sharpie when mine didn't work. Might have just been me, but it almost seemed like he was admiring the jersey for a few moments while we were looking for the Sharpie. Like he held it out and reminisced briefly.
I ran into him later at baggage claim and chatted him up for another five minutes. He told me that his Salt Lake City jerseys had been stolen. I told him a story about running into a young Devils fan at the 2003 SCF named Guerin.
I felt like being silly and wore a suit. I immediately regretted that decision. I underestimated the walk from my hotel to the MGM Grand and it was a typical hot Vegas summer day.
The organizers made the curious decision to hire Daughtry to play a full set after the show. Once the awards ended, most of the crowd headed for the exits. They didn't want to embarrass the band by making them play in front of a sparse crowd, so they told everybody that they could come down to the floor where the players had been sitting. I didn't have anywhere else to be, so I headed down.
It only took a couple songs for me to affirm that Daughty wasn't my cup of tea. I walked up to a security guard to ask where the nearest exit was. But since the band was still playing, the security guard probably didn't hear me. She proceeded to escort me backstage since she must have assumed that since I was wearing a suit I must be with the NHL people.
I loitered backstage for like 30-45 minutes. I didn't have the nerve to strike up a conversation with anybody, but Elliotte Friedman did compliment my Guerin jersey after I took a photo for him and somebody. I was unable to run into Guerin. Players were generally just relaxing, although I seem to recall Jiri Hudler being a bit tipsy.
The amusing thing was there was a couple dozen fans by the private escalator outside of the backstage area. As I was coming up, I got a few confused looks like "Who is this guy?" I regret not offering to sign a couple autographs.
Couple days later I flew to Florida for the draft. I only saw Guerin from afar. Next leg of my trip was Pittsburgh and unexpectedly the entire Penguins staff was slumming it with me on Southwest. I walked on the plane and Guerin's sitting there first row. I knew it wasn't ideal to corner somebody on a plane to ask for an autograph, but eventually I worked up the nerve. Thankfully Guerin was more than accommodating, he even asked another staffer to fish out a Sharpie when mine didn't work. Might have just been me, but it almost seemed like he was admiring the jersey for a few moments while we were looking for the Sharpie. Like he held it out and reminisced briefly.
I ran into him later at baggage claim and chatted him up for another five minutes. He told me that his Salt Lake City jerseys had been stolen. I told him a story about running into a young Devils fan at the 2003 SCF named Guerin.
VanIslander
A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
As long as your paper-published work is "stories" there's no need to confirm their veracity.... um,... Heck, truth and b.s. are equally printed on recyclable material.
To put 'it' into book form lost its value late last century.
To put 'it' into book form lost its value late last century.
MarkusKetterer
Shoulda got one game in
My 2015 sports field trip started with a stop in Las Vegas for the NHL Awards Show, south Florida for the Draft, baseball games in Pittsburgh/Philly with quick stops to visit friends in DC/NYC. Right before I left for Vegas, I checked to see if they had announced the presenters. I saw Bill Guerin on the list, so I tossed in my Team USA Guerin jersey in the off chance that I might run into him.
I felt like being silly and wore a suit. I immediately regretted that decision. I underestimated the walk from my hotel to the MGM Grand and it was a typical hot Vegas summer day.
View attachment 843158
The organizers made the curious decision to hire Daughtry to play a full set after the show. Once the awards ended, most of the crowd headed for the exits. They didn't want to embarrass the band by making them play in front of a sparse crowd, so they told everybody that they could come down to the floor where the players had been sitting. I didn't have anywhere else to be, so I headed down.
It only took a couple songs for me to affirm that Daughty wasn't my cup of tea. I walked up to a security guard to ask where the nearest exit was. But since the band was still playing, the security guard probably didn't hear me. She proceeded to escort me backstage since she must have assumed that since I was wearing a suit I must be with the NHL people.
View attachment 843160
I loitered backstage for like 30-45 minutes. I didn't have the nerve to strike up a conversation with anybody, but Elliotte Friedman did compliment my Guerin jersey after I took a photo for him and somebody. I was unable to run into Guerin. Players were generally just relaxing, although I seem to recall Jiri Hudler being a bit tipsy.
The amusing thing was there was a couple dozen fans by the private escalator outside of the backstage area. As I was coming up, I got a few confused looks like "Who is this guy?" I regret not offering to sign a couple autographs.
Couple days later I flew to Florida for the draft. I only saw Guerin from afar. Next leg of my trip was Pittsburgh and unexpectedly the entire Penguins staff was slumming it with me on Southwest. I walked on the plane and Guerin's sitting there first row. I knew it wasn't ideal to corner somebody on a plane to ask for an autograph, but eventually I worked up the nerve. Thankfully Guerin was more than accommodating, he even asked another staffer to fish out a Sharpie when mine didn't work. Might have just been me, but it almost seemed like he was admiring the jersey for a few moments while we were looking for the Sharpie. Like he held it out and reminisced briefly.
View attachment 843171
I ran into him later at baggage claim and chatted him up for another five minutes. He told me that his Salt Lake City jerseys had been stolen. I told him a story about running into a young Devils fan at the 2003 SCF named Guerin.
Not hockey related, but years ago I used to work concerts here. Depending on the day, I was security, cashier, roadie, or even the audio tech. So during the downtime between getting the venue ready and the concert starting, there was a couple of hours of just doing nothing.
Sometimes there’d be wiffle ball games, or soccer, or whatever, and I was responsible for making sure the bands or artists were there on time. One night during tear down, I had a bunch of kids come up to me with band posters to get them signed. I took them to get signed, and when I gave them back I was asked to sign them too.
I was never and have never been in any touring band, but this happened numerous times
John Robertson
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2021
- 32
- 31
Yep, that's a book-worthy tale. Thanks for it.Probably not book worthy, but these are my couple go to hockey anecdotes:
Windsor Spitfires
I did a sports field trip in September 2014. Over a few days I saw a Tigers game, a Red Wings preseason game, crossed the border to see Connor McDavid play against Windsor, a Michigan Wolverines football game, and a USNTDP game (Matthews/M.Tkachuk, K.Connor on the opposing side).
All my Canadian friends told me that getting into Canada would be a breeze and that it would take longer to get through border patrol coming back into the US. That had been my experience driving from Seattle to Vancouver with a buddy; US Border Patrol made us pull over on the way back, unfortunately my friend has a common name so they had to make sure he wasn't the same guy with an outstanding warrant in Florida.
But for this trip it was the complete opposite. The Canadian border patrol didn't seem to buy my story that an Asian guy from California was coming in for a few hours just to watch a hockey game. I was probably only stopped for ten minutes but it felt much longer. I had no reason to be nervous, but was worried that I'd have to get out of the car for further interrogation like with my Seattle friend. Eventually they let me through. On the way back into the US, it took that border patrol gal like two minutes to understand that I was just a sports geek.
When I got back to my friend's place in Ann Arbor, I was checking the local news and saw this story:
Windsor man tried to smuggle 51 live turtles in his pants, allege U.S. authorities
A local man is facing charges after he was stopped at the Windsor-Detroit border with 51 live turtles in his pants, according to U.S. federal authorities.
After reading that, I was really hoping the Canadian border patrolman was sizing up whether I looked like a turtle smuggler.
John Robertson
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2021
- 32
- 31
Thanks for the contribution!My 2015 sports field trip started with a stop in Las Vegas for the NHL Awards Show, south Florida for the Draft, baseball games in Pittsburgh/Philly with quick stops to visit friends in DC/NYC. Right before I left for Vegas, I checked to see if they had announced the presenters. I saw Bill Guerin on the list, so I tossed in my Team USA Guerin jersey in the off chance that I might run into him.
I felt like being silly and wore a suit. I immediately regretted that decision. I underestimated the walk from my hotel to the MGM Grand and it was a typical hot Vegas summer day.
View attachment 843158
The organizers made the curious decision to hire Daughtry to play a full set after the show. Once the awards ended, most of the crowd headed for the exits. They didn't want to embarrass the band by making them play in front of a sparse crowd, so they told everybody that they could come down to the floor where the players had been sitting. I didn't have anywhere else to be, so I headed down.
It only took a couple songs for me to affirm that Daughty wasn't my cup of tea. I walked up to a security guard to ask where the nearest exit was. But since the band was still playing, the security guard probably didn't hear me. She proceeded to escort me backstage since she must have assumed that since I was wearing a suit I must be with the NHL people.
View attachment 843160
I loitered backstage for like 30-45 minutes. I didn't have the nerve to strike up a conversation with anybody, but Elliotte Friedman did compliment my Guerin jersey after I took a photo for him and somebody. I was unable to run into Guerin. Players were generally just relaxing, although I seem to recall Jiri Hudler being a bit tipsy.
The amusing thing was there was a couple dozen fans by the private escalator outside of the backstage area. As I was coming up, I got a few confused looks like "Who is this guy?" I regret not offering to sign a couple autographs.
Couple days later I flew to Florida for the draft. I only saw Guerin from afar. Next leg of my trip was Pittsburgh and unexpectedly the entire Penguins staff was slumming it with me on Southwest. I walked on the plane and Guerin's sitting there first row. I knew it wasn't ideal to corner somebody on a plane to ask for an autograph, but eventually I worked up the nerve. Thankfully Guerin was more than accommodating, he even asked another staffer to fish out a Sharpie when mine didn't work. Might have just been me, but it almost seemed like he was admiring the jersey for a few moments while we were looking for the Sharpie. Like he held it out and reminisced briefly.
View attachment 843171
I ran into him later at baggage claim and chatted him up for another five minutes. He told me that his Salt Lake City jerseys had been stolen. I told him a story about running into a young Devils fan at the 2003 SCF named Guerin.
John Robertson
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2021
- 32
- 31
Thanks for your anecdote!I was at the Canucks NHL training camp as an NHL-accredited (it was a process) correspondent for the thrice-weekly newspaper Kamloops This Week when in practice Ohlund was lollygagging the puck once too often and was bodyslammed into the boards by Brashear, the reaction to which would have been great TV! (I did describe it in the newspaper
*If you dig enough, this reveals exactly who i am.
John Robertson
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2021
- 32
- 31
Please, keep the hockey stories coming. Tell me about the first game you ever attended; an experience as a player, coach, timekeeper, whatever.
WarriorOfGandhi
Was saying Boo-urns
the only time I ever actually had a conversation with an NHL player was at the Columbus Blue Jackets open house in 2014. I played NHL on Xbox against Matt Calvert. My player in the game went offside and I told him offside was the worst rule in hockey, that he should bring up eliminating it at the next NHLPA meeting. He laughed at that, possibly because he was surprised an average fan knew what the NHLPA was, and said he would get right on it.
John Robertson
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2021
- 32
- 31
