Full article here:

http://bit.ly/JG4-on-4

August 7th came around very quickly. We got the collage updated, we got the tickets printed, we were ready to roll. I showed up at 9:30am to get things ready. I was told that there had been a family waiting there since 7:30. The autograph session didn’t start until noon. There’s the nerves again. But as we got closer to autograph time, the explosion of people expected never really materialized. Sales were strong, all proceeds going to the school of course, and I took my place at the head of the line to welcome people to the autograph table line and ensure they stayed happy while they were waiting for their turn. The eight-player line started with Gorges to welcome people to his tournament, and concluded with Price to avoid any chances of the line getting bottlenecked. I saw a lot of friends and some family go through the line, including my sister who was so excited to meet Gallagher.

The hour literally whizzed by us. We got everybody through the line. We were smart to cut sales off at 12:45pm but we didn’t have to turn away anybody who wanted an autograph. Comfortable with this, I switched spots with one of my amazing teammates, dropped my money for the charity donation and got in line. It was really cool to have those few moments with the guys. All of them were in high spirits and seemed to really appreciate the professional but very friendly atmosphere that my team helped create. The fans were all very respectful to them, and I was so grateful that they gave their time—which always has demands and is so limited, even in the off-season—for the public. I got my Habs player shirt and a Panini Anthology mega patch card signed by Gorges, a great pic of him with the Cup by Seabrook, a beautiful Winter Classic goal celebration photo by Gallagher, and my jersey signed by Price. It was such a great event, and to me this was the icing on the cake. Seeing all the happy fans, especially the kids in the line who were so excited to meet their hockey heroes, was what brought me my greatest joy that day. Getting my picture taken with Gallagher was the cherry on top of the cake.



Photo: Richard McAdam


Look for a special Show & Tell Forum post with my "haul" from the event soon.