How did you decide your PC player?

[Puckhead]

BTW, what a great topic, thank you!

I'm kinda new to this forum and I almost didn't make this thread because I figured it probably was done many times. Guess not...




btw, cool story. That's pretty awesome how Anze treats your son.

[TMacfreak91]

Rob Blake -
Anze Kopitar - This collection is the one I/we do for my son Austin. We're obviously Kings fans so we watch them whenever we can. My son actually has a speech disability and has been working hard on it now for the past 3+ years. Well, when we first started watching hockey he tried hard to say the players names and it was tough for him. One night, I was watching the Kings and screamed something about Kopitar at the TV. Austin repeated his name clear as day, the first "tough" word he had said in some time. Well, I took him down to meet Kopitar his rookie year and Anze was very nice to him, took the time to sign a puck, get down to Austin's level and talk to him. here is a pic of that first encounter in the fall of 2006.



Since then, Austin has met Kopi a few more times, and got his rookie year stick from Anze when we saw him in LA in the winter of 2007.

Here is Austin with that stick, his first one ever from a hockey player and he was just over the moon happy!



Needless to say it was a EASY choice for Austin's favorite player and who to collect.

We have made friends with Anze's representation and they have borrowed some of my photos for the "Fan" section. Check it out, you might see a familiar little dude on there!

Click on the Fan Photos link/image box (that's Austin's Kopitar jersey on the picture!)

http://anzeseleven.com/pcc.asp#xpath...96632#lang=eng

Kopitar always remembers Austin, and has been so engaging with Austin everytime he seems him, taking a second to speak to him and asks me how his speech is coming along. What a classy guy!

So if you have anything that Austin might like of Kopitar, PM dear old dad so I can get it for him. Austin says thank you!

Wow that is just an awesome story! I knew that your son was a large reason for your Kopitar collection but never really knew the extent of it until now. It's great to hear stories like this and to see young superstars who are class acts like this...you don't see that a lot anymore these days. I'll definitely be on the lookout for any Kopitar stuff I may pull

Steve

[duffenuff1]

I had NO IDEA what i was doing when i started collecting for my son. I 5 years later have narrowed it down to just getting the best auto rcs i can from each year. Iplan on giving him the entire collection when he turns 16. That way hopefully he wont put any gretz rcs or equivalent in his bicycle spokes..lol. He loves looking at them and that makes me happy! Wonder what would be in the collection if my father did it for me!
Brian

[JoexBondo]

Terry O'Reilly had a fight at my first hockey game, right in front of me, I was 2 or three rows back. I must have been only four at the time, but thought it was great that he didnt wear a helmet, which kind of stands out to a four year old! With My dad and i being big bruins fans, we would always watch every game and my dad would always pointed him out. I still have my first O'Reilly card, which is the 91 Proset legends (pack pulled), and my Original VHS tapes of some old games my dad taped and we still watch them sometimes when im back visiting. Hopefully Ill get a chance to meet him at the Winter Classic Legends game!

[mrbungle]

I started collecting when I was 8...so that would be 1992. I was into Gretzky back then and I collected him the best I could. I fell out of collecting for a long time around 1996 and just got back into it in the past year. Looking back at all the Gretzky cards I missed caused me to decide on a new player to collect. Schenn be his name.

He's relatively new to the hobby (therefore not as many cards to chase down) and plays for my beloved Leafers. That's why I collect Schenner.

[flemingc04]

Jari Kurri & Grant Fuhr: When I was just a little kid I was raised about 20 minutes away from Edmonton during the Oilers dynasty era in the 80's. Of all players Wayne Gretzky was my favorite player by far, but I was also a huge fan of Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Mark Messier, and Paul Coffey. Since I want to have some fun in collecting I chose to collect Kurri and Fuhr since they fit my budget much better.

Bill Ranford: I had already been a fan of goalies in general and more specifically Patrick Roy and Grant Fuhr, but Ranford soon joined that list when he played for the Oilers. Plus I loved his mask as I did Fuhr's. Eventually when I became a goaltender, I went to Bill Ranford's goalie school in Sylvan Lake and got to meet him and his father who ran the clinic for a few days. In the end, I not only learned some great goaltending from one of my favorite players, but I came out with a special jersey from his goalie school and puck both signed from the Conn Smythe winner himself.

Ed Belfour: During Belfour's stellar rookie season I became an instant fan because of a mixture of his play, the design of his mask, and most of all his Pro Set rookie card which always had a special place in my collection. From then on, Belfour grew on me until I started calling him my favorite goalie (always will). The highlight for me was when Belfour won his first and only Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars. Once he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs (I was living near Toronto for a while by now), I was excited that he joined the team. However, I have to say it kind of sucks that he played for the Leafs because I now have the Toronto market to worry about and compete with when collecting his cards.

[xirxious]

Howe - My grandfather used to teach at his hockey school and left me some real neat stuff.
Zetterberg - He was coming up just as I got back into collecting
Tom Pyatt - played Minors in Saginaw, MI where I used to have season tix
Peter Mueller - Played minors in Everett, WA where I now live

[maradona]

Mario because I saw him score a hat trick vs Chicago on NHL Weekly in 1996 when I was seven years old.

Fleury because he was the Pens' first number 1 pick after Mario... No other reason really.

[jackfrost87]

i picked Jeff Carter because last year he was the goal leader for quite some time
I picked Justin Pogge because he doesnt have many cards and will be easier to collect good luck with your PC

[kurri17]

Like alot of other fans (who don't live in an NHL city and thus have a tangible allegiance), I became enthralled with what Gretz and the Oilers were doing. As much as I loved Gretz, I always found myself watching Kurri. I just loved his game. Obviously talented offensively, he was supremely selfless and arguably the greatest two-way player ever. What topped it off was that he was quiet and classy. And even as he grew to stardom and grew up, he remained that way, never seeking the limelight and just letting his game speak. I had a huge Gretz collection, but it was always secondary to Jari's, and as Gretz stuff got crazy to try to keep up with, I never wavered on my Kurri collection.
Great topic, fun to read everyone's stories.