Players you met who were jerks/nice guys.

[Big Phil]

I havent met a whole lot of Hockey Personalities in my time but here is a list of the guys I met and how they were.

Don Cherry - Actually a very nice guy. Looks a lot older and shorter in public. Hey he's 70 what can you say. He's not as bombastic as he seems on TV and actuall I had an intellectual conversation with him and then got a nice picture.

Paul Henderson - Met him twice. Everyone knows why you'd want to meet him. Nice guy, very strong in his Christian beliefs. I asked him last time I met him as to why he thinks that he wasnt asked to go to the 1976 Canada Cup. He said it was because of the WHA he was in, even though Hull was on the team. (Its funny he claimed Hull wasnt on that team, I wasnt going to argue, lol)

Bobby Hull - Met him twice as well. Good guy. Takes time to talk to you. Spent the entire night of an oldtimers game signing autographs.

Maurice Richard - I hate to admit it but when I met the "Rocket" he was fierce towards me. I was ten years old! It doenst change what I think of him but I guess it showed what it was like to play against him. I remember getting him to sign an autograph and he looked at the book I had and said sharply: "Is this yours?" He was tough even when he was 70.

Walter Gretzky - A very nice individual. I think almost anyone will say that about him. I acutally told him I read his book he wrote (I didnt but I ran out of things to say) he was really excited when I said that. He just said "You did!" In a really excited tone.

What are your stories that you have from any bad/good experiences you have from meeting Hockey stars?

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[jb**]

Mel Bridgeman-dated my cousin and was over for xmas one year, then traded to Calgary

Joe Watson like hanging out with your friend will sit and drink and talk ****.

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

About 1981 at an exhibition game in Halifax, Bob Gainey told me and my friend Spaz to come back as the period ended, he'd give us our autographs then. Dutifully, Spaz and I waited only to see the jackass bolt like a rabbit for the dressing room. Tough luck for Mr. Gainey when me and Spaz caught him and made him make good on his word. Some times I wonder if that event had a lasting negative effect on Spaz, his grades soon went downhill. For a lifelong Habs fan like good old Spaz, it must have been disappointing for Gainey to be such a jerk. Mr. Gainey, if you're reading this, please phone Spaz and apologize.

I remember Steve Yzerman being nice when I got his autograph back in 84 or so.

Dave Allison (a NS Voyageurs legend, and one hell of a coach for the Sens) was really nice to me and the kid from next door at Swiss Chalet, circa 1985.

Jimmy Mann came into my dressing room in bantams and handed out these ridiculous giant cards (kraft foods, maybe??) of himself. Who can forget my red-headed wood pecker teammate shouting out "Chris Nilan can kick your ass anyday!!" Man, those were the days..

 

[Charge_Seven]

Met Todd Bertuzzi after a Storm game in Guelph about 10 years ago.

Great guy. Absolutely fantastic.

Jonny Bower was fantastic too.

 

[#66]

The Good:
Mario Lemieux
Roger Neilson
Zarley Zalapski
Mark Recchi
Mike Lange
John Cullen
Paul Coffey
Marty Broduer
Brian Rafalski
Scott Stevens
Mike Gartner
Pat Verbeek
Tom Barrasso - I've seen him be a jerk too but he was nice to me.
The Bad:
Eric Lindros
Barry Melrose
Richard Park
Mark Messier
Bruce Driver
Neil Smith
The Ugly:
Rob Brown - I wouldn't say he was a bad guy but when I met him in 88 he came across as such a slob. I remember Bob Errey making fun of him because his shirt was untucked and stained.

 

[Cat Called Bobcat]

I've met Stevie Y and Adrian Aucoin. Both fabulously nice.

 

[arnie]

I havent met a whole lot of Hockey Personalities in my time but here is a list of the guys I met and how they were.

Don Cherry - Actually a very nice guy. Looks a lot older and shorter in public. Hey he's 70 what can you say. He's not as bombastic as he seems on TV and actuall I had an intellectual conversation with him and then got a nice picture.

Cherry is about the nicest person you are ever likely to meet. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that his views on hockey are neandrathral. What can you do: people are complex.

 

[Injektilo]

I ran into Cherry and MacLean at a hotel in Montreal last year, Cherry was pretty nice the first time, i was so supprised to see him I didn't actually get a chance to say anything. I ran into them both again in the elevator and Cherry commented on my friends hair (huuuge mohawk) and MacLean was kinda quiet. I really wish I'd told him to give Bettman hell in his anual all star game interview he had coming up.

Of course, if I'd really been thinking I would have made them go down the the bar with me so I could talk hockey with them over a pint. Or I'd just have stalked them to their rooms....

 

[KOVALEV10*]

I've had the chance to meet most of the hab players in the late 70-s at the bars after games. Nicest ones were:

1- Steve Shutt: Stevey was a funny guy and really smart.
2- Guy Lafleur: Really generous person and fun talking to at the same time.

 

[monkey_00*]

The Good:

Brendan Shanahan...met him inside Copps Coliseum during one of the practices of Team Canada for the Canada Cup.....he wasn't on the ice with the players...was sitting in the stands with Marty McSorely...very personable and polite.........

Rick Vaive...after one of the Dundas Real McCoys hockey games here in West Hamilton...Vaive is the coach...got autograph.......

Jari Kurri...outside Maple Leafs Gardens the week that the NHL allstar game was in Toronto.....shook his hands and talked with him a bit..........

Jacques Laperriere...same day I met Kurri...got autograph...was in a really happy mood too.........

Ted Lindsey and Vladimir Konstantinov........same day I met Kurri and Lapperiere, Lindsey was inside lobby of the Gardens in Toronto pushing wheel chair that Konstantinov was sitting in.......Lindsey was a very small guy but very friendly..........

Mario Lemieux and Paul Coffey...walking around inside of Jackson Square here in Hamilton (attached to Copps Coliseum) during Canada Cup 1987...was able to talk some hockey with them too...........

Chris Chelios and Brett Hull......in Hamilton the week of Canada Cup 1991.....both were sporting Team USA Navy Blue sweaters......

Mark Messier...on top of the roof outdoors of Jackson Square in Hamilton...CBC was just finishing interviewing him...during the week of Canada Cup 1991...strongest handshake of all the players I've ever met.........he was really excited to be a part of the Canada Cup 91..........

Tom Fergus and Mark Osbourne...inside the Copps Coliseum during the 1990 Memorial Cup game that Eric Lindros (Oshawa Generals) were playing in.......still got their autographs on my Memorial Cup game program.......were alot of fun to talk to..........

Bobby Hull.........in the stands of Canada Cup during one of the Non-Team Canada games.......was sitting down in the upper stands corner with Serge Savard, Pierre Page and Jacques Lemaire......Bobby Hull was kind enough to step away from that group of guys and autograph my Canada Cup program and talk a bit about Hamilton's chances for NHL hockey...........

Don Cherry...........after the taping of Don Cherry's Grapevine. here in Hamilton where the show use to be taped.....was great with the group of people I was with...........also got to meet Angelo King Kong Mosca (CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats Alumni) who was one of the guests from that taping.........

The Bad:

Walter Gretzky........I guess for whatever reason he was in a real snarly mood.....which is rare for him I've been told.........

Brad Park and Marcel Dionne....both were leaving Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto during the week of NHL allstar game and were hailing for a cab......BOTH didn't want anything to do with the fans..........Park especially was acting like he had something stuck up his ass or something...........

Pat Quinn........right after the Allstar game in Toronto I caught up to Quinn who was with his wife and two parents from Hamilton....meeting started off ok but then I asked him; "What were the chances of the Leafs picking up Eric Lindors?"....that's when he stared me down and told me to "Skip the subject please."

Serge Savard.......was walking out of Copps Coliseum towards his Jaguar parked across the street of the Arena with BIG Cigar in his mouth....didn't want to be bothered speaking with me or signing autographs.....said he was "running a little behind."

 

[Speed Demon]

Sidney Crosby was really nice.

 

[Porn*]

Dmitry Yushkevitch was a ****

 

[VanIslander]

Mark Recchi. The NHL star says hi to me one summer day on the street of our home town of Kamloops (about 1998), I don't recognize him until I've walked several meters past and realize it, I turn and wave and he waves back like the nice guy he is: He knows me personally from his early golfing days (a friend of a friend).

Ken Dryden. I met him while he was signing autographs on Parliament Hill during a road playoff game visit against the Sens a couple of years ago. The tall guy was crowded with people wanting his signature. I said I only wanted to shake the hand of an old childhood hero. He smiled and replied with a firm handshake "I'm not old."

 

[VanIslander]

Dmitry Yushkevitch was a ****

But he played better on the blueline in Toronto than any other d-man I've seen there. Him and Markov shut down Lindros and the Flyers, were the KEY to a very close playoff series win.

The only team I dislike more than the Leafs is the Flyers.

So I thought Yush was nice to do what he did.

 

[Chili]

One that sticks out was not a player but a gm at the time, Cliff Fletcher. 1987 draft in Detroit, he was getting out of a cab with Glenn Hall in back of JLA and I said 'Ah, the Flames gang' and gave him a smile...got a dirty look back. Serge Savard and Carol Vadnais were right behind them in another cab both sporting big cigars. The two could pass for brothers.

 

[Albi]

Class guys:
Mike Cammalleri
Mattias Norstrom
Cristobal Huet
Jon Sim
Peter Schaefer
Deron Quint
Craig Adams
Rob DiMaio
Matt Cullen

A-Holes
Eric Belanger (well, more a freak than a A-hole...but not kind for sure)
Jozef Stumpel

 

[Boilers*]

I met a bunch of Oilers in the bar just before their first game back after the strike. Quite frankly I wouldn't have known any of the kids by name if they hadn't introduced themselves to me. Why did they do this? I was chatting up a pretty young thing when Arnott helped himself to a seat and the rest of the kids ran interference. They asked me what I did I told them and they told me what they did. Well the pretty young thing was just agog and her face lit up like she won the lottery. (Basically she did with a paternity suit against Arnott later,heh). Anyway Marchant, Weight and Niinamaa were pretty cool. I asked Arnott for an autograph for my cousins as the guys were good enough to sign. He raised his nose in the air and proclaimed he wasn't into the whole "Stardom thing". Not 30 minutes later he was showing everyone his shiny new Viper. Well the boys apparently had a game the next day and according to a diehard fan they stunk up the ice.

 

[Marshall]

Jeff Halpern was a nice guy.

 

[Markov]

Dmitry Yushkevitch was a ****

Really? I met him a few times and he seemed nice.

Good:
Vladislav Tretiak
Danny Markov
Igor Korolev
Alexei Zhamnov
Dmitry Yushkevich


Jerks:
Alexander Karpovtsev
Sergei Berezin
Boris Mironov
Pavel Bure

 

[GODARD49]

The Good

Wayne Gretzkey
Mike Richter
Brian Trottier
Billy Smith
Denis Potvin
Eddie Westfall
Eric Cairns
Eric Godard
Adrian Aucoin
Mark Parrish

The Bad
Jeff Beukaboom
John Davidson by far the biggest tool i have ever met.was complaining about WATER......
Ulf Samuelson
Mark Messier
Garth Snow
Mariuz Czerkawski
Kevin Stevens

As you can see i have met alot of Isles and Rangers players lol Wayne was the nicest out of all of them....Trottier and Smith come a close 2nd

 

[Matt Foley*]

I've only met a couple of players, but they were both really nice.

I met Marc Denis at a CBJ season-ticket holder event a few years back. He approached me and we ended up talking about how our respective summers went (he actually asked me about my summer that year, believe it or not!). He was also a new dad at the time and we shared war stories on the challenges re: helping raise a young child. A very down to earth guy who I hope to meet again sometime.

I also met Jamie Pushor back when I became a season-ticket holder for the CBJ. He was there to spend some time with us who were selecting our seats for the games. He was nice, as well - he also was a new dad, and we talked for a few minutes about the challenges of fatherhood, much like I did Marc.

I didn't get to meet him, but my daughter got to meet Kevin Dineen at a kids' skate at Nationwide Arena a few years back. Kevin was skating with some other kids when he noticed my daughter stuggling to stay up along the boards. He went up to her and said, "Let's go for a skate". Holding her hands, he skated backwards for a couple of laps while she managed to stay up and have some fun getting around the ice for a change. When they were done, she pointed me out behind the glass to him and he gave me a thumbs-up. As soon as I returned my thanks, he was off helping another child get around the ice. A super nice guy and a class act.

 

[LaVal]

Pavel Bure made it clear in his body language that he was disinterested. He wasn't a jerk or anything, but he came off as a little stuck up. His brother Valeri was very polite and humble (at least at the time).

Jarome Iginla is as nice as everybody says he is.

Todd Simpson is different. He seems a little snarly but he's still a nice guy.

 

[Puckclektr]

The Good
Darryl Sittler-A friend of a family friend. Went fishing with him and his son many times as a kid. Very nice man.
Bertuzzi-mY brothers good friend is his cousin. MY nephew is a huge fan and he signed all kinds of autographs for him and even took the time to take a picture of himself signing the autographs. My brother said he was super nice, but I never met him, although I went to school with his sister.
Wendel Clark-Met him a couple of times, through Sittler and saw him a couple of times(mall and Maple Leaf Gardens). Was polite both times.
Dan Maloney-Another nice guy who I went fishing with through Sittler. Also played hockey against his son. Very nice guy.
Chico Resch-Saw him outside of HSBC arena a couple of years ago when I went down to a game against the Devils. He came up and asked me if there where any cabs in the front(I just came from there), and we talked for about 15-20 minutes. Probably thje nicest ever.
Mike Gartner-met him a couple of times. Did a carry out for him at the Home Depot about 8 years ago. Gave me a $20 tip. Very nice guy. Took pictures with a bunch of us.
Gilmour-Met him once. Realyl nice guy
Bobby Hull-Gentle giant
Trottier-Nice guy
Dick Beddhoes-Very talkative. nice
John MacLean-Probably the nicest guy to talk to.
Rafalski
Todd Gill
Ed Olychek-At the Leafs training camp in Newmarket we were talking to him inside. Very nice guy. Then outside, offered to give us a ride to the bus station.
Fetisov-got me autographs from the whole team....Very nice guy
CUJO

Bad
Delvecchio
Lindsay
Gomez
McSorley

Met many players but these were the ones that were good or bad.

 

[Stephen]

I met a bunch of Oilers in the bar just before their first game back after the strike. Quite frankly I wouldn't have known any of the kids by name if they hadn't introduced themselves to me. Why did they do this? I was chatting up a pretty young thing when Arnott helped himself to a seat and the rest of the kids ran interference. They asked me what I did I told them and they told me what they did. Well the pretty young thing was just agog and her face lit up like she won the lottery. (Basically she did with a paternity suit against Arnott later,heh). Anyway Marchant, Weight and Niinamaa were pretty cool. I asked Arnott for an autograph for my cousins as the guys were good enough to sign. He raised his nose in the air and proclaimed he wasn't into the whole "Stardom thing". Not 30 minutes later he was showing everyone his shiny new Viper. Well the boys apparently had a game the next day and according to a diehard fan they stunk up the ice.

I don't mean to pick apart your story or anything, but Janne Niinimaa broke into the league in 1996-97 with the Flyers, so I doubt he was in Edmonton in '95.

Anyway, I've met Wayne Gretzky, Owen Nolan, Bryan McCabe and Craig Wolanin. Gretzky was kind of rude, Nolan and McCabe were gruff and Wolanin was the nicest guy.

 

[Big Phil]

I also met Kevin Lowe at a junior Hockey game back in the fall of 2001. This was before the Olympic team was selected. I "suggested" to him that Iginla make the team (like no one else thought that) since he was leading the league in scoring. His response was "He's having a hell of a year." It was obvious that he wasnt going to tell me either way. Although he did acknowledge that Ryan Smyth was for sure in the mix. Nice guy it seemed like.

Also other guys who are big but look even bigger in public are Ken Dryden, Andrew Peters (Sabres rookie) and Wade Belak who I met at the Hockey Hall of Fame ironically, which is the only way Belak will ever get in there!