Players you met who were jerks/nice guys.

[Juicer]

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.

Actually, Lindros was injured and missed that entire series.

 

[BDubinskyNYR17*]

Actually, Lindros was injured and missed that entire series.

All guys I have met were really nice except Valeri Kamensky


Nice Guys

Petr Nedved (signed)
Jan Hlavac (signed)
Radek Dvorak (signed)
Tomas Kloucek (when he was on crutches)
Sandy McCarthy (signed)
Dale Purinton (signed)
Colin Forbes (signed)
Eric LaCroix (signed)
Adam Graves (signed)
Brad Brown (signed)
Jeff Ulmer (signed)
Manny Malhotra (signed)

Ahole

Valeri Kamensky

I used to work at Cosbys at MSG, I worked their for 9 months before I got laid off after 9/11

 

[IkeaMonkey*]

Good guys:
Manny Legace - Fitted me with my first mask and autographed it when he owned a pro shop where I used to live. Gave me tickets to the next game and told me to meet him near the player entrance way after warmups. He gave me a game puck, not those blank warmup pucks!

Robert Esche - No real stickout memories about him, but he was always a guy who'd joke and laugh with fans.

Daniel Briere - Quiet, reserved guy. However, he'll sign anything and everything you want him to sign.

Reggie Savage - One of the nicer players I've ever met. Did a lot of work with kids.

Trevor Letowski - Nice guy.

Olli Jokinen - Quiet guy, but would sign anything.


Bad Guys -

Jason Doig - Needs to seriously get his head out of his ass and realize if he werent on the Caps, he'd be playing in Uzbekistan.

Brad Isbister - Dick.

Rob Murray - Just a grouchy *****. Then again, I'd be sour if I had 19 points in 107 NHL games.

There is a connection with all these players...can you guess it?!

 

[MacDaddy TLC*]

The 1993 Leafs all great guys with one exception -- Jamie Macoun total *******.

Peter Taglianetti lived on the same street as my aunt in Winnipeg and used to play street hockey with my cousins and their friends. After getting traded to Pittsburgh, he called up one of the kids who he knew was a huge Mario fan and got him tickets for the game. After the game he brought him to the dressing room and introduced him to Mario.

Ed Olczyk and Mark Osborne both lived in the same area when they were members of the Jets and were good guys.

Phil Housley was a *****!

Bobby and Brett Hull were both great.

Darryl Sittler proved worthy of my unwavering support. A gentleman in the mold of his hero Jean Belliveau who is one I would like to meet.

 

[Porn*]

The 1993 Leafs all great guys with one exception -- Jamie Macoun total *******.

Peter Taglianetti lived on the same street as my aunt in Winnipeg and used to play street hockey with my cousins and their friends. After getting traded to Pittsburgh, he called up one of the kids who he knew was a huge Mario fan and got him tickets for the game. After the game he brought him to the dressing room and introduced him to Mario.

Ed Olczyk and Mark Osborne both lived in the same area when they were members of the Jets and were good guys.

Phil Housley was a *****!

Bobby and Brett Hull were both great.

Darryl Sittler proved worthy of my unwavering support. A gentleman in the mold of his hero Jean Belliveau who is one I would like to meet.

funny... jamie racoun signed for me but yushkevitch didn't :lol

must have caught him on a bad winter day behind the gardens :lol

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

funny... jamie racoun signed for me but yushkevitch didn't :lol

must have caught him on a bad winter day behind the gardens :lol

Calls to mind the fact that it's easy to forget these guys are people, too, they get sick kids, headaches, hangovers, diahrrea, etc. Sometimes they are just having a bad day...

 

[chooch*]

Class Acts:
Guy Lafleur
Yvon Lambert
Yvan Cournoyer
Lapointe
Mahovlich P

So-So:
Dryden
Lemaire
Savard

Buttheads:

Ron MacLEan (total nobody; makin a living telling jokes about cherry)

 

[Juicer]

Greg Johnson is an arrogant pr*ck, and is not good enough to act like that.

Trevor Letowski is a great guy.

I met Sittler when I was 9. He asked me how many goals I scored that year, and I had 111. He told me I might break some of his records. I guess that won't happen, but I will never forget it and I remember it like it was yesterday. He was siging autographs at a beach outside of a village that had about 300ppl. That really meant a lot and I remember telling all of my friends and relatives for years before I realized it wouldn't happen. It was inspiring.

 

[IdiotsPickedMyName*]

Good

Wendel Clark while at a leafs game and he was a complete class act. I talked with him for about five min and he asked me if i wanted an autograph before i could even ask him.

Steve Yzerman --see him in the summer alot with his parents, he even came and played some shinny hockey with us once on Christmas Day it was the best present ever this guy is a real class act.

Marian Hossa very nice met him soon after he came to Ottawa didnt know much English but he tried

Zedno Chara picked my brother up and put him on his shoulders and took him for a lap around the ice at one of the meet the senators days for season ticket holders.

Anton Volchenkov-- the only english he knew when i met him was Hi and Goodbye but he smiled and signed my jersey

When I lived at home i was 2 doors away from Ron Tugnut and used to baby-sit his kids so i got to know him fairly well, he was a great guy and even came to my brothers hockey teams practices to work with the goalies. We were all very sad when he got traded but his wife and kids still live in the house so i get to see him everyonce and a while. A really nice guy and he let me drive his porsche once

The Bad

Wade Redden--saw him at a bar once said Hi Wade and he completely ignored me. So i said Hi again and he told me that he was busy but he was sitting by himself drinking a coors light (what a wussy beer)

Jacques Martin---i worked at the grocery store he went to in Ottawa and he would never talk to the cashiers when he went through or would talk on his cell phone the whole time. I dont expect him to be signing autographs for all the employees but he could at least acknowledge and talk to us.

The Ugly

Alexi Yashin---everything you've heard about this guy is true. We waited after a sens practice at the Kanata Rec Centre to meet them all the sens on their way out and we got every other players autograph. Yashin came out last by himself with 2 security guards who kicked me and 2 friends off the premises for bothering Mr. Yashin hes such a jack@ss

 

[Higgy4]

Wow...good topic. May take awhile to respond though. My list is very Red Wing heavy.

Pete Mahavolich - Very friendly. Met him when he was winding his hockey career down as the player/coach of my hometown Toledo Goaldiggers. I didnt realize at the time just how great of a person I was meeting.

Steve Yzerman - Believe the hype. I have had the luxury of meeting him 3 times, and he has been the same each time. Friendly, talkative, makes you feel like he really wants to talk to you. True gentlemen.

Sergei Fedorov - Just sort of "blah". Not overly friendly, but not abrasive by any means either.

Gordie Howe - One of the most personable men I have ever met. I have actually met Gordie dozens of times, and he is simply a kind and gentle person to everybody he comes into contact with.

Ted Lindsay - Met Terrible Ted twice, and he was very cordial both times.

Kris Draper - Nice guy. Very cordial, but not someone who leaves a lasting impression.

Martin Lapointe - Real quick meeting with him, but he was friendly enough.

Slava Fetisov - Nice guy

Joe Kocur - Nice guy

Bob Rouse - Nice guy

Kirk Maltby - Nice guy (how ironic)

Chris Osgood - Really enjoyed meeting him. Actually got to spend about a half hour with him at a hockey camp once. He comes off as shy, but he really didnt seem like that when I met him. Nice guy.

Adam Graves - Met him and Tim Taylor in a Chicago Mall one night. Quick encounters, but both guys seemed suprised that I recognized them. Both friendly guys.

Tim Taylor - see above

Daniel Alfredsson - I literally bumped into him in the hotel gift shop of the Westin Hotel in Toronto. It was about 2am in the morning, and my wife and I were just coming back in from a night on the town. He was very friendly and took 3 pictures with us. My wife, of course, had no idea who he was, and I think he found that very funny. Good encounter.

Nicklas Lidstrom - Had about a 5 second encounter with Nick. No autograph...no dialogue...just a QUICK picture. I guess he was friendly enough. LOL

Darren McCarty - SUPER NICE GUY! Kinda holds a special place in my heart becuase I have a 9 month old son who recently got to meet Darren as well. Darrens band, Grinder, were doing a signing in Toledo and I took my son. I didnt really want to bother Darren with him much, but Darren actually ASKED if he could hold my son. I really thought that was great. He took a few pictures with us, and made out the autograph to my son. He really, really made me feel like he was honored to meet US. And that is truly what makes a lasting impression to me. He was just great...thats all I can say.

Those were all the GOOD guys. Here are the bad guys.

Mike Vernon - True story here. I actually met him the exact day he was traded from the Wings to San Jose. So, I will cut him some slack. But he was just a total dick. Didnt talk, didnt make eye contact...nothing. I understand it was a bad day for him, but he could have put forth a better effort.

Alexei Zhamonov - Was having lunch with my sister in Chicago, and Zhamnonv walks in. I am not a huge fan of his, so I dont make big deal of it. As I am walking out of the restaurant I walk by and tell him that I am glad to meet him. I didnt ask for an autograph, I didnt ask him to pose for any pictures. I simply extended my hand and said that it was a pleasure to meet him. I got nothing. He didnt even look up at me. Pretty much a dick thing to do.

Ray Sheppard - BIGGEST ASS I HAVE EVER MET. Enough said.

 

[Superfluous U]

I remember meeting Darryl Sutter. I've spent a lot of summers working at a lumberyard. Darryl came in one day, while he was still with the Sharks. The guy was remodelling his house. He ordered some doors, then stuck around to have a coffee and talk to everybody. Hell of a nice guy.

My favourite part of this story happens the following Christmas. He was home for the Christmas break I guess and was in Camrose checking out the Viking Cup. Anyway, I'm talking to one of the guys from work, when we here his name being called. We look up and there's Darryl Sutter yelling at him. We go over there, he says how much he likes the doors he bought and introduces us to a bunch of scouts. It was pretty damn cool.

 

[I Hate You All*]

Ray Sheppard - BIGGEST ASS I HAVE EVER MET. Enough said.

I know you were at the end of a really long post, but you've gotta give us the details.

That's a sweet Sutter story, Superfluous U.

 

[Higgy4]

I know you were at the end of a really long post, but you've gotta give us the details.

That's a sweet Sutter story, Superfluous U.

Not a big story or anything. He was just completely unprofessional. We were at an autograph signing with him and Kris Draper. We waited inline for almost 4 hours to get thier autographs.

Draper is friendly and smiling and doing the chit chat thing with all the fans. Looks up at you, takes a picture if you want. Ya know...all the things that make for a good experience.

Ray Sheppard? Literally he is looking at his watch in between each autograph. Not ONCE did I see him look up at any of the fans. They ran a bit late, by about 45 minutes or so. And I hear him make a comment to one of his "people" that there is no way he staying over an hour. Makes no mention of the fact that they were almost 2 hours LATE getting to the venue. I tell him to keep up the great work and he just says "thanks". Didnt look up at me or anything. I could have been the President of the United States and he wouldnt have known.

He was just a complete ass. I know these guys have lives and I know they have burdens. But this was a SCHEDULED event. He agreed to this probably months in advance. I didnt walk up to him while he was having dinner with his family, I didnt invade his privacy at all. He agreed to do this signing and he should have given the fans the time of day and a few more smiles.

He was just a joke. Totally classless.

 

[mcphee]

I urinated beside Yvon Lambert in a Mtl. hotel bar a few years back. We didn't shake hands though. Nice guy, very genuine, talked hockey like a fan. We both washed our hands and went our separate ways. Don't ask the obvious question.

 

[DJmastamind]

GOOD
Walter Gretzky-Met him at the Gretzky Brampton Tournament in 1999. Sign a blade for me, very very nice, kind of quite, very polite.
Robert Lang-Met him at a penguins game, he was scratched that night, very funny, laughed, told jokes, great guy.

BAD
Jaromir Jagr-Met him at a card show, he was a jerk, didn't even talk, no hello, nothing, acted like he didn't want to sign, like he didn't want to be there at all.

 

[#66]

GOOD
Walter Gretzky-Met him at the Gretzky Brampton Tournament in 1999. Sign a blade for me, very very nice, kind of quite, very polite.
Robert Lang-Met him at a penguins game, he was scratched that night, very funny, laughed, told jokes, great guy.

BAD
Jaromir Jagr-Met him at a card show, he was a jerk, didn't even talk, no hello, nothing, acted like he didn't want to sign, like he didn't want to be there at all.

I just don't know what happened to Jagr. I remember meeting him as a rookie and thinking this kid has his head screwed on straight. He was so polite and always joking (even though his English was pretty bad). Right now he reminds me so much of a young Frank Mahovlich from the swooping rushes to his bitterness toward the game. While I know that "Punch" was a big problem in Mahovlichs life, Jagr always seems to be coddled by his teams. Its sad because he was on the fast track to being one of the best players ever.

 

[JFPIV]

I met Ed Johnston when he was scouting an IHL game for the Pens (Indy had the Hawk farm team for a few years). He has to have been one of the nicest people I have ever met. Talked with him for several minutes. Tuomas Gronman got traded from the Hawks to the Pens about five days later

Met Rick Patterson, Curt Fraser, Dirk Graham, and Denis Savard at different times. All were real good guys.

Brad Werenka was a real good guy.

Fred Knipscheer is a good guy.

Same goes for Tretiak. Shook his hand, the guy didn't need a glove to stop pucks, his hands were huge!

Met a bunch of Hawk "farmhands" over the years, most all were really good guys.

Bob Pulford, on the other hand was a raging *********!

 

[MissTeeks]

I remember meeting Darryl Sutter. I've spent a lot of summers working at a lumberyard. Darryl came in one day, while he was still with the Sharks. The guy was remodelling his house. He ordered some doors, then stuck around to have a coffee and talk to everybody. Hell of a nice guy.

My favourite part of this story happens the following Christmas. He was home for the Christmas break I guess and was in Camrose checking out the Viking Cup. Anyway, I'm talking to one of the guys from work, when we here his name being called. We look up and there's Darryl Sutter yelling at him. We go over there, he says how much he likes the doors he bought and introduces us to a bunch of scouts. It was pretty damn cool.

I saw Darryl Sutter at the Ponoka Stampede last summer. My friend and I were very excited that he was there. My friend's mom was sitting in the same box suite watching the Rodeo with him and told us she was sitting with him. She managed to get us autographs on our Rodeo programs, which was very exciting. He probably thought it was weird that three 23-year old girls were so excited about getting his autograph.

 

[Le Golie]

Jason Chimera - Total class act. Met him at a bar in Edmonton while on a road trip during the playoffs a few years ago. The Oilers were just eliminated by Dallas. He talked to my friends and I for at least half an hour. During that time some guy walked by him and yelled 'Hey Chimera, you cost me $50 in my hockey draft.' So Chimera pulls out his wallet and starts leafing through the bills. The guy started laughing and told him not to worry about it, but it was pretty funny.

A couple of hours later he was leaving the bar and he came a long way out of his way to say good bye to us and wish us a safe trip home. Very nice guy.

Eric Brewer was also a good guy that night, talked to us for a while. One of my joker friends was dressed up like Waldo that night so everyone in the bar was talking to us at some point.

Mike Comrie was around us because his friends were talking to us, and one of my friends tried to talk to him but he wasn't interested. So he came off as a bit of a jerk.

M-A Bergeron was there too. Waldo was walking up the stairs and Bergeron met him and said 'Hey Walnuts' and my friend said, 'hey man - you look like Bergeron' to which his response was 'I am.' That was the night of his legendary hipcheck, so all his teammates were ribbing him and so were we. He took it all pretty good, he came off as a nice guy.

Georges Laraque was a clown. In a good way. He was the life of the party and everyone was making fun of him. He gave it back all night. He's a very funny guy, loves being in the spotlight and he is good to fans.

Those are the guys that stood out for me. There were a whole bunch more there but they didn't leave an impression on me either way.

I also met Trevor Kidd at the World Juniors this past year. He looks like he's definitely got a-hole potential but surprizingley he was a very good guy.

From my Jets memories, Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminin were extremely nice guys. As a little kid they treated me very good and made me feel important. Ed Olzyck was nice too.

Tkachuk was a dick.

 

[Pure Slaughter Value]

Good:

Stefan Persson
Tommy Salo
Steve Webb
Kenny Jonsson
Mariusz Czerkawski
Scott Lachance
Ziggy Palffy (the highlight, a friend of mine was dating Salo and Palffy was always very quiet. One night he had more than a couple of drinks and was very smiley and running around the bar we hung out at).
Butch Goring was very nice and appreciated my compliments towards his coaching (the year before he was fired the Isles were wretched, but Butch had them keep fighting until the final horn, regardless of the score...it was a commendable effort by him to keep the 18 year olds mentally in the game)

Bad

Bobby Nystrom was arrogant as was Trottier.
Bryan McCabe: I didn't have boobs, so he didn't talk to me
Todd Bertuzzi: Was as arrogant as someone can be, especially given the way he was playing at the time (like he was 3' and 100lbs, instead of the physical monster he is now).
Alexei Yashin: Very, very nice but bland and boring. It's as if he had a stereotypical answer to anything anyone asked him about. He was great with the kids though.

 

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

Marcel Goc.. very friendly and polite. Great with the kids. Asked them tons of questions. Great guy

Christian Ehrhoff... also very nice. A lot like Goc, but maybe to a slightly lesser extent. Still a great guy.

Alexander Ovechkin... nice guy and polite a little shy.

Pavel Datsyuk... very shy and quiet, but was ok.

 

[MLH]

I've met most of the Sabres and the vast majority have been nice especially Biron, Campbell and Patrick. I met Dany Heatley after a Thrasher/Sabre game a couple of years ago and talked to him, ironically enough, about cars. He was really friendly and down to Earth. I've met Brad May in Muskoka a couple of times and he's a great guy.

I've only had two "bad" experiences. The first was when Miro Satan was talking to a team doctor after a game. I think it was in regards to some illness his girlfriend had and my friend and I way were waiting for him to finish his conversation to ask him for an autograph standing about 15 feet away. He glanced at us and waved us to come over. He then put his hand out and said "Pen?" so I gave him my pen. He then had me turn around so he could write on my back, copied down something the doctor said, put it in his pocket and gave me back my pen. The entire time it seemed that he thought he had a divine right to my pen. He eventually did sign something for us, but the entire situation was a little strange.

Secondly, was this year at the Bills/Steelers season finale. They have a gate for suite holders only so they can quickly get to their luxury boxes. This game, for whatever reason, they allowed anyone to go through this gate. I spotted Mike Peca who seemed a little pissed off that he had to wait in line with all the common fans. When we got through he was waiting for some friends who were still in the line so I went up to him and asked when they were going to stgart playing again. He said "I don't know, good question." and it was clear he was disinterested. I've never liked Mike Peca and this didn't really help. So I asked him if he was a big Bills fan and he said "Yeah, couldn't miss this game.". Finally, I asked him if he knew that the Bills played under a salary cap and he just kind of glared at me. I really don't like Mike Peca.

 

[balddog66]

Use to hang out in front of MLG when I was a teen...unfortunately most of the jerks didn't bother signing...but some did and were still jerks...

Best:

Petr Bondra kept talking to the point that the autograph hounds left
Doug Gilmour playing in a softball tournament in Kincardine...stood in the outfields with his bad knee signing autographs and talking to the crowd the whole time
Jason Smith and Steve Sullivan were talkers
Tomas kaberle signed Kaberle Tomas...welcome to North America
surprized by how pleasant Theo Fleury, Chris Pronger, Brett Hull, and Jari Kurri were
Lindros stayed after and Oshawa/Owen Sound game to sign autographs in the dressing room in OS after a junior game for an hour....
Kirk Maltby showing up for a house party at my house, my older brother gets us autographs and then asks the Platers to leave....lol
Walter Gretzky had to be pulled away at MLG because he wouldn't stop talking and signing(gretzky's last game there)
Sundin and Healy very giving

The jerks...
bryan berard pre-injury ran from the few autograph people...
Tie Domi...totally different guy when the camera isn't on him
Wayne Gretzky...totally ignored everyone and jumped into his cab....rumour has it however that he NEVER signs before a game...this was his last game at MLG
Ken Dryden will only sign to a person, not just his signature...actually I don't mind that...
I've heard Messier and Brodeur are very difficult
Jerks: all the guys that make you think they are going to sign and simply scribble something...yeah you Yushkevich....

 

[Puckclektr]

Wayne Gretzky...totally ignored everyone and jumped into his cab....rumour has it however that he NEVER signs before a game...this was his last game at MLG
QUOTE]
I don't blame him. I have seen Gretzky play many time at MLG. Most teams when they came out of the gardens had no problem getting on the bus as there weren't to many fans there. But Gretzky I remember when they came out the front door/by the alley, that it was packed from the front doors/Leaf Sport to the Hotel with people waiting to great him. I came within an inch of touching him. Just imagine how that would feel. Those where the days, running up and down the side alley waiting for the players to come out of their hotel(at the back, Wood St.) or arrive by taxi, bus, limo in the front.
Aside from that, what Dryden does is fair. Chelios does the same thing. Why should someone sell your name/signature and you not get any money. That way if it is personalized, you know the person is going to keep it.

 

[LadyByngJeanRatelle]

I know this isn't a hockey story...so it's definitely off topic. But I'll share anyways.

Years ago my family was in Las Vegas and the Indiana Pacers basketball team happened to be staying in the same hotel as us (didn't know why...no Las Vegas basketball team). Anyway, as they were leaving boarding their bus, my youngest brother who was probably 6-7 at the time, had a basketball that he wanted signed. Reggie Miller was walking with Mark Jackson, and my brother walked alongside the two asking for Reggie to sign his ball. R. Miller did not even glance over in my brothers direction. My brother continued asking, and the two ball players acted like he wasn't even there or they couldn't hear him. It was absolutely disgusting to have to witness that. Sorry if this post doesn't fit with the thread.