Remember my Todd McLellan signed Sharks photo from a couple of weeks ago? If not... here's a link to my other Shark Hunting experience.
Well today the San Jose Sharks training camp opened up and I was able to collect a bunch of autographs. Here's a before and after shot of my Sharks photo:
Before
After
At first it looks like a bunch of scribbles in silver Sharpie... but upon closer inspection you'll notice I picked up several autographs of key players, including Sharks legend and developmental coach, Mike Ricci and newly acquired Brent Burns, Michal Handzus, and Martin Havlat. Other players who will also be there on the opening night roster are Torrey Mitchell, Frazer McLaren, and Thomas Greiss.
The rest are younger prospects or other players I don't know too much about. In fact, I spent about 45 minutes trying to figure out who was who on the photo... and I still can't identify one of the signatures - the one written across the JOSE right about the word SHARKS. If anyone has a clue... please let me know.
Now, if you're wondering where some of the bigger names are... well, I decided to get them on 8x10's that will hopefully one day grace my office walls.
Dan Boyle
Ryane Clowe
Logan Couture
Douglas Murray
Joe Pavelski
Joe Thornton
I missed out on a few of the bigger names... for one reason or another.
As I drove up, Antero Niittymaki was leaving. One of the guys told me he left early since he's injured and didn't participate in the practice. Patrick Marleau also slipped my grasp... as he quietly left a side door while one of the other players was signing for us. Patty has always been one of the fan favorites, because he's very personable and a willing signer... so I'm sure I'll be able to get his "current" signature one of these days. I say current, because I met him in person years ago in the late 90's... when he was fairly new to the Sharks.
The only other guys I wanted, but didn't get were Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Antti Niemi. One of the employees told us that Pickles was feeling under the weather and I'm not too sure about Niemi. One of these days I'd like to get Niemi to sign an 8x10 that I have of him... but for now, I'll have to survive with my autographed puck from a couple of weeks ago.
I'm looking forward to going out there again sometime soon. There were about thirty other autograph seekers today, and I'm assuming the numbers will only increase as the season opener draws nearer. But it was totally worth it to have the chance to say "hello" and meet the players on my hometown hockey team.
Well... I'm going to retire for the evening, because believe it or not, autograph seeking is actually a lot of work. We spent over four hours standing in the sun, but it was worth every minute.
Oh... and one more thing... a huge thanks to my buddy Mike for providing me with all of the photos in exchange for a silver Sharpie and a strawberry-something from Jamba Juice. Domo arigato Mike!
Question of the day...
Are you a hockey fan? If so... which team(s) do you cheer for?
Have a great weekend everyone...
I'm off to go watch Star Wars: Episode 1 on Blu-ray, which arrived in the mail today. Sayonara!
15 comments:
I haven't watched a hockey game since the Av's won their first Stanley Cup trophy. But now that I have cable again, I may have to watch some games. And those autos are really great.
sick score Fuji. We miss Burns here in Minny but can't wait to watch Heatley!
Ducks. Ducks. Ducks.
congrats! We share a team at least for hockey. Go Sharks!
Got that Star Wars DVD today here in Australia. Nice lot of Auto's you've pulled there!
I generally cheer for the Bruins (I'm a Boston guy after all), BUT I do have a soft spot in my heart for San Jose since you guys now have two ex Ice Cats (Handzus and Jamal Mayers)!
Oh nevermind, Mayers signed with the Blackhawks in the offseason. Still got Handzus though so that's cool!
eric l - thanks eric... those were some awesome years for av's fans... sakic is still one of my all-time favorite players.
schwang17 - thanks... don't forget that you guys also have my favorite player seto. i think those two trades will help both teams out.
zakwin - oh how i dislike the ducks ducks duck... but they're not as bad as the wings wings wings
ccc - i think this is the year they make it over the hump... so hopefully 9 months from now we'll be celebrating the sharks first stanley cup victory. then again, i always have this feeling ;-)
mini groover - thanks... as for star wars, i was bummed that i didn't get it friday, since i preordered it way in advance. oh well... gonna watch #2 later today.
spastik - i liked mayers too... and we're excited to have handzus on the team. he should fit nicely on our third line with mitchell & mcginn.
do I like hockey??? really?
Montreal baby!
oh, and tell me if the blurays suck as much as everyone says they do. I wish Lucas would've just left everything alone instead of doing all those changes....
captain - so far, so good. i'm not a fan of change, but i make the exception with star wars. even if the blu-ray sucks, i need it for my star wars pc. it'll fit in nicely with my vhs, laser-disc, and dvd collection. now if i could only get my hands on a betamax copy of the movie.
I have been to a couple of Preds games, they are only a couple of hours away. Always a lot of fun.
You are on the clock in my draft contest if you want to pop over and pick a prize
Leaf fan all the way--nice IP's--think the mystery one could be James Livingston--kind of hard to -tell though-Go Leafs Go
jaybarkerfan - thanks for the reminder... i've been so busy that i forgot about the contest.
kazi - can't go wrong being a fan of an original six team. i found a copy of livingston's auto on ebay and it doesn't match up... i guess it's possible the puck on ebay is a fake.
thanks for the assistance.
Have you tried getting Adrenalyn XL cards signed for the Sharks?
mini groover - i'm not sure what adrenalyn xl cards are. i've seen posts about them, but thought they were some kind of game or virtual cards. i'll have to see if i can find a picture of them online. are they good for getting autographs?
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