Montreal Canadiens

I haven't posted in awhile, but it isn't because I haven't been busy meeting celebrities and getting autographs. Things have changed a bit though. I realized that getting a picture with a hockey player isn't as important to me as it once was. There are still a few photos that I would get with players, but they would need to be in the right situations. When players come out in groups, it is hard enough to flip through photos to get signatures. There isn't time to get photos. I would still ask for a photo if I see a player one-on-one and there is someone around that doesn't still need autographs from that guy.

What does that all mean? Some of my blogs will be more photos than write-ups, and there will be less photos with hockey players.

There are few teams that are easy to access in Ottawa. Fortunately, the Montreal Canadiens are one of them.

Kirk Muller

Kirk is one of the assistant coaches of the Canadiens He used to play for the team and was a member of the Stanley Cup winning team in 1993. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup Final four games to one. The win denied Wayne Gretzky from becoming the first to captain two teams to the Stanley Cup.

Kirk is always a great signer. I showed him four photos and he signed them all in one shot.

Maxim Lapierre

Maxim is by far one of the nicest guys on the team. I think if I were to buy a Canadiens jersey, it might actually be his. Maxim signed two photos for me.

PK Subban

One of the future stars of the team and easily a fan favourite for his play. He used to be a much better signer but still did two for me.

Ryan O'Byrne

He doesn't play for the Canadiens anymore. He was traded to the Avalanche shorty after I got his photo signed. I only had one. I will always remember when he scored on his own open net while trying to pass to the goalie on a delayed penalty call.

Jeff Halpern

One of the new guys on the team this year. He was a bit of a douche.

Brian Gionta

The captain of the team. He signed two photos for me and seemed genuinely like a nice guy.

Carey Price

After much criticism in the off-season, Carey Price seems to have come around and show the potential the Canadiens thought he had when they drafted him. There isn't a goaltending controversy anymore in Montreal and Carey has prospered.

Roman Hamrlik

Roman wasn't a very nice guy. He didn't seem to want to sign anything, but I was able to get one photo signed by him. The followed day I grabbed a photo with him.

Alex Auld

Alex was a pretty cool guy. Not many people had anything for him to sign, but I got him on a photo and chatted him up a bit. We talked about his days on the old North Bay Centennials and chatted a bit about Ryan Armstrong.

Josh Georges

One of my favourite players on the team. He is great behind a microphone. He signed a couple of photos for me.

Tomas Plekanec

Not much to say about him. He didn't really seem too nice, but wasn't a douche either.

Jaroslav Spacek

Another one of the nicest guys on the team. It would be a toss up between him and Lapierre.

Mike Cammalleri

We ran into Mike Cammalleri by chance. He didn't go out to dinner with the rest of the team, but went for a walk by himself.

Scott Gomez

He singed a photo for me, and then signed a photo for Steve. He followed it up by dropping the sharpie in Steve's autograph. His graph is absolutely terrible when you see him on the street.

Benoit Brunet

Benoit is a former Canadien who was also a member of the 1993 Stanley Cup winning team. Shortly after his retirement, Brunet became a colour commentator and is now the main French-language colour commentatio alonside play-by-play man Pierre Houde for all Canadiens games.

This concludes my Montreal Canadiens blog. More will follow shortly.