Nicest and rudest NHLers you've met - Page 8 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

peter12 · 03-19-2011, 02:47 PM

Gelinas by a landslide.

In 2004, during the Cup run, my brother had an accident and damaged several vertebrae on his spinal cord and required emergency surgery of the most invasive kind, involving bone grafts, a body cast for several months, and severe nerve damage that left him in all sorts of pain.

He was pretty low, you understand. He was on morphine, and some other anti-histamine that countered his allergic reaction to the drug, and basically spent two months laid out on a hospital bed drifting in and out of consciousness.

My mom arranged something with the Flames for a player or coach to come down to the hospital. Flames management said they would send a player, but they weren't sure which one, and that it would only be for a few minutes. The day comes, and it's Martin Gelinas, who specifically volunteered for "sick kid" requests. He ended up bringing a signed jersey, all sorts of Flames stuff, and stayed talking with my brother for about 60 minutes, and then later on, when my brother was mobile and more recovered, had his wife take him to a Flames game.

Definitely one of the best, and I was very disappointed when he left Calgary.

albertGQ · 03-19-2011, 02:53 PM

^^^
Wow, that's an awesome story peter12

Some athletes don't know how much impact they have on kids. Others (Iggy, Conroy), do.

dissentowner · 03-19-2011, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Uh... no. I fully believe the guy who said that Regehr was grouchy last year when he was struggling, but all the over-sensitive fans say Regehr is "rude" because he's not as talkative as Iginla or Lanny MacDonald. Look above at what people are defining rude, its not rude. Absence of smiles and hugs is not rude, being a non-tipper or insulting someone is rude.

I met Martin Gelinas once, said hi to him and he didn't say hi back. I don't consider that rude, if he had to smile and hug every single fan that says hi to him, he would never get anywhere. Now Theo Fleury smoking in a restaurant and when being told to stop, saying "Do you know who I am?" - now that is rude.

Where did I say he was rude? You took us off topic again for that? The umm...no says it all. Another Phanuthier trolling quality post folks.

These are the type of posts I am tired of reading, obvious bait and troll posts.

albertGQ · 03-19-2011, 02:58 PM

When I was at the Flames poker tournament a couple years ago, I'd have to say Conroy was easily the nicest. We joked that a big reason we were both losing in our fantasy hockey pools is because we thought Olli Jokinen would light it up in Phoenix when he got traded from Miami. Then, a couple weeks later, Olli and Craig are teammates!

P-DAZZLE · 03-19-2011, 03:10 PM

Didn't read the whole thread but because of the trend over the first couple pages I just wanted to say that I met Regehr at Cowboys, and he was nice and friendly to me, and every other person I saw approach him.

I also met Conroy when he was playing for the Kings in Calgary downtown on the day of a game. Conroy was super nice and friendly, no surprise there. The surprise was Sean Avery was with him and had no problem just standing there on the street and even jumped into the conversation a couple times. The third player there I think was Frolov but I am not sure to this day, he said nothing and I got the impression his English wasn't good enough at the time to know what we were saying.

albertGQ · 03-19-2011, 03:16 PM

I met Regher at Cowboys once too. I didn't really talk to him but he was wearing Warrener's shoes. They had the Buffalo Sabres logo on them. lol. It was pretty funny actually.

CaptainYooh · 03-19-2011, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBrodieFan

... I would really love to meet Iggy, I think he's a definite class act- love him! Maybe some day!

Don't bet on it. These days he acts like a very rich celebrity protecting his impeccable image (yes, I know, he is a very rich celebrity). A polite, wide smile, concise, nice but meaningless responses. If you noticed, he pretty much always covers his mouth when talking on the bench with other players. I had a chance to meet him and even had a chat for a few minutes. Nice, but not at all cordial, open and sincere.

zunie75 · 03-19-2011, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Don't bet on it. These days he acts like a very rich celebrity protecting his impeccable image (yes, I know, he is a very rich celebrity). A polite, wide smile, concise, nice but meaningless responses. If you noticed, he pretty much always covers his mouth when talking on the bench with other players. I had a chance to meet him and even had a chat for a few minutes. Nice, but not at all cordial, open and sincere.

So what are you expecting from a guy who is basically a complete stranger? You want him to sit down and discuss his family? His life experiences? Invite you to his summer house? Cry on your shoulder?

His "meaningless responses" are all that he owes to us. We shouldnt expect him to bare his soul. Just be thankful that he gives you a smile and a polite response at all.

albertGQ · 03-19-2011, 03:31 PM

I've met Iggy a couple times. But the most memorable was after his 2nd ever NHL game.

People like to say how rabid Flames fans are, but that triple OT game against the Hawks where we ended up losing and getting swept, people were leaving in droves. By the time the winning goal was scored, the crowd was pretty sparse. In fact, I ended up right behing Tabaracci on the GWG because there were rows of empty seats.

Regardless, we stayed late after the game and got autographs from the Hawks' players. When the bus left, we went back in the Dome (we were waiting for our ride), and saw Iggy. We got his autograph and chatted with him for a bit. He just seemed pretty happy that we recognized him and wanted to talk to him

Buff · 03-19-2011, 03:36 PM

I've met Rich and Ron Sutter (never seen them together). They are both great guys. Especially Ron.

I extremely dislike Kris Versteeg. Not sure about Setoguchi, I assume he really likes to party as I've only met him while he was very hungover. Met a few Lethbridge Hurricanes, many who became fringe NHL players. Dominic Pittis was pretty cool. Jaimie McLennan was a great guy. Met Byron Ritchie when he was a teenager and back then he was a colossal, arrogant, cocky jerk. There's more, I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

My wife met Grant Fuhr and doesn't have one nice thing to say about him. She got to meet a few Oilers while attending the U of A. Ryan Smyth seemed arrogant and not all that smart. Frank Musil was a funny guy, and Doug Weight was alright too. I can't remember what she said about the others she got to meet. There were a few, but not a lot of negative comments for the rest.

IamNotKenKing · 03-19-2011, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacGruber

Robyn Regehr. Seemed like a bit of a jerk to me. His brother however, was super super nice.

Reggie has been great every time I've met him.

I golfed with Reinprecht in the Flames' tourney quite a few years ago, and he would come up and chat with me whenever he saw me after that. Great guy.
Golfed with Lanks two years ago, and while he is shy, after a few holes he opened up pretty good.
I generally only every run into Flames at events, and they are generally great. Moss also remembers me from poker one year, and will come over and strike up a conversation with me, rather than me having to do it.
Might be hard to believe, but the Dion was great at these events, too. Very supportive of whatever cause it was.
Ran into Gelinas in Kelowna the summer of 04, he was with his family so I didn't chat him up too much, but he seemed happy to chat. Same day ran in to Trevor Linden, and handed him a sleeve of Flames golf balls. He actually thought that was pretty funny.
Jarome's always been great, Conny is Conny...I could go on. I really have never had any of them be A-holes to me.

Funny story was re: Special Ed (Jovo). Was in Seattle at a Tragically Hip concert in the fall of '04. Started a Go Flames Go chant towards his general direction. A ton of people joined in, and eventually he did too. We chatted for a while, and when I asked what he was going for the lock out, he patted his gut and simply said "getting fat". He was good that night.

albertGQ · 03-19-2011, 03:43 PM

I actually served Ron Sutter a couple weeks ago.
He was with his wife so I didn't chat him up until he went up to pay.
I asked him if he was Rich or Ron and he told me Ron.
I asked him if he came over from Florida (forgot that it was Duane), he said no and that he's been with the Flames longer than any Sutter
I asked "Even Brian"?
His reply "Oh. Except for him. I forgot about Brian".
LOL

I should've asked him if Darryl and Brent have talked to each other recently. Ha ha

H2SO4(aq) · 03-19-2011, 03:53 PM

- Cammilleri is a great guy, very nice and seemed genuinely interested about meeting fans.

- Nystrom is just a pure sick beauty. bought me and my buddies a bunch of drinks and hung out with us at the bar for about 30 minutes, just shootin the breeze. Also he chirped Burrows and said how he runs his mouth and never backs it up, wont drop the mitts.

- Warrener was not much fun.

- St. Louis is a dbag

- Lecavalier, Thornton, Weber all were pretty quiet, seemed to be quite arrogant.

united · 03-19-2011, 03:55 PM

Top notch: Brouwer, Conroy, Dana Tyrell, Giordano, Commodore, Phaneuf (seriously), Iginla, Warrener, Nystrom, Cammalleri, Brent Sutter, Sarich.

Bad: Regehr, Nolan, Langkow, Versteeg.

All based on two or more occasions.

Most guys are cool if you treat them with respect and like a normal person. Try not to gush over them like a pre-teen, and make an effot to talk about things other than hockey (in addition to hockey) and usually they are happy to have a quick conversation. Sometimes you catch guys on bad days too, everyone has them, so don't take it personally if you get brushed off.

albertGQ · 03-19-2011, 03:58 PM

I met MAF at the Roadhouse years ago before he even made the NHL. He was impressed that I even recognized him.

I told him he looked like MAF, and as soon as he talked, I knew it was him

Diemenz · 03-19-2011, 03:58 PM

Warrener has been nothing but a class act the times I have met him, my wife delivered his baby a few years back.

I completely and utterly agree with St. Louis, he is a prick.

CaptainYooh · 03-19-2011, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zunie75

So what are you expecting from a guy who is basically a complete stranger? You want him to sit down and discuss his family? His life experiences? Invite you to his summer house? Cry on your shoulder?

His "meaningless responses" are all that he owes to us. We shouldnt expect him to bare his soul. Just be thankful that he gives you a smile and a polite response at all.

Not at all, don't exaggerate. Why sould I be thankful to him? His way of life, wealth and celebrity status are all paid for by the hockey fans. He is good at what he does and gets paid accordingly. However; the celebrity status comes with a huge burden of social responsibilities. I believe that one of those responsibilities is being genuinely thankful to the fans. Not just a tired and fake polite smile but a sincere thankfulness. Kipper and Warrener didn't invite me to their summer houses but my short encounters with them have been nothing but cordiality, sincerity and good laughs; in short, great memories to share with other fans. Encounter with Iginla was none of the above.

hansmoleman · 03-19-2011, 04:28 PM

Met some of the flames at ceilis on st pattys day, really hate to say it but backlund was kind of a dink. maybe because it was his birthday or he was sick of being bothered but he wasnt too friendly. warrener was there and he was very friendly, nice guy.

jeremywilhelm · 03-19-2011, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Not at all, don't exaggerate. Why sould I be thankful to him? His way of life, wealth and celebrity status are all paid for by the hockey fans. He is good at what he does and gets paid accordingly. However; the celebrity status comes with a huge burden of social responsibilities. I believe that one of those responsibilities is being genuinely thankful to the fans. Not just a tired and fake polite smile but a sincere thankfulness. Kipper and Warrener didn't invite me to their summer houses but my short encounters with them have been nothing but cordiality, sincerity and good laughs; in short, great memories to share with other fans. Encounter with Iginla was none of the above.

Some fans sense of entitlement is absolutely pathetic.

Beerfest · 03-19-2011, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Not at all, don't exaggerate. Why sould I be thankful to him? His way of life, wealth and celebrity status are all paid for by the hockey fans. He is good at what he does and gets paid accordingly. However; the celebrity status comes with a huge burden of social responsibilities. I believe that one of those responsibilities is being genuinely thankful to the fans. Not just a tired and fake polite smile but a sincere thankfulness. Kipper and Warrener didn't invite me to their summer houses but my short encounters with them have been nothing but cordiality, sincerity and good laughs; in short, great memories to share with other fans. Encounter with Iginla was none of the above.