Embarassing player encounters

[ricosuave]

I bumped into Gary Roberts as he was coming out of our chiropractic office back in the mid-90s.

That's right. I said chiropractic.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

I had grabbed Mcsorley and threw him off a guy. Mcsorley was talking to me after that and saying things like he was glad that there are not guys like me in the NHL or he would be out of a job.

I'm a massage therapist and Kristian Huselius was in. After his happy ending he said he was glad there aren't guys with hands like mine in the NHL or he'd be out of a job.

[Buster]

I've got a few:

1. My old man is a fighter pilot. Huge Hawks fan. Back in the days when teams used to fly commercial (early 90's), we were waiting for a flight at the gate in Vancouver. My dad was buried in a book, but my mum noticed a "bunch of nicely dressed young men" walk into the gate area. It was the Hawks, and they took up a bunch of the plane. My dad was sitting beside Iron Mike and Chelios. Anyway, dad asked them about something at some point and, being polite, they asked what he did. When he told them he flew F-18's and 104's for a living, they freaked out. Dad spent the entire flight to LA regaling the guys with fighter pilot stories (which are as good, if not better, than hockey player stories). By the end of the flight he had about 6 NHL players hanging off his every word. It's surprising to be confronted with your "hockey heroes" only to have the tables flipped. Half of them said they would trade in their skates for a fighter pilot job in a second....doubt that would be the same nowadays with plugs making millions.

2. A friend of mine used to live with Warrener (they were friends as kids). Five or six years ago, during an evening of drinking, we needed to go back to by buddy's house (Warrener's house) so he could change out of his work clothes. No one was home when we got there, so he went down to change. At that point, I thought it might be a good idea to rummage for a beer in Rhett's beer fridge. Like a bad sitcom, Rhett picked just that moment to walk in the door from dinner. It's not fun when you confront an NHL hockey player in his own house, looking the better part of a drunken home invader. I think the timely re-appearance of my buddy might have saved my life. My girlfriend and buddy's girlfriend showed up not long after and made fools of themselves. Which is a story for another day.

3. I went to business school with MacT. Great guy, and got to know him pretty well, actually. Those stories will have to stay in the box, however. It is weird when you get to know someone famous outside of the public context, then walk around with them in public. I'd forget that he was famous, until we went out to a bar, and constantly got bothered by everyone and their dog. MacT was always pure class. It's obvious these guys get used to it...but I have a lot more respect for guys that do it right (Iggy, Connie, etc)...because it got tiresome for me and I had to barely deal with it. Of course, people look at you wondering if you're anybody they should recognize...hah.

[FlamingInfinity]

I remember back when I was about 7 or 8, and was visiting the Calgary Zoo for a day. I happened to be in the reptile house and there was a huge crowd around one of the windows. A constrictor or a python was just curled up, soaking up the heat rays, doing its thing... Anyways, it was feeding time and one of the zoo hands placed the food inside, and the snake wasn't having any of it. Tried to move the rat to make it look like it was alive, and still nothing. I looked up and to my left and who do I see? Joe Niewendyk just casually looking on with the crowd.

I left the section shortly thereafter and knew I recognized him from somewhere, and it didn't hit me until later that it was Joe. Kinda mad I didn't recognize who he was when I was right beside him.

[drewboy12]

Lanny McDonalds daughter played volleyball with my sister in high school. I was always to shy to talk to him, so at her tournaments I would just slowly make my way over and sit beside him every game. Never once spoke to him. Sat beside him about 20 times.

[Mr.Coffee]

Ooook thats starting to venture into creepy territory a bit. Why didnt you say anything? They're just hockey players. Id ask him if I could get a deal on a dodge.

[drewboy12]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Not really an embarassing story, but after the US vs Finland and Canada vs Slovakia semifinals at the 2010 Olympics, my friend and I were walking around the Vancouver airport waiting for our flight back to Calgary.

We went by one of the security checkpoints and Scotty Bowman walks by. I turn to my friend and say, "That was Scotty Bowman." He says, "No way man, let's go get a picture."

At first I said no, I didn't want to bug him or whatever. But my friend convinced me otherwise by saying, "Dude, how often are you going to get the chance to meet Scotty ****ing Bowman?"

We basically sprinted through the airport to catch up to him, Scotty moves so fast for an old guy. When we finally did, I was so out of breath, I approached him and chatted for a minute. Asked if he wouldn't mind taking a quick picture, and he obliged. He did not accept my offer of 1/2 my yearly salary to come work for the Flames.



1,248 coaching wins, 12 Stanley Cup rings, and a classy guy.

Taken by yours truly. The friend who convinced to chase the old bugger down, and only was willing to take one picture. lol.

[Beerfest]

I see Flames players/staff at the golf course I work at/am a member at sometimes.

This past season I saw Iginla a few times, Staios, Conroy, Warrener, McGratton and Ken King.

All good experiences.

Ill post a couple others ive had in a bit.

[drewboy12]

Also not an embarrassing player moment. But watching the warm up for the Finland USA game at the Olympics, my friend says "thats Jokinens parents".... I asked how did he know and he said, "dude that guy looks identical to him".... So with the little Finnish i know i asked if they were in fact his parents, and if I could get a picture".

A friend of mine has sent the picture to Jokinen to be autographed!

[Mr.Coffee]

Is she wearing a seat belt?

[danimal]

I don't usually post on these but I was laughing so much at this thread that I had to. And yes, I realize it's an old one. Back in early '94, Sportchek had a bunch of Flames players autograph signings. I met Sandy McCarthy, Al MacInnins, and Joel Otto - all nice guys but MacInnis was by far the nicest. I collected hockey cards at the time and one of the signings was at the Avenida Sportcheck with Trevor Kidd and Trent Yawney. I had a Trent Yawney hockey card but no Trevor Kidd because he was a rookie. I walked in and there was literally NO ONE in line. At the other signings the lineups were out the door. This one I was able to walk up and get my Trent Yawney Blackhawks card signed in about 30 seconds. Kidd just sat there like a putz, looking miserable the whole time. He looked even more dejected when I pocketed my Yawney card and walked away. My dad was with me and he told me I should go back and get "the other guy's autograph" so I slunk back to Kidd. He grabbed a picture from a stack of Calgary Sun action shots and angrily scribbled his signature. I never really like him before but I hated him after that, especially because he proved to be the most over rated, over hyped player in Flames history. Well, top 5 anyway.

[Hack&Lube]

Hamilton and Bennett (or at least Bennett's dad) lived in my building.

When I saw them in the elevator in the morning, I could clearly see the look of "oh you recognize me" in their eyes but I just said "good morning" and they didn't reply back. I pushed my floor and faced the door awkwardly.

[Hack&Lube]

A friend of mine told the story of an experience during a Flames training camp month (which was the first for some now widely-recognized players). At the time, they were unknowns but she was a big hockey fan.

She was leaving her doctor's office downtown and turned around from the front desk to walk out when her chin slammed into somebody's forehead. She looked down and said: "oh you're that new player, Johnny Gaudreau... sorry I didn't see you there!"

[jg13]

Not my story but in Johnnys rookie year, he and a few of the other Flames went to the Childrens Hospital to meet with sick kids and my friend who is a nurse saw him in the lobby wearing a Flames jersey and went up to him and said "Wow you must be excited to meet the Flames today! You got your jersey on and everything!" And he replied "I'm on the team."

Pretty classic.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by jg13

Not my story but in Johnnys rookie year, he and a few of the other Flames went to the Childrens Hospital to meet with sick kids and my friend who is a nurse saw him in the lobby wearing a Flames jersey and went up to him and said "Wow you must be excited to meet the Flames today! You got your jersey on and everything!" And he replied "I'm on the team."

Pretty classic.

I actually heard that before!

[Young_Guns]

Had nosebleed tickets to a game back around 2008 or so. By the end of the game I was #####faced and had to take a piss. I somehow ended up in a box suite that Lanny was in. I interrupted his conversation and got somebody to take a pic of Lanny and I. On the way out I grabbed a pulled pork sandwich off one of the tables in the suite...still got the pic lol.

[foshizzle11]

Originally Posted by jg13

Not my story but in Johnnys rookie year, he and a few of the other Flames went to the Childrens Hospital to meet with sick kids and my friend who is a nurse saw him in the lobby wearing a Flames jersey and went up to him and said "Wow you must be excited to meet the Flames today! You got your jersey on and everything!" And he replied "I'm on the team."

Pretty classic.

That has to be one of the crappiest but funny situations for Johnny. So classic.

I don't have an embarrassing story but we met a bunch of the flames players in 2003. We were staying at the Westin in Edmonton while playing in a tournament and all the flames were there. We got to meet and talk to pretty much all the team without anyone else around, no press, no fans, it was so cool. Jarome Iginla has to be one of the nicest guys around. I think I spoke with him the longest. Some of my teammates didn't really follow the flames so they were a bit surprised at how nice they all were to give us, non-hockey players some of their time.

One year at the flames golf classic, we were "caddies". I played for the U of C Dinos and all the varsity athletes could volunteer to be a caddy for the groups of 6 that were in the tournament. Well, I guess this wasn't past onto the tournament organizers properly and we had to squeeze into the golf carts with the golfers so we could tag along, I was embarrassed, not the players. I didn't do much caddying, just getting in the way a lot. But my group was pretty awesome. The flames gave away a lot of gift cards for the Flames Fan-Attic to the golfers, I left with $250 in gift cards as my tips for "caddying". Fun day. One of the flames owners was the guy giving them away. I don't remember who now, but I remember it was him who was very generous. Overall a great day. Nothing embarrassing but always a great time when meeting the team. No matter what generation of players have been around.

[Five-hole]

Way back in '04 or '05, we were on 17th on Halloween weekend. We notice a group of Flames crossing the street which included Iggy and Warrener, so we went up to say hi. There were a few others who I don't remember now. I remember those two because Iggy hit on my sister, and Warrener was dressed as a duck and was absolutely wasted.

[BeltlineFan]

I worked on a two man crew with a pretty quiet guy about six years ago. He didn't say much at all then one day spewed out a story in the truck:

"So my uncle is Daymond Langkow. The day I graduated from high school he phoned to congratulate me and said I should come down to Cowboys to see him. I took my friend and we met Daymond in the VIP section. Iggy was there. Regehr was there. Phaneuf was there. Daymond told them we just graduated and they all congratulated us.

It sounds pretty far fetched, but I want to believe it's true so bad.


MOD EDIT: No inflammatory stories please.

[Inferno]

Technically I didn't meet him and I'm not sure if I would classify it as embarrassing rather than cool that he actually acknowledged me but the first time I ever got to see the Flames play was in Winnipeg in the early 90s.

So me and my parents are sitting by the boards watching warmup and I'm watching Fleury who was my favorite player and all of a sudden I hear a loud boom next to my head that stuns me and turns me ghost white. There comes Al MacInnis skating up to me laughing and then shrugging his shoulders as he says "sorry".