Embarassing player encounters

[killer_carlson]

My step dad and I went into the golf dome to hit some balls one winter and I noticed the young guy at the next stall had a wicked set of clubs. I noticed the clubs because he had set them up wrong and they were encroaching onto our stall. then I realized it was Pavel Brendl, fresh off of his million dollar contract with the rangers and being back in Calgary after his draft year. He was in the stall behind us. He noticed that I noticed who he was and I gave him a polite nod. he smiled, nodded back. My stepdad didn't seem to care too much - he was a golf nut and that would have interrupted hitting balls.

He wasn't a very good golfer quite frankly. he swung pretty hard but you could tell he was new at it. It also helps explain his inexperience in where he put his bag.

In any event, in a moment that is still stuck in my brain (like time slowed down), pavel leaned forward to get something out of his bag. At the same time my step dad was working on his backswing for his new big bertha driver. Just as Brendle bent down, the long backswing went back and forward, and missed Brendle's face by mere centemeters. I still don't know how it didn't clunk him square in the head. I was shocked. Brendle didn't even notice because he was wearing a ball cap and didn't see it swing by his face or feel the breeze from the swing. My stepdad didn't notice either.

All I could think of was the headlines that the highest draftpick ever to come out of the Hitmen and a new millionaire hockey prospect had his career ruined because he lost an eye or broke his jaw at the golf dome. I just sat down in stunned silence for a few minutes watching the two of them hit balls, completely oblivious to the carnage that they both narrowly missed.

I've run into other flames/celebrities other times out and about, and I find a polite nod gets a better reaction than going up to them. they need their free time as well and to spend time with their friends and families.

[wireframe]

This isn't really my story, but here it goes anyway. My dad teaches at a high school in Calgary and TJ Galiardi was at the graduation dinner thing in the summer. He kept telling all the teachers that they should pick him in their pools because it was his contract year and his linemates were going to feed him for goals. He has 15 points in 35 games this season.

That story is more embarrassing for TJ than anyone else. He should not have told people about how many points he planned to score

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

I have two recent ones....

during the 2009 Playoffs vs Chicago, Craig Conroy started talking to me in line at Safeway, I wasnt going to say anything to him cause I thought he would want his privacy, I was wearing my Phil Housley Jersey and then just started talking my ear off! My girlfriend at the time was like "Oh, where do you know him from?" Cause it apparently appeared we knew each other.

My other was at Westside Rec Centre, I literally ran into Rene Bourque, and he was like "uhhh err ehh uhhh Sorry" and scurried off, he sounded ######ed!

[puckluck]

Met Wiemer and Warrener a while back while they were working out at NSD and I was playing ball hockey.

We invited them to come and play but Wiemer only came and took a few shots, and that's when I thought I had the skill to be an NHLer.

[black rubber disc bunny]

this took place ~10 years ago at a bar in Grand Cayman

Saku Koivu sits down at the bar.

Bartender friend of mine shoots the breeze with him a little then finally asks "so what do you do?"

Saku: "Oh, well I play for the Montreal Canadiens".

Completely clueless bartender friend: "so why aren't you playing then?"

Saku: "umm...I'm undergoing cancer treatments right now"

That was pretty much the end of the conversation but the look on my bartender friends face was priceless. I've never seen somebody want to retract a question as bad as he did.

[Knut]

When I was 8 yrs old my family and I were traveling back to Calgary from Disneyland. The Penguins were playing in Calgary the next night and Mario Lemieux and Dan Quinn were on our flight. My dad and I went up and got an autograph while waiting to board. Afterwards while in the plane Mario was sitting 3 rows behind us and when i walked by he said "hey bud" and gave me a high five. I ended up pretending to have to go to the washroom about 5 times during the flight so I could get another high five.

[stevejim73]

Back in 2006, I went to a Flames game in Detroit with a friend from work who was also a Flames fan. During the pregame skate, we run into another friend of mine who is also wearing a Flames jersey and he tell's me that he's sitting at the opposite end of the rink as us.

The Detroit Tigers had just finished their run to the 2006 World Series a few days before and during a 2nd period tv timeout, the PA annoncer says "Ladies and Gentlement, we have a special guest in attendance tonight, please give a warm welcome to Detroit Tigers Pitcher, Nate Robertson!"

My friend sitting next to me taps me on the shoulder and says "hey look, its your buddy!"
I look up at the big screen and my other friend, drunk and completely oblivious to the fact that he is sitting right infront of Nate Robertson, jumps up wearing his Flames jersey and starts frantically twirling around a Flames scarf! He filled up the whole big screen and completely blocked out the Tigers pitcher. The Detroit crowd didn't know whether to cheer their baseball hero or boo the drunken Flames fan. One of the funniest things I've ever seen at a live sporting event.

[THEflamesFAN]

I worked as a bartender at the ninth hole bar at Elk Ridge Golf and R.V. Resort in Waskesiu Lake, Sk. Dave Manson is a member there and we were in men's club together. My friend and i were somewhat famous in men's club as we were like 20 years old and both had bombs for drives, the old guys loved watching us tee-off first and would love to rip on us while shooting in order to psyche us out of course. My friend's dad was always very supportive of the both of us as he really expected us to be pros someday, and was bragging us up to Manson. Manson in his rough voice mentioned that he had a pretty long ball as well. We both went on to rip on him saying that he could never out-drive us and he should stick to Hockey etc. Super fun to mess around with a guy who'd obviously pound us to a pulp haha! Anyway, My friend tees off, flubs one into a tiny pond about ten yards away lol! My turn. I step up, confidence shaken as my friend completely shat the bed. Gripped it, ripped it. 300+ yards and went on to eagle the hole. Manson said that one of us might make the pros haha! Manson went next, same pond LOL!

Another Manson story. Sometimes I couldn't join men's club as I would have to work that shift, so I wound up serving the guys when they finished. Manson loves his rye and cokes after golf. He came in with the guys and stated buying drinks for everyone(myself included). His wife phone the bar looking for him and he waved his hands like "no, I'm already on my way home." So, I lied to his wife for him and said he was on his way home. He thanked me with a one-hundred dollar tip for doing it. time went by and she called again to ask how long ago he left, there he sat with another hundred in hand. I lied again. It happened 2 more times before she finally called her brother, who was the head pro at the course. He worked in the pro-shop and obviously didn't know what Dave or I were doing. He transferred the call to me and I answered. She just asked me how much he paid me and to put Dave on the line lol!! Needless to say, there was a lot of butt kissing over the phone, then Dave had to leave. He gave me another 20 bucks for getting caught and bought the whole bar the next round. Hell of a guy! Very loose with the cash lol!!

[Kaine]

Originally Posted by DrJ

I played on TJ Galiardi's team.

Let's just say our hockey development went in opposite directions

Heh I know the feeling. My younger brother was on his team at very low levels (tyke and novice I believe), but TJ quickly started to make teams far beyond his age as you know

[klikitiklik]

Never posted before but this is a pretty cool thread and I have an old story to tell.

Back when the Flames used to practice and play at the Corral(I was 10 or 11 at the time), my brothers and I would wait in the parking lot for autographs.

I went up to Brad Marsh's car, which at the time had Marsh, Phil Russell, and Paul Reinhart in it, and asked for some autographs. I started with Russell. My standard line as a 10 year old was to ask every player

"Hey, are you gonna score tonight Mr. ______?"

Reinhart and Marsh started howling when I asked Phil this and my older brother smacked me in the head and tells me to stop being a smart ass. Turns out that the Flames had lost a crucial game the night before.

Why? Because Phil had scored. On his own net.

Still got the autographs though! Great guys. they even let me sit in the car with them.

[robocop]

^^ that made laugh, good stuff.

[BergyBoy]

I was at Cowboys during Bacardi Gras and a bunch of the Flames came in. The big thing was having the beads and you know handing them out to girls. Anyways I am up at the bar, and I look behind the bar and it's Oliwa, he is opening boxes of beads and handing it to us going, "go see boobies." Hah.

[Yamer]

Some good stories, thanks everyone for the entertainment.

I have a few:

1) I will preface this first one by saying that I grew up in Trochu, Alberta. Only one person born and raised there has ever made it to the NHL, Kevin Haller. He won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993.

One summer when I was in high school, me and some friends went for a round of golf at the local course. We got there about 5 minutes after our tee time. We rushed to the tee and saw a pairing waiting for us to go first. As we passed them, two of us looked over to see that one of them was Kevin Haller. Now, he may be nobody special to anyone here, but this guy was and still is a hometown hero. So here we are, getting ready to tee off, and Kevin Haller is waiting patiently and watching us. I have never been more nervous in my life! I couldn't hear anything but my heart pounding as I prayed to God that I didn't make one of my patented slices. Thankfully, I hit the ball pretty solid right down the middle of the fairway. I hear Kevin over my shoulder say "Nice one", which I couldn't really appreciate at the time because I was a puddle of nerves.

We all agreed that we didn't want that pressure the rest of the round, and let them play through at the next hole.

2) Probably about 3 years ago I was at a Flames game and sitting in the SportChek zone. In the first intermission I went to the bathroom up there. I had just finished taking a leak and turned around to wash my hands, and who was freshening up? Peter Maher. I didn't know what to say, but I didn't just want to walk out of there without saying something. So I walked up to him and asked sheepishly, "Peter Maher?". He looked at me and said hi. I kind of blubbered the rest, and just basically said thank you 3 or 4 times for all the great years of listening to him on the radio. Just real kiss ass stuff. He acknowledged me like a gentleman, but when I left (and still do) I felt tremendously embarrassed. He probably just wanted to freshen up and get back to the booth, and some bearded jack-ass cornered him in the restroom. Either way, I met hall of famer Peter Maher.

3) Not an in-person experience, but funny nonetheless. My cousin, who is a damn dirty Oiler fan, was in Abbotsford during the Olympics in 2010 interviewing for a job. He likes hockey, but never followed it as closely as I have. He was in Vancouver trying to get a flight home. He called me from the airport, and the conversation went as follows.

Cousin: "Hey, guess who I am standing in the terminal with?"

Me: "Who?"

Cousin: "Olli Jokinen."

Me: "Seriously?"

Cousin: "Yeah. He's standing with what looks like his wife, and he has a bronze medal around his neck."

Me: "That's pretty awesome! Did you say anything to him?"

Cousin: "Well, I was going to shout out to him, but I couldn't think of his name until just before I called you. The only name I could think of was Saku Koivu, but I knew that wasn't right and didn't want to be all like 'Hey, Saku!'."

[Thumper17]

I was in grade 6, and we were in that reading program where u get bookmarks with hockey players on them. So Craig Conroy and Chris Drury (I'm pretty sure) came by. Had a thing with the class. Then gave autographs. I was nervous as hell and had a nice silk shirt on (don't ask) so i couldn't get that signed. I had them sign my pants. Hella awkward.


Then, at an airport me and my mom and two brothers were standing waiting to get through customs to go back into Canada. We were taking a while and the guy behind us looked antsy so I turned around and smiled and held up my hand like "Should be done in a minute.". I turned around and we finish, go through customs and as were walking out my brother turns to me and says "That was Ville Niemenen behind you."

Me: BBUUUWAAAAAHHHHH!?!

[J3FFR3Y]

I work in the housing industry as an Electrician so I get to know the city pretty well. Well, I was working kind of near SAIT in October of last year, there was this house across from the one I was working at, that looked to be recently renovated, and I would always see people coming and going into it. One day while I was taking a break sitting at my work van, I see this pretty tall built man with a kid walking right towards me and he points at me and says to his kid, say Hi to the nice man. The closer he got the more his ears stuck out to me. It was Robyn Regehr! I was so stunned at who it was I had no idea what to say and he just kept walking past me with his kid. I just gave him the "holy sh*t its robyn regehr" look. I think he knew I could tell it was him because he had a little grin on his face as he walked by. I was also wearing my flames shirt and hat. I thought it was pretty cool.

[THEflamesFAN]

Off-topic but, Yamer I think it was you that had the picture of the wizard from Ugly Americans right? Could you put up that pic again? Whenever I read your posts before, I always imagined it was that guy talking. If you go back and read some of your joke posts(keeping his voice in mind), they are hilarious!!

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by THEflamesFAN

Off-topic but, Yamer I think it was you that had the picture of the wizard from Ugly Americans right? Could you put up that pic again? Whenever I read your posts before, I always imagined it was that guy talking. If you go back and read some of your joke posts(keeping his voice in mind), they are hilarious!!

It was. Leonard from Ugly Americans. I may go back to him after I get my Conroy love in.



Magic!

It's strange how you picture posters a certain way from their avatar. I always read KootenayFlamesFan's posts with Newman's voice.

[THEflamesFAN]

LOL me too! And forget his name but the guy that had Norm from Cheers too!

[lifetimefan]

Kipper goes to watch his kid play, whenever he's not on the road. The adults generally leave him be. Only the kids go to get autographs, and Kipper is really cool about it. True class act and a great guy.

[CaptainYooh]

I've got a few funny encounters. Here's one:

A few years ago, I was invited to a dinner at the Sheraton Hotel honouring the Seaman brothers. The entire Calgary Flames organization was there to support late Doc's charitable cause - Project NeuroArm, I believe it was called. So, before the dinner, all players were hanging out in the lobby mingling with the guests and then I saw Kipper sitting quietly in the corner all alone. I came over to him, introduced myself and told him that both my son and I are huge fans etc. He thanked me. I said how I wish that my son could be with me at that moment. And then all of a sudden he said: "Why don't you call him?". I didn't make him ask twice. I phoned home and told my son that Miikka Kiprusoff wants to talk to him. He, of course, didn't believe me but said OK. So, Kipper talks to him a few minutes about school, about hockey and then gives me my cell phone back with my boy still on the phone. What I heard was:"OK, that was BS, Dad, he didn't even sound like Kiprusoff!" I turned to Miikka and said that my son didn't buy it. So Kipper says let's take a picture together on your phone. I say:"Great idea!" and ask the guy standing next to us to take a photo for us. He turns around and it's Rhett Warrener talking to Lombardi, Goddard, Nystrom and Primeau. He looks at me in mock disbelief and retorts: "Do I look like a photographer? I am a hockey star! I should BE in that photo, not taking it!"... So, I'm starting to mumble that I have to prove to my son that he really did talk to Kipper and so on and so forth... Warrener listens sceptically, says:"OK, it sounds pathetic enough", and takes a picture. Then he handles the phone over to me and waits a second and goes:"So, you're not even gonna ask me for one?" And all the players around us just broke in laughter. This was absolutely hilarious.