After complaining about how much I wanted to meet the Red Wings and possibly go to training camp I decided to attend HockeyFest this year. For the first time it was all messed up because they oversold on tickets and autograph lines were just a mess. But I got to hang out with my internet friends and meet some of my favorite players so it all worked out.
So I got at the Joe around 10 because thats when the doors opened and autographs were supposed to start at 10:30 but that did not happen. But when I walked in I met up with my friend and we decided to do a locker room tour. I have never done a tour at the Joe and never got to do something like this with a NHL team so I was pretty excited.
I went in and of course the first stall I took a picture of was Darren Helm's. The one random thing I wanted to saw was a softball that was just sitting there. I just want to know why it was there even though it would probably be stupid but whatever. Other stalls I got was Luke Glendening's and Johan Franzen's. And it smelled like dirty feet but then again it is a hockey room and could smell worse.
After that short but fun little tour we walked around the Joe for a good hour before we realized that autographs probably wouldn't start for another hour and we still did not know who was where because it was basically a little hunt to find the players. So my friend decided to take me and show me the press box where one day I will be able to broadcast a live game there. I thought it was cool was a little cramp but hey I would not mind.
View from pressbox
Then autographs still did not start so we headed onto the floor and try to see if maybe any of the players were walking around before hand. But we found out that Danny DeKeyser and Kyle Quincey were doing a Q and A session so we listened in on tha. Before we headed over there they walked right past us and my mood quickly changed. We listened in and it was kinda funny but Quincey was getting uncomfortable and being picky with his words on the questions asked about Mike Babcock but he quickly changed around when people started joking and commenting on his beard. DeKeyser was a little quiet and was mostly asked on why he cut his hair and if he has created rivals from playing college hockey at Western Michigan.
During the middle of the session my dad got into Niklas Kronwall's line and I just snuck up to him and switched with my mom to try and get my jersey signed.When we got up there we saw that he brought his son Doug who is a little cutie. But it still a little frustrating because everyone wanted to play with Doug and he was not sitting still causing the line to move slower. And of course as I got closer they cut the line off six people ahead of me which meant I was going to meet a different player. The player that came after him was Drew Miller so I was not that disappointed even though i got his autograph on the shirt I brought to get sign.
They told us that the players were only signing at each stand for an hour so I thought I would get back in line because a new player would go there. By the time I got back down there it was still Drew Miller but my friends did not meet him so I just had him sign my ticket even though he gave me a confusing look. After that we started walking and saw Jonathan Ericsson but they would not let us in line because they cut it off. So then we made it to stand 3 where people said Jimmy Howard was going to be. My friend is obsessed with him so we headed towards his line.We were the first section seated so we would see him first. So while we were waiting my friend and I saw Riley Sheahan and Brian Lashoff getting ready to play hockey with the little kids and my friend Emilee and I decided to go down there and try to get a picture but when we got down there we got yelled at and just got back in line. They let the gold ticket people go first as always and we waited and waited and waited and we were not getting told to head up there. After a few minutes we looked behind us and saw that they were letting people who were sitting the the 200 level before us which was even more fustrasting. After a few complaints we were ushered up to the line.
Then we walked around to find more players and he saw Luke Glendening playing air hockey with people. But once again by the time we got there he was getting ready to go to his table to do a signing so we just followed him there. His line probably was the fastest behind Miller's and he is such a sweetheart.
While we were waiting in line we heard
that Riley Sheahan was at a different stand doing autographs and it was towards
the end of signings so we thought for sure that we were going to make it. By
the time we go there they kept reminding us that once it hit 4:00 that they
were shutting the line down and that autopgraphs would be stopped. By the time
I made it up there I was cutting it close but there was not a lot of people
left in our line so I thought for sure I would make it up there. I was wrong
again and once it hit 4 them made Sheahan stop and a guy complained and so did
the lady behind me and Sheahan looked a little confused as well because we literally
only had 20 people left in line and probably could of gotten done in 2 minutes
or less.
If you ever decided to go do it. It was
only $20 and there are always different players there and you can try and meet.
One thing that was weird about it was seeing grown men getting all mad and
aggressive about not meeting certain players after the line getting cut off but
other than that it was a amazing experience and I cannot wait to go next year.
Comments
Post a Comment