Ever meet a player and be disappointed/surprised?

[Gord]

Not NHL but Dan Marino was a dick. Him and my dad weren't friends but they were both star baseball players growing up in Pittsburgh in the late 70's early 80's so they knew eachother. We were at a mall in Fort Lauderdale and ran into him around 1994 when I was 13. My dad said "Hey Danny" Marino said "Hi, bobby I'm in the NFL now, go **** yourself." From that day forward I was never allowed to wear number 13 on any sports team. Although to this day when my Dad is *****ing at me for something I'll say "Go **** yourself bobby, I'm in the NFL now." He'll go off on a old man rant about how big of an ******* Marino is and forget why he's *****ing me out.

from the sounds of it, maybe you dad was the guy who used to be a jerk. and dan was happy the tables were turned and could pay him back.

on topic, I've found almost all the players I have met casually in a social setting were really nice. that being said, I acted like a normal grown up and not a fan boy.
I didn't ask for autographs or photos or gush about their awesomeness.

(I honestly don't understand adult autograph hunters)

the nicest of all the NHL guys I had met (and this was over 20 years ago) was Craig MacTavish. although Georges Laraque is way up there for being a nice guy, too.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

on topic, I've found almost all the players I have met casually in a social setting were really nice. that being said, I acted like a normal grown up and not a fan boy.
I didn't ask for autographs or photos or gush about their awesomeness.

(I honestly don't understand adult autograph hunters)

Yeah, I remember talking to one of my co-workers who was mulling around going to an Määttä autograph signing after Olli's first year... I guess I made him feel pretty stupid when I reminded him that he's old enough to be Määttä's dad and it would be pretty weird to ask for his autograph.

 

[phxblue]

I haven't met any NHL players, but I did have an Uber driver one time that told me he used to work for Pepsi (I think it was) in marketing and all the Red Wings greats (the Stevie Y era) were all super nice to him. He said he used to golf with some of them. He said Stevie Y was the nicest guy.

He also said the players for the Detroit Pistons. Said they weren't nearly as nice and was astounded that they could hardly speak the english language (seeing as how they were all American).

I've met several body builders and MMA fighters. Brandon Curry was super nice. He worked out at my gym several times. I was shooting the **** with him and had no idea he was a pro. Then later on that day I went to the mall and saw him on the cover of the protein powder at GNC.

His wife was really nice too. Pretty Hawaiian girl.

There was another pro there that I talked to from time to time, won't name names, but even though he was friendly with me, he was so *** miserable all the time I felt sorry for him. That guy has a decent following online though.

One of my good friends is close friends with a lot of pro bodybuilders and I've hung out with a few.

If you know who Greg Plitt is, (he was probably the top male fitness model in the world before he died a couple years ago when he tried to outrun a train).

He was at a booth for Metrx at a convention a few years back. I asked him if he actually ate any of the Metrx bars he was promoting. I felt kind of bad afterwards, because I could tell he felt bad that he probably never ate them in his life, but was their cover model and spokesperson. Instead of responding to me he just said, uhh, here... and gave me a handful of protein bars so that I would leave. lol

 

[predfan24]

I have only had one interaction with any NHL players and boy was it a doozy. To preface what I'm about to share I am not a person who gets starstruck by celebrities or athletes. I have never went to an autograph session. No disrespect to people who are in to that. I just find it weird to ask another grown man for his autograph but to each their own. These are just people like you and me except they are paid crazy money to play a game. Now, that being said my experience involves Pekka Rinne and none other than the large Canadian man Shea Weber but mostly it's about Shea. This event happened the weekend after the Preds were eliminated in the playoffs in 2012. I don't want to go into the whole story because I'm too lazy and I don't want to put these guys business in the streets (AKA Interwebz)

A few highlights:

- Saw Shea in town at a local bar. Dared the girl I was with to go flirt with him. Night went from there.
- Pekka was there also. He was extremely quiet. He said hi but that's about the extent of what I remember saying to him. I was unreasonably drunk so we might have had conversations I will never recall. We hopped around to two different bars and I remember seeing Peks throughout the night but he was like your friend that gets drunk and disappears and you only see him randomly throughout the night.
- Shea is an awesome dude. Super down to earth and treated me like we were old college buddies even though we didn't even know each other. I think he appreciated the fact that I was fan but was just hanging out and acting like a normal dude.
- Shea didn't buy a beer at a time from the bar. He bought six packs at a time. He made sure I was always double ******* beers. Only had one beer in my hand? Not acceptable. Take one from this six pack.
- Obviously drank for free all night thanks to Shea.
- We were drinking all night. Took a few shots together. I had a high tolerance at this point in my life. However, at the end of the night we took a picture together in which I looked smashed. Shea, on the other hand, looks like he is ready to give an interview to Pierre McGuire.
- Brings me to my next point which is he is a monster of a man. He's not just tall. He was very bulky (muscular) for a hockey player.
- I accidentally got Shea slapped in the face by a girl wearing a Detroit baseball cap. In turn, my best friend, who's heart is bigger than his brain, attempted to fight this girl's boyfriend to protect Shea's "honor". Greatest.Night.Ever
- A random girl at one of the bars walked up to me and started making out. Shea was impressed. I felt like a bad ass.

I got a few more beauties that happened that night but I'm not going to put all that out there. Bottom line, Shea Weber is one of the coolest guys in the NHL. The fame and accolades haven't gone to his head one bit. I wish him nothing but luck the rest of his career.

 

[Crabapple]

Yesterday I saw Kelly Buchberger at the restaurant that I worked at. I didn't serve them but the girl who did said he was very nice and generous. I said congrats on the new job and good luck in New York and he seemed gracious. Nothing but bad things about my interaction, I kept it short though because I wanted to stay professional.

 

[angusyoung]

Met tons of Habs players over the years, most were as expected,polite,cordial,engaging. It ranges from Mr.Beliveau,the Flower,Cournoyer,Lambert,Tremblay,Brunet,Brisbois,Corson,Bobby Smith,Nilan,Price.
brisbois was a dick,huge ego,Brunet was a smuck as well,Price was very young and very sociable,but spoke too much. Played against Lambert and Tremblay,they played like they did when they played pro,even though this was after their years.

 

[Bobcat110]

Adam Foote's son was on my nephew's hockey team when he was with Columbus about 10 years ago. The guy did everything he could to avoid other parents on his son's team. I mean, I get he wanted to watch his son play and not be bothered during the game, but it was more than that. He would go to the remote area of the arena and if someone walked toward him, he'd walk the other way. His wife was friendly and interactive with other team parents, but he'd have to call her over away from people if he wanted to talk to her. He wouldn't approach her if she was talking to another parent. In hindsight after he demanded his trade back to Avs, he must have just distancing himself from Columbus in general.

 

[Boud]

Chris Neil nicest guy you could ever meet and same thing for Antoine Vermette.

Alfredsson from my experience was not very talkative and looked out of it (although after a loss to Montreal).

Sean Donovan also, made him sign a 20$ bill (along with other players .. Richardsson, Shubert, Emery) and he faked driving away with my 20$ lol

 

[Jets4Life]

I grew up with Lonny Bohonis, and played street hockey with him as a kid. Seems like a good guy. Thomas Steen was shy and quiet. Signed an autograph, but really seemed uncomfortable with his notoriety. Stood in line for concessions just before halftime during a Bomber game, and notice Kris King and Tie Domi were behind us. Said hello, and wished them luck for the upcoming Jets season, They seemed cool. I was at a Winnipeg Dance club in 95, and it was rumored that the Jets had just played their last game in Winnipeg. Woman were getting Jets players to sign their boobs, and inviting them home. Craziness.

 

[Dagistitsyn]

Can't say I was surprised by this but Carey Price was extremely quiet. Could barely get a word out of him. Got a picture and signed my jersey though

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Exactly.

Some fans are shameless, acting like teenage girls following Justin Bieber. I played major junior and we had some embarrassing fans, I can only imagine what it's like as a professional athlete.

Most hockey players are humble, normal guys. Treat them as such and you'd probably come away with a different impression.... Act like a 12 year old girl and don't be surprised when they're weirded out by you.

Oh yeah absolutely, when Karlsson told me he wasn't available to talk, I wished him luck and left, before I left he told me how he wished more hockey fans were classy and humble like me and actually treated hockey players like humans for once.

 

[Jets4Life]

Not sure if this is relevant to the topic, but Brendan Shanahan was a kid in the 80s, and related a story about meeting one of his childhood hero Rick Vaive in the early 80s. Apparently, Vaive complete blew him off and was an a**hole about it. Years later, when Shanny was a Devil, he was preparing for a faceoff with Vaive. Immediately, Shanahan dropped the gloves, and as a 20 year old, started wailing on Vaive. Once they were separated, Vaive, shocked and perplexed asked "What the hell did you do that for?" Shanahan replied that it was for being a d**k to him as a kid. Moral of the story, treat the fans with respect. Karma is a *****.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I have only had one interaction with any NHL players and boy was it a doozy. To preface what I'm about to share I am not a person who gets starstruck by celebrities or athletes. I have never went to an autograph session. No disrespect to people who are in to that. I just find it weird to ask another grown man for his autograph but to each their own. These are just people like you and me except they are paid crazy money to play a game. Now, that being said my experience involves Pekka Rinne and none other than the large Canadian man Shea Weber but mostly it's about Shea. This event happened the weekend after the Preds were eliminated in the playoffs in 2012. I don't want to go into the whole story because I'm too lazy and I don't want to put these guys business in the streets (AKA Interwebz)

A few highlights:

- Saw Shea in town at a local bar. Dared the girl I was with to go flirt with him. Night went from there.
- Pekka was there also. He was extremely quiet. He said hi but that's about the extent of what I remember saying to him. I was unreasonably drunk so we might have had conversations I will never recall. We hopped around to two different bars and I remember seeing Peks throughout the night but he was like your friend that gets drunk and disappears and you only see him randomly throughout the night.
- Shea is an awesome dude. Super down to earth and treated me like we were old college buddies even though we didn't even know each other. I think he appreciated the fact that I was fan but was just hanging out and acting like a normal dude.
- Shea didn't buy a beer at a time from the bar. He bought six packs at a time. He made sure I was always double ******* beers. Only had one beer in my hand? Not acceptable. Take one from this six pack.
- Obviously drank for free all night thanks to Shea.
- We were drinking all night. Took a few shots together. I had a high tolerance at this point in my life. However, at the end of the night we took a picture together in which I looked smashed. Shea, on the other hand, looks like he is ready to give an interview to Pierre McGuire.
- Brings me to my next point which is he is a monster of a man. He's not just tall. He was very bulky (muscular) for a hockey player.
- I accidentally got Shea slapped in the face by a girl wearing a Detroit baseball cap. In turn, my best friend, who's heart is bigger than his brain, attempted to fight this girl's boyfriend to protect Shea's "honor". Greatest.Night.Ever
- A random girl at one of the bars walked up to me and started making out. Shea was impressed. I felt like a bad ass.

I got a few more beauties that happened that night but I'm not going to put all that out there. Bottom line, Shea Weber is one of the coolest guys in the NHL. The fame and accolades haven't gone to his head one bit. I wish him nothing but luck the rest of his career.

Weber did more for my family than Subban ever did (Not blaming Subban), but he really made my cousin's day back in December 2008 when the Preds played in Toronto. So I definitely believe you and hope the best for Shea as well even though I criticize his play now and then. That being said my friends who met Shea at the WCH said he flat out refuses autographs, only pictures.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Yeah, I remember talking to one of my co-workers who was mulling around going to an Määttä autograph signing after Olli's first year... I guess I made him feel pretty stupid when I reminded him that he's old enough to be Määttä's dad and it would be pretty weird to ask for his autograph.

I actually saw a bunch of adult autograph hunters who made fun of kids and threw **** at them when they were stalking players hotels. Last I heard from a local restaurant nearby an hour or so later, a few of the players actually told them to f off and defended the kids lol. I was too scared to do anything that time because well it was a group of drunk idiots, and I'm a relatively weak guy lol for my age all alone.

 

[Jets4Life]

on topic, I've found almost all the players I have met casually in a social setting were really nice. that being said, I acted like a normal grown up and not a fan boy.
I didn't ask for autographs or photos or gush about their awesomeness.

(I honestly don't understand adult autograph hunters.

$$$$$

 

[TorstenFrings]

Most hockey players are humble, normal guys. Treat them as such and you'd probably come away with a different impression.... Act like a 12 year old girl and don't be surprised when they're weirded out by you.

[MOD] Some fans are twelve year old girls and they are prefectly fine that way.

I am going to assume that you meant a grown man should not go over to an NHL player and start fawning over him like he is Margot Robbie or something.
To which I would again say: It depends on the setting. If it's an official signing, that's part of the job. Take the ****ing compliment like a man, it's not going to be much more than three minutes. If it's during the players free time, when he just wants to be a normal person, sure, then it isn't him who is being the ******.

 

[TheBigThree]

Off all of the stories in here, this is definitely the first one I'd guess to be false. I have a really tough time imagining the face of hockey would be telling fans who asked for a picture to "**** off".

I wouldn't, what you see in the cameras is acting. But I do get crosby, everyone knows his face that knows a bit about hockey, guy probably gets hounded all the time by people like this guy.

 

[Baemon Severson*]

Told this story here before but:

Was in the City (NY) during the most recent lockout. We were walking down the street and saw all of these reporters in front of a hotel. After doing some investigating, I noticed that most of the cameras were Canadian (TSN, SportsNet, RDS, etc). After talking with some reporters, I found out this was the hotel where CBA talks were being held. A second later, a few players walk out of the hotel. The only two I remember were Jamal Mayers and Shane Doan. Mayers went one way and Doan was walking towards our direction. I approached Doan and chatted with him for a minute about negotiations. I told him to "just get it done" and he had a good chuckle about that. He was a nice dude and took a picture with me, which I actually lost! I did lose a little respect for him because he had a McDonalds coffee with him. FFS, you're in New York City, there are a billion amazing coffee shops on every block. Anyway, a few days later, the lockout ended and it was all because I was stern with Shane. You're welcome, folks.

 

[CanadienShark]

I haven't met any myself, but my brother got us free tickets courtesy of Brendan Gallagher in Montreal for the Habs-Leafs. Best seats I've ever had too. So I proceeded to buy my first hockey jersey - Gallagher of course.

 

[CanadienShark]

I have only had one interaction with any NHL players and boy was it a doozy. To preface what I'm about to share I am not a person who gets starstruck by celebrities or athletes. I have never went to an autograph session. No disrespect to people who are in to that. I just find it weird to ask another grown man for his autograph but to each their own. These are just people like you and me except they are paid crazy money to play a game. Now, that being said my experience involves Pekka Rinne and none other than the large Canadian man Shea Weber but mostly it's about Shea. This event happened the weekend after the Preds were eliminated in the playoffs in 2012. I don't want to go into the whole story because I'm too lazy and I don't want to put these guys business in the streets (AKA Interwebz)

A few highlights:

- Saw Shea in town at a local bar. Dared the girl I was with to go flirt with him. Night went from there.
- Pekka was there also. He was extremely quiet. He said hi but that's about the extent of what I remember saying to him. I was unreasonably drunk so we might have had conversations I will never recall. We hopped around to two different bars and I remember seeing Peks throughout the night but he was like your friend that gets drunk and disappears and you only see him randomly throughout the night.
- Shea is an awesome dude. Super down to earth and treated me like we were old college buddies even though we didn't even know each other. I think he appreciated the fact that I was fan but was just hanging out and acting like a normal dude.
- Shea didn't buy a beer at a time from the bar. He bought six packs at a time. He made sure I was always double ******* beers. Only had one beer in my hand? Not acceptable. Take one from this six pack.
- Obviously drank for free all night thanks to Shea.
- We were drinking all night. Took a few shots together. I had a high tolerance at this point in my life. However, at the end of the night we took a picture together in which I looked smashed. Shea, on the other hand, looks like he is ready to give an interview to Pierre McGuire.
- Brings me to my next point which is he is a monster of a man. He's not just tall. He was very bulky (muscular) for a hockey player.
- I accidentally got Shea slapped in the face by a girl wearing a Detroit baseball cap. In turn, my best friend, who's heart is bigger than his brain, attempted to fight this girl's boyfriend to protect Shea's "honor". Greatest.Night.Ever
- A random girl at one of the bars walked up to me and started making out. Shea was impressed. I felt like a bad ass.

I got a few more beauties that happened that night but I'm not going to put all that out there. Bottom line, Shea Weber is one of the coolest guys in the NHL. The fame and accolades haven't gone to his head one bit. I wish him nothing but luck the rest of his career.

That is a brilliant story.

 

[seafoam]

Matt Moulson ghosted me when he was watching an Islanders AHL game.

 

[Charlie Conway]

Mike Rupp was a really cool, funny guy. His aunt works in Manhattan, and he occasionally dropped her off at work or stopped by while he was playing for the Rangers. My dad said he was a very friendly, down-to-earth guy. Not surprising to see him as an analyst now.

He double-parked his car and dropped his aunt off. Then he came in a few minutes later.

He says, mock-angrily, "Who the **** was the guy who told me 'good luck, Brad?!'"

(Brad Richards was on the team at the time, for the uninformed)

Signed a jersey for me as well.

 

[sparxx87]

[MOD] Some fans are twelve year old girls and they are prefectly fine that way.

I am going to assume that you meant a grown man should not go over to an NHL player and start fawning over him like he is Margot Robbie or something.
To which I would again say: It depends on the setting. If it's an official signing, that's part of the job. Take the ****ing compliment like a man, it's not going to be much more than three minutes. If it's during the players free time, when he just wants to be a normal person, sure, then it isn't him who is being the ******.

Yes, because you can laugh at a 12 year old freaking out or getting overly excited - they're kids... It's extremely creepy when grown men behave this way towards other grown men...

I don't know who you're referencing, but no, it doesn't depend on the setting. Those autograph sessions are for kids... Opportunity for them to see their favourite player is just a person, and opportunity to feed their dreams about what it would be like as an NHL'er... I don't remember much, but as a 7 year old I met Steve Yzerman - all I remember was him saying "I was like that when I was around your age" and it stuck with me for years. It gave me the idea that if he was just like me as a kid than I could be like him when I grow up.. That's the purpose of those, not for creepy grown men who need a hobby and a girlfriend to come through.

It's funny that you say "he just wants to be a normal person" .... He is a normal person? You putting him on a pedestal is not what he wants, and only going to make him think you're a straight loser and put the walls up..

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Met Chris Phillips. Buddy is huge in person and very polite. Came to my workplace.

 

[Old Gregg]

Yes, because you can laugh at a 12 year old freaking out or getting overly excited - they're kids... It's extremely creepy when grown men behave this way towards other grown men...

I don't know who you're referencing, but no, it doesn't depend on the setting. Those autograph sessions are for kids... Opportunity for them to see their favourite player is just a person, and opportunity to feed their dreams about what it would be like as an NHL'er... I don't remember much, but as a 7 year old I met Steve Yzerman - all I remember was him saying "I was like that when I was around your age" and it stuck with me for years. It gave me the idea that if he was just like me as a kid than I could be like him when I grow up.. That's the purpose of those, not for creepy grown men who need a hobby and a girlfriend to come through.

It's funny that you say "he just wants to be a normal person" .... He is a normal person? You putting him on a pedestal is not what he wants, and only going to make him think you're a straight loser and put the walls up..

It's always great when people tell other people how they should react when they meet somebody.