Had a family friend on the Sabres coaching staff when I was 15-16 (around 2010 or so, this is pre Stanley cups) who knew I was a huge Doughty and Kopitar fan and who I looked up to.
Said family friend asked if I wanted to tour the Sabres locker room, which I had multiple times before, but was still cool. Instead, while I was waiting, both Doughty and Kopitar who both knew my name came up to me, introduced themselves and talked to me for 4-5 minutes.
Family friend had spoken to them about me and asked if they’d give me the time of day. They had just lost pretty badly but you would’ve never known, they were so awesome. I was a decent hockey player at the time so they asked me about me playing hockey, etc. Fans for life from me for that - the “never meet your heroes” saying wasn’t the case for me.
Have pictures too but won’t be sharing those for obvious reasons. So yeah, Kopitar and Doughty will always be my favorite players.