JeffB Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 About a month ago I went to a Wild game with my wife and son and went down to watch warmups. This other kid comes down the stairs wearing a goalies catching glove and stands about 5 rows up. Next thing you know, Pavol Demitra filps him a puck. I mentioned that he looked like he knew it was coming and someone explained that Demitra does that at the start of every warmup. So today we came prepared. I wore my "Dukla Trencin" jersey and had a 11x14 sign for my son with the team's logo on it, Demitra & Gaborik's numbers and the Slovakian flag. Dukla Trencin is not only the team that Demitra & Gaborik played for during the NHL lockout in Gaborik's hometown in Slovakia, but Demitra is a part owner of the team as well. We arrived just as the players were hitting the ice, which was a feat in itself when wrangling a 3-year-old. We went to the area where he flips the puck to, put on the bright yellow jersey and my son held up his sign. Sure enough, Demitra gets the puck on his stick blade and starts to scan the area for a kid. The bright yellow jersey certainly stands out against the dark green seats along with the familiar (to him) team logo. I see him looking at us and give him a "over here" kind of wave and... FLIP...he launches the puck right to us and I catch it and hand it over to my son. His jaw just dropped and his eyes lit up. It was a great reaction since I didn't tell him why he was holding up a sign in case we didn't get a puck in case it didn't happen. The Wild won in OT, which was also great and since it was a weekend afternoon game, they invited kids to come down to the ice to shoot pucks at a net after the game. They have four nets on the blue line and the kids shoot from the goal line just outside the Zamboni doors. When they are done they get a souvenir puck with the date on it. Not a bad deal for free, huh? Here's a shot of us from the Wild game today. (I changed jerseys after warmups since I wanted to wear my new Pierre-Marc Bouchard Chicoutimi Saguen?ens QMJHL jersey.) Here's also a picture of us being dorks at the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament the day before. Nike Bauer was giving away the paper helmets and my son was wearing his new ($5!) fleece helmet hat. That's my new Gretzky "Burger King" jersey having it's first day out since arriving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomZoom18 Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Nice! Good plan and that's really cool of Demitra to do that. I would've been besides myself if I had a pro athlete do that for me at a sporting event when I was a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordStanley1893 Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Good story. I'd had similar thing happen to the kid next to me at the sabres game last wed. He got puck toosed to him by the time keeper, he missed and I picked it up and gave it to him he was so happy. PS we need more pics of your new jerseys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreFaninNYC Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Good story. I'd had similar thing happen to the kid next to me at the sabres game last wed. He got puck toosed to him by the time keeper, he missed and I picked it up and gave it to him he was so happy. PS we need more pics of your new jerseys. Yea- great stories and great jerseys! An interesting question got raised from your jersey. How many of you guys have jerseys of the minor league affiliate or CHL team of your team's players? I haven't gotten to that level of committment with the Sabres yet (I am still working on getting the alt jersey). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordStanley1893 Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Yea- great stories and great jerseys! An interesting question got raised from your jersey. How many of you guys have jerseys of the minor league affiliate or CHL team of your team's players? I haven't gotten to that level of committment with the Sabres yet (I am still working on getting the alt jersey). None yet mainly because not many team sites offer lettering and it's a pain to have to send them every time to get them customized. The closest thing I have is my Stafford North Dakota Jersey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreFaninNYC Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 None yet mainly because not many team sites offer lettering and it's a pain to have to send them every time to get them customized. The closest thing I have is my Stafford North Dakota Jersey. I figured you would have one off those ! Maybe I will grab me an MSU Miller jersey.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant! Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 That was actually a really good game. I was watching that on Center Ice yesterday. I LOVE that Burger King jersey you have on too. Good stuff. How many of you guys have jerseys of the minor league affiliate or CHL team of your team's players? Speak of the devil! Look what came in the mail for me today: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted March 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 I have a few minor league and pre-NHL jerseys of Wild guys. Manny Fernandez Classic Aeros w/bomber logo Kyle Wanvig Houston Aeros blue diagonal "Aeros" Stephane Veilleux Houston Aeros 2001 Flying "A" alternate Pierre-Marc Bouchard Houston Aeros 04-05 w/military numbers Marian Gaborik Dukla Trencin Brian Roltson 1994 USA Olympic jersey planning on a St. Cloud State Mark Parrish jersey. And for you Sabres fans, I have a University of Minnesota Vanek Frozen Four jersey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordStanley1893 Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 That was actually a really good game. I was watching that on Center Ice yesterday. I LOVE that Burger King jersey you have on too. Good stuff.How many of you guys have jerseys of the minor league affiliate or CHL team of your team's players? Speak of the devil! Look what came in the mail for me today: Looks awesome did you order it from the team store? I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.