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06-10-2003, 12:45 PM
Folks, now that the season's over, let's share our stories about our experiences over the years surrounding the great game of hockey.
It was spring, 1971 & I was all of 5 years old. I hadn't started to play yet because I was 4 when the season started and a bit too young, but I would hang out at the rink when my older brother played for a tyke house league team in Oshawa...Glenstuart Park.
My dad managed to get tickets for a Chicago Black Hawks open practice at Maple Leaf Gardens on a Saturday afternoon for the team, so we drove the thirty miles into town & had lunch at the Woolworth's lunch counter on Yonge Street, just north of College Street, around the corner from MLG. (No McDonalds or fast food back then LOL)
Once we were done our lunch I remember a quick duck into Doug Laurie's Sports Shop on the east side of MLG, gawking at the cool jerseys, sticks & pucks, and then our dads took us off to try & get autographs as the players arrived for practice.
We waited outside the dressing room & along came Pat Stapeleton & Stan Mikita (my Dad's favorite because he's Slovak) & I got both of their autographs. Then this strange looking dude came up to us and I ran away crying in terror.
Turns out it was Bobby Hull. He had just had hair replacement done and the top of his head looked like a golf ball with little strands of hair sticking out, so that's what scared the crap out of me. My dad calmed me down...Bobby had a chuckle and I did manage to get his autograph after the practice. I still have Stan's, Pat's & Bobby's autographs to this day.
It was spring, 1971 & I was all of 5 years old. I hadn't started to play yet because I was 4 when the season started and a bit too young, but I would hang out at the rink when my older brother played for a tyke house league team in Oshawa...Glenstuart Park.
My dad managed to get tickets for a Chicago Black Hawks open practice at Maple Leaf Gardens on a Saturday afternoon for the team, so we drove the thirty miles into town & had lunch at the Woolworth's lunch counter on Yonge Street, just north of College Street, around the corner from MLG. (No McDonalds or fast food back then LOL)
Once we were done our lunch I remember a quick duck into Doug Laurie's Sports Shop on the east side of MLG, gawking at the cool jerseys, sticks & pucks, and then our dads took us off to try & get autographs as the players arrived for practice.
We waited outside the dressing room & along came Pat Stapeleton & Stan Mikita (my Dad's favorite because he's Slovak) & I got both of their autographs. Then this strange looking dude came up to us and I ran away crying in terror.
Turns out it was Bobby Hull. He had just had hair replacement done and the top of his head looked like a golf ball with little strands of hair sticking out, so that's what scared the crap out of me. My dad calmed me down...Bobby had a chuckle and I did manage to get his autograph after the practice. I still have Stan's, Pat's & Bobby's autographs to this day.