The Ken Dryden Experience (Part One)

I have been collecting autograph's since I was a kid. Whenever I spoke to anyone about who they wished they had in their collection or who was impossible to get, the answer was always the same. Ken Dryden. The man has never done a sit down autograph session in his life and I was told he was tough to get even in person. Most of the time when you hear things of this nature the rumors are often false and the athletes are usually fairly good with autographs. Well the rumors are true to a certain degree. My sister was nice enough to let me know that Ken Dryden was a guest teacher at her University (Mcgill) this semester and this was most likely my best chance to ever meet him. My first thought was I had picked the wrong university to attend (Concordia) and second was I could add Ken Dryden to my monopoly project which was really a once in a life time type deal (Super nerd excitement). So my sister being the kind younger sibling she is, agreed to come with me and show me where his class was taking place. We waited until the class was completely over and the room only had Mr. Dryden left. We approached him and explained we are big fans and politely asked if he could sign for us. He really seemed taken off guard and explained "Well...why don't we start with just one autograph...you know I don't sign at shows and things of that sort." He was very polite but seemed to be against autographs. I presented him with a Sports Illustrated that he was on the cover of and he responded 'Oh no! See guys I really can't sign that, I don't sign anything that could have monetary value'. This was extremely disappointing to me as it came off as he believed we were in it strictly for resale which could not be further from the truth. He also declined to sign the monopoly board(From the Monopoly Project post). I was left with my last hope, as you could see in a previous post I was able to find a mint condition replica cardboard mask given at his jersey retirement ceremony. He kindly agreed to sign this and wanted to personalize it to me. To some collectors that maybe something that they don't like but in all honesty this was something that made it that much of a better conversation piece. This is why I am really into collecting so this was actually a bonus for me.

Overall Mr.Dryden was a very nice person and was very polite, in the end great experience!

Ken Dryden Piece

Close up-"To J-M With Best Wishes"

Here is the completed piece framed with the program from the retirment of Ken Dryden's Number at the Bell Centre.

Hockey Pictorial October 1959

Hockey Pictorial was a hockey magazine that ran from 1955 to 1980. Best known for their beautifully illustrated covers from the 50’s and 60’s. One of the greatest magazine cover made from Hockey Pictorial was the October 1959 issue that featured Montreal Canadiens legend Dickie Moore. What truly attracted me to this cover (aside from the great sketch of Mr.Moore) was the caption that reads “Dickie Moore: The Scoring Champ they don’t rate as a Super Star”. In Montreal’s golden era that included such legends as “Rocket” Richard,Beliveau,H.Richard,J.Plante,”Boom Boom” Geoffrion, D.Harvey its easy to forget NHL’s 1958 and 1959 scoring champion Dickie Moore. 

Late last year I had to opportunity to meet Mr.Moore at an autograph event held in Montreal (Hosted by AL. Collections) where I was able to get my 1959 issue of hockey pictorial autographed. Now I wanted something unique to go along with Moore’s John Hancock. I asked that he add his scoring title inscription.

Given the caption on the magazine and this inscription added to this piece, I believe this gave a unique and interesting feel to an already beautiful piece. The whole experience was a great one, Mr.Moore was truly a class act taking the time to take a photo with me as well as a photo signing one of my projects. This is one of my favorite pieces in my collection given that it includes the things I look for in sports memorabilia. Vintage,uniqueness and quality of the autograph.

Also I took the time to scan one of the articles from inside the magazine for those looking to reminisce on the golden era of the Montreal Canadiens.

Paul Henderson Jersey Tour

Let me start off by saying I should have a rule. Never ask for an autograph from a Toronto Maple Leaf! I went to the Henderson Jersey Tour in Montreal with hopes of getting the famous 72 summit series goal signed by Tretiak, Henderson and Cournoyer (all of which attended the event in Montreal). Right from the start the event set up was quite strange. I arrived about 30 minutes before the players were scheduled to arrive. There was a large crowd outside waiting in line, I asked one of the show handlers if they were waiting for the autograph session. The handler replied "Well their isn't an autograph session and no one here knows why these people are waiting outside." I went inside the venue and spoke to the manger who confirmed that there will be no autograph session but getting an autograph is possible if the players are willing.

By the time the players arrived the venue was filled beyond capacity, picture your living room with 500 people in it. Paul Henderson was the first to arrive and addressed the crowd by saying "I have not signed an autograph on this tour and I will not start today". Photo's with the players was the only thing that could be done. The irony here is everyone in the crowd wanted an autograph which would have been easier then taking photos as the place was beyond packed.

Photo of the crowd.

Lucky for me and most who came out for this event Cournoyer and Tretiak did sign for the fans.  After the way Henderson addressed the crowd I was no longer interested in his autograph (I heard he did end up signing for a few). Tretiak being one of my favorites I really wanted him on a Montreal Canadiens puck as he was drafted by Montreal but never made it over due to the issue with the USSR at the time. Yvan Cournoyer also was nice enough to sign a Montreal Forum project I started (which I posted in a previous post).

Here are the results from the event.

Tretiak signed puck.

Updated:Montreal Forum Project (Lafleur,Cournoyer,H.Richard)

To recap I never thought I'd want a auto from a leaf but made an exception for Henderson due to the Summit Series but this confirms it. Never again lol!

A day in the life of a memorabilia junkie.

I recently attended a family event in Toronto and took the opportunity to drop off an item at AJ Sports World for there upcoming expo. As my girlfriend would jokingly tell me as we left the store "Your like an addict when you come to these places!" and sadly she is right. I left a much poorer man then when I came in. However I did pick up some things I had been after as well as items that caught my eye and I just could not pass up.

This Pete Rose signed sports illustrated from 1975 was something I just could not walk out of the store without. One of the main things I enjoy collecting is in fact autographed sports illustrated magazines. The "Sportsman of the year" caption really captures the peak of Rose's career years before his legacy was tarnished by his gambling issues. The beautiful autograph mixed in with the celebratory theme of this cover was something I really liked and was the reason I had to snatch this up. The fact that Pete Rose oddly resembles Jim Carey in the dumb and dumber movies was really just a bonus.

I also couldn't pass up a chance to pick up a Autographed Series 8 Chris Chelios Mcfarlane. My interest in autographed Mcfaralane's began last year while at the Toronto sports expo. I had underestimated the wait time to meet Jean Beliveau and had a few hours to kill. I came across a Montreal based dealer at the show. After a brief chat he talked me into purchasing a Jean Beliveau Mcfarlane to have autographed. The figure came out so great that this became one of my must have collectables. I came across this Chris Chelios at the store and figured my chances of buying an unsigned Chelios and having it autographed was slim to none. So I decided to bite to bullet and pick it up.

Made room for the figure in my cabinet and very please with the overall look of the piece.

Overall my first experience in the AJ Sports store was a good one. The staff was very nice and shared some interesting stories about the business which made the experience that much better. In case anyone was wondering I also picked up a Chase Pk Subban Mcfarlane, Jose Theodore Mcfarlane, Habs Puck and a Habs Replica mini helmet.

An Overview of everything I picked up (Plus a special bonus look at my stove).