Have you met any current/former Red Wings? If so...

[Guest Agalloch]

Explain where you met them, what you said (if anything), and if they were nice, mean, etc. I love reading this kind of stuff for some reaosn. I also got this idea from the Robert Lang topic.

Anyway, I haven't seen any of them, unfortunatly. I also don't live in Detroit though...

[Zetter is Better 0]

I met Stevie here in Nepean, Ont (Stevies town) when he brought the cup. It was AWSOME. I got to touch the cup and Stevie rolled in driving his convertable since the event was held a the Steve Yzerman Arena. His parents live like a 5 minute walk fromk my house. I should go ask for autographs, lol

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

I met shanahan last year in the toronto airport

[rwfan007 18]

When I went to the charity softball game last fall I met quite a few of them. I met Nick, Nick Jr, Malts, Hank, Pavel, Cheli, Willy, Johnson, Cleary, and Sammy, they all signed my t-shirt. Also there, but didn't sign my shirt was: Lilly, Lang, Homer, Drapes, Lindsay, Mule, and I think Schneider. The only person who stood there long enough to talk was Cheli. My dad asked him if he had 2 years left in him and he said, "Yeah, more like 2 weeks, I just pulled my hammy... I've never done that before." It was quite funny watching the swedes trying to play softball. Lang and Lilly I don't think have ever played before and looked like 2nd graders playing. Lilly batted one-handed.

p.s. the dates on the pictures are wrong... never did figure out how to change it... it was September of '06

Edited March 4, 2007 by rwfan007

[Rice 42]

My Dad is friends with one of the guys who started the clothes company Roots. Back in '02 after they won the Cup there was an away game in Toronto. The day after the game, there was a party at one of the Roots stores that my Dad and I went to. They closed the store so it was basically the employees of the store, friends and family of the owners', the team, and us. It was great. Hull was walking around buying the whole store. Zetterberg and Lidstrom were hanging out in a corner just talking. I got pictures with a lot of the team.

Here's a funny picture I got of Datsyuk:

Edited March 4, 2007 by ARice89

[Offsides 21]

Ray Whitney came into my work with his daughter. It was really cute, and he was really nice.

I saw Ozzie at the mall, but didn't want to go talk to him, I gave him a smile and that was it.

Also, Doug Brown came into my work, and was also very nice. PS. I work in Birmingham too :-P

[Wings_Rule_1010 4]

I met the Grind Line a few years ago. I have met many current/past Wings and would have to say they were by far the nicest of all of them. They actually shook my hand, stood up for pictures, and small talked.

Edited March 4, 2007 by Wings_Rule_1010

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

Oooh good thread!!

Let's see here.

Lidstrom- Met him twice at Troy Sports Center after practice. Very nice, down to earth, quiet guy. Was great both times I met him.

Larionov- Very quiet, humble, and nice. Actually played hockey with him and Kozzie. I was the goalie and they took around 10 shots each at me at the Wings rally back in 1998. Haha oh the good ol days!

Cleary- Just said hi to him, after practice. For some reason I forgot to ask him for his sig?! I don't know what happened. lol but he was really nice!

Datsyuk- Met him at Troy, and the Wings vs.Tigers game this summer. Very nice, and quiet. Doesn't say much. lol

Shanahan- Met him in '98 at the rally. Very nice, and funny.

Maltby- Met him three times. Hockeytown Authentics, Troy Sports Center (2) Probably one of the nicest guys you are ever going to meet.

Yzerman- Met him at Troy. VERY down to earth, and kind. Soft spoken and just all around great to his fans.

Lang- Met him at Troy, and he was very nice! He knew we'd been waiting to get his autograph so he came up to my cousin, sister and I and signed some things and took some pics with us. He's awesome.

Chelios- Met him at Farmer Jack! Hahaha he looks soo mean but he's a great guy. Really funny, and down to earth.

D-Mac- Of course he was funny, and nice. Really laid back type of fella. Awesome person to talk to.

Osgood!- Met him this past November twice in a day! Once at DMC where my Dad works, and then later that night at Hockeytown Cafe! He remembered me so it was pretty fantastic. Easily the best day of my life. Oh, and he's really nice, and VERY quiet and shy.

Draper- Met him three times. *Troy 2, Hockeytown Cafe* By far the nicest guy. So talkative, and nice to all his fans, will never deny an autograph or pic.

Legace- Met him three times at Troy. Very nice, likeable, and down to earth. He's probably one of the nicest players I've met.

Franzen- Really nice fella, signed my jersey, and was talking to my cousin and I about how he changed his number. lol

Hank- Met him twice *Troy, and Hockeytown Authentics* Great guy, nice, and appreciative of his fans.

Whitney- Met him at Hockeytown Authentics and got to take a pic with him even though no one was allowed to. I remember they said no pics allowed but I asked him for one and then he whispers to me "Okay, but don't tell anyone else about this!* haha

Avery- Met him like a gazillion times. Haha I absolutely love the guy. I remember when I first met him at practice he saw me taking pics of him by the boards during practice and he came up to me and said "Why don't you wait till after practice and we can take a pic together." He definitely kept his word, right after practice he signed my jersey and we took a pic! I met him twice after that and he was great. Very nice guy despite what many think

Kronner- Met him this September. Super nice fella! Very humble, and kind.

Kocur- Met him at Gibraltar. Funny, nice, and awesome.

Cujo- Met him after practice. Really nice, and pretty quiet.

Homer- Met him about three times. Funny as hell, just when he talks..you have to smirk a bit. Really nice guy.

Fedorov- Really nice, and kind and was thanking us for getting his autograph.

EDIT: I forgot to add Franz Cujo and Cleary!

Edited March 5, 2007 by hockeycrazy3033

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Oooh good thread!!

Let's see here.

Lidstrom- Met him twice at Troy Sports Center after practice. Very nice, down to earth, quiet guy. Was great both times I met him.

Larionov- Very quiet, humble, and nice. Actually played hockey with him and Kozzie. I was the goalie and they took around 10 shots each at me at the Wings rally back in 1998. Haha oh the good ol days!

Datsyuk- Met him at Troy, and the Wings vs.Tigers game this summer. Very nice, and quiet. Doesn't say much. lol

Shanahan- Met him in '98 at the rally. Very nice, and funny.

Maltby- Met him three times. Hockeytown Authentics, Troy Sports Center (2) Probably one of the nicest guys you are ever going to meet.

Yzerman- Met him at Troy. VERY down to earth, and kind. Soft spoken and just all around great to his fans.

Lang- Met him at Troy, and he was very nice! He knew we'd been waiting to get his autograph so he came up to my cousin, sister and I and signed some things and took some pics with us. He's awesome.

Chelios- Met him at Farmer Jack! Hahaha he looks soo mean but he's a great guy. Really funny, and down to earth.

D-Mac- Of course he was funny, and nice. Really laid back type of fella. Awesome person to talk to.

Osgood!- Met him this past November twice in a day! Once at DMC where my Dad works, and then later that night at Hockeytown Cafe! He remembered me so it was pretty fantastic. Easily the best day of my life. Oh, and he's really nice, and VERY quiet and shy.

Draper- Met him three times. *Troy 2, Hockeytown Cafe* By far the nicest guy. So talkative, and nice to all his fans, will never deny an autograph or pic.

Legace- Met him three times at Troy. Very nice, likeable, and down to earth. He's probably one of the nicest players I've met.

Hank- Met him twice *Troy, and Hockeytown Authentics* Great guy, nice, and appreciative of his fans.

Whitney- Met him at Hockeytown Authentics and got to take a pic with him even though no one was allowed to. I remember they said no pics allowed but I asked him for one and then he whispers to me "Okay, but don't tell anyone else about this!* haha

Avery- Met him like a gazillion times. Haha I absolutely love the guy. I remember when I first met him at practice he saw me taking pics of him by the boards during practice and he came up to me and said "Why don't you wait till after practice and we can take a pic together." He definitely kept his word, right after practice he signed my jersey and we took a pic! I met him twice after that and he was great. Very nice guy despite what many think

Kronner- Met him this September. Super nice fella! Very humble, and kind.

Kocur- Met him at Gibraltar. Funny, nice, and awesome.

Homer- Met him about three times. Funny as hell, just when he talks..you have to smirk a bit. Really nice guy.

Fedorov- Really nice, and kind and was thanking us for getting his autograph.

You .. Are .. so lucky.

Thats like everyone thats ever been a big member of Detroit , you've met , tahts soooooooooo cool.

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

Met McCarty at Best Buy in Ann ARbor like 4 hours after a Saturday Av's game. He was just waiting in line with a frind buying some CDs and I went up to him and said he had a good fight and apologized for wearing my Sergei jersey (wasn't on the team) and he said "The front is what counts". Nice guy, signed autos and posed for pics.

[Packer487 3]

I've gotten to meet a bunch of them over the years (Chevaldae, Ysebaert, Yzerman, Brown, Osgood, Vernon, McCarty, Pushor, Sheppard, Chabot, Paul MacLean, Dallas Drake, Kozzie, Lidstrom, Probert, Kocur, Fischer, Holmstrom, Maracle, Ward, etc.)

My favorite story is the one of meeting Yzerman, so that's the one I'll tell:

We're going to go back to late 1993/early 1994. Toronto, Ontario. I was on a family vacation to the city with my parents and brother, and it just so happened that not only were the Wings in town to play Toronto (remember when the NHL actually let us play the Maple Leafs?), but they were staying in the hotel right across the street from ours.

So the day of the game, my brother and I put on our Wings jerseys—that we had bought the night before—and headed over to the Wings' hotel. The players started filing down, and while my brother and I were in the hotel's gift shop, Dallas Drake walked in. And this is one of the reasons that I've always liked Dallas Drake, even when he acts like a knucklehead on the ice, he came up to the two of us and said hello. We chatted for a minute or two, we got an autograph (he has a very cool signature, by the way) and we headed back out into the lobby.

One by one, the guys started walking by. Bob Probert stopped to sign an autograph for us—he was also very nice. Slava Kozlov—new to the country—stopped by, and made us laugh because it seemed that the only word of English that he knew was "yes". "Thanks Slava!" "Yes" "Good luck tonight!" "Yes".

They all worked their way out to the bus. A few minutes later, Yzerman, Osgood and Chevaldae walked by. As an 11 year old, I was really excited, sprung up from my chair and exclaimed "Mr. Yzerman!!" failing to notice that they were obviously in a hurry. Yzerman didn't brush me off though. He told the other two to go ahead and came back to sign an autograph for me and chatted for a minute. As it turns out, he missed the bus. I don't THINK I caused it, since Osgood and Chevaldae didn't make it either, but the fact that he was willing to stop and sign an autograph for a young Wings fan, even though he was late for the team bus to the rink has always stuck with me.

I also met him at The Goalie's Den a few years later. The line was around the entire building. We weren't even the last ones in line and we waited for 2 1/2 hours. But even after all that he was still as nice as he could be...he treated us like we were the only autograph he was signing that day. Chatted with us, asked my name, and signed the photo "To Tim: Best Always, Steve Yzerman". Truly a couple experiences to cherish.

-Tim

Edited March 4, 2007 by Packer487

[Kp-Wings 3]

I met Stevie down when he did a commercial at GLSC (Great Lakes Sports City ice arena) for his furniture line. He's a great guy. He signed a stick I had with me too. I also met Chelios down there when his son Dean was in a tornament there. He is actually a great guy. We talked about a lot of different stuff about the Wings. That was really cool.

Other than that, I haven't met a whole lot of the Wings. I met a few of them like Shanny and McCarty when I was a kid, and they signed autographed. But I don't know them as good as Stevie or Chelios.

[ZigZagYourTorso 8]

Lets see.....Ive met Kozlov and Ted Lindsay at the Gilbralter Trade Center.....I don't think Kozlov knew too much english at the time.....not to mention I had to be like 10 when I met him....but Ted Lindsay was one of the coolest professional athletes I've ever met. The only other time I've met any Wings was when I was 16 working at McDonalds and Lidstrom, Homer, and Hank all came in and I took there order. They each got 2 big macs each with extra mac sauce and super sized it. Haha I just remember I was star struck and didn't beleive it was them until I saw Hanks money clip which had Henrik engraved on it. The had to be thee only good thing that ever came out of working there.

[Wings_Rule_1010 4]

Homer- Met him about three times. Funny as hell, just when he talks..you have to smirk a bit. Really nice guy.

Seriously. When I went to an autograph session where he and Zetterberg were at, I took a picture of Hank. When I got it developed, I saw that Holmstrom had stuck his head in with Zetterberg. It actually turned out to be a good picture.

Edited March 4, 2007 by Wings_Rule_1010

[betterREDthandead 58]

I've only ever met one Wing. But I got one that NONE of you got Steve Chiasson used to live down the street when I was in, oh, third grade or whenever, and we'd go trick-or-treating at his house. Gave out little individual bags of candy, it was always a worthwhile trip

I've met more Norfolk Admirals than Wings

[Guest GodofHockeyStevieY19]

I hope one day to meet the great Steve Yzerman. But so far the only player ive ever actually met, shook hands, and got an autograph from was Pavel Datsyuk. Met him up in Fenton in 2004. He definitely didn't speak english that well back then. To this day im not sure exactly what he said to me. But I think he made a joke about the flash from the camera blinding his eyes. Sweet picture though. Hell I have the picture with me and Pavel closer to my bed then any of my gf. Haha. But I sure hope to meet more Wings in the future. Next one on my list besides Stevie is Hank. Im looking forward to shaking his hand.

[wingslogo19 281]

I got to meet the whole team last year except for Yzerman, and Lang.. It was in Vancouver when the wings were in town playing the nucks.. The wings always go to this club called the Roxy after the game.. But first i met Maltby at the Shark club and sat down and chatted him up for abit.. We went to the Roxy and they were all standing around and my mouth just hit the ground it was great. Everyone was really nice, i got to to buy zettz and dats drinks which they both returned the fav of course

I also found out that vodka and coke is Dats fav drink. but it was great.

Just hope the wings are there again come march 17th when there in Van

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

It's way, way too early to predict if I'm able to do this in about a year, it'll probably cost a good bit of cash, but I'm bouncing the idea of maybe coming up for next year's Annual Toast of Hockeytown. The ticket will be retardedly expensive but at least I could meet a few players there along with having free wine and treats.

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

I've gotten to meet a bunch of them over the years (Chevaldae, Ysebaert, Yzerman, Brown, Osgood, Vernon, McCarty, Pushor, Sheppard, Chabot, Paul MacLean, Dallas Drake, Kozzie, Lidstrom, Probert, Kocur, Fischer, Holmstrom, Maracle, Ward, etc.)

My favorite story is the one of meeting Yzerman, so that's the one I'll tell:

We're going to go back to late 1993/early 1994. Toronto, Ontario. I was on a family vacation to the city with my parents and brother, and it just so happened that not only were the Wings in town to play Toronto (remember when the NHL actually let us play the Maple Leafs?), but they were staying in the hotel right across the street from ours.

So the day of the game, my brother and I put on our Wings jerseys�€â€Âthat we had bought the night before�€â€Âand headed over to the Wings' hotel. The players started filing down, and while my brother and I were in the hotel's gift shop, Dallas Drake walked in. And this is one of the reasons that I've always liked Dallas Drake, even when he acts like a knucklehead on the ice, he came up to the two of us and said hello. We chatted for a minute or two, we got an autograph (he has a very cool signature, by the way) and we headed back out into the lobby.

One by one, the guys started walking by. Bob Probert stopped to sign an autograph for us�€â€Âhe was also very nice. Slava Kozlov�€â€Ânew to the country�€â€Âstopped by, and made us laugh because it seemed that the only word of English that he knew was "yes". "Thanks Slava!" "Yes" "Good luck tonight!" "Yes".

They all worked their way out to the bus. A few minutes later, Yzerman, Osgood and Chevaldae walked by. As an 11 year old, I was really excited, sprung up from my chair and exclaimed "Mr. Yzerman!!" failing to notice that they were obviously in a hurry. Yzerman didn't brush me off though. He told the other two to go ahead and came back to sign an autograph for me and chatted for a minute. As it turns out, he missed the bus. I don't THINK I caused it, since Osgood and Chevaldae didn't make it either, but the fact that he was willing to stop and sign an autograph for a young Wings fan, even though he was late for the team bus to the rink has always stuck with me.

I also met him at The Goalie's Den a few years later. The line was around the entire building. We weren't even the last ones in line and we waited for 2 1/2 hours. But even after all that he was still as nice as he could be...he treated us like we were the only autograph he was signing that day. Chatted with us, asked my name, and signed the photo "To Tim: Best Always, Steve Yzerman". Truly a couple experiences to cherish.

-Tim

You've met Ozzie!! OMGNESS. Do tell us how it went!

Great story bout Stevie. He is really a great guy.

You .. Are .. so lucky.

Thats like everyone thats ever been a big member of Detroit , you've met , tahts soooooooooo cool.

Haha believe me I was never this lucky before. Ever since '02 I've been meeting the Wings a lot. That's really where it all started.

[topshelf14 1]

I got my hair cut with Nick Lidstrom last year at my wifes salon. Very cool to be doing something we all do while being next to the greatest defenseman who ever played the game!!!

[Packer487 3]

You've met Ozzie!! OMGNESS. Do tell us how it went!

Great story bout Stevie. He is really a great guy.

He's actually a really nice guy. Wasn't anything special. I met him at the Goalies Den for a signing...he was there with Vernon. So I've got a puck signed by both of them--which is actually pretty cool to have since they combined for a Jennings. That was a good day. Met our two goalies, got a puck signed, and I also got to sit in one of Jeff Gordon's racecars.

Stevie is the best. It still looks really strange to me to see Lidstrom wearing the C.

-Tim

[wingslogo19 281]

I got my hair cut with Nick Lidstrom last year at my wifes salon. Very cool to be doing something we all do while being next to the greatest defenseman who ever played the game!!!

that's pretty sweet

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

He's actually a really nice guy. Wasn't anything special. I met him at the Goalies Den for a signing...he was there with Vernon. So I've got a puck signed by both of them--which is actually pretty cool to have since they combined for a Jennings. That was a good day. Met our two goalies, got a puck signed, and I also got to sit in one of Jeff Gordon's racecars.

Stevie is the best. It still looks really strange to me to see Lidstrom wearing the C.

-Tim

That's pretty awesome. Do you still have Ozzie's sig or did you throw it away?

[Wings_Rule_1010 4]

Not just because I don't like him as a player, but I would have to say that Lilja was basically the only rude Wing I have ever met. I went to Columbus last year and he was the only Wing not to stop and sign autographs. He was on his cell phone, acting like he was too good for everyone.

[Packer487 3]

That's pretty awesome. Do you still have Ozzie's sig or did you throw it away?

Nah I've still got it. Sometimes I can't believe I spent money for it, but I've still got it.

There was a time I didn't completely dread the sight of him in net....

-Tim