Here's Al's report:
"When the doors opened precisely at 10 a.m., we were led into the Leafs dressing room where the sale was held. There were skates, pants, gloves for sale, but mostly just sticks.
"I was looking to get a helmet, which I could have taken to a practice and have the entire team sign. Unfortunately, the team is not allowed to sell the helmets because the helmets would have been taken out of service because they were broken.
"A lot of the people who go to these sales use the equipment for their own hockey careers ... and if the helmet was broken, they would risk serious head injuries (as if being a Leaf fan isn't enough -- Al wrote that, not me).
"I saw Vesa Toskala's catching mitts going for $200. They had stitching on them stating whether they were practice mitts or game mitts. By the time I left, most of the stuff had been picked through. Most of the remaining stuff was from players who are no longer on the team.
"But I did note that as I was walking out, there were at least 100 people still standing in line. I spoke with a father there with his two kids. He told me that he was not there for the sale, just to take his kids into the dressing room. I didn't even think of that. What a thrill for the kids to go into the dressing room."
Don't worry, though, as Al didn't go home empty-handed. Not after getting up at 5 a.m. Here's what he added to his autograph stock:
Here's a real nice game-used stick of Tomas Kaberle; and
a game-used stick of Alexei Ponikarovsky.Here are a few more shots from the sale:
Al was right. I imagine it was quite a thrill for Leafs fans to get an up-close look at the Leafs' locker room.
Leafs fans had their pick of game-used sticks, didn't they?
Goalie Joey MacDonald, one of Colin's buddies on the Leafs, had plenty of sticks available. Those on the right look like they're from his days with the New York Islanders.
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