Al, Hound Central 5.0's Toronto-based correspondent, went out Wednesday morning with a plan of cherry-picking two of the newest Maple Leafs -- Jean-Sebastien Giguere, above, and Dion Phaneuf.Let's just say, as Al reports, he had mixed results:
"Funny thing is they came together in Giguere's VW SUV, had the California plates on it. They must be staying in the same hotel and are now carpooling.
"When they pulled into the practice rink's parking lot, it was full, thanks to all the hounds taking the overflow spots. So, Giguere drove to the entrance for the players. The two of them got out and a security guard parked it when a spot became available.
"I got all my autos before practice, except for Giguere, who came out by himself after practice and signed the two photos for me. "He was telling everyone he was going to be one-per. However, I looped around and got the second one done.
"Phaneuf never came out after practice. Rumor was that he got picked up by a cab in the front of the arena to go downtown to do a radio interview.
"As I told my buddies, 'There's still a lot of practices to be had and sooner or later we will get him.' "
Here are those two 8x10s that Jiggy signed for Al:
It wasn't all that long ago that he was signing photos like this down in Hockey Bay.
A sweet item, but have you ever seen a more-conflicted Conn Smythe Trophy winner?
"He was telling everyone he was going to be one-per. However, I looped around and got the second one done"
ReplyDeleteDoes that statement seem to bother anybody else? If a player says one-per why risk ruining it for others?
Fair question. I'll reach out to Al and ask him to respond. How's that?
ReplyDeleteHere's Al's reply:
ReplyDeleteFair enough question. I would say 80 to 90 percent of the hounds at the Leafs practice arena are "pros" ... they make no qualms about selling the stuff on eBay and a majority of the players know who these guys are.
They have folders in the trunks of their cars and as the players come out they grab that players folder and and begin to pull out photo after photo, jersey number after jersey number. They continue to do this until the player hands him back the marker.
Some of the younger players will sign all the items put in front of them, where as some of the more seasoned guys look at them and pass them up to an unfamilar face.
I have never sold one of my autos, nor will I ever. Sure, I will trade autos with other collectors who I believe are honest and I have built up a friendship.
I know Giguere said one-per and I looped around and I cannot say with certainty that he knew that it was my second time through, but I believed he knew and could have said no.
He is the first Leaf this year to say one-per and I think he has already been coached by some of the other Leafs who he walks out with. "Watch out for that guy or this guy, they are here everyday ...."
As for me, I'm there maybe once a month at the most. So if I double-dipped on one of the newest Leafs and it upset someone, to that person, I'm sorry, however I will not lose any sleep over it.