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Leaving work today, I headed to the bathroom to piss before taking the C-Train home. As I was exiting the bathroom, I passed Dave "Tiger" Williams going in. Because it happened so quick and because it was a washroom, I never said anything to him. I waited for the elevator to come and when it finally did, Dave came out of the bathroom and looked quite bewildered. He was lost and looking for a particular tenent that I knew wasn't on this floor. He hopped on the elevator with me and we had a quick chat on our way down.
That is actually the 2nd time I've met him. Back in the mid 90's, I was a bartender at a pub in Saskatoon. Dave was in town to visit his daughter, or so he told me, and came into the pub for some drinks. We shot the shit for a long time...real nice guy.
Not much point to this post, unless of couse you happen to be a fan of Tiger Williams.
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Billy,
That's cool. For the most part, pro hockey folk are the most down-to-earth out of all the sthletes from pro sports. I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Roger Neilsen in September of 2002, one on one. I was a waiter at the restaurant that I work at now, and the Senators were in town to play the Bruins, I think, in an exhibition game at the Metro Centre. It was about 230 in the afternoon, and there was no one in the restaurant. A thin guy with a track suit and baseball cap walked in, and I took him to a table without even looking at his face. It was when he sat down that I realized I was about to serve a legend. He ordered a coffee, and as he waited for his chowder, I decided to try to chat with him. He was more than willing, and since I asked him how Jason Spezza was shaping up, he was all for it. We talked about what kind of team the Senators would be that year, we talked about contracts, power plays, it was amazing. It was like tapping THE gold mine for NHL info. When he left, he said goodbye to me by name, and I knew that it was a great honour to talk with such an amazing man. I shed quite a few tears when he passed away. It was nice to be a part of 30 minutes of his life, and it was a blessing for him to be a part of mine.
Rory
Halifax
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That's crazy Rory. I've actually met Roger Nielsen as well. I used to go up to Port Hope (A Little Town north of Toronto) for a 1 week hockey camp hosted by NHL greats. It was run by Roger Nielsen and he would always greet all the players at the initial camp meeting when we got there.
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A great man, for sure...
Other hockey folk that I've met/chatted with:
Dale Hawerchuk
Thomas Steen
Teemu Selanne
Mike Keenan
Jacques Martin
Walter Gretzky
Keith Tkachuk (yes, he is a dink)
Alexei Zhamnov
Jordin Tootoo
Matt Stajan
There may be others...
Rory
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I live in a small town just outside of Brantford, so I'm in Brantford alot. Walter Gretzky goes to all the local semi professional baseball and hockey games as well as alot of minor sporting events and he can be seen in stores around Brantford alot. He's always happy to talk to anyone who approaches him and he's more than happy to sign autographs for kids, he's a really nice guy. I remember I was volenteering at a food bank a few years ago, it was the day Wayne was announcing the roster for the Salt Lake team and Walter was also helping out there, I remember talking to him about the team, and some of Wayne's possible picks.
