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The company I used to work for was run by someone who had been an executive with the Ottawa Senators during their first two or three seasons. Because of that, he knew Brad Marsh (the long time defenceman for Atlanta, Calgary, Philly, Toronto, Detroit, and then Ottawa for his last season and he was one of the last helmetless players in the league). Back some ten years or so ago, this boss of mine told me to go to the bar and grill Marsh ran at the time to help book the company Christmas party. So I got to meet Brad, a very nice and personable fellow. And then about a year later, I got to meet Brad again at a local golf tournament and he remembered me because of the party and the connection with the boss I had. One thing I remember about Marshy in person was the big, strong hands he had and what it was like to shake hands with him, lol.

At the same golf tournament, they also had Noel Price, who played in the NHL during the 1960s and 1970s, and I was lucky enough to have him in the foursome I was with. While certainly not of the same caliber as Bobby Hull or Phil Esposito or Bobby Orr or anyone else like that, Noel was filled with all sorts of neat stories about the game back then and the players and everyone else. BTW, the main celebrity guest was Yvon Cournoyer and I got to meet him and get his autograph. And he was a lot of fun as well.

I think hockey players are the most personable and approachable athletes of all. A friend of mine in Alberta used to live in an Edmonton apartment building owned by Peter Pocklington, who owned the Oilers at the time. Many of the younger players on the team lived there, and he could spend hours telling stories about his encounters with them.

One Saturday morning he woke up to a commotion on the street in front of the building and in the lobby downstairs. The Edmonton police were tying up the loose ends from an incident in the wee hours of the morning. An Oilers player who shall remain nameless had started a scene in a bar up the street and gotten thrown out of the place. He tossed a garbage chair or piece of street furniture through the front window, then proceeded down the street toward this building where he lived ... and repeated the destruction at every storefront along the way.

My friend went out a few hours later and walked up the street. Every business along the block had at least one boarded-up front window. He knew which bar was the location of the original incident because that was where the string of boarded-up windows ended. LOL.