Friday we arrived in Raleigh at about 1pm, the flight there was exciting. Especially because the entire plane was filled with NHL personal. I could honestly say almost everyone there was headed to the game and my dad actually befriended a gentleman who worked for NHL.com's media. The flight was quick and we landed into the warmth of North Carolina, once inside the airport the aura of the NHL All Star Game filled the air as at every turn there was signs and posters for the event. Believe it or not my weirdest or most out of the ordinary event to happen to me the entire weekend occurred about 2 minutes after I left the plane. While walking I noticed two faces that caught my eye, at first I was puzzled but then it hit me. The two men were Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of the popular show "Ghost Hunters", a show I just so happen to be an avid fan of. After my surprising run in with the Ghost Hunters stars, I headed down to the pick up area. While riding the escalator I noticed a dozen or so autograph collectors, pictures and sharpies in hand, waiting for various NHL stars to emerge down. As we closed in on the doors I convinced my dad and brother to let us stop and wait for a short amount of time to see if we could catch any NHL'ers. Looking around the hectic pick up area filled me with the anticipation for the upcoming weekend as everywhere I looked there was All Star Game related paraphernalia. TSN camera's and various media personal were alongside the autograph seekers and it seemed as though everyone was just as excited as I was. After about 10 minuets I decided I didn't want to put my dad and brother through any more waiting and we went out to find a cab. After we jumped in a slightly smaller than usual taxi and began driving away I noticed a plethora of well known NHL media members. E.J. Hradek was the main person of note I saw. The drive to our hotel , The Marriott City Center in downtown Raleigh, was surprisingly long but our overflowing joy was unaffected. Once we entered the city we became overwhelmed with the incredible display. Every building was covered in pictures of NHL superstars and NHL logos. Every NHL team's flag was on display throughout the city. The taxi drove up to our drop off spot in front of our hotel and we hopped out into a sea of other NHL fans. We entered into the hotel which was swarming with people donning NHL sweaters or suited men wearing the NHL's "Media" or "Personnel" cards around there necks. As we approached the front desk we conversed with various people commenting on my Islanders t-shirt and hat. Once we recieved our room key (which also happened to have a large All Star Game logo on it) we headed up the elevator. In the room we took a short hour or so nap and headed down to the Fan Fair. The Fan Fair is one of my favorite parts of the All Star Game weekend experience and this year it was held in the Convention Center which was directly behind our hotel. Upon entering we were a bit surprised by how huge the line to get in was, especially because it was 45 minutes before it even opened. As we waited, we had an opportunity to witness how diverse and how hockey loving the crowd was. A few people in particular caught my eye, one man wearing a Hurricanes Jersey, an actual helmet with a half shield and a pair of actual gloves was holding a stick with a Hurricanes flag on the end and he drew a large reaction from many fans. To entertain the patient hockey enthusiasts, a group of about fifteen girls around the age's of 17 and older where sent out to show off a dance routine that would be later shown in the fan fair on Saturday. As we finally got in, we were ushered into a curtained off area before we were allowed into the actual fan fair. Inside this area we were welcomed with blasting music and lights flashing everywhere as if trying to replicate a huge party at a club. All over the walls were every team's super hero from the recently released "Guardian Project" created by Stan Lee. After the 30 second show in that area we were directed to enter the fan fair. My brother and I entered as if we were both back to being 5 year olds at home entering the living room on Christmas morning. We both went off to our own separate directions. I, being extremely happy and excited, walked with a bit of jump in my step and bounced my head with the song "Black and Yellow" as it was being blasted by the DJ stationed in the middle of the entire party. I first headed over to the Bauer Hockey booth which had various equipment which had yet to be released on display. Me, being a goalie, was automatically attracted to the SICK pads on display as well as the incredibly comfortable catcher. After deciding that once the equipment becomes available for sale in however many months I will have to purchase them, I continued onto another perennial favorite of mine at the Fan Fair. That favorite is the Trading Card and Memorabilia section. If you didn't know this about me, I am a BIG time Card and Memorabilia collector. Sometimes I am a little embarrassed of my hobby but the way I see it is, everyone at one time collected cards when they were younger and they "grew out of it" well I am still a bit of a little kid at heart so I still haven't and never will "grow out of it". Anyway after I spent more time there than I should have, I decided its time to get a good sport for the Fantasy Draft taking place down on the opposite side of the Fan Fair. I grabbed a nice spot I began conversing with a very nice security guard who helped me call over Jeremy Roenick. Jeremy, who was preparing for his job for the night with Kevin Weekes for the NHL network, came over to me and graciously signed a puck I handed him. Although it was still nearly 2 hours until the draft was set to begin my incredible dad managed to get all 3 of us an incredible spot right on the railing behind the NHL network setup. The wait for the draft was not easy and the extreme amount of time standing caused our knee's and feet to be in a lot of pain. My dad especially, who by the way couldn't really give a crap about hockey, seemed to be in pain. But we all sacrificed and it was well worth it as we were able to not only see the entire event at such a close distance but we were all able to get on TV more than a few times. My brother and I recieved numerous texts and facebook notifications from people telling us how they saw us on TV. After we were able to achieve that we decided to call it a night. On our way back to the hotel, all I could think about was just how extremely lucky I am to be living this life and to be able to go to such an amazing event. That night we slept well but I made sure that night I was able to write out our whole itinerary for Saturday. When my brother and I woke up we noticed my dad wasn't there. After awhile we got a little concerned, but all of a sudden he emerged through the door a sweaty mess. We both questioned him on what had happened. He informed us that he was felt like doing the All Star Game 5k run and he proceeded to not only complete it but come in 274 place out of 1000+ people, not half bad for a 47 year old man that just got bored and decided to run it. After we all got the chance to clean up, I threw on my Islanders jersey and we all headed down back to the Fan Fair. Jeff Skinner was set to sign autographs at the Upper Deck booth but the second we walked in we noticed the line for his autograph was incredibly long. So instead of sitting on the line we decided to play some shooting and stick handling games, an aspect of the fair my brother John particularly likes. After Skinner finished up, Tyler Seguin came down to sign autographs. This time it was at the Panini Booth. We waited and got his autograph, I had asked my dad to take a picture of me with Tyler. Tyler and I stood for the picture and my dad thought he had taken it. As we walked away he asked me if it had worked, unfortunatly it didn't. Even though I was a little disappointed I told my dad it was fine but he felt bad. So he procedded to go back on line and wait all over again and then he called me over and said he needed to take the picture because he felt so bad. That is the type of moment I think I will remember for a long long time. A buddy of mine that I work with named Steve and his dad both came to the All Star Game too and Steve and I decided we should meet up and we could all hang out. So after Seguin signed we all met up. Taylor Hall was the next superstar set to sign autographs, and once again we all waited and got the opportunity to meet and get autographs from him. We all decided after we got Hall's signature it was time for my personal favorite part of the All Star Game, the Red Carpet Event. We got there at around 2PM, about 2 hours before the schedualed start time of 4PM. So we all grabbed a good spot and waited the two hours out guarding our territory. John (my brother), my dad, me, Steve and his dad all stood shoulder to shoulder making sure this would be a moment to remember. Something I should mention is that Steve just happens to be an avid Rangers fan, one of the few good Rangers fans out there. But we decided this could help us get players to come over to us as we figured his Rangers jersey would attract all the Ranger players and my Islanders Jersey would attract all the Isla.....errr would attract Michael Grabner. The event began with the mascots all coming onto the carpet. They were a lot of fun as it seems they all had the goal of raising as much hell as possible. One moment in particular with Sparky stuck out to me. Sparky came up to me and gave me a big high 5 and then proceded to hug me, after he looked to my left to see Steve in his dark blue vintage Rangers Jersey. Sparky decided to screw around with him, first by pretending to fight him, then by grabbing his Rangers hat off his head and bringing all the way to the other side of the carpet and then giving it back by just throwing it in Steve's vicinity, and then finally by taking Steve's jersey he was holding out for autographs. After his last antics with Steve's jersey he came over to Steve and gave him a hug. It was just a very funny exchange with mascots. When the players finally emerged it was an incredible experience. Not only did our plan work to get all the New York players but we ended up getting literally everyone's autograph. I had a mountain of autographed pictures, cards, pucks, and jerseys. Every player that signed was very nice (aside from one), John and I conversed with many of them. We all had some very very memorable exchanges with the players. Not only was the experience with the players great but also with the media. There was a ton of video's and picture's of us which was so cool. The fact that our insanly good memories can be captured like that was amazing. Here are a few pictures in the media of us:
another one here:
When Michael Grabner signed by jersey as seen in the above picture, the Islanders twitter took a few pictures and shared them with the world and captured a very special moment of mine that I will never forget. And to make it even better than woman that works for the Islanders twitter that took those pictures said the Islanders would like to give me two free tickets and although I am a Isles season ticket holder I really appreciated there generosity so I couldn't refuse. The red carpet event was an extremely sentimental and a special moment in my life. Being in junior year of high school and beginning to look into colleges my days of being a kid are numbered also add in the fact that my dad works so much and my little brother (who is not so little anymore) is almost in high school this might have been one of my last moments doing something like this as a kid with my dad and brother. And if indeed it was, I will be extremely happy with it as my last moment of that phase of my life. It was an incredible day for me and I will cherish it until the day I die. That night was the skills competition and we all really enjoyed watching my boy Grabner show his stuff and dominate in the Fastest skater competition. Then to see P.K. Subban's antics, the goalie race, Chara's record breaking shot, Ovie's 1,000 do overs, Toews not hearing the whistle, and all the other great moments of the skills comp was just icing on the cake to probably one of the best days of my entire life. As the Skills Competition ended we headed out to find a cab, while walking through the stadium's concourse we happened to just walk by an Islander great, Mike Bossy. We casually said hello and continued outside. There was a huge line for taxi's and it took us a good half hour to finally get a ride. When we made it back to the hotel, the lobby was filled to the brim with NHL alum. We saw Rob Blake sitting on the couch, Willie O'Ree walking around, and Grant Fuhr talking to some friends. Although I would have liked to stay out and keep having fun we decided it would be best to get some rest. The next morning was a little sad for me because I knew the upcoming day was going to be my last in Raleigh. We quickly went to the fan fair for our last time. John ran off to try and get a last shot at all the games and I went to try and soak in as much of the fair as I could. I just walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere. I took as many pictures as I could and had a lot of fun. After we said our goodbye's to the place where the entire trip began we went to where it was going to end. After the shuttle dropped us off at the RBC Center we admired the ridicules amount of people tailgating and having fun. It was something special that was so unique. As we entered the arena, the noise level was noticeably louder than the night prior. We headed to our seats and witnessed the opening ceremonies. Although a bit tacky, I LOVED the whole bit as the ceremony with the kids on the ice picking the sticks and the NHL guys coming out. I don't know why but it was something that really seemed deep to me and had a very emotional feel to it. When all the players came out and the game began, the atmosphere was just incredible. Any Hurricanes player was cheered for vigorously and it created an intense environment. Throughout the game, I noticed myself just thinking about how quickly this amazing weekend had gone. When the excitement of the game ended and the players were emptying of the ice, I realized the incredible weekend was officially done. I tried to take as many pictures as I could and I made myself soak in every last second we had there. That night was very subdued and although we were beyond happy and satisfied with the weekend we were severely disappointed it had to end. This morning the flight back to NY was rough for me. I am an emotional person and although I kept it to myself it was difficult to see this sick time with people I love so much have to end. That and also the fact that one of my last real moments I can act like a kid in this situation had ended and it has been weighing on my mind all day. The weekend was so good that I felt I had to write or type it down so I can remember detail for detail how great this weekend was and so everyone else can realize it as well.
