Meet the Players 2007

Went to the L.A. Kings Meet the Players party Tuesday night. It was crazy crowded as usual. Since my friend Rick couldn't make it, I got Dustin Brown's autograph on his jersey.

Got nine more autographs on my game-used Jason Labarbera goal stick - Lubomir Visnovsky, Tom Kostopolous, Alexander Frolov, Scott Thornton, Marty Murray, Barry Brust, Brent Sopel, Oleg Tverdovsky, and Michael Cammalleri. My goal was to get the entire team on that stick, and as of this moment, I have the entire 2005-2006 team on the stick - including two future hall of famers - plus a handful of other 2006-2007 guys on it. Not sure yet if I'll keep getting autographs on it or not, but it sure looks nice on my wall in the office.

It never ceases to amaze me how friendly hockey players are. Considering I'm a big fan and I can't stand most fans, it's a wonder these guys can smile and sign autographs and pose for pictures for hours on end.

And from the People are Stupid category, I overheard this gem of a conversation this evening...

INT. STAPLES CENTER - NIGHT

Man and woman look at pictures of the L.A. Kings.  

                    MAN
          Konstantin Pushkarev.  He scored
          his first NHL goal last night. 
          He's from Kazakhstan.  

                    WOMAN
          Where?

                    MAN
          Kazakhstan.  You know, the country
          where Borat is from?  

Pause.

                    WOMAN
          But he doesn't look anything like
          Borat...  

Sigh. Remember when the Borat movie came out and the Kazakh government got angry? And we all thought they were over-reacting and that no person would ever confuse Sacha Baron Cohen's character with the real Kazakhstan? Guess we all owe the Kazakh government a big apology.