California is Well Represented at Hockey Hall of Fame

Staying with the Hockey Hall of Fame weekend California connections, there were many during the Legends Alumni game as former Los Angeles Kings Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy and David “Tiger” Williams played for Doug Gilmour’s Team Canada team.

Gilmour himself has a California connection as Toronto Maple Leaf fans adore to remind me, that it was in Los Angeles, (which I quickly (not Jonathan) interrupt and correct these Leaf fans that technically this event they are about to talk about actually happened in Inglewood, CA, not in Los Angeles, CA as the “Great Western/Fabulous” Forum is placed there in Inglewood on West Manchester Blvd. This always seems to anger and annoy them even more which I find quite amusing) in Game 6 of the 1993 Campbell Conference Final between Gilmour’s Leafs against the Los Angeles Kings, where “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky accidently high-sticked Gilmour in the face and causing him to bleed.  No penalty was called on the play and Gretzky came back and scored the overtime winning goal, as well as getting a hat-trick and 4 points total in game 7 to lead the Kings past the Leafs and into the Stanley Cup final, (I don’t know what Leaf fans are complaining about because that is a GREAT California connection story!)  As for Gilmour, he played well in the Alumni game.  Ended up scoring a goal too but he didn’t get high-sticked to the face again to my knowledge (it’s hard to see from way up high in the freezing PRESS BOX!)  Then again, maybe Gilmour did get high-sticked but no penalty was called by the refs?  If so, then bravo Hockey Gods, bravo.  It’s the little things in stories that make all the difference in the World!

For Pavel Bure‘s World team, former Kings Petr Klima (remember him?) and Valeri Bure played (yes, Valeri Bure actually played this time!), as did Hall of FamerrCammi Granato.  After the game, my friend and colleague Ryan Cowley of MakeWayForTheKings.net and I were taking photos of the legendary players with other media members as they made their way through the hallway between the locker room and the ice deep inside the Air Canada Centre.  Ryan and I were talking about the former Kings players like Coffey and Murphy when I started talking about LA Kings “Legend” Valeri Bure. Calling Bure a Kings “Legend” was an inside joke that only long time LA Kings fans would understand as the Kings signed Bure to a one year contract back in 2005 for the 05-06 season but even though Bure did a photo shoot with a Kings jersey on to celebrate his signing with the team, he never played one single game for them due to a career ending back injury.As I was talking to Ryan about this, no other then Valeri Bure himself showed up right in front of us! (what is he a NINJA???) I had to think of something quick (not number 32) so I did the most logical thing that came to mind, I took a picture with him and asked him about his wife DJ Tanner … um… sorry, I mean his wife Candace Cameron Bure and her upcoming new show Fuller House! (It’s the sequel to FULL HOUSE!)

After meeting Valeri, I felt guilty for poking some sarcastic fun at his lack of a career with the Kings because one, he had a great career overall, and two, he was very friendly and extremely likeable in person, so shame on me.  So if you’re reading this Mr. Bure, I apologize and will not disrespect you again, (but I also have to apologize for forgetting to ask you if you ever met UNCLE JESSE AND REBECCA ON THE FULLER HOUSE SET???!!!  HOW DID I FORGET TO ASK YOU SUCH AN IMPORTANT QUESTION???!!! MY READERS DESERVE TO KNOW!!!)

<clears throat>

To cap off a perfect night, Ryan and I got to talk to a very special member of the hockey world, who had kindly stayed behind after the Hall of Fame press conference was over to talk to reporters.  He was no other than Scotty Bowman, the greatest coach in the history of the sport.  Bowman told us about when LA Kings legend Luc Robitaille played for his Detroit Red Wings, where Bowman explained that Luc had been very instrumental in helping that 2002 Red Wings (all-star) team win the Stanley Cup.  Robitaille was already a superstar from his years in LA but he had never won the Cup so Bowman himself took it personally to do what he can to help Luc achieve his dream.  Like fellow Hall of Famers Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan and new inductees Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom, Luc was a team player and left his earned ego at the door when he entered the Wings locker room.  Telling us (and others) the story, Bowman explained that he made it clear to Luc that with Detroit already stacked with elite players as it was, Robitaille would have to play on the 3rd or even the 4th line.  What impressed Bowman the most and made him respect Robitaille even more was that Luc accepted his bottom 6 role happily and ran with it to the fullest without ever complaining.  3rd or 4th line or not, Robitaille was also an elite player and still ended up scoring 30 goals and 50 points! (30 goals by a bottom six player? Whaaaaatttt??? I hope you’re taking notes Kyle Clifford, Nick Shore, Andy Andreoff and Jordan Nolan!)  When Detroit finally won that Cup against Carolina that year, Bowman was thrilled of course at winning yet another Cup, especially with that special core of players that Detroit had, but what helped him sleep at night from that night forward was knowing he helped Luc accomplish his lifelong goal of winning the Stanley Cup.It doesn’t need to be said that both Ryan and I who are not just hockey journalists (yes journalists, we got media credentials for these events, WHAAATT???) but are also long time Los Angeles Kings and Luc Robitaille fans and we were blown away and deeply moved by this story.  Thank you Mr. Bowman.  As icing on the cake, Bowman allowed me to take pictures while he was talking to us and the other press and he even did a “Duck face” for me for a picture! (As a Kings fan I wasn’t sure how to take this but then again, it’s Scotty “freaking” Bowman so I’ll take whatever I can get).

Afterwards he allowed us to take a selfie with him, which turned out fuzzy, so I asked him kindly for another one and he agreed to do so.  Bowman is nothing but a class act. I did notice that even though the second selfie was an improvement from the first one, it was still a bit blurry, so I approached Mr. Bowman for a third picture but before I could ask, Bowman jetted out of the room like a bat (not Batman) out of hell. (Hmm. He must’ve been late for an appointment or something?)

The Hockey Hall of Fame induction press conference, alumni game and official ceremony was a fun, heart warming and classy series of events that honored some truly special new inductees.  The Hockey Hall of Fame is something that every hockey fan in the world should come out and experience, at least once in their lifetime, especially for those fans from California. Even though the actual physical Hall of Fame building resides on Front and Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario Canada, the state of California and it’s contributions to the NHL and the entire sport of hockey is more that well represented and documented there, forever.