Okay, Barilkosphere, here’s your chance to pick up a piece of Leafs memorabilia.
My wife and I are running a charity auction tonight. One of the items that’s up for grabs is an autographed hockey stick that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment was kind enough to donate. It’s autographed by the 2008-2009 Toronto Maple Leafs; you know, the pre-truculent ones.
Now I know that there will be some among you who say, “Meh. No Nasty Nazem, no Komikazi, no Happy Trails. I am excited about this year’s team. Last year is so – well, last year.” But there’s a lot of this year on the stick too; Luke Schenn, Mickey Grabs, Nick Hagman and Nikolai Kulemin, for example, were all Leafs last year. And if I could identify all the signatures on it, I would be able to assure you that they’re all there (just kidding – most of them added their numbers beneath their signature).
There are also some elements of history and soon-to-be-history. For example the stick is signed by Nik Antropov and Anton Stralman. Since both of those players were traded by the Leafs, the successful bidder is virtually guaranteed* to own a stick signed by sure fire future Hall of Famers and future winners of multiple Norris, Hart and Art Ross trophies.
The stick comes with a certificate of authenticity. I picked it up myself from MLSE; it’s the real deal.
The auction is taking place between 5:30 and about 8:00 tomorrow night. If you’re interested in submitting a bid on the stick, I can do it for you – we can communicate by Twitter (my handle is warwalker) or email (junior [at] heroesinrehab.ca) on my iPhone. I’ll cough up the dough for the charity, you can PayPal me the amount of the bid if you win, and I’ll even pay to ship it to your home, apartment, dorm room, cardboard box or park bench. Which is a joke, of course, but it’s a nice way to segue to…
…the charity. It’s called “Miles for Smiles“. We’re raising money for homeless and street-involved youth here in the City of Hamilton. All the money we raise tomorrow is going to the Good Shepherd Centres and is specifically ear-marked for two facilities they run for these kids, Notre Dame House and Brennan House. They’re places that these kids can go when they have nowhere else to stay; they offer social support services and try to hook the kids up with counselling and educational services to help the kids try to address whatever problems may be causing their homelessness. This year, our honorary chairperson is a young lady who once found herself having to make use of these services, but who has made a success of her life – she’s off the street and attending a post-secondary institution, and she wants to become a social worker to help the clientele of these facilities. So it’s a good cause. If you’d like to help out, I’d appreciate it.
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*If you listen to the mittenstringers, anyway. What I’m saying is that the guarantee is entirely fictional.