I think it's impossible for a Habs fan not to love Brendan Gallagher. Day in, day out he's one of the hardest workers (if not the hardest worker) out on the ice, he gives his all, he's talented and is absolutely fearless. Just for those reasons, he ticks the boxes for what's needed to be a great hockey player but add to that the fact that he's a great guy, always amicable with fans and takes time for them and what you have is the complete package.
Today, I left home at 9:15 and made the drive up to Repentigny (that's 2.5 hours away from here little did I know) and while it did seem to drag on, the signing session was worth every single minute of that long drive. While Gallagher was schedule to sign from 2 PM, I figured that if I got there quite early, I could be first in line and drive back down in time to watch Bianca Andeescu make tennis history (and that she did! #ShetheNorth). Gallagher did better than get there on time though, he showed up at 1 PM, signed some stuff for the store owner and started the public session at 1:40 PM. There were quite a few people queuing by then at TW Sportscard Repentigny and we were all pleased to see things get an early start. As per my plan, I was first in line and got to chat with Gally a little bit while he signed my four items. He assured me that he's ready for the season and eager to get going (not that I doubted that even for a second) and even commented on the stuff I was getting signed.
One of my items was a Club 1909 poplin banner which I had stretched on a frame by Michaels and when he saw it he said: hey I remember that night! That was Weisy's goal in OT in Ottawa, THAT was a fun win!
I then asked him to sign a giant Club 1909 poplin banner (like 5 feet by 7 feet which belongs to a friend) and he said that he remembered that one from when it was hanging in the Bell Centre and proceeded to sign it but first asked me and the shop owner to stretch it properly so that he could do a quality autograph which was much appreciated:
After that, he also signed a game used puck from the 21st February for me and inscribed it with "1st Hat Trick" as well and the laminate I had made of the hockey card set I designed for Upper Deck along with a friend:
It's also worth mentioning that Tek Chher, the owner of TW Sportscard, who had set up this signing session, also took the time to set up a meeting between Gallagher and Raphaël Nadeau, a young boy who's had to battle cancer and turned out to be a true warrior, much like Gallagher. It was great to see Gally take the time to chat with him and pose for pics (shout out to Yanick Maltais for the great pics of the moment
his Twitter account):
I should also add that RDS broadcasted an interview with Marc Bergevin on the show Table d'hôte tonight and that he confirmed in no uncertain terms that he has no intention of bringing Markov back. The Canadiens are thinking and looking to the future and want the likes of Juulsen, Mete, Brook, Romanov and co. to get their chance and their time is now. I'm not surprised even though part of my wanted to see Marky get to 1000 NHL games wearing the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge...
Needless to say that after this day, the fan in me is over the moon. Especially since I'm now watching the baby Habs take on the baby Sens
click here to see the game. I'll be back tomorrow with my comments on that first outing for the Habs rookies.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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