NHL #DraftPartyCH 2012

I go through the motions every year. I half pay attention to the draft. If I knew who was being drafted I might actually care...I know with the internet and all I could find out pretty easily but there are 30 teams and at least 7 rounds, I'm not gonna do the math on that but that's a lot of players. Sure the first 30 or so are the most important but even at that, I don't feel like I could know enough about all of them to be interested [if you know about them, good on ya! I have no problem with people that are crazy into the draft.] That being said, a few weeks ago [June 7th] I entered to win a couple of tickets to the draft party at the Bell Centre, I also sent the link to my sister because she is the lucky one. [Did you enter, Gen?!]. At any rate, I entered and forgot about it, which is what I usually do. I don't win stuff but I like to enter and pretend I actually have a chance to win.

Well on June 20th, I was checking my Junk Mail folder and I had an email from the Bell Centre and the subject said "Your E-Tickets are attached" I panicked a bit. I mean it looked official and I hadn't ordered any tickets online, how did they get my credit card, what were the tickets for?!
So of course I opened it, it had an attachment but as far as I could tell it was legit. It said it was two tickets to the "Draft Party 2012 - Friday, June 22, 2012 at 5:00PM." It didn't have my credit card number, but I was still confused. So I went to the Canadiens' website and there it was, my name as well as about 500 others [link here]. I looked at the link, but was just looking for my name, I didn't see what was going on at that event. I had already committed to the Tweetup at the Pub, so I was torn as to which one to go to. I finally read all the details, well the only thing I had to read was that David Desharnais was going to be doing a Q&A.
You see David Desharnais is my favourite current Habs' player. I thought I had written about this before but I guess I didn't, so I'll do that now haha. For the last few seasons Mike Cammalleri was my favourite but when he was traded in January, I had to decided on a new favourite. The choice was tough for me because I didn't want to pick an obvious choice. Don't get me wrong, I love PK Subban, Carey Price, Josh Gorges and the rest of them. I just wanted a name on my back that not everyone else would have. This was towards the end of the season, so when I got my ticket to the game I was considering Yannick Weber, as my favourite, because he was on the ticket. I can't remember why or exactly how, but I decided that David Desharnais would be my favourite.
I consider Desharnais an underdog. He is listed at 5 foot 7, which isn't very tall be it a hockey player or just in general. He was never drafted into the NHL but has proved that he deserves to be there. Also he is a French Canadian. Needless to say I was sold.
So I retired my Cammalleri shirts [I'll still wear them, I just have a new go to one haha] and got myself a Desharnais one before the last game of the season [it's 1-0 fyi].
So when I found out that Desharnais was going to be at the Draft Party, I knew I couldn't miss it. This would be my first chance to see and possibly meet my first current Habs' player. Not to mention it would be my favourite.
I made sure my camera batteries were charged and my cards empty. I headed out the door around 4, it's not a long trip on the Metro but I didn't want to be there super early. I arrived right around 5, there was a bit of a line up but it wasn't crazy. I didn't know what to expect, but I thought there would be lots of people. I was also a bit panicked, because I didn't know if my printed ticket would scan [I think I am just always prepared for the worst]. They didn't end up scanning the tickets, they just checked to make sure everyone had one.
The event was outside and there were some tents around. I found the tent that was for the autograph signing, so I headed there first. I ended up being the 9th person in line!

It doesn't look like much from this angle, but this was in line for the autographs.

I was excited to finally see Chris  'Knuckles' Nilan and to see again, Stephane Richer [I saw Richer play in NB and ended up at the same pub as him after the game].

We were kind of rushed through the line so I didn't get good pictures. I did get a chance to talk to Richer and tell him that I had seen him play with the Alumni. I wish I had a printed pic I took for him to sign, but I hadn't planned that well. haha They had cards, so it wasn't so bad.

Stephane Richer

Chris Nilan

I didn't really talk to Nilan, the guys a head of me were in the way and the security was kind of pushy.

While I was in line they were showing stuff on the big screens, so I had an idea of what was going on.

I don't know if you can make out what it says. Also this is the French one.

Since I went through the autograph line so fast, I visited the booths. Including my picture taken in a Ford Mustang decked out in Habs decals [I think I messed up my email address because I didn't receive the picture :s]. I also got a red CCM lanyard. I'm kinda bummed that I missed out on the foam fingers, I also didn't get the "war paint" in a tube [I didn't want that on my face anyway haha]. There was also a booth selling shirts, jerseys, pucks and more. But I already have shirts and I didn't want to spend money. They also had concessions but I ate before I arrived and I wasn't buy expensive beer.

I'm not a Ford girl, but I must say this is a nice looking car! hehe

So I got my 'good' camera ready and waited right up front for the Question and Answers. [It's a week later and I just downloaded the pictures so they will not be included in this post, I will have to post them later.] I was to the left of the stage and luck for me Davey [yes, I have nicked named David Desharnais, Davey] was on the right, so I had a prefect view [except for the water bottle].

see, darn water bottle!!

I managed to move over some and got some without the water bottle in the way

there he is. :)

I didn't mange to get very good pics of Louie. opps.

After the Q&A, I went behind/to the side of the stage. Davey and Louie were signing autographs and taking pics with people. I didn't really have anything to get signed so I just took some pictures. But I couldn't let the opportunity to get my picture taken with him slip by, so I asked someone if they would take a pics for me.

yes, it's edited we both looked red-ish so I desaturated it. but ZOMG I got my pic taken with David Desharnais!! haha  

It was kind of crowded and I felt like I was taking up space so after I got my picture taken with him I went to the back and made room for others. After that I wandered around, there wasn't much going on. I ended up by the radio stations that were in the back corner and there seemed to be a bit of a crowd. Sure, enough there was Davey and Louie in the middle of it. So I took some more pictures. After their interviews they were headed into the Bell Centre [there was a rave or something going on in there, I never did figure it out haha]. But before they did Davey hung around and signed some more autographs and took more pics. This time I decided that I would get my 'ticket' signed. There wasn't a lot of people this time, so I waited and then I went up. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't really say anything...maybe I was 'starstruck' that doesn't really happen to me. oh well.

taken on my webcam. you get the point.

 He signed it and looked up from the paper and I said "Merci beaucoup!" to which he replied "Ca fait plaisir" and I nearly died. haha OK not really but I was pretty happy.
After that there was a bit more waiting around until the draft started. The Habs picked third, so I thought about leaving then, again, I don't know much about the draft and my team had picked so the fun was kind of over. But I stayed a bit longer, then they drew names for autographed pictures and hats [somehow, I missed that booth. darn it!]. I didn't recognize any of the names, then again I didn't think I knew anyone there. But then I looked at the screen and sure enough it was one of my friends for the tweetup, so naturally I stalked her back to where she was standing and said hi. We left the Bell Centre shortly after that and headed to the pub.
Everyone at the pub, was buzzing, because of drinks and the draft pick [maybe I'll do more research next year. haha]. We were having a good time, until something unbelievable [not sure what word to use here] happened...our rival team announced their draft pick..."From the Belleville Bulls, Malcolm Subban." Does the last name sound familiar?! Maybe cuz I mentioned his big brother, PK, earlier in this post. PK plays defence for my beloved Habs, making Malcolm, goalie, an automatic enemy. That will make for some interesting family dinners, I'm sure.
I didn't stay much longer than that, I don't even think I saw the last few picks in the first round, oh well.
Maybe I'll be more interested next year. haha

~believe.