OTTAWA -- This is the fourth straight All-Star Weekend I've attended in my day, and I've come to find that the NHL always does a great job of finding a way to bring all of the fans together in one place to celebrate the game outside of the actual Skills Competition and All-Star Game. For the third straight year, they held the "NHL Fan Fair", this time bringing it into the city of Ottawa. It's always a big hit among the fans of the host city as well as those who made the trip from elsewhere (as could be seen by the lines just to get in). Thankfully my media pass overrode the rules in that situation.
The biggest attraction, of course, was the player autograph station. While I was there, Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames was sitting down with fans, but I did notice that Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi was scheduled to sign later this afternoon.
Aside from the autographs, you could also take pictures with the various trophies that are awarded each year in the NHL, including the Stanley Cup. I stood there and watched fans with the Cup for about ten seconds, and pretty much every one of them touched it. Either they're ignorant or just don't care about the curse. I should note that none of those people were Ranger fans - we're smarter than that.
Anyway, I managed to snap some pictures while walking around. Enjoy....
This was right outside the convention center where the Fan Fair was taking place. Each team had their jersey frozen over in ice, which is something like they did in Montreal three years ago. Unfortunately Raleigh, North Carolina didn't exactly have the climate conditions to pull off such a stunt last year.
This young lad aspires to be the next King of the Crease. Funny that he smiled and held the jersey up while I took the picture - I didn't even ask him to.
The target shooting booth was also a big hit. Clearly they didn't feel the need to challenge participants with Brodeur in net, though.
How could you have an NHL Fan Fair without an NHL 12 tournament? Too bad I didn't have more time, because I probably would've wiped up if I played.
With the Fan Fair now out of the way, it's almost time for me to head over to ScotiaBank Place with my press credentials for some pre-Skills Competition interviews. The arena doors open for the media at 3:30 p.m., and as of right now I'm not too sure whether or not the players will be there at that time as well. Whenever they do arrive, I'll be sure to hit up the Rangers' lockers, as well as head coach John Tortorella, for some blog-worthy content.
Any interviews I do get during that time will be posted here some time before the Skills Competition begins. I would say at least one to two hours before, so keep checking back on the blog and my Twitter (@NickMonteRT) for those.
I hope you guys are enjoying my live coverage from Ottawa so far, because it only gets better from here!
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