Well, another Carnival has come and gone. I have to say that the organizers did a great job. I arrived an hour early and instead of standing outside in the cold until 2:30pm, we were let inside at 2pm so we wouldn't miss any of the action. Bret spent most of his time at the autograph booth....he was there from 12 noon, until 1:30pm and again from 3:30pm until about 5:15pm. Because I am not a season ticket holder, I didn't get to go in until 2:30pm. For the next hour Bret was at the Air Hockey game table.

The fans started lining up once they saw who it was playing. The number of girls waiting to meet him clearly outnumbered the guys! I didn't play against him, instead I stayed at the side and took a few pictures. He was very polite...introducing himself to each fan that would play against him, and afterward signing an autograph, or taking a picture.

It must've been pretty hot playing under the lights (the table was set up on the Plaza level, the lights were very bright), so Bret took his jersey off, and took off the plaid shirt he had on underneath...don't get too excited he was wearing another shirt=) Because he was at a table near me, and no one was near him, I went up to him and told him that I run a website about him. I handed him a piece of paper with the site address on it and asked him to take a look at it if he got a chance. He said he would, and thanked me. Talking to him is a great experience, he's a very polite guy.

He won and lost his share of air hockey games, but has a mean shot! I did notice that this year he really was much looser with the fans and really knew how to handle himself with everyone around always asking for "just one more" autograph or picture.

When Bret was leaving Air Hockey to go back to the autograph booth a bunch of people followed him as he walked through the Plaza level to the elevators. He stopped numerous times to sign something, or pose for a picture...I think he would have done more, but he felt bad having the volunteers who were with him have to try and tell people they couldn't do pictures then.

For about an hour or so I wandered the floor to check out where all the other players were. Dave Babych spent some time in the dunk tank, as did Scott Walker and Gino Odjick. The "big guns" of Pavel Bure, Kirk McLean, Alex Mogilny, and Trevor Linden spent the entire day in the photo booths. I spotted Tom Renney signing some autographs out on the floor, and snapped a picture. Many people were coming up to him to tell him they support the work he's doing with the team, and he really appreciated the comments.

After a little while, I decided the only way to get a good picture with Bret was to go to the autograph booth. I bought my tokens, and waited about a half hour to reach Bret. I had the Canucks dayplanner with me (along with my camera) and when I got to Bret he signed a picture of him in the book. I had snapped a few pictures before I reached him, but refrained from asking him to pose with me because the volunteers had told people it was holding up the line too much so he couldn't pose anymore. He looked up from signing, and to my surprise he said "So a webpage huh?". I was pleased that he'd remembered me from earlier. I said yeah, and he asked how many people had seen it, so I told him over 200 or so hits had been made to the page. He seemed happy and asked how long I'd had the page up for, and I told him since November. He said he'd definitely have to take a look at it. I couldn't resist saying something more before I left, so I turned before walking away and said "I heard you were good (singing) the other n ight!" and he sorta cringed and said "Oh, I don't know...." and smiled. From what I've heard he has nothing to cringe about=).

All in all, I walked away quite pleased, but a little disappointed I hadn't taken more pictures or gotten one with him. I went on a tour of the dressing rooms to cheer me up and was very impressed by the design, and the technology in the rooms. They have a great training facilty, tons of bikes, weight equipment, everything you could imagine. No need for these guys to have memberships at Gold's Gym! The main dressing room was set up nicely with all the players jersey's and skates displayed. I was also struck by how many TV's there were throughout the area...even the hyperbaric chamber had a glass end so the player inside could watch TV! On the way to the bench is a great inspirational quote on the floor "Master Technique but let the Spirit Prevail".

After the tour, I noticed the line for autographs had been cut off as the time for the Carnival to end wasn't far away. So I, being ever so sneaky, worked my way up to the autograph area, camera in hand and snapped a few more pictures. A few other people were sneaking up and getting autographs after the line ended, and I made my way up to him and asked if I could get a picture with him. He said sure and put his arm around me and hopefully I'll get a great picture out of it. I told him thank you and that he was really sweet, to stick around for a photo =).

I think the Carnival was a great success this year, and I know a lot of charities will benefit from the proceeds. I also know the volunteers deserve a lot of credit for putting up with crazy fans all day! All I have to say...I can't wait for next year!