I’m excited to tell all of you that I’ll be headed to Toronto next month for Luc Robitaille’s Hall of Fame induction. I’ve never been to the Hall, so I’ll be fired up to go there and, of course, bring you the best possible coverage of the entire event. The ceremony will be held on Nov. 9, and it should be quite a day, with Robitaille, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Steve Yzerman all going in.
Also, just to reiterate. some outlets picked up my report and twisted it a bit to say that the NHL “awarded” the draft to L.A. My report was that an announcement won’t be made until December but that Kings officials have been told it’s coming. It’s semantics, but it’s important to be as clear as possible. There are still ongoing discussions about the venue, etc. Officially, the Kings say only that they have submitted a bid for the draft, and the NHL won’t be discussing the matter before December. So anyway, that’s it for now!
Congrats on getting to the hall, it is a beautiful building an an experience every hockey fan needs to have in their lifetime. You keep up this coverage and we will inducting you someday Rich.
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The HOF is a must see. Not only in Hockey but any sport. Will you make it to the game in Carolina on Nov 11?
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Thanks for the kind words, folks! And Kozak, yes, I will head to Carolina after the ceremony, for my first-ever trip to North Carolina!
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Rich…plan at LEAST 4 hours of ‘Me’ time just to enjoy the hall. Myself, I could spend all day in there. The masks alone at the entrance will entertain you for hours by itself.
Seriously awesome place. You will not want to leave.
When I was there, I had to take a picture with the replacement Stanley Cup as the real one was with a Ducks player. (Bitter)
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when i was there the real one was with a Montreal player, talk about bitter.
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LOL Macdup!
Don’t tell me you were wearing your jersey in plain sight in Toronto at that time…
I did when I went and people were STILL giving me dirty looks. I actually had one guy say to me ‘How can you wear that here?’. This was 15 years after that game 7. Lot of elephants in Toronto. They never forget.
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My friend and wore our hats and jackets (it was like 80 out too), we were 18 and 17 at the time so people did not take us seriously ant way. We did get into it with some French speaking Habs fans right in the hall itself. You want to know the sd part was that I had no idea the drinking age was 18 and wasted a good opportunity to drink legally. doh!! It’s ok it all worked out later in SF, but that is for another blog altogether.
i just realized i have been a kings fan for a long time, damn
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I went to the hall in like 2000 or 2001. I saw Aki Berg’s skates. Also, both my kids were born whilst I was wearing my HOF shirt.
I also went to Gretzky’s restaurant. IIRC, I believe they display THE STICK.
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Rich, I’m so excited for you! Congrats and have a blast.
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Take lots of pictures and try to post some….
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Only been to the Baseball HOF and the Basketball HOF. Any baseball fan needs to go to Cooperstown IMO. I would even like to go back.
Would love to see the NFL and NHL HOF’s as well, but not sure if I ever will get the chance. Great that the Kings are sending you there Rich, it is well deserved and will be great for is fans that follow your blog.
I get the feeling you enjoy going to work much more than you did with the paper even though I am sure you still loved your job then. Just with announcements like this I get the feeling you are smiling a lot these days. Your hard work with the Daily News seems to have given you a dream job and us fans are very lucky the Kings were smart enough to hire you.
Makes me wonder a bit who recruited you from the Kings or first brought up the idea to hire you in this role.
Anyways enjoy the Hall as much as you can even though you are working…
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Awesome Rich. Can’t wait to see you in Raleigh. Anyone else going to see the Kings play the Canes?
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Have a good time Rich. Be sure to have someone take video of you shooting pucks against Ed Belfour! Also, you have to do the play-by-play commentary. It lets you send a link of your recording to your email. That would be hilarious to post on here!
One last tip…don’t forget to grab a Starbucks! Who puts a HOF in a shopping mall anyway?
Enjoy the trophy room!!!
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PICTURES….LOTS OF PICTURES!!!!
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Great to hear, Rich! My wife and I will be there for our first time, too. We’re seriously excited about it!
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