The Unwanted Twig, please take it off my hands.


I’ve got a bit of a problem. This week I came into possession of a hockey stick autographed by this year’s entire Vancouver Canucks team. The problem? Well, I am a die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan. Not only that, but I am a long-time, self-professed Canucks hater. Hate is a strong word, but in this situation it is more than apt. I’m not one of those band wagon Canuck haters just because it’s in vogue now. I have been one since I moved to the West Coast in 1994. The hatred blossomed from a basic indifference I had about the Canucks while growing up in Ontario and was spawned by being immersed in this region.

How in the heck did I acquire this unwanted twig? I have my father to thank for that. You see, my dad ‘pretends’ to like the Canucks although he still lives in Ontario. He does it mainly to get a rise out of my mom and I, but honestly, I think he really does like them. He tries to pick Canucks in his hockey pools and entered a pool on the Canuck website earlier this season. This is where he won the team signed stick. They wouldn’t ship it to Ontario for him, and he really doesn’t have any need for it anyway so he arranged so I could pick it up. All this week he’s told me to put it up on a wall in my den. Anyone who knows me even a little bit or has read any of my blog knows this is not going to happen. My den (yes there really is a Nitzy’s Hockey Den) is full of everything Maple Leafs with a smattering of Gretzky. See photos below.
















It really would be sacrilegious to display such an item in my shrine. I mean really, how can you compare the Nucks stick to my 1963 Leafs team signed stick (which I also got from my dad, he’s batting .500 I suppose) which includes the likes of Tim Horton, Dave Keon, Frank Mahovlich and Johnny Bower.


Therefore, I will attempt to sell the stick and split the money with my father. I’m going to put it on ebay with the hope of selling it to someone locally in the Vancouver area, I’m not even sure what it would cost to mail it across the continent if needed, probably at least 40 bucks. It has 25 signatures on it, and I have deciphered most of them. Henrik has a simply awful autograph. Anyway, if anyone has any interest in taking this wonderful item off my hands, check out the link in the title at top or here:




And by the way Dad, I did find a temporary place for the stick after all. See the white part barely sticking out from behind the Leaf stick below...

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