Maddie’s Stories – January 21, 2011 and outside Southpointe Iceoplex

The first time I met Kris was at the car show on January 21, 2011. My friends and I got there at about six and had to wait in line for about an hour. There were about 150 people in front of us in line. Finally, the line started to move. It took another hour to get close to the stage where he was signing. Finally, we were next and I was so excited but nervous at the same time. When we got up onto the stage, I wanted to say something but I was so nervous all I said was “Hi”. He said hello back and I handed him my picture of him holding the Stanley Cup and my Winter Classic Jersey to sign. After he finished signing my jersey, I gave my camera to the lady who was taking pictures for everyone and my friends and I walked over to stand behind Kris. She tried to take the picture, but she hit the wrong button and accidentally turned it off. Kris laughed a little and said “you turned it off”. The lady smiled and turned it back on. Finally she took the picture and we walked off the stage. After I decided to stay and take a couple pictures of him signing.

My second time meeting him was at a practice at Iceoplex Southpointe. We had been waiting in line for about an hour and a half and there were about 60 people in line. After about another half hour people starting leaving because they thought all of the players had left. We had already seen Fleury’s car leave about 30 minutes ago, but all of a sudden we saw it come back and park. Then someone got out of it and was walking towards other cars in the parking lot. It was Kris! He had been driving Marc’s car for some reason. He then got into his white BMW and started driving towards the exit. But then he stopped and stuck his head out the window and you could see that he was talking to Fleury. At this point, Fleury was about to get in his car and was talking to Kris. Then Kris stuck his head back in the window, started to back up, and then him and Marc started driving towards the line. I got so excited that the lady in front of me had to tell us to be quiet or he would drive away. I was the tenth person in line. He slowly drove his car towards us, and again, I was so excited that I was unable to say anything. I handed him my card and he signed it. Then I said thank you and asked for a picture. He smiled a little bit and I said thank you again after we took the picture. Then Fleury drove up to us. I said hi and handed him my box of Fleury Flakes. He laughed and said “Oh Fleury Flakes. Do you think they are good?” I said “Ya they’re really good.” He laughed again and said “Oh that’s good.” Then I asked for a quick picture. After we got our autographs, my friends and I walked back up to the entrance of the iceoplex and Kris started driving towards us and then pulled out of the exit. But then, he came back into the entrance and parked his car. We just stood there confused as he sat in his car digging around for something. We could tell he was waiting for someone. Then Marc finished signing and started driving towards us. He pulled out of the exit and Kris followed him. Apparently Kris had been waiting for his buddy, Marc, to finish signing and they drove off together.

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