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Welcome to Long Island Cal Clutterbuck |
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I should know better. I wanted to arrive at the Team Store at the Coliseum by 5:45 pm in order to have just a few minutes with Cal Clutterbuck before the signing was to start. I was late. Another victim of Long Island traffic.
By the time I arrived the line of fans stretched from the box office to half way to the Executive entrance from on the other side of the building. It was the largest crowd I had ever seen for an autograph signing. Is Clutterbuck THAT popular with fans that they would wait for hours in the heat on a Tuesday in August? T was obvious to me that some fans had left work early to be there, because no one in their right mind would stand on that line outside in the heat in a suit and tie. The line had begun at 3 pm and season ticket holders had preferential treatment and special discounts both of which were being taken advantage of.
It was almost as warm inside the Team store as it was outside as I snuck in passed fans with entry bracelets stopping only to say hello to Islanders employees I knew. Basically because I didn’t want to get pummeled by someone thinking I was just cutting the line.
There were far more employees working this signing than any others making sure to keep order in the store as well as help with the many purchases that were being made. Within minutes, the new #15 Clutterbuck tees were sold out of all sizes but Small.
The newest member of the Islanders sat at a table in one of those tee shirts under a huge banner that said Welcome to Long Island Cal Clutterbuck. With his perfectly coifed hair and black rimmed glasses, he looked more like an accountant than a hockey player.
There was no way I was going to be able to interview him until the signing was over. I was now stuck waiting around for as long as it would take to get through that line. Greg Picker and Alex of ITV were filming and waiting as well so I was in good company.
Terry Goldstein was talking to a handsome, dark haired man who kept watch over Cal. I overhead them discussing house hunting in the area and please to go. I brazenly joined in the conversation. “We didn’t get in until 8:30 last night. We had trouble at the airport. Cal’s visa is expiring in September and the agent must have been new on the job so we missed out flight. Luckily there was another two hours later, but still.”
I was dying to know who this guy was, so I introduced myself and asked, “Are you Cal’s agent?” He smiled and gave a slight chuckle. “No, I’m his brother-in-law. I’m here with my wife and his wife. They’re sisters.” He looked familiar, and then I realized he looks just like Adam Scott from Parks and Rec!
“Oh, just like Matt Moulson and Jonathan Quick!” I said mentioning the world is the size of a walnut. “Yes, and we were just at a wedding with Matt and John last weekend for a mutual friend”
Is Canada really that low in population that everyone knows everyone else? Or is the hockey community that small?
“I need to get something to put this puck in so it doesn’t get ruined!” one fan proudly showed me the puck Cal had just signed for him in silver ink. “It’s going with my others, but this one looks really great. I can’t wait for the season to start!”
Tim Beach, who looks like he is on the Jack Capuano diet (the secret of which I really have to find out!), stopped to talk to me for a few moments. After I badgered him about never taking the Isles players out EAST on Long Island, or SOUTH for that matter, we did actually discuss hockey.
We agreed that the team that wins the Stanley Cup is always the team that can stay the healthiest and this past season, for the first time in YEARS, the Islanders were HEALTHY. Tim attributes it to the new strength and conditioning coaches and the plan they have in place for the players. This is what Garth Snow had told me he wanted to do at the end of the previous season. It’s working. But can it work for a full 82 game season? Only time will tell. But it looks like the Isles will have a great head start.
Cal signed for over an hour and half straight through, smiling, taking photos and sweating in the store with no air conditioning. They should really speak to their landlord. Ahem.
He stood up and I introduced myself. He shook my hand and excused himself for a moment to speak with his wife. The very pretty blond and her equally beautiful sister were trying on Islander hats and wanted an opinion. Anything they put on was adorable and made me smile from ear to ear. They had only been on Long Island for less than 24 hours and they are ready to represent!
The first one on line was a boy in a Wild jersey holding a puck that Cal had tossed to him during a game. He said it felt good “When you do things like that -- I don’t think twice about them -- you see a puck, you see a young kid and you flip him a puck, you don’t see the ripple effect. So is kind of cool to see them a couple of years later and the effect it had on them that day.” Yes, that kid will be a fan for life.
He said he wasn’t going to be changing his style of play now that he is in the Eastern conference. “I don’t think so. I’m not going to change a whole lot. We’ll see how it translates. I would think that it will be just fine. I’m just going to go and do what I do. I’m not going to revamp myself.”
While his looks are deceiving, Clutterbuck is known to play on the edge. Some of his play has been questionable and he has injured other players as well as himself. So I’d much rather have him play on a team WITH John Tavares than AGAINST him.
He did have a chance to talk to John Tavares a little about the Islanders recently, “Not too much in depth, just catching up. I just wanted to use him as a sounding board, ask some questions. I’m curious about so many things. There is a lot that goes into moving into a new city, let alone New York or Long Island. There‘s a lot of things to find out and to know.”
One item Tim Beach is keeping from all the team members is “…where the White Castles are on Long Island.” (Okay, that‘s a weight joke there.)
I asked if the move has interrupted his training regime, but he said he does have someone who trains him one-on-one back home for the last four years. Since the trade came mid-summer, not too much has changed, but the Islanders DID make some suggestions that he is trying to work into his routine.
In closing I asked Cal if there was one thing he was looking forward to most for this coming season, what would it be. “I think the first home game. I’m really looking forward to finally getting out there. When you’re traded in the off season it’s a little different because you don’t get a chance to really get excited about being traded and you have to wait three months to get out there.”
This trade could be the best thing that has happened to Cal Clutterbuck. By the end of his time with the Wild, he wasn’t being used effectively and with the losses they were collecting, the top six were being considerably over worked. Cal will have a new home and a fresh start on the Islanders and it will be jack Capuano’s job to get the most out of him.
And… from what we’ve seen… he will
Now, if you want something on sale from the team store that is unusual, I found these two items that are 50% off. Gumballs and a Rubix cube.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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