So, two things very cool (literally) happened yesterday fridge-related. First off, my fridge died Thursday evening at some point. The repairman came and looked at the 13 year old fridge and said it would be $600 to repair it. I decided to bite the bullet and replace her. It sucked to have to plunk down that much cash, but hey, we gotta keep our food fresh.

Now this is awesome…

Last Sunday, Bubs and I went to the Flyers Wives Carnival and we had an awesome time. One of the things Bubs really wanted to do was meet Todd “The Fridge” Fedoruk, a former Flyers enforcer. We bought our ticket for Alumni Row to get pictures and autographs and as we made our way to end of a crazy long line, a security guard was standing there. He told us the line had been shut down and we could get our refund from the ticket sales person. We were bummed a little bit, but still had a great day. The next day, I sent a tweet to Todd and asked if he ever did any signings in the area. I immediately got a tweet back from Todd asking if he could make it up for my son.

He lives in the area and we chatted about maybe surprising Bubs at one of his games at the Voorhees Skatezone, but with his coaching schedule with the Trenton Titans it was tough to work out, we decided to meet at a Starbucks around the corner.

I picked Bubs up from his Mom’s with him only knowing that I was really excited for him to help me check out the new fridge we were getting (and my new fridge was truthfully being delivered that afternoon). Van was mildly complaining about how he didn’t see that a fridge was a big deal. Boy, was this kid in for a surprise…

Bubs and I sat at a table. Somehow, I kept him from peering into the grocery bag I had his Pronger jersey stuffed in (this is what he got signed at the carnival by all the players). Todd walked in, the big fella is very recognizable. I waved Todd over and I started talking to Bubs, “Do you remember who you wanted to meet at the carnival that we missed?”

Just as Todd arrived to the side of our table… “The Fridge”.

Bubs looked over at this big dude standing at the side of the table. And Todd in his Western Canadian accent said, “Hey bud, I heard you wanted to meet me.”

Bubs sat there slack-jawed.

“… I’m Todd Fedoruk and your Dad told me you missed out at the carnival.”

Bubs shot me a smirk, realizing that I had pulled one over on him. THIS fridge!

Todd sat with us and talked for 40 MINUTES about his old fights and playing for the Flyers. The guy really could not have been more generous with his time. As a hockey fight fan, I was geeking out myself. He talked a lot about his scraps with Cairns, Ray, Purinton, Barnaby, McCarthy, Boogaard, Orr (him describing Flyer’s trainer, Jim McCrossin telling him the Titanium plates in his face were moving in the training room after the Orr knock out), and I asked him about a minor league scrap with Billy Tibbets. He talked to Bubs about his own play. He showed Bubs all of his scars on his face from having orbital and cheek bones broken. We, of course, got Bubs jersey signed. I think Fridge liked that he was signing near Dave Schultz’ autograph.

I didn’t take any pictures while Todd was hanging with us, because I wanted to be respectful and not draw attention. And honestly, Todd really made us feel very appreciated as fans. That conversation we had with him is something my son will remember forever.

And seriously, here is a pro athlete taking an hour out of his weekend just for my kid, are you kidding me? The Flyers really do a great job with the carnival and community relations, but when you’re around their rink as much as we are from my son playing and practicing there, you get to see what’s really so great about pro hockey players. They understand how big it is to sign a jersey, shake someone’s hand, and just make a kids’ day. My son and I already were Flyers and Todd Fedoruk fans, but this day just cemented it further. We love ya #29!

Funny/Interesting Links…

• When Parents Text: 15 Funniest Picks
• What it feels like to have your spouse die - why I run

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 26th, 2012 at 10:37 am and is filed under family, Flyers, ice hockey, thoughts, Twitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.