Touching Walt Story.

by hildymac on Mar 22, 2009 1:56 PM CDT

[Story contributed by our own hildymac. You can check out this St. Louis native's views on sports and being stuck in Atlanta on her blog at Wazzupwitchu.]

Remember that 1,000th point that no one saw (except for me because I was on the glass and because I'm stuck down here)? Imagine what a let-down it probably was for Walt to not have any photographic evidence, or to have any decent film of it aside for the in-arena feed.

Well, one of the guys I know on the Thrashers boards, who is responsible for taking awesome action shots of every home game and whose photos a lot of the players ask for, decided to snap some photos of Tkachuk's 1000th point - monumental occasion and Walt played here temporarily. My buddy sent me this e-mail today - you gotta love the class of Walt and our fine hockey club:

Hey! Since I know that you're a Blues fan, thought I'd share this with you. When Keith scored his 1000th point against the Thrashers, I got a couple of pictures of it. I made copies and sent them to him c/o the Blues with a note that I didn't normally print pictures of opponents scoring on the Thrashers, but since he had played here and since it was a milestone goal I was making an exception for him. I didn't hear anything back, so I just figured he was busy. Then a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday I got a call with a St. Louis area code, and it was one of the guys from the Blues who was calling to tell me that Keith really enjoyed the pictures. In addition, the Blues had made up a poster in honor of the goal, and Keith was going to send me an autographed copy. Here's what it looks like:

I am now an even bigger Keith Tkachuk fan!

Fred

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Comments

damn, they didn’t even make a copy of the in-house feed and give it to him?!?
props to this Fred guy. classy move

by Dooks on Mar 22, 2009 3:30 PM CDT reply actions

I'd like to have a copy of that poster

The other members of the 1,000-point club have signed it with little messages. I see Pat Lafontaine, Phil Housley, Jeremy Roenick, Mike Modano … and I can’t make out the other two. Maybe this will be a promotional item next season….

.... formerly "Tim" of StLouisGameTime.com

by CrossCheckRaise on Mar 22, 2009 4:47 PM CDT reply actions

They gave away copies at one of the games earlier this year.

It’s really pretty nice for a poster.

SWYD

by gallagher on Mar 22, 2009 5:00 PM CDT up reply actions

I must snag a copy, then...

It’d look weird in my apartment, but it’d look hella awesome in my classroom. Of course, my Cards World Series Champs plate from the Post Dispatch still has yet to be framed, so heaven knows if this’d ever make it on the wall.

BTW, thanks for moving this to the main site and the shout-out. Fred’s thrilled that he’s so famous. :D

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Mar 22, 2009 6:53 PM CDT up reply actions

Joe Mullen is bottom left, Brian Leetch to the left of Roenick.

by bzgea2 on Mar 22, 2009 5:52 PM CDT up reply actions

Very classy

by oic on Mar 22, 2009 5:10 PM CDT reply actions

I was there too

Unfortunately, I only got a couple pictures with my camera phone (quality worse that Red Wings goaltenders) and that was only after the goal happened and the team mobbed him on the ice. The crowd gave him a nice ovation after the PA announced it was his 1000th.

Tracking the Cards' playoff chances daily: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/Cardinalspsodds.php

by ColinMacLeod on Mar 22, 2009 5:40 PM CDT reply actions

My camera phone photos were utter crap.

I liked the ovation, and the fact that some of the Thrashers fans seemed to know that it was coming up – there were quite a few “Congrats, Walt” signs floating around. He was pretty popular while he was here, and he was a great center for Kovy. Probably one of the better ones for him until this season, since Walt can crash the net and get his rebounds. It took us getting Rich Peverley off of waivers to find someone else who has that much common sense.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Mar 22, 2009 7:00 PM CDT up reply actions

Hey, I was there too!

It was definitely a touching moment. Standing ovation for the big guy, he’s an absolute hero in Atlanta by the way.

Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident.

by HuntsvilleBlues on Mar 22, 2009 8:59 PM CDT up reply actions

You know...

… those of us stuck here should get together for a beer or something at Dantanna’s before the game. I’d say Taco Mac, but they raise their prices to Philips level, and the food at Dantanna’s is just a hell of a lot better. Blue cheese stuffed fried artichokes FTW.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Mar 22, 2009 9:34 PM CDT up reply actions

Thrashers games

I live in Seattle and only make it to Atlanta for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the All-Star game. I was very fortunate for the Blues to be playing in Atlanta over that break. I’ll let you know next time I’m in town.

Fan of: Cards, Blues, Yellow Jackets, Rams, Wolverines, and Blazers.

by ColinMacLeod on Mar 22, 2009 10:07 PM CDT up reply actions

Did you just throw a WoW reference in there? haha

Anyways, I’m 3 hours away, so I don’t get to the Thrashers games very often. I’ll let you guys know whenever I’m in town for a Blues game though.

Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident.

by HuntsvilleBlues on Mar 23, 2009 7:39 AM CDT up reply actions

Classy Fred

& Walt. I wonder what the pictures looked like.

by luvhockey on Mar 22, 2009 5:59 PM CDT reply actions

I can ask...

I have a few that one of my other friends snapped while she was here… I put them up in the Facebook album over on our FB page.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Mar 22, 2009 6:58 PM CDT up reply actions

Pictures of Walt

I hope that you can view these – I’m not very good a posting on boards like this. They’re not the greatest, but then again I’m usually not shooting the Thrashers opponents. Keith was kind enough to appreciate them!

Fred

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll52/fjohnson_72/168E5522a_Tkachuk_72ppi.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll52/fjohnson_72/168E5523a_Tkachuk_72ppi.jpg

by eli72 on Mar 22, 2009 7:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Hey Fred!

Stellar as usual. :D I think the fact that you captured Walt on his butt after the goal was pretty appropriate, since that’s usually what happens after he whacks one on in… someone winds up knocking him over. Is that Exelby and Havelid out there? What a weird pairing… were the Thrashers on the PK? I don’t remember.

Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?

Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.

by hildymac on Mar 22, 2009 7:14 PM CDT up reply actions

PP

I checked and it was a PP goal. Havelid, Exelby, Slater, Perrin, and Pavelec.
By the way, if you look really closely at the first picture, you can just see the puck passing over Ondre’s right pad.

by eli72 on Mar 22, 2009 7:17 PM CDT up reply actions

That...

…is totally cool. On all sides.

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851

http://www.tomorrowsblues.net

by Tomorrows Blues on Mar 22, 2009 6:56 PM CDT reply actions

Thanks Fred for sharing.

Those are awesome. I see the puck going just over his heel.
Love the picture of KT on his butt. Just sitting there, while the goalie does the classic look behind.

by luvhockey on Mar 22, 2009 8:50 PM CDT reply actions

Great shots, Fred...

You, sir, are The Mang.

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851

http://www.tomorrowsblues.net

by Tomorrows Blues on Mar 22, 2009 9:11 PM CDT reply actions

Like everyone else said...

Those were great, thanks for sharing those with us.

by tlg80 on Mar 22, 2009 9:57 PM CDT reply actions

Total awesome on all ends of the spectrum here!

Fred, you rule for taking the pictures and sending them off. You are awesome, sir.

And I know Walt has been criticized over the years in StL for not being worth the money . . . but things like this would DEFINITELY (in my mind) make his Blues experience worth the cash we forked over for him.

This is AWESOME stuff!

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Mar 22, 2009 10:07 PM CDT reply actions

The headline on this story

made me think Walt was part of To Catch A Predator or something.

www.stlouisgametime.com

by Brad Lee on Mar 22, 2009 11:07 PM CDT reply actions

Glad I’m not the only one!

Let's go Blues!!!

by Milo. on Mar 25, 2009 5:48 PM CDT up reply actions

Bailbondsman is on....

Skinker ain’’t it? Been awhile since I been in the hole in STL.

Life is relevant. You can put your hands on a hot stove and a fraction of a second seems like hours. Yet you can put your hands on a hot woman and hours seem to turn into seconds.

by spectr17 on Mar 23, 2009 1:00 AM CDT reply actions

Forgot to say

Awesome images of Walter. Thanks

Life is relevant. You can put your hands on a hot stove and a fraction of a second seems like hours. Yet you can put your hands on a hot woman and hours seem to turn into seconds.

by spectr17 on Mar 23, 2009 1:01 AM CDT reply actions