Timo Pielmeier had come out with Jonas Hiller. It was the day before the first pre-season game against the rival San Jose Sharks. A fan had asked Giguere, who was out before Hiller and signing for fans. If he was goig to start he said: "No. Pielmeier is starting" Giguere also said his name a couple times, not exactly sure how to pronounce it. A few players came and went signing for fans including Teemu Selanne flashing around his usual Teemu smile. A smile that radiates through everyone he comes across. He's just that type of person who would brighten anyways day even if he wasn't a professional athlete. A lot of the players were fairly happy and had smiles on their faces except for may a couple of rookies, who didn't receive the news they wanted. Some players were dead quite among their fans while signing but for the most part, they had a smile on their face such as Brett Festerling. When Joffrey Lupul came out I said to him "Welcome back to the Ducks" and he said with a big smile on his face "Thank You" and signed what I gave him.
Being back on track with Hiller and Pielmeier who both had walked to Hiller's Blue Toyota Prius. He had parked right next to the fence and fans surrounded him wanting his signature. Pielmeier stood behind him waiting for him patiently but I'll always remember Pielmeier with a huge smile on his face and he had a brand new Toronto Blue Jays hat on. I had asked Hiller about his mask, when was supposed to come out, and if he were excited for it. At that time he said:
"I'm not sure but it's probably not going to be before the end of the pre-season" and he also said "Yeah, I'm excited for it."
Hiller also nearly ran over Pielmeier, as the passenger side was way too close to the fence for Pielemeier to even open the door two inches. So Pielmeier waited for him to back out his car, he stood by the side basically out of the way. Still a huge smile lay across his face. Hiller backed up at an angle and Pielmeier had to move so he wouldn't get hit.
Ryan Carter signed for me twice, the second day I had bought in a foam helmet and he said: "Now that's a helmet" and I shyly replied "It took me forever to find it" Which it didn't because it was in the team store. {Sorry Carts I lied there)
But not only did Hiller have a whole thing with his car. Bobby Ryan had come out and was leaving, but Ryan Whitney had parked his car across near the fence and Bobby had troubles getting out. Bobby had a blue Chevy SUV and Whintey's car was an Cadillac Escalate. After fans had helped Bobby navigate his way out he stopped and signed for all the fans that wanted his autograph. Whitney also ran into something, which Sheldon Brookbank took care of as Whitney was still in Anaheim Ice doing an interview.
A police cruiser had sat from about a 200-300 ft distance, people looked back and gave odd looks to the vehicle asking why there was a cop there. The officer then pulled up as some fans had cleared away and the fans had moved to the side to let the officer through. Brookbank had stepped up to the cruiser and asked her:
"What's up?"
"Is that your car?"
"No, but whats the problem?"
"Someone complained that there's a car parked along a red curb"
"It's Ryan Whitney's. He's inside doing an interview right now.
Even a fan got into convincing her that Whitney didn't deserve a ticket. To remind you, Whitney probably didn't realize the curb was red as the gate was open and blocking the curb.
The officer eventually left without giving anyone a ticket and fans speculated saying "It was probably a Kings fan who called" and other teams were thrown in the mix among the clamor such as a Sharks fan or a Stars fan. But the Kings fan stood the strongest in speculation.
As Brookbank had finished signing for fans a few fans still stuck around waiting for Whitey in which somewhere along the lines while waiting referred the Escalate "We go green"
Definitely great personal experience among the players including the "Rink Tours" speeches.
Alright, this has gone a little off topic from Pielmeier: It all started with a smile too.
Pielmeier has definitely been one to impress, he has taken over the reigns as a starter with the Bakersfield Condors; which also helped send Justin Pogge to the San Antonio Rampage. Pielmeier has gotten a considerable amount of minutes with Bakersfield, where he is as happy as can be. He has helped lift and keep his team at the head of the division, he had been named goalie of the month,and he is currently one of the highest ranked goaltenders in the ECHL. Pielmeier had smooth transitions, lateral movement, and he was quick and quirky in training camp. He had gotten th chance to switch up with Hiller against his former NHL team the San Jose Sharks playing on NHL ice.
He also nearly by complete accident hit Giguere in the face with his stick but Giguere avoided a what would be painful collision with a 20 year old kid not paying attention to his surroundings and had a huge smile on his face as his colored jerseys were doing laps and a couple other exercises. Giguere and Pielmeier had been skating going back to their starting positions with the rest of their teammates; Pielmeier had his stick against his chest and sticking out. He was not really paying attention to anything or anyone around him . Giguere whipped away his head and said with a chuckle "Whoa!"
Pielmeier is tied in ECHL victories (18) with a 2.80 GAA. Timo came from the San Jose Sharks with Nick Bonino in exchange for Kent Huskins and Travis Moen at the tradeline. The Ducks seeminly have two excellent prospects from that trade; look for Bonino to be defending the blue line in a Ducks sweater sooner than later.
The OC Register's Curtis Zupke provided an excellent link from the NHL.com prospect futre site discussing Pielmeier's career and the four goalie coaches he went through trying to find a style of goaltending that was right for him.
Pielmeier is an upbeat persons, loves life and hockey. He was born in a country where hockey is smaller than it is in California. Pielmeier is definitely premiere.
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