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skatesonaplane:

There are three things you can count on when the Islanders visit Toronto.

1.    There will be more media in the locker room than players.
2.    John Tavares and Matt Moulson will need at least two pages for their postgame guest list
3.    Every player will leave town with an NHLPA shopping bag, filled to the brim with free swag

Just a block away from the Maple Leaf’s Air Canada Center, the NHLPA office welcomes all card-carrying members into their famous swag room, where players have free reign over everything from hats, sweaters, golf shirts and workout gear to video games, NHL action figures and any other merchandise that includes their likenesses.

As each player boarded the bus to the game this afternoon, bag in hand, one player’s haul garnered more attention than the rest. Peaking out of the top of Matt Martin’s bag was a coveted item that no other Islander had seen during the shopping frenzy: A John Tavares action figure.

Martin’s selection, as well as the rest of the team’s disappointment that they hadn’t seen it first, fit into the players’ ongoing tendency of being obsessed with each other’s merchandise. Whether it’s Matt Moulson’s Mouls-Stache shirt, Michael Grabner’s 2011 All-Star jersey-tee and Gremlin shirt, or John Tavares’ JT91 gear, the team can’t seem to get enough.    

I didn’t fill a bag for myself at the NHLPA store, but I did drop by the PRPA office to load up on cheap hotel pens, phone chargers and blank ticket envelopes. No Kimber Auerbach action figures in site, but there’s always next time.