That was odd.
Anyway, Boom Boom Geoffrion was the first to make extensive and effective use of the slapper. Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita were the first players to be noted for having huge curved "banana" blades on their sticks.
You may have meant that he hasn't signed much since his retirement but Bobby was famous for holding up the team bus after games while signing every last autograph that was requested of him. He was hockey's greatest ambassador during his career.