Hockey Ink In The Mail

Unlike my usual mail posts, this one features more "other" hockey autographs and only 4 NHL player signatures. TTM replies have been slow all across the board lately but I did get a few nice ones trickle in.

I love getting returns from "WHA Only" guys. A couple of these ones came back with some great letters. I almost enjoy reading those more than adding the signature to the collection. A couple years ago I shared some of the responses here. I keep every letter I've gotten from my TTM returns and there are literally hundreds of them. Someday I plan on organizing them together in a book.

The post ends with a couple Team Canada women autographs. I try and pickup an autograph of every hockey woman to get a certified autographed card. There have been some new women in the last couple of Upper Deck's team Canada releases and I've slowly been picking away at the new signers.

With 4 new NHL signatures the grand total of unique NHL player autographs stands at 5,281 for 71% of everyone who's ever played in the National Hockey League.

Jon Disalvatore

Drafted in 2000 by the San Jose Sharks, Jon Disalvatore played 6 career NHL games. He played 5 games with the 2005/06 St. Louis Blues and 1 with the 2011/12 Minnesota Wild. Internationally, Disalvatore scored 6 goals and 9 points with Team USA at the 2001 World Junior Championships. I had sent Disalvatore a my usual custom index but for whatever reason he kept it and returned 2 signed cards instead (the other is available for trade).

Mario Larocque

Defenceman Mario Larocque was drafted 16th overall in 1996 by the Lightning. In 1997 he helped the Hull Olmpique win the QMJHL championship and Memorial Cup. Larocque played 5 NHL games for Tampa in 1998/99, his first year of pro. Although his NHL career was brief, Larocque bounced around the pro hockey world until retiring in 2015.

Bob Warner

Bob Warner made his NHL debut in the 1976 playoffs with Toronto Maple Leafs. He would later score a goal and an assist in 10 career regular season games with the 1976/77 Maple Leafs. Warner took an exceptionally unusual route to the NHL. The undrafted Warner played 4 seasons of Canadian University hockey at St. Mary's in Nova Scotia before being discovered by the Leafs and turning pro.

Benoit Gosselin
Benoit Gosselin played 7 games in the NHL with the 1977/78 New York Rangers. He recorded 0 points but racked up 33 penalty minutes. Gosselin later signed with the Winnipeg Jets but wasn't able to crack their NHL roster.

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Eric Heffler

Eric Heffler dressed in 3 NHL games as a backup goalie with the Edmonton Oilers from 1999 to 2000. Unfortunately, Heffler didn't answer any of my questions about his career as I would have loved to update his profile on my other blog, nhlbackups.com.

Ken Desjardine

From 1972 to 1975 Ken Desjardine played over 150 games in the WHA. The defenceman was a member of the Quebec Nordiques, Indianapolis Racers and very briefly the Calgary Cowboys.

Gary Gresdal

Gary Gresdal played 2 regular season and 1 playoff game in the WHA with the 1975/76 Quebec Nordiques. Gresdal was a feared fighter who racked up 400 penalty in a single season while playing in the EHL with the Jersey Devils. In his only WHA playoff game he racked up 14 penalty minutes, allegedly starting a bench brawl against the Calgary Cowboys.

Jerry Trooien

Jerry Trooien played 2 games in the WHA with the 1972/73 Chicago Cougars. His hockey career was so short that I couldn't find a period picture of him. I'm almost always able to find something somewhere on the internet, so this was certainly unsual. I settle for a modern pic, not something I'd normally do but better than nothing. I had asked if he had a period picture but didn't get a reply. Trooien made a name for himself post-hockey, becoming a successful realtor in the Minnesota area until he was brought down in a multi million dollar scheme just a few years ago.

Duane Bray

Defenceman Duane Bray played 1 season in the WHA, scoring 2 goals and 8 points in 46 games with the 1976/77 Phoenix Roadrunners.

Jim Turkiewicz

From 1974 to 1979 Jim Turkiewicz played nearly 400 games in the WHA, playing with the Toronto Toros and Birmingham Bulls. The defenceman scored 25 goals and 144 points over his WHA career.

Ann-Renee Desbiens

Quebec's Ann-Renee Desbiens won a Silver medal with Canada at the 2015 World Women's Championships. Since 2013 she's played in the NCAA with the Wisconsin Badgers.

Jillian Saulnier
Halifax native Jillian Saulnier won Silver with Canada at the 2015 and 2016 World Championships. From 2011 to 2015 Saulnier played with Cornell in the NCAA.

A good deal of TTM returns this past couple of weeks. My return percentage remains dismal this year but I've been diligently filling the mailbox so its nice to have some returns to show for that. I had one envelope returned with the contents missing and a big slice down the side along with a few return to senders. On the bright side, a couple returns contained great letters, which I absolutely love to receive. I've accumulated hundreds of amazing stories from former players that I plan on sharing someday in a book.

These autographs come from mostly from TTM returns with the AHL certified autographs from a cheap ebay win and the vintage postcards from this site, which belongs to a prominent ebay auctioneer, capsports2000, who often lists killer vintage hockey items. I found some nice deceased signed postcards for reasonable prices many months ago. I had my wants saved but figured it was time to bite before one of them got sold or listed on ebay, where they may have ended up selling for more than what I paid.

In total 26 New NHL player autographs raises the grand total to 5,307 for 71% of everyone who's ever played in the league. The other 12 hockey autographs go into my 'other' collections.

Chris Wagner

Drafted in 2010 by Anaheim, Chris Wagner made his NHL debut with the Ducks in 2014/15. He's since played nearly 100 NHL games with Anaheim, scoring 8 goals.

Wager is the reason I bought these AHL signatures, all coming from the same seller. I wanted this specific card because its Wagner's only certified autograph and these AHL signatures aren't tremendously common. When I had this auction won (and knowing the seller combined shipping) I threw opening bids at others I could use and ended up winning a few more signatures on the cheap.

Gustav Olofsson

Defenseman Gustav Olofsson made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Minnesota Wild and has since played 15 games with the club. Internationally, he won a Silver medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships with Sweden. He was drafted in the second round by the Wild in 2013.

Trevor Carrick

Defenseman Trevor Carrick played 2 games with the 2015/16 Carolina Hurricanes. His brother, Sam, has also played in the NHL.

Scott Kosmachuk

Scott Kosmachuk recorded 3 points in 8 NHL games with the 2015/16 Winnipeg Jets. The Guelph Storm alumni had been drafted 70th overall by the Jets in 2012.

Brendan Woods

Brendan Woods played 2 games with the 2014/15 Carolina Hurricanes and 5 games with the 2015/16 Hurricanes. He recorded no points in 7 NHL games but did drop the gloves in a fight with NHL veteran Chris Neil. A University of Wisconsin product, Woods had been drafted by Carolina in 2012.

Tyler Gaudet

Tyler Gaudet made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Coyotes and has since played 20 NHL games with the club. Gaudet had signed with the Coyotes as an undrafted free agent.

Matt Pettinger

From 2000 to 2010 Matt Pettinger played 422 games in the NHL. He spent most of that time with the Washington Capitals but also dressed with the Vancouver Canucks and Tampa Bay Lightning. Internationally, he won a Silver, 1999, and Bronze, 2000, at World Junior Championships. He was also a member of team Canada's 2006 World Championship squad, placing 4th.

Kyosti Karjalainen

Swede Kyosti Karjalainen recorded 1 goal and 9 points in 28 career NHL games as Wayne Gretzky's teammate with the 1991/92 LA Kings. He also played 3 playoff games for the Kings that season. He spent most of his career in Europe.

Alfie Turcotte

From 1983 to 1991 Alfie Turcotte scored 17 goals and 46 points in 116 regular season NHL games. He played with Montreal, Winnipeg and Washington. He played 2 games for the 1985/86 Habs but wasn't a member of the Stanley Cup winning team. Internationally, Turcotte represented the US at the 1984 World Juniors and 1986 World Championships.

Larry Landon

Larry Landon played 2 NHL games with the 1983/84 Montreal Canadiens and later another 7 NHL games with the 1984/85 Toronto Maple Leafs. He recorded 0 points and 2 penalty minutes through his brief 9 game NHL career. Landon is perhaps most notable for being traded from the Habs to Toronto in exchange for defenseman Gaston Gingras. While Landon only played a handful of games with the Leafs, Gingras helped the Habs win the 1986 Stanley Cup.

David Maley

David Maley is most notable for being a member of the 1986 Stanley Cup winning Montreal Canadiens, his first season of pro hockey. From 1986 to 1994 he played over 500 regular season+playoff games in the NHL, dressing with the Habs, Devils, Oilers, Sharks and Islanders.

Gord Lane

From 1975 to 1985 Gord Lane played 540 games in the NHL between the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders. The steady defenceman is one of the lesser known characters of the great Islanders dynasty, even though he was instrumental on their blueline. Lane won the Stanley Cup in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983 with the Islanders.

Gerry Minor

From 1979 to 1984 Gerry Minor played 140 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 11 goals and 32 points. He helped the Canucks reach the 1982 Stanley Cup finals.

Ted Tucker

Goalie Ted Tucker appeared in 5 NHL games with the 1973/74 California Golden Seals when they experienced a series of goaltending issues. He had previously been property of the Montreal Canadiens and Atlanta Flames.

John Flesch

From 1974 to 1980 John Flesch scored 18 goals and 41 points in 124 career NHL games. He played with the Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Rockies.

Dwight Schofield

From 1976 to 1988 defenseman Dwight Schofield played over 200 games in the NHL. Known as a tough customer who racked up over 600 penalty minutes, many fights, in the NHL. He was a member of the Red Wings, Canadiens, Blues, Capitals, Penguins and Jets.

Mike McDougal

From 1978 to 1983 Mike McDougal played 61 NHL games between the New York Rangers and Hartford Whalers, scoring 8 goals and 18 points. Internationally, he represented the USA at the 1977 and 1978 World Junior Championships.

Carl Mokosak

From 1981 to 1989 Carl Mokosak scored 11 goals and 26 points in 83 career NHL games. Mokosak dressed with the Calgary Flames, LA Kings, Philly Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins.

Duane Wylie

Between 1974 and 1977 Duane Wylie scored 3 goals and 6 points in 14 career NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks. Wylie had been drafted by the New York Rangers in 1970 but was never offered a contract by the club.

Paul Evans

From 1976 to 1978 Paul Evans played 11 games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring 1 goal and 2 points.

Bobby Crawford

There have been two Bob Crawfords to play in the NHL. Known as "Bobby," this one played 16 career games in the league between 1980 and 1983. Crawford spent time with the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Red Wings.

Cary Coalter

Gary Coalter played 4 games with the 1973/74 California Golden Seals and 30 with the 1974/75 Kansas City Scouts. He scored 2 goals and 6 points in his 34 game NHL career. Coalter sent me a great note back. It was a refreshing read and he thanked me for only asking for 1 signature and for telling him why and wanted it and what I did with them.

Bernie MacNeil

Bernie MacNeil played 4 NHL games with the 1973/74 St. Louis Blues. He also played 2 seasons in the WHA, dressing for the 1972/73 LA Sharks and 1975/76 Cincinnati Stingers. MacNeil was originally drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1970 but never signed with the team.

Jerry (Gerry) Melnyk

Jerry Melnyk made his NHL debut in the playoffs with the 1955/56 Detroit Red Wings. He went on to play over 300 regular season+playoff games in the NHL. He played for the Red Wings, Blackhawks and Blues. Melnyk played in the Stanley Cup finals 5 times but was never able to be on the winning side. He later became a long time scout with the Philadelphia Flyers. Melnyk passed away in 2001.

Bob Turner

From 1955 to 1963 Bob Turner played well over 500 regular season+playoff games in the NHL. The defenseman was a member of both the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. With Montreal Turner won the Stanley Cup in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960. Turner passed away in 2005.

Jean Gauthier

Its a little difficult to see the signature in the scan, but its towards the bottom of the photo and its much clearer in person. From 1960 to 1970 Jean Gauthier played 166 regular season games in the NHL as a member of the Habs, Flyers and Bruins. He's most notable for winning the Stanley Cup in 1965 with Montreal. He also spent a season in the WHA, playing with the 1972/73 New York Raiders. Gauthier passed away in 2013.

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I end the mail post as usual, with the 'other' hockey autographs. Here we have 1 for the NHL "backup only" binder, 3 for the WHA only binder, 2 for the NHL General Manager binder, 4 for the NHL Head Coach binder and 1 for the NHL Assistant Coach binder. The NHL executives here are all guys who never appeared in the league as players, for which most GMs and coaches have and thus go into my main collection.

Brett Leonhardt

Brett Leonhardt played goalie in college and later got a job working in the Capitals office. This job gave him the opportunity to dress in two NHL games as Washington's emergency goalie. He dressed as an NHL backup goalie in 2008 and 2013.

Ray Clearwater

From 1972 to 1977 defenseman Ray Clearwater played over 200 games in the WHA. He spent the majority of that time with the Cleveland Crusaders but also dressed for the Minnesota Fighting Saints.

Mike Stevens

Defenseman Mike Stevens played 70 games in the WHA with the 1974/75 Phoenix Roadrunners and another 4 with the 1975/76 Houston Aeros. I love the inscription and Stevens wrote me back a wonderful little note.

Pierre Guite

Pierre Guite was drafted 26th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 1972 but the Quebec native opted to sign with his hometown and newly created Nordiques of the WHA. From 1972 to 1979 Guite played 400 regular season+playoff games in the WHA, dressing with the Nordiques, Blades, Stingers and Oilers. His son, Ben, played in the NHL.

Martin Madden Sr.

From 1988 to 1990 Martin Madden Sr. was the General Manager of the Quebec Nordiques. He's been involved his hockey his entire life and has his name on the Stanley Cup from his role as a scout with the 1994 New York Rangers. He's currently working as a scout with the Anaheim Ducks. His son, Martin Madden jr., is current Director of Scouting for the Ducks.

Doug Armstrong

Doug Armstrong has been General Manager of the St. Louis Blues since 2010. From 2002 to 2007 he was GM of the Dallas Stars and in 1999 he won the Stanley Cup as assistant GM with the Stars. Internationally, he's helped put together Canada's 2010 and 2014 Gold medal winning teams.

Willie Desjardins

Willie Desjardins' coaching career began in the WHL with the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers. He won 2 league championships as bench boss in Medicine Hat and in 2010 was promoted to NHL associate coach with the Dallas Stars. In 2014 he lead the Texas Stars to a Calder Cup Championship, earning him another promotion. Since 2014 Desjardins has been head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

Mike Johnston

Not to be confused with the former NHL player by the same name, Mike Johnston was head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2014 to 2016, being fired half way through the 2015/16 season. He had previously served as an associate coach with both the Vancouver Canucks and LA Kings.

Steve Stirling

A former pro hockey player and long time college coach, Steve Stirling was head coach of the New York Islanders during the 2003/04 and 2005/06 seasons. His only stint in the NHL was as a head coach.

John Torchetti
John Torchetti is currently an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. Interestingly, Torchetti has been head coach of 3 NHL teams; Florida, LA and Minnesota, but all on an interim basis. He's also served as an assistant coach with the Blackhawks and Thrashers.

Pascal Vincent

From 2011 to 2016 Pascal Vincent was an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Jets. Since then he's been serving as head coach of Winnipeg's AHL franchise, the Manitoba Moose. The Quebec native spent over a decade as a head coach in the QMJHL before moving to the big leagues.

Blaine Forsythe

Blaine Forsythe is in his eight season as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals. Before entering the NHL, he was a manager and coach with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen.

The original index I made experienced some heavy water damage but fortunately, the signature wasn't affected.

Had some time over Easter weekend to sort and scan my recent mail. These autographs come from a COMC package and some TTM returns. For the amount of requests I've been mailing out, its a disappointed amount of returns this past couple weeks. I'm hoping as the season ends for some teams and leagues, players will start to open their mail. Its been an absolutely brutal and costly year for mail requests so far. The highlight of this post is a Bill Hicke Franchises autograph because its a card I've long needed from a set I love and one that got me into autograph collecting.
19 New NHL player autographs raises the grand total to: 5,326 for 71.5% of everyone to ever suit up in the league since its creation in 1917.

Bill Hicke

From 1959 to 1972 Bill Hicke played well over 700 games in the NHL and was a member of two Stanley Cup championships in Montreal. He was also an NHL All-Star in 1969, scoring 25 goals that season with the Oakland Seals. His brother, Ernie, also made it to the NHL.
I've had this particular card on my wantlist for a very long time and the recent release of ITG Vault brought some rare cards back into the market. I was able to finally pick one of these up for just a few bucks. Hicke passed away in 2005, shortly after this set was released and its his only certified autograph card. I have many 04/05 ITG Franchises autographs in my collection, this one was the last I needed. The Franchises autograph set will forever be one of my favorite and one that really got me into autograph collecting as it contained some great first time signers on a nice clean design.

Bob Sauve

From 1976 to 1989 Bob Sauve played 420 regular season games in the NHL, dressing with the Sabres, Red Wings, Blackhawks and Devils. He was a solid goalie who shared the Vezina Trophy in 1980 and the William Jennings Trophy in 1985. He later became a very successful player agent. Bob Sauve's brother, J-f, and Bob's son, Philippe, also played in the NHL.

Chris Nilan

Enforcer Chris Nilan is one of only 9 players in the history of the NHL to amass over 3,000 career penalty minutes. Nilan also holds the notorious record of most penalties in a single game with 10. Nilan was a member of Montreal's 1986 Stanley Cup winning team. He was also selected to play in the 1991 NHL All-Star game while with the Boston Bruins but missed the contest due to a broken ankle.

Vitali Prokhorov

From 1992 to 1995 Vitali Prokhorov scored 19 goals and 30 points in 83 career NHL games with the St. Louis Blues. Internationally, in 1992 Prokhorov won Gold at the 1992 Olympics with Russia.
When I first started this collection my wantlist had many of these old Classic autograph cards on it. This was the last one and it had evaded me for far too long. I check COMC regularly for their new additions and when this card popped up and my best offer wasn't accepted, I still decided to spring and overpay simply because I wanted off my wantlist and they rarely pop up.

Milan Lucic

Prior to making his NHL debut, Milan Lucic helped the Vancouver Giants win the 2007 Memorial Cup, being named tournament MVP in the process. He imminently jumped to the NHL and has since played well over 700 games. Lucic was an instrumental part of the Bruins team that claimed the 2011 Stanley Cup championship.

Morgan Rielly

The Maple Leafs drafted defenceman Morgan Rielly 5th overall in 2012. Since 2013/14 he's played well over 300 games in the NHL. In 2016 Rielly helped Canada win Gold at the World Championships and also represented North America at the World Cup later that year.

Oscar Klefbom

Swedish defenceman Oscar Klefbom was drafted 19th overall by Edmonton in 2011. He made his NHL debut with the 2013/14 Oilers and has since played nearly 200 NHL games. Internationally, Klefbom helped Sweden win Gold at the 2012 World Junior Championships. He also represented Sweden at the men's 2015 World Championships.

Teemu Pulkkinen

Since making his NHL debut with the 2013/14 Detroit Red Wings, Teemu Pulkkinen has played 83 games in the NHL, scoring 13 goals and 22 points. He's played for the Red Wings, Minnesota Wild and Arizona Coyotes. Internationally, Pulkkinen helped Finland win Silver at the 2016 World Championships. He also represented Finland at the 2011 and 2012 World Junior Championships.

Max McCormick

Forward Max McCormick spent 3 years at Ohio State University before joining the Senators. Since 2015 McCormick has scored 2 goals and 4 points in 27 NHL games with Ottawa.

Sven Andrighetto

Since making his debut in 2014, Sven Andrighetto has scored 16 goals and 43 points in 102 NHL games as a member of the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. Internationally, Andrighetto scored 7 points in 7 games on Switzerland's 2016 Men's World Championship team.

Adam Pelech
Defenceman Adam Pelech has played over 50 NHL games with the New York Islanders since making his debut during the 2015/16 season. Internationally, he represented Canada at the 2014 World Junior Championships.

Taylor Leier

A 2012 4th round draft pick, Taylor Leier has played in 16 NHL games with Philly since 2015/16. Internationally, he represented Canada at the 2014 World Juniors, finishing a disappointing 4th.

Marko Dano

Marko Dano was drafted in the first round, 27th overall, by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013. He made his NHL debut with the 2014/15 Blue Jackets, scoring 8 goals and 21 points in just 35 games. That summer he was involved in a major trade that saw Dano go to the Blackhawks. He played 13 games with the 2015/16 Hawks before another trade saw him go to the Winnipeg Jets. Dano has played over 100 games in the NHL between those three teams. Internationally, he's represented Slovakia at the 2013, 2015 and 2016 World Championships.

Phi Di Giuseppe

After completing his first season at the University of Michigan, Philippe Di Giuseppe was drafted 38th overall by the Hurricanes in 2012. Since making his NHL debut in 2015 DiGiuseppe has scored 8 goals and 24 points in 77 games with Carolina.

Brett Pesce

Defenceman Brett Pesce was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2013 NHL draft by the Hurricanes after completing his first year a the University of New Hampshire. Since 2015, Pesce has played over 150 games in the NHL with Carolina.

Gord Buynak

Defenceman Gord Buynak played 4 NHL games with the 1974/75 St. Louis Blues. In 1974 he had been drafted in both the NHL and WHA but choose to sign with the St. Louis Blues over the Phoenix Roadrunners.

Brian Kinsella

From 1975 to 1977 Brian Kinsella played 10 games in the NHL with the Washington Capitals. The right winger recorded 1 assist.

Dave Kryskow

From 1972 to 1976 Dave Kryskow scored 33 goals and 89 points in 231 regular season games in the NHL. He was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Flames. Kryskow later spent a couple season in the WHA, playing with the Calgary Cowboys and Winnipeg Jets. He's notable for helping Winnipeg claim the 1978 AVCO Cup as league champs, scoring 4 goals and 8 points in 9 playoff games. In the NHL, he also helped Chicago reach the 1973 Cup finals and was on the Washington Capitals inaugural NHL roster in 1974.

Howie Hughes
From 1967 to 1970 Howie Hughes scored 25 goals and 57 points in 168 regular season NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings. He was on LA's inaugural NHL roster in '67

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Finishing up, as usual, with a number of additional hockey autographs of guys who never appeared in the NHL. There's 1 for my stash of notable International hockey players, 3 for the WHA only stash, 1 for the GM stash, a couple for the coaches binder, 1 for the officials stash and finally 1 for the super random 'other' binder of pro sports players with close links to the great game of hockey.

Vladislav Tretiak
Vladislav Tretiak is one of the game's most legendary goaltenders. He was the Soviet goalie in the storied 1972 Summit Series. He won Olympic Gold 3 times and World Championship Gold 10 times with the USSR and in 1989 was the first Soviet player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

This joins my stash of certified USSR autograph cards now including Yakushev, Mikhailov, Shadrin, Petrov, Myshkin, Gusev and Maltsev. Only Valeri Vasiliev remains on the certified auto card wantlist. All are Soviet legends who never got the chance to play in the NHL.

Dave Given

Dave Given played 1 game in the World Hockey Association with the 1974/75 Vancouver Blazers. The Brown University alumni had been drafted by the Blazers in the WHA and Buffalo Sabres in the NHL.

Alan Globensky

From 1974 to 1976 defenceman Alan Globensky played 42 games in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques. He wrote me back a great little letter, thanks Alan!

Craig Falkman

Defenceman Craig Falkman played one season in the WHA, dressing in 45 games with the 1972/73 Minnesota Fighting Saints. He's also notable for representing the USA at the 1968 Olympics, 1967 World Championships and 1972 World Championships. I got a heartbreaking letter back from a family member with a note saying that Falkman recently had a bad stroke and although he enjoyed my questions about his career, isn't able to do much more than sign, which would sadly explain the difference from other earlier examples of his signature.

Chuck Fletcher

Chuck Fletcher graduated from Harvard in 1990 and from 1993 to 2002 was assistant GM of the Florida Panthers, briefly serving as interim GM for a time. From 2002 to 2009 he served as an assistant GM with both the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2009 that role with the Pens got him his name on the Stanley Cup and a promotion. Since 2009 Fletcher has been GM of the Minnesota Wild. His father, Cliff, was also an NHL General Manager.

Jon Cooper

Jon Cooper was a practicing lawyer before he made the unusual transition to pro hockey coach. In 2012 he won the Calder Cup as head coach of the AHL's Norfolk Admirals and since 2013 has been head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Kurt Kleinendorst

Kurt Kleinendorst spent time as an NHL assistant coach with the 2001/02 New Jersey Devils, a team he had long scouted with. He's currently head coach of Ottawa's AHL team, the Binghamton Senators.

Kerry Fraser
Legendary NHL official Kerry Fraser called over 1,900 NHL games between 1973 and 2010. If you watched any amount of NHL hockey during that period, Fraser's name is likely familiar. He holds the league record for most regular season and playoff games officiated. I also love the inscription on this autograph. A grandfather clause gave Fraser the ability to go many years without wearing a helmet and being able to show off his hair.

Patrice Bernier

This goes into my very random binder of pro sports autograph that have some kind of tie to hockey. Patrice Bernier is a Canadian born pro soccer player who's played in Europe and is currently captain of the MLS Montreal Impact. I picked up this card because Bernier actually played a couple seasons in the QMJHL. He was a decent defenceman with the 1996/97 Val d'Or Foreurs, a team featuring future long time NHLers Roberto Luongo, JP Dumont and Steve Begin. Bernier scored a very respectable 73 points in 143 QMJHL games.

Patrice Bernier with the Foreurs

No big names in this batch but some quality signatures. The new autographs come from some TTM returns and a few purchases. Unfortunately, my overall TTM returns rate remains dismal for 2017. I'll note that the Hans Jonsson autograph came from a great little European site for SHL Elitset cards, coolcards. Great place to find impossible to locate Euro cards and I've acquired a few signatures from this site. Fast shipping, reasonable prices.

With 13 new NHL autographs added, the grand total of unique NHL player signatures now stands at 5,339 for 71.5% of everyone to ever play in the league.

Brian MacLellan

From 1982 to 1992 Brian MacLellan suited up in over 600 regular season NHL games. He spent time with the Kings, Rangers, North Stars, Flames and Red Wings. He's notable for winning the Stanley Cup in 1989 with the Flames. Since 2014, MacLellan has been GM of the Washington Capitals.

Tom McCarthy

From 1979 to 1988 Tom McCarthy played 460 regular season and 68 playoff games in the NHL. His best season was in 1983/84, when he scored 39 goals and 70 points in just 66 games with the North Stars. He was also named to the 1983 NHL All-Star team that season. A few years after his hockey career had ended, McCarthy was actually sentenced to five years in prison for driving a truck full of weed across the States.

Normand Rochefort

From 1980 to 1994 Normand Rochefort played 600 games in the NHL. He spent most of that time with the Quebec Nordiques but was also a member of the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The defensive defenceman scored over 150 points in the NHL. He played for Canada at the 1987 Canada Cup, noting it as a career highlight. It was a big accomplishment to make such a star studded lineup.

Steve Cardwell

From 1970 to 1973 Steve Cardwell scored 9 goals and 20 points in 53 career NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also played a couple seasons in the WHA, scoring 23 goals and 46 points in 77 games with the 1973/74 Minnesota Fighting Saints.

Hans Jonsson

Swedish defenceman Hans Jonsson was drafted by the Penguins in 1993 in the 11th round, 286th overall. He came over to North America in 1999 and was with the Penguins until 2003. He played 242 regular season games in the NHL, all with Pittsburgh. Internationally, in 1998 he won Gold at the World Championships with Sweden and in 1999 he took home bronze.

Wes O'Neill

From 2008 to 2010 Wes O'Neill played 5 games in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche. The defenceman had originally been drafted by the New York Islanders in 2004 and spent four years at Notre Dame.

Jesse Winchester

From 2008 to 2014 Jesse Winchester played nearly 300 games in the NHL, dressing with the Sens and Panthers. He was signed by the Senators as a free agent after 4 years at Colgate University. Winchester was forced to retire due to concussion problems. He had a signed a two year contract with the Colorado Avalanche in 2014 but injuries saw him never suit up for the club.

Jared Ross

From 2008 to 2010 Jared Ross played 13 regular season and 9 playoff games in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers. He's notable for being the first person born and raised in Alabama to play in the NHL, playing four years of college hockey in the State.

Patrick Rissmiller

From 2003 to 2011 Pat Rissmiller played 192 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 18 goals and 46 points. He dressed for the San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers, Atlanta Thrashers and Florida Panthers. He currently serves as development coach with the New Jersey Devils.

Robert Schnabel

From 2001 to 2004 Czech defenceman Robert Schnabel played 22 games in the NHL with the Nashville Predators. Internationally, he represented his country at the 1998 World Junior Championships.

Petr Tenkrat

Czech Petr Tenkrat played 177 games in the NHL, spending a season with the 00/01 Anaheim Mighty Ducks, 01/02 Nashville Predators and 06/07 Boston Bruins. Internationally, in 2006 he won Silver at the World Championships with the Czech Republic and in 2012 he helped his country take home bronze.

Stefan Bergkvist

Drafted 26th overall in 1993, from 1995 to 1997 Swedish defenceman Stefan Bergkvist played 7 regular season and 4 playoff games in the NHL with the team who had drafted him, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ryan Jardine

Ryan Jardine recorded 2 assists in 8 career NHL games with the 2001/02 Florida Panthers. He played pro until 2014.

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Autographs #14 and #15 from the post fall outside of the NHL player collection. One here for the WHA Only collection and another for the female hockey players collection.

Ralph Hopiavouri

From 1972 to 1975 Ralph Hopiavouri played 70 regular season and 12 playoff games in the WHA. He was a member of the Cleveland Crusaders and Indianapolis Racers. Wrote a great little note to me about playing against Gordie Howe and how it was a personal highlight.

Sarah Davis

Sarah Davis has played on the 2015, 2016 and 2017 World Championships with Canada. Davis took home Silver all three times. I've been ever so slowly picking away at the Women's certified autographs. I like the look of these cards but hate how thick they are. Makes it hard to store them in binders.

The majority of the signatures from this mail post come courtesy of a fellow hobbyist. An autograph collector from Finland asked for my address a little while back. Asking nothing in return, he sent me a stack of autographs I needed, mostly from Europeans. The package absolutely made my day. There are some fantastic people in this hobby and it gives me a warm feeling to think that someone from across the world would contribute to my autograph quest seeking nothing in return. While the player whose autographs he sent might be locals to this collector, they're among the hardest to find for me. Getting my requests across the ocean and a language barrier can be tough. Thanks again my Finn friend!
Also in this post was a package of UD AHL autographs I bought all together. I'm a big fan of the UD AHL autographs because there are lots of first time signers in the set. The past couple weeks also saw some TTM requests trickle back. Of those returns, there's one specifically I have to mention because it was the absolute best reply I've ever gotten. Bill Steele, a former WHA player, actually sent me a little box. Inside was the actual WHA puck he scored his 8th career goal with while playing for the Stingers way back in the 1970s. How frickin' cool is that!? I love the league's history and I'll treasure this piece of memorabilia for a long time.
As a true collector one can sometimes get a little disgruntled with the money seekers and greed in the hobby. Its acts like the above, from a collector and former player, that keep my passion alive and well.

48 new NHL player autographs added makes the updated grand total5,387 for 72% of everyone to ever appear in the league since it was founded in 1917.

Andrew Miller

An undrafted Yale University grad, Andrew Miller played in 15 games with the Edmonton Oilers between 2014 and 2016. He scored 1 goal and 6 assists with the Oilers and in the summer of 2016 was signed by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Brody Sutter

Best known for his last name, from 2014 to 2016 Brody Sutter played in 12 NHL games with the Carolina Hurricanes. His father is one of the famous Sutter brothers, Duane.

Andrew Agozzino
From 2014 to 2016 Andrew Agozzino played in 10 NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche. The undrafted forward captained the OHL's Niagara IceDogs during his last two seasons of junior, scoring 40+ goals in each year.

Brendan Shinnimin

A 58 goal season in his last year of junior in the WHL earned the undrafted Brendan Shinnimin a pro contract as he was awarded the 2012 WHL and CHL player of the year awards. He recorded 1 assist in 12 career NHL games with the 2014/15 Arizona Coyotes. He's most recently played in the KHL.

Markus Hannikainen

Markus Hannikainen has scored 1 goal and 2 points in 14 career NHL games with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 2016 he helped the Lake Erie Monsters win the AHL's Calder Cup. Internationally, Hannikainen represented Finland at the 2012 and 2013 World Junior Championships.

Scott Wilson

Scott Wilson was drafted in the 7th round by the Penguins in 2011 while playing Jr.A. He attended UMass-Lowell and made his NHL debut with the 2014/15 Pens. Wilson has played over 100 games in the NHL, including the full 2016/17 season with Pittsburgh. Wilson played 24 games with the Stanley Cup winning 2015/16 Penguins, not enough to get his name on the Cup but it did earn him a ring and day with the Trophy.

Mike Zalewski

Undrafted forward Mike Zalewski made his NHL debut with the 2013/14 Vancouver Canucks and has since played in 6 NHL games with the club. His brother, Steve, has also played in the NHL.

Jakub Nakladal

Defenseman Jakub Nakladal came to the NHL as a 27 year old undrafted rookie. He played 27 games with the 2015/16 Calgary Flames and 3 NHL games with the 2016/17 Carolina Hurricanes before moving back to the KHL. He won a Bronze at the 2012 World Championships with the Czech Republic.

Alexei Marchenko

Alexei Marchenko made his NHL debut with the 2013/14 Detroit Red Wings. The Russian defenseman played over 100 games with Detroit before being claimed off waivers by the Maple Leafs during the 2016/17 season. He then played a handful of games for the Leafs. I had tried sending a TTM request to Marchenko via the Leafs and Red Wings but with no response I decided to pick this up a reasonable price.

Vitali Karamnov

From 1992 to 1995 Vitali Karamnov played 92 regular season games in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues. He scored 12 goals and 32 points in the NHL. Internationally, he represented Russia at the 1996 World Championships. Karamnov has recently served as an assistant coach in the KHL.

On an unrelated note, if the KHL can produce coach autographs, why can't the NHL? I think a coaches subset would be popular.

Ilkka Pikkarainen

A 7th round New Jersey draft pick from 2002, Ilkka Pikkarainen played 31 games in the NHL with the 2009/10 Devils. This particular autograph is notable because it finishes off the 2009/2010 season for my collection. I've managed to acquire a signature of all 137 players to debut that season.

Olli Malmivaara

Olli Malmivaara was originally drafted by the Blackhawks in 2000 but remained in Europe until 2006. Malmivaara played 2 career NHL games with the 2007/08 New Jersey Devils. Internationally, he won Silver at the 2001 World Juniors and Bronze at the 2002 World Juniors as a member of team Finland.

Patrick Davis

From 2008 to 2010 Patrick Davis played 9 career NHL games with the New Jersey Devils, scoring 1 goal.

Dwight Helminen

Dwight Helminen played 23 NHL games with the 2008/09 Carolina Hurricanes and 4 games with the 2009/10 San Jose Sharks. A University of Michigan alumni, Helminen was originally drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 2002.

Kamil Kreps

From 2007 to 2010 Kamil Kreps played 232 games in the NHL, scoring 18 goals and 60 points for the Florida Panthers. Internationally, he represented the Czech Republic at the 2004 World Juniors.

Jussi Markkanen

From 2001 to 2007 Jussi Markkanen played 128 games in the NHL. He was a member of the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers. He's best remembered for his playoff service in 2006, taking over for the injured Dwayne Roloson as the Edmonton Oilers lost the Stanley Cup finals to the Carolina Hurricanes. Internationally, he represented Finland at the 2002 Olympics and World Championships in 2002 and 2004. Its somewhat remarkable that a goalie like Markkanen never got a certified autograph. Netminders of any success in the modern age tend to get a lot of hobby love.

Rob Shearer

Rob Shearer played 2 career NHL games with the 2000/01 Colorado Avalanche. The undrafted forward was signed as a free agent by Colorado in 1995 while he was paying in the OHL. In 1996/1997, his first season of pro, Shearer won the AHL's Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears.

Dale Clarke

Defeseman Dale Clarke was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Blues after 4 years at St. Lawrence University. Clarke played 3 games in the NHL with the 2000/01 St. Louis Blues.

Antti-Jussi Niemi

From 2000 to 2002 defenseman Antti-Jussi Niemi played 29 career NHL games with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Internationally, he had great success. With Finland he won an Olympic Silver medal in 2006, World Championship Silver in 1998, 1999 and 2002 and World Championship Bronze in 2000 and 2008.

Antti Aalto

Anttil Aalto, aka that guy who's first in every NHL alphabetical list. From 1997 to 2001 he played 151 NHL games for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, scoring 11 goals and 28 points. Internationally, he represented Finland at the Olympics in 2002 and helped them take home Bronze at the World Championships in 2000.

Jukka Hentunen

Jukka Hentunen spent one season in the NHL, splitting the 2001/02 season between the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators. He scored 4 goals and 9 points in 38 career NHL games that season. In 2009 he won the KHL's Gagarin Cup and lead the playoffs in goals scored. He helped Finland take home Silver at the 2006 Olympics and also has 2 Silvers and 2 Bronze medals from the World Championships.

Evgeny Medvedev

Defenseman Evgeny Medvedev came to the NHL as a 33 year old rookie on the 2015/16 Philadelphia Flyers. He appeared in 45 games for the Flyers in his only season of North American hockey, far from a success. In the summer of 2016 he went back to the KHL where he's won 2 Gagarin Cups. Internationally, he helped Russia win Gold at the World Championships in 2012 and 2014 as well as a Silver in 2015. In 2014 he also represented Russia in the Olympics.

Evgeny Korolev

From 1999 to 2002 Russian defenseman Evgeny Korolev played 42 games in the NHL with the New York Islanders.

Marko Jantunen

Marko Jantunen played 3 games in the NHL with the 1996/97 Calgary Flames. Internationally, he represented Finland at the 1997 World Championships and 1991 World Juniors.

Ari Haanpaa

From 1985 to 1988 Ari Haanpaa played 60 regular season games in the NHL with the New York Islanders. He scored 6 goals and 17 points career points and also played in 6 playoff games with the Islanders in 1987. Internationally, he won a Silver medal at the World Juniors in 1984 with Finland. Since 2010 he's been a scout with the Calgary Flame.

Tuomas Gronman

Defenseman Tuomas Gronman played 16 NHL games with the 1996/97 Chicago Blackhawks and 22 with the 1997/98 Pittsburgh Penguins. Internationally, he won a Bronze medal at the 1998 Olympics with Finland.

Jari Torkki

Jari Torkki scored 1 goal in 4 career NHL games with the 1988/89 Chicago Blackhawks. He also won a Silver medal at the 1988 Olympics with Sweden.

Robert Nordmark

From 1987 to 1991 Robert Nordmark played 236 regular season games in the NHL, dressing with the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks. He won Gold with Sweden at the 1987 World Championships and Silver in 1986 and 1995. He's recently been a European scout for the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Raimo Helminen

From 1985 to 1989 Raimo Helminen scored 13 goals and 59 points in 117 career NHL games. He played with the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and North York Islanders. That was only a small part of his 26 year pro hockey career. He represented Finland in what is a record 6 Olympics, winning a Silver in 1988, Bronze in 1994 and Bronze in 1998.

Hannu Jarvenpaa

From 1986 to 1989 Hannu Jarvenpaa played 114 games in the NHL, scoring 11 goals and 37 points. He represented Finland at the 1992 Olympics and helped his country win Silver at the 1992 World Championships.

Tom Koivisto

As a 28 year old rookie defenseman in the NHL, Tom Koivito played 22 career games with the 2002/03 St. Louis Blues. Internationally, he represented Finland at the 2002 World Championships.

Simo Saarinen

Defenseman Simo Saarinen played 8 games in the NHL with the 1984/85 New York Rangers. A nasty injury abruptly ended his NHL career. Internationally, he won an Olympic Silver medal with Finland in 1988. He also represented his country at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics.

Andrei Skopintsev

From 1998 to 2001 Andrei Skopintsev played 40 games in the NHL. The defenseman played with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Atlanta Thrashers. Internationally, he represented Russia at the World Championships in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2004.

Raimo Summanen

From 1983 to 1988 Raimo Summamen scored 36 goals and 76 points in 151 career NHL games between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. His brief stint in the playoffs with the 1984 Oilers got Summanen a Stanley Cup ring and a place in the official team championship photo. His name, however, was left off the Trophy. He represented Finland at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics. He also won a Gold medal at the World Championships in 1995.

David Volek

Czech forward David Volek scored 25 goals and 59 points in his rookie season with the 1988/89 New York Islanders. It would be his best season in the NHL. From 1988 to 1994 he played 396 regular season games in the NHL, recording 95 goals and 249 points. He represented Czechoslovakia at the 1988 Olympics.

Jarkko Varvio

From 1993 to 1995 Jarkko Varvio scored 3 goals and 7 points in 13 career NHL games with the Dallas Stars. Internationally, he peaked at the 1992 World Hockey Championships, leading the tournament in goals, points and helping Finland bring home a Silver medal.

Petri Varis

Petri Varis played 1 game in the NHL with the 1997/98 Chicago Blackhawks. He had originally been drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 1993. Internationally, he won a Bronze medal at the 1994 Olympics with Finland.

Janne Ojanen

From 1988 to 1993 Janne Ojanen scored 21 goals and 44 points in 98 career regular season games in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils. He's played on many international teams with Finland and in 1988 took home an Olympic Silver medal and in 1994 a Bronze.

Timo Jutila
Defenseman Timo Jutila recorded 1 goal and 6 points in 10 career NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres. Internationally, he was a big success, representing Finland at the World Juniors, World Championships, Olympics and Canada Cup. He won a Bronze at the 1994 Olympics, Silver at the 1992 and 1994 World Championships and Gold at the 1995 World Championships.

Erik Haula

Erik Haula has been a full time NHLer since making his debut with the 2013/14 Wild. Not many modern day NHLers can play nearly 300 games and not get a certified autograph. Internationally, Haula won a Silver medal at the 2014 World Championships with Finland. Haula must have sat down recently and went through his mail because I had two returns from him, the one I sent this year and the one I had sent a couple years before and thought long lost.

Kyle Greentree

The undrafted Kyle Greentree attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, earning an NHL contract with the Flyers after 3 years in school. Greentree played 2 games with the 2007/08 Philly Flyers and 2 games with the 2008/09 Calgary Flames.

Brian McReynolds

From 1989 to 1994 Brian McReynolds played 30 games in the NHL, dressing with the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings. In 1987 he won a NCAA championship with Michigan State.

Matthew Yeats

Matthew Yeats played 5 games in the NHL with the 2003/04 Washington Capitals. The Univeristy of Maine alumni had been drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1998. There are only a handful of modern day goalies I need to find so this Yeats actually made me super excited. I've been trying to track him down for some time.

Bob Parent

Between 1981 and 1983 Bob Parent backstopped 3 NHL games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Rick Paterson

From 1979 to 1987 Rick Paterson played 430 regular season and 61 playoff games in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks. He remained in the NHL after retiring as a player. In 1991 and 1992 he won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins as assistant coach. In 2004 he won the Cup as Chief Scout of the Tampa Bay Lightning and in 2007 he claimed the Stanley Cup again, this time as director of player personnel with the Anaheim Ducks.

John McCahill

An undrafted University of Michigan graduate, John McCahill played 1 game in the NHL with the 1977/78 Colorado Rockies.

Max Quackenbush

Defenseman Max Quackenbush played 47 NHL games with the 1950/51 Boston Bruins and another 14 with the 1951/52 Chicago Blackhawks. His brother, Bill, was a longtime NHLer and member of the HHOF.

Claude Pronovost

Claude Pronovost backstopped 1 game for the 1955/56 Boston Bruins and 2 games for the 1958/59 Montreal Canadiens. A practice goalie for the Canadiens, he made his NHL debut for the Bruins against the team that owned his rights in a strange case of Original 6 era teams carrying just 1 goalie on the road. Two of his brothers, Marcel and Jean, also played in the NHL.

I had tried to write to Pronovost at this address before but this was my first reply, and quick. Makes me wonder what happened to the first couple I had sent, looking at you Canada Post...

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Ending this mail post with 3 "odds & ends" hockey autographs. 1 for the WHA only collection and 2 for the NHL coaches collection.

Bill Steele

A Michigan Tech alumni, Bill Steele played 3 games in the WHA for the 1975/76 Cincinnati Stingers and then a full season, 81 games, with the 1976/77 Stingers. He scored 11 goals and 33 points in 84 career WHA games.

Tom Coolen

Tom Coolen spent a season in the NHL as an assistant coach with the 2014/15 Buffalo Sabres. His coaching career has taken him all over the world and numerous leagues. He was even an assistant coach in the Olympics with Latvia in 2014.

Lou Vairo

From 1984 to 1986 Lou Vairo was assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils. He's better known for his role within USA hockey, helping coach the 1980 Miracle team, head coaching the 1984 Olympic team and assistant coaching the 2002 Olympic team. In 2014 he was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame.

A good mix of autographs in this post. Some purchases and TTM returns. A lot came from one seller at a great price. Sometimes you just have to feel a seller out. I threw him best offers on a number of autographs at rather large discount. Alone they might have not been accepted, but as a lot everyone's happy. It started with Richie Dunn, I saw he had a Plasse (which I got for less than $5!) and then a lot grew from there. I'm very careful when I buy via ebay and this seller checked out so I was happy to pick up a nice little lot. I do always make sure I can find a comparable signature when I buy online. When it comes to the lesser known modern guys, its not so much the authenticity that you have to worry about (because why fake a $1 common signature) but simply that there was no errors in identify/classifying the signatures. That level of caution usually snags a few signatures and one of them is in this mail post. I purchased the Ron Smith autograph listed as the New York Islanders player. Right name, wrong guy. It was actually the now deceased Ron Smith who coached in the NHL. I still needed that for my collection so bought it and rightfully re identified it with a custom index.

38 New NHL autographs this post makes the grand total of unique NHL player signatures 5,425 for 73% of everyone to ever play in the league.

I just got a big package from COMC so the next mail post will follow shortly and will be mostly newer guys.

Michel Plasse

The Montreal Canadiens drafted Michel Plasse 1st overall in 1968. The goalie went on to play 300 games in the NHL, dressing with the Blues, Habs, Scouts, Penguins, Rockies and Nordiques. Plasse passed away in 2006 so his autographs aren't very common.

Jack Eichel

Drafted 2nd overall to McDavid in 2015, Eichel has proven to be a star player for the Sabres. I credit Leaf for designing a card that you'd never know they didn't have a license to make. I like photos like this where the airbrushing is not evident. I was actually just slightly disappointed with this card because it wasn't the one pictured in the auction I won. That card the autograph didn't run off the sticker at all. Not a big deal I guess but a little annoying.

Alex Biega

A Harvard University alumni, Alex Biega has played nearly 100 games in the NHL with Vancouver since making his debut with the 2014/15 club.

Derek Whitmore

Derek Whitmore was an undrafted Bowling Green State alumni when he was signed as a free agent by the Sabres. Whitmore appeared in 2 career NHL games with the 2011/12 Sabres.

Gavin Morgan

An undrafted University of Denver grad, Gavin Morgan played 6 career NHL games with the 2003/04 Dallas Stars. He recorded no points but did drop the gloves 3 times. He's now an assistant coach at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

Nick Smith

Nick Smith played 15 NHL games with the 2001/02 Florida Panthers.

Guys like Smith can prove to be very hard to find after retiring due to having such a common name so I'm extra happy to get this return.

Peter Ratchuk

From 1998 to 2001 Peter Ratchuk played 32 games in the NHL with the Florida Panthers. The defenceman was originally drafted 25th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 but went unsigned by the club, joining Florida as a free agent. He's currently a pro scout with the Winnipeg Jets.

Tom Pederson

From 1992 to 1997 Tom Pederson played 240 regular season games in the NHL. The defenceman played for the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs. Internationally, he represented USA at the 1991 and 1996 World Championships, bringing home a bronze medal in '96. Pederson also represented America at the 1989 World Juniors.

Dean Kolstad

From 1988 to 1993 Dean Kolstad suited up in 40 NHL games. The defenceman split that time between the Minnesota North Stars, who drafted him 33rd overall in 1986, and San Jose Sharks, who picked him up in the 1991 dispersal draft.

Darren Banks

From 1992 to 1994 Darren Banks played 20 games in the NHL with the Boston Bruins. The tough customer scored 2 goals, 4 points and 73 penalty minutes. He currently spends his days in Las Vegas working for a casino.

Chris Cichocki

From 1985 to 1989 Chris Cichocki scored 11 goals and 23 points in 68 career NHL games playing for the Detroit Red Wings and then New Jersey Devils. Internationally, he represented America at the 1983 World Juniors. Since 2009 Chichocki has been a pro scout with the Edmonton Oilers.

Mike Moher

Tough guy Mike Moher recorded 1 assist and 28 penalty minutes in 9 career NHL games with the 1982/83 New Jersey Devils. He's notable for his accomplishments as a junior, winning the Memorial Cup in 1982 with the Kitchener Rangers. He also won a World Junior Championships gold in 1982 with Canada.

Glenn Patrick

The son of Lynn Patrick, Glenn is indeed part of one of hockey's most famous families. From 1973 to 1977 Glenn played 38 games in the NHL, scoring 2 goals and 5 points. He dressed with the Blues, Seals and Barons. He also played 23 games in the WHA with the 1976/77 Edmonton Oilers.

Brian Watts

Brian Watts was drafted 7th overall by the Red Wings in 1964 but decided to attend Michigan Tech before embarking on a pro hockey career. He ended up playing 4 NHL games with the 1975/76 Detroit Red Wings.

Larry Giroux

From 1973 to 1980 defenceman Larry Giroux recorded 15 goals and 89 points in 274 career NHL games. He's perhaps most notable for his killer 70s fro and sideburns, earning him a few nicknames over his career.

Dean Jenkins

An undrafted University of Lowell alumni, Dean Jenkins played 5 games in the NHL with the 1983/84 Los Angeles Kings.

Lex Hudson

Defenceman Lex Hudson played 2 career regular season and 2 career playoff games in the NHL with the 1978/79 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Dwight Mathiasen

An undrafted University of Denver alumni, Dwight Mathiasen was signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Penguins as a highly touted college player. A top prospect at the time, he was one of the first NHLers to sign a million dollar contract before even suiting up in the league. From 1986 to 1988 he only played 33 NHL games with the Penguins, never reaching his potential.

Jim Wiley

From 1972 to 1977 Jim Wiley scored 4 goals and 14 points in 64 career NHL games. He dressed with both the Pittsburgh Penguins and later the Vancouver Canucks. Wiley also spent some time as an NHL head coach with the San Jose Sharks in 1995/96.

Larry Johnston

From 1967 to 1977 Larry Johnston played over 300 games in the NHL, dressing with the LA Kings, Detroit Red Wings, Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies. He also spent part of a season in the WHA with the Michigan Stags. Johnston is also notable for spending time as captain of the Red Wings in 1974.

Brent Meeke

From 1972 to 1977 Brent Meeke played 75 games in the NHL, scoring 9 goals and 31 points. Meeke spent time with California and Cleveland in the NHL.

Ray Neufeld

From 1979 to 1990 Ray Neufeld scored 357 points in 595 regular season NHL games. He was a 4 time 20+ season goal scorer and with the Hartford Whalers had 3 consecutive 25+ goal seasons.

Terry Johnson

From 1979 to 1988 defenceman Terry Johnson played 285 regular season and 38 playoff games in the NHL. He was a member of the Nordiques, Blues, Flames and Maple Leafs.

Doug Sulliman

From 1979 to 1990 Doug Sulliman played well over 600 games in the NHL, scoring 160 goals and 328 points. Sullivan was a member of the Rangers, Whalers, Devils and Flyers. He later spent time in the NHL as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils and Phoenix Coyotes.

John Chabot

From 1983 to 1991 John Chabot recorded 312 points in 508 regular season NHL games. Chabot played for the Canadiens, Penguins and Red Wings. He was a highly scouted junior prospect and was named the QMJHL's MVP in 1982. Chabot briefly returned to the NHL in 2007 as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders.

Tony McKegney

From 1978 to 1991 Tony McKegney scored over 300 goals in the NHL. McKegney was one of the league's first black stars and did battle through racism. He actually signed his first big pro contract in the WHA with Birmingham but outcry by fans forced owners to pull back on the deal. Unfortunately, McKegney has recently battled substance abuse problems and had spent time in jail.

Stephane Guerard

From 1987 to 1990 defenceman Stephane Guerard played 34 NHL games with the Quebec Nordiques. Injuries forced him to retire early.

Risto Siltanen

Risto Siltanen came to North America from Finland to play for the WHA's Edmonton Oilers. He followed the team to the NHL and in 1981/82 the defenceman was a point per game player with the Oilers and one of their most important D-men. Unfortunately for Siltanen, he was traded to Hartford for Ken Linseman before the Oilers became a dynasty. Siltanen played in the NHL until 1987, amassing 355 points in 562 regular season games.

I'll note that autographs done in pen tend to not scan very well but its actually very legible in person.

Ken Quinney

From 1986 to 1991 Ken Quinney recorded 7 goals and 20 points in 59 career NHL games with the Quebec Nordiques.

Doug Dadswell

I had tried writing to Dadswell multiple times and multiple addresses and never got anything back. As one of the few living goalies left on my wantlist, I bit the bullet and bought this one. From 1986 to 1988 Dadswell played 28 games in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, mostly acting as a backup to Mike Vernon.

Jari Gronstrand

From 1986 to 1991 Finnish defenceman Jari Gronstrand played 185 games in the NHL, playing with the North Stars, Rangers, Nordiques and Islanders. He represented Finland at the 1986 World Championships and 1987 Canada Cup.

Scott Bjugstad

From 1984 to 1992 Scott Bjugstad scored 76 goals and 144 points in 317 career games, dressing with the North Stars, Penguins and Kings. Internationally, he represented the USA at the 1984 Olympics. Current NHLer Nick Bjugstad is his nephew.

Jan Ludvig

From 1982 to 1989 Jan Ludvig scored 54 goals and 141 points in 314 career NHL games. He was a member of the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres. The Czech native has been a pro scout with the New Jersey Devils since 1994.

Richie Dunn

From 1977 to 1989 defenceman Richie Dunn played well over 500 career regular season+playoff games in the NHL. He spent most of his career in Buffalo but also dressed as a Calgary Flame and Hartford Whaler. Internationally, Dunn represented USA at the 1981 Canada Cup and 1986 World Championships. He passed away in 2016 at 59.

Rick Meagher

Rick Meagher won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. He's also notable for being captain of the St. Louis Blues during the 1989/90 season. From 1979 to 1991 Meagher scored 144 goals and 309 points in 691 regular season NHL games. He played with the Canadiens, Whalers, Devils and Blues.

Kevin Maguire

From 1986 to 1992 Kevin Maguire scored 29 goals and 59 points in 260 career NHL games. He played for the Maple Leafs, Sabres and Flyers. Maguire later returned to the NHL as an official.

Dan Vincelette

Dan Vincelette made his NHL debut in the 1987 playoffs with the Chicago Blackhawks. From then until 1992 he recorded 20 goals and 42 points in 193 career games, all with the Hawks.

Joe Micheletti

Defeceman Joe Micheletti played 3 seaons in the WHA before moving to the NHL in 1979. He played over 150 games in the NHL until 1982, dressing with the Blues and Rockies. From 1987 to 1991 Micheletti returned to the NHL as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues. His brother, Pat, also played in the NHL.

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As usual I'll finish off with the new hockey autographs that don't fall into my all-time NHL player collection. The McCaskill goes into my "super random" hockey autographs binder, a few for the coaches collection, one for the NHL officials binder and two for my women of the game collection.

Kirk McCaskill

This goes into my super oddball binder of hockey related autographs and is my personal favorite signature of this mail post. McCaskill, along with Tom Glavine, are the two most notable recent MLB players who grew up strong hockey players. McCaskill was a two sport athlete at the University of Vermont and was drafted 64th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL draft. He played 1 season of pro hockey with the Sherbrooke Jets, scoring 10 goals and 22 points, before hanging up his skates to pursue his baseball career full time. McCaskill ended up making the right choice as he spent over a decade in the MLB and pitched for over 200 games. Some recent pro Ball players have spent time in junior hockey but McCaskill is a rare bread for being able to spend a solid season in the AHL as a pro.

Jean Perron

Jean Perron is most notable for being head coach of the 1985/86 Montreal Canadiens and led the team to the Stanley Cup championship. He served as head coach for the Habs from 1985 to 1988 and later took the head coaching position with the Quebec Nordiques for one season in 1988/89.

Martin Raymond

From 2010 to 2013 Martin Raymond was an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 2016 he followed Guy Boucher to Ottawa and was named an assistant coach with the Senators. As a player he never made it to the NHL but did win a Bronze medal with Canada at the 1991 Spengler Cup.

Jerry Forton

Currently a scout with the Buffalo Sabres, Jerry Forton spent 1 season as an assistant coach in the NHL. He was behind the bench of the 2013/14 Sabres.

Pierre Page

Between 1988 and 1998 Pierre Page spent time as an NHL head coach with the Minnesota North Stars, Quebec Nordiques, Calgary Flames and Anaheim Mighty Ducks. From 1990 to 1994 he was also GM of the Nordiques and was responsible for the infamous Eric Lindros to Philly trade that netted the Nords Peter Forsberg among other riches.

E.J. McGuire

E.J. McGuire spent over a decade in the NHL as an assistant coach, serving with the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators. McGuire passed away in 2011.

Ron Smith

Ron Smith spent half a season as head coach of the New York Rangers in 1992/93 and from 1989 to 1991 was the team's assistant coach. He also spent time as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres.

Dan Marouelli
From 1984 to 2010 Dan Marouelli officiated over 1,600 regular season NHL games. He also officiated four Stanley Cup finals and the 1996 World Cup. He was indeed one of the league's most notable officials throughout his lengthy career.

Dana Antal

Dana Antal won an Olympic Gold as a member of team Canada's 2002 women's hockey team. She played college hockey at Cornell. Thanks to some ITG autograph card sets, I'm just a few women away from autographs of all who participated in the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 or 2014 Olympics with Canada

Andrea Kilbourne

Andrea Kilbourne-Hill was a member of the USA women's team that captured Silver at the 2002 Olympics. She played college hockey at Princeton and also represented USA at the 2004 Womens World Hockey Championships.

With just two exceptions, all of these signatures come from a COMC.com package. You'd almost think I was building the SPGU autograph set. There's actually a simple explanation for there being so many from that particular set. SPGU was sold via epack from Upper Deck. Box breakers quickly flipped those e-breaks to COMC, who has a partnership in place with UD. As always, some people want crazy prices, but some just want to unload unwanted cards as quickly as possible. When the market starts to become saturated, I jump and pick up the signatures I need usually for just $1-2 dollars. At that price its much cheaper and efficient to acquire a certified autograph than write to a player.

I organized this mail post a little different because most of the new autographs here are all from guys who made their NHL debuts during the 2015/16 season. I thus grouped them all together.

36 New NHL player autographs raises the grand total of unique signatures to 5,461 for 73% of everyone to ever play in the league.

Steve Yzerman

It might seem odd that I've gone this long without picking up a Stevie Y signature. The longtime Red Wings captain is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and won numerous awards during his career. He's such a fan favorite that his autographs never sell cheap. His signature was simply never a priority because there are lots out there but they're never cheap. Next up is Patrick Roy then my certified autograph wantlist will be complete.

Erik Andersson

Swedish forward Erik Anderson spent 4 years at the University of Denver before signing with the Flames. He played 12 games in the NHL with the 1997/98 Flames, scoring 2 goals and 3 points.

This is one of the two cards I didn't acquire via COMC but did come with the package. Another feature I very much like about COMC is the mailbox, which allows me to send ebay wins to "my" COMC mailbox at a US address. Shipping this card to Canada would have cost me five times more than the actual card, without the mailbox I simply would not have bought it. I can't stress how much I like this service.

Andrew Murray

This is just the 2nd card of the post not purchased on COMC. This comes all the way from Russia and is one of the many SoReal KHL autographs I've acquired. From 2007 to 2013 Andrew Murray played 221 games in the NHL, scoring 24 goals and 40 points. He spent most of that time with the Columbus Blue Jackets but also dressed with the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues.

14/15 debuts:

Andre Burakovsky

Austria born, Swedish raised Andre Burakovsky was drafted 23rd overall by the Capitals in 2013. His father, Robert, also played in the NHL. Andre has scored 95 points in 196 regular season NHL games with the Capitals. Internationally he represented Sweden at the 2016 World Championships.

Anton Forsberg

Swedish goalie Anton Forsberg has appeared in 10 NHL games over 3 seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Drafted in the 7th round in 2011, he won Gold at the 2012 World Juniors with Sweden.

Sam Reinhart

Sam Reinhart was drafted 2nd overall in 2014 by the Sabres. He's scored 40 goals and 90 points in 167 NHL games so far. Internationally, he won Gold at the 2015 World Juniors and Gold at the 2016 World Championships. From a hockey family, his father, Paul, was an NHL All-Star and his brothers, Max and Griffin, have both also played in the NHL.

15/16 debuts:

Pontus Aberg

Swedish forward Pontus Aberg made his NHL debut in the 2016 playoffs with Nashville. So far he's actually played in more career postseason games and in 2017 helped Nashville reach the Stanley Cup finals. He was drafted in the 2nd round by Nashville in 2012.

Chris Bigras

Defenceman Chris Bigras was drafted 32nd overall by the Avalanche in 2013. He played 31 games in the NHL with Colorado in 2015/16. Internationally, he represented Canada at the 2014 World Juniors

Christoph Bertschy

Swiss forward Christoph Bertschy was drafted by the Wild in the 6th round of the 2012 draft. He's played in 8 NHL games with Minnesota.

Oliver Bjorkstrand

Denmark native Oliver Bjorkstrand has scored 10 goals and 21 points in 38 NHL games with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He represented Denmark at the 2015 Men's World Championships.

Connor Brown

Taken in the 6th round of the 2012 draft, Connor Brown scored 20 goals as a rookie with the 2016/17 Maple Leafs. As a junior he was a linemate of Connor McDavid's with the Erie Otters.

Daniel Carr

Daniel Carr was signed by the Canadiens as a free agent in 2014 after 4 years at Union College. He's since played in 56 NHL games with Montreal, scoring 8 goals and 18 points.

Chase De Leo

Center Chase De Leo played in 2 NHL games with the 2015/16 Winnipeg Jets. Internationally, he represented USA at the 2015 World Juniors.

Joonas Donskoi

Finn Joonas Donskoi was drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2010 but opted to stay in Europe and not sign with the club. In 2015 he signed with the San Jose Sharks as a free agent and soon thereafter made his North American debut. He's played 2 full seasons in San Jose and in 2016 helped the team reach the Stanley Cup finals. Internationally, he's represented Finland at the World Juniors, World Championships and World Cup.

Hudson Fasching

University of Minnesota alumni Hudson Fasching was drafted by the LA Kings in 2013 but was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2014. He's played 17 NHL games with the Sabres. Internationally, he played on America's World Junior teams in 2014 and 2015 and in 2016 played on the Men's World Championship team.

Kasperi Kapanen

Kasperi Kapanen was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014. He was acquired by Toronto in the Phil Kessel trade and has since played 17 NHL games with the Maple Leafs. Internationally, he helped Finland win Gold at the 2016 World Juniors. His father is long time NHLer Sami Kapanen.

Joonas Kemppainen

Joonas Kemppainen has spent most of his career in Europe. He came to North America for one season, playing 44 games with the 2015/16 Boston Bruins as a 27 year old rookie. Internationally, he represented Finland at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships.

Tanner Kero

Tanner Kero was an undrafted Michigan Tech alumni when he was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015. He made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Hawks and has since played 64 games in the NHL.

Jujhar Khaira

Jujhar Khaira is notable for being only the 3rd player of Punjabi descent to suit up in the NHL. He's played 25 games in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers since 2015/16.

Tom Kuhnhackl

German Tom Kuhnhackls was drafted by the Penguins in 2010. He was a member of the 2016 and 2017 Penguins Stanley Cup championships.

Michael Matheson

Defenceman Michael Matheson was a first round pick of the Florida Panthers in 2012. He attended Boston College for three seasons before signing with Florida. He established himself as a full time NHLer in 2016/17, playing 81 games. Internationally, he helped Canada win Gold at the 2016 World Championships and Silver at the 2017 Worlds.

Mark McNeill

Forward Mark McNeill was drafted 18th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011. He played in just 1 game for Chicago in 2015/16. He was traded to the Dallas Stars and played 1 game for the team in 2016/17. Internationally, he represented Canada at the 2013 World Juniors.

Sonny Milano

The Columbus Blue Jackets drafted Sonny Milano 16th overall in 2014. Milano has played in 7 NHL games with the Blue Jackets. He played for the USA at the 2015 World Juniors.

Nic Petan

Nicolas Petan was a 2nd round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 2013. He's played 80 NHL games for the club since 2015/16. He won Gold with Canada at the 2015 World Juniors.

Tyler Randell

Forward Tyler Randell was drafted in the 6th round by the Boston Bruins in 2009. He scored 6 goals in 27 career NHL games with the 2015/16 Bruins.

Mike Reilly

Defenceman Mike Reilly was drafted by the Columbus Blues Jackets in 2011 but spent three seasons at the University of Minnesota and never signed with Columbus. In 2015 the Wild signed him as a free agent and he's since played 46 NHL games with the club. Internationally, he won Gold with USA at the 2013 World Juniors and a Bronze at the 2015 Men's World Championships.

Evan Rodrigues

The Buffalo Sabres signed Evan Rodrigues as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He had just finished a successful college career at Boston University and was Jack Eichel's linemate. Rodrigues has played in 32 NHL games with the Sabres, scoring 5 goals and 8 points.

Steven Santini

Defenceman Steven Santini was drafted in the 2nd round by New Jersey in 2013. He spent 3 seasons at Boston College before turning pro with the 2015/16 Devils. Santini has played 29 NHL games with New Jersey. Internationally, he represented US at the 2014 World Juniors and 2016 World Championships.

Devin Shore

A 2012 2nd round pick, Devin Shore played all 82 games with the 2016/17 Dallas Stars. He's a University of Maine alumni.

Dominik Simon

Czech forward Dominik Simon has played 5 NHL games with the Penguins over two seasons. Internationally, he represented his country at the 2015 World Championships.

Brady Skjei

Defenceman Brady Skjei was drafted in the 1st round of the 2012 NHL draft by the New York Rangers. The University of Minnesota product spent the whole 2016/17 season in the NHL with the Rangers, scoring 39 points in 80 games. He was selected to play for USA at the 2016 and 2017 Men's World Championships.

Daniel Sprong

A product of the Netherlands, Daniel Sprong was drafted 46th overall by Pittsburgh in 2015 and a couple months later made his surprise NHL debut, playing 18 games with Pittsburgh before being sent back to junior.

Oskar Sundqvist

Swedish forward Oskar Sundqvist played a couple playoff games for the Stanley Cup winning Penguins in 2016. It was enough to hoist the Trophy but he never got his name engraved. Sundqvist has played 28 games for the Pens over two seasons. Internationally, he won a Silver at the 2014 World Juniors.

Jake Virtanen

The Vancouver Canucks drafted Jake Virtanen 6th overall in 2014. He's played in 65 NHL games with the Canucks but has not reached his potential. Internationally, Virtanen won Gold with Canada at the 2015 World Juniors.

Miles Wood

Miles Wood was drafted by the New Jersey Devils while playing high school hockey. He spent 1 year at Boston College before turning pro and has played 61 NHL games with the Devils. Internationally, Miles represented US at the 2015 World Juniors and 2016 World Championships. His father, Randy Wood, was a long time NHL player.

Pavel Zacha

Czech forward Pavel Zacha was drafted 6th overall by the Devils in 2015. He's scored 26 points in 71 NHL games with New Jersey so far.

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Ending the mail post in the usual fashion with "other" hockey autographs. 2 for the NHL backups only binder and 2 for the women of hockey binder.

Alexey Volkov

Alexey Volkov made an emergency backup appearance in the NHL with the 1998/99 Los Angles Kings. The Kings were facing a string a goalie injuries that forced them to recall the 18 year old Volkov from the Halifax Mooseheads. Volkov only played 1 year of pro hockey in North America, spending most of his career in Europe.

Daniel Altshuller
Daniel Altschuller has appeared in 6 NHL games over two seasons as backup with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Oshawa Generals product was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft.

Meghan Mikkelson

Defeceman Meghan Mikkelson won Olympic Gold with Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. Meghan is from a hockey family with her father, Bill, and brother, Brendan, having both played in the NHL.

Tara Watchorn
Defenceman Tara Watchorn is most notable for winning Gold with Canada at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. She's also won Silver at the Women's World Championships in 2011, 2015 and 2016.

11 new NHL autographs raises the grand total to 5,472 for 73% of everyone to ever play in the NHL.

Some very notable names in this post. Jacques Plante represents one of the last post-WWII legends that I needed. There are very few notable players from that time on who's signature I don't have.

Dan Snyder and Steve Moore represent some of the most notable names in 'dark' side of hockey history. Snyder was killed in a high speed accident involving Dany Heatley and Steve Moore's career was ended by Todd Bertuzzi in an on ice incident. The two players both became common names because of these tragic events.

When I was working on my autograph wantlist I underlined two post-2000 debuts as guys I'd have trouble finding due to their unfortunate young deaths. These two were BJ Young and Dan Snyder. With both now in the collection is has become a very real possibility that I'll be able to complete all the post-2000 debuts in the foreseeable future.

Dan Snyder
Dan Snyder was signed by the Atlanta Thrashers as a free agent after spending 4 seasons in the OHL with the Owen Sound Platters. From 2000 to 2003 Snyder scored 11 goals and 16 points in 49 career NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers. He died in a car accident in 2003 at only 25.
One of my saved ebay searches was 'team signed Atlanta Thrashers' with the hope that an item from Snyder's time with the club would pop up. This was on a license plate signed by a bunch of others Thrashers from the period. I was extremely happy to find a Snyder autograph at an affordable price.

Jacques Plante

One of the best goalies of his time, Jacques Plante is an NHL legend who is credited for introducing the goalie mask. He won the Stanley Cup 6 times, Vezina Trophy 7 times and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. Plante moved to Switzerland after retiring from hockey and died there in 1986 at only 57 after a bout with cancer.

This didn't scan very well but I'm actually rather pleased with this in person. The part of the autograph covered by the old tape stain is clearly visible in hand and doesn't look that bad at all. I'm certainly willing to live with it because otherwise the signature would have been out of my price range. The future will give me plenty of time to upgrade but this little piece will go nicely into my collection right now. If you collect vintage I'd recommend checking out this website: casports2000.com, a reputable dealer with very reasonable prices. I've purchased numerous items from him over the years and am always satisfied.

Ike Hildebrand

From 1953 to 1955 Ike Hildebrand scored 7 goals and 18 points in 41 career NHL games. He was a member of the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks. He was an even better lacross player and is in the Canadian lacross hall of fame. Hildebrand passed away in 2006.

Steve Moore

Steve Moore is a well known name because of the famous Todd Bertuzzi incident that cut his career short. Moore was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1998 NHL draft by the Avalanche. He attended 4 years of Harvard before making his NHL debut in 2001. From then until the career ending injury in 2004, he scored 5 goals and 12 points in 69 career NHL games with the Avs. I have not seen a TTM success from Moore since the injury and I'm not sure how receptive he is to fans. I had sent a request to his foundation along with a donation but never got a return. When I saw this among a lot of Hersey Bears autographs, I jumped on it because I'm not sure how often, if at all, Moore signs anymore.

Andrei Vasilyev

From 1994 to 1998 Russian forward Andrei Vasilyev scored 2 goals and 7 points in 16 career NHL games. He dressed for the New York Islanders and Phoenix Coyotes.

Josh Langfeld

From 2001 to 2008 Josh Langfeld scored 9 goals and 32 points in 143 career NHL games. He was a member of the Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators. He won a couple NCAA championships with the University of Michigan before signing with the Sens, who had drafted Langeld 66th overall in 1997. Langeld fell of the map after retiring in 2010 and I haven't been able to locate him so this was a purchase. One of my common ebay searches is for autograph lots, this was a part of a small lot of Birmingham Sens signed postcards, with Langfeld the only one I needed.

Ken Lockett

From 1974 to 1976 Ken Lockett played 55 games in net with the Vancouver Canucks. He also played a season in the WHA with the 1976/77 San Diego Mariners.

Mal Davis

From 1978 to 1986 Mal Davis scored 31 goals and 53 points in 100 regular season NHL games. He was a member of the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres.

George McPhee

Currently GM of the Vegas Golden Knights, George McPhee played 115 games in the NHL in the 1980s between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. In 1982 he won the Hobey Baker award with Bowling Green State. From 1997 to 2014 he was GM of the Washington Capitals. This also represents my first TTM success from the Vegas Golden Knights. Good to see at least front office is answering fan mail.

Mark Mowers

From 1998 to 2008 Mark Mowers played 278 regular season NHL games, dressing with the Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Anaheim Ducks. He's currently a scout with the Montreal Canadiens.

Claude Julien

Best remembered as a long time NHL head coach and winner of the 2009 Jack Adams, Claude Julien once played in the NHL. From 1984 to 1986 the defenseman played 14 NHL games with the Quebec Nordiques. He's likely most notable for winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 as Bruins head coach. I still have his Behind the Bench certified autograph to chase but with the last one selling for close to $40, I'm good with waiting.

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8 "other" hockey autographs to finish off this post. One NHL backup only, 2 WHA players, 2 Women Olympians, a couple NHL coaches and an NHL owner.

Eric Semborski

The 2016/17 season was a dream come true for goalie Eric Semborski. He last played for Temple University in 2014, a Philadelphia based school, but as a local netminder, he dressed in 2 NHL games as an emergency backup during the 2016/17 season. Most people could only dream of such an opportunity and for Semborkski it happened twice. He dressed for the Blackhawks on December 3rd and for the Flyers on April 1st. The Flyers even attempted to put him in net for the final 30 seconds of the game but a sour referee forced Semborski back to the bench. He was excruciatingly close to being an official NHL alumni.

Byron Shutt

Byron Shutt scored 10 goals and 17 points in 65 career WHA games with the 1978/79 Cincinnati Stingers. He's the younger brother of Hockey Hall of Famer Steve Shutt.

Rich Pumple

From 1972 to 1975 Rich Pumple scored 27 goals and 57 points in 128 career games in the WHA, playing for the Cleveland Crusaders and Indianapolis Racers.

Kim Insalaco

As a member of the US National Team, Kim Insalaco won Bronze at the 2006 Olympics, Gold at the 2005 Women's World Championships and Silver at the 2004 Worlds. She was a forward who had spent time as captain of the Brown University women's team.

I'm trying to get an autograph of all the women who represented Canada or US at the National level in ice hockey.

Katie King

Katie King-Cowley was a long time member of the US National Team. She won Gold at the 1998 Olympics, noting it as her career highlight. She also won Silver at the 2002 Olympics and Bronze at the 2006 Olympics. At the Women's World Championships she helped US win Gold in 2005 and Silver on five other occasions. She married former NHLer and Olympian Ted Crowley.

Guy Boucher

A McGill Unversity alumni, Guy Boucher started his coaching career in the QMJHL. In 2010 he was hired as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a position he held until 2013. In 2016 he was lured back to the NHL as head coach of the Ottawa Senators

George Gwozdecky

From 2013 to 2015 George Gwozdecky was an NHL assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Before that he has spent two decades coaching in the NCAA. He noted the desire to help young adults both on an off the ice as his reason stepping down from the NHL level.

Jeremy Jacobs Sr.

77 year old billionaire Jeremy Jacobs is the current owner of the Boston Bruins. He's owned the team since 1975 and is known to be one of the more active NHL owners and influencers.

A few purchases and a few TTM returns trickled in this past month. My success rate over the past couple years writing to players remains dismal. Even writing to current players c/o current team gets a low success rate lately.

The three vintage AHL signed photos come from the same seller. I would have bought more from him but I got a sour taste in my mouth and the number one lesson I've learned from a decade of autograph hunting, no matter how old/rare the autograph, just be patient and another will surface.
I had contacted this seller after a few he listed didn't sell because the opening bid was too high for the condition of the photos. I offered to work out a deal with him but he refused, citing that they were worth more even though the market had clearly dictated that they were not. There were 3 that I wanted that didn't sell at $20 so I felt $50 for the lot was a more than reasonable offer. He wouldn't even entertain a deal. Its always leaves a negative feeling when sellers are unwilling to work with a buyer and the tone of his response left a bad taste in my mouth. When he listed a bunch more, even though I needed more of the autographs he had listed, I just put a minimum bid on a few of them. Most of those ended for less than what I would have been willing to pay. I almost didn't even buy these at the minimum bid. I make fair offers based on hundreds and hundreds of past sales and a decade of monitoring the market. I'm not in the business to make money so my offers are usually on the high end when I'm really interested. I thus always get a little thrown back when a seller accuses me of not being fair or not knowing what I'm talking about. Sorry for the small rant.

16 new autographs make the grand total of unique NHL signatures 5,488 for 74% of everyone to ever play in the NHL since it was created in 1917/18.

The before picture...

Sheet signed by members of the 1992 Calgary Flames. I picked this up fairly cheap ($10) because the seller only identified a few signatures. There was one autograph in particular that caught my eye. Sergei Makarov must not like signing for card companies because he's never had a certified autograph. He also doesn't appear to answer fan mail so even though he's a HHOFer, you almost never see his signature. Mararov and Roger Johansson were the only two signatures from the sheet I needed.

And the after...

Sergei Makarov

Sergei Makarov won the first of his 8 World Championship Gold medals in 1978 with the USSR. He won Olympic Silver in 1980 and Gold in 1984 and 1988. Makarov was thus an accomplished player by the time the Soviet Union collapsed and he was finally able to make his NHL debut with the 1989/90 Calgary Flames, Makarov already in his thirties. Makarov won the 1990 Calder Trophy as NHL's rookie of the year after scoring 24 goals and 86 points in 80 games with the Flames that season. From then until 1997 he played in 424 NHL games, scoring 384 points as a Flame, Shark and Star. In 2016, Makarov was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Roger Johansson
From 1989 to 1995 Swedish defenceman Roger Johansson played 161 games in the NHL with the Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks. Internationally, Johansson won Gold at the 1994 Olympics with Sweden.

Les Cunningham

If you're asking yourself why the name Les Cunningham sounds familiar, it is likely due to the fact that the AHL's MVP award bears his name. It does so because Cunningham retired as the AHL's all time leading scorer. He scored 579 points in 519 AHL games with the Cleveland Barons and won the Calder Cup championship 3 times. In the NHL, he played 23 games with the 1936/37 New York Americans and 37 games with the 1939/40 Chicago Blackhawks. He passed away in 1993.

Phil Hergesheimer

From 1939 to 1943 Phil Hergesheimer scored 21 goals and 62 points in 124 career NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was the AHL's leading scorer in 1946/47 with the Philadelphia Rockets. In 1939 he won the AHL's Calder Cup championship with the Cleveland Barons. His brother, Wally, also played in the NHL. Phil passed away in 2004.

I'll note that the signature is actually very clear and legible in person, bad scan.

Andy Branigan

From 1940 to 1942 defenseman Andy Branigan played 26 games in the NHL with the New York Americans. He went on to have a lengthy career in the AHL and won the Calder Cup championship in 1947 and 1956. He passed away in 1995.

Again, sorry for the poor scan but autograph is very nice in hand.

Phil Latreille

Phil Latreille played 4 games in the NHL with the 1960/61 New York Rangers, the result of a 5-game amateur tryout contract signed after his brilliant NCAA career had ended.

I was thrilled to find a working address for Mr. Latreille and be able to write to another living Original Six player.

Joe Kowal

From 1976 to 1978 Joe Kowal recorded 5 points in 22 career NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres had drafted him 33rd overall in 1976.

Greg Mauldin

Greg Mauldin played 6 games with the 2003/04 Columbus Blue Jackets. He then toiled in the AHL and in Europe for years before returning to the NHL in a 1 game appearance with the 2009/10 New York Islanders. Mauldin's third and final stint in the NHL was his longest. He scored 5 goals and 10 points in 29 games with the 2010/11 Colorado Avalanche.

Luke Witkowski

Defenceman Luke Witkowski spent 4 seasons at Western Michigan University. In 2014/15 he made his NHL debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Since then he's played in 54 NHL games with Tampa. He was recently signed by the Detroit Red Wings.

Byron Ritchie

From 1998 to 2008 Byron Ritchie scored 25 goals and 58 points in 324 career NHL games. He spent time with the Hurricanes, Panthers, Flames and Canucks.

Evgeny Davydov

Russian forward Evgeny Davydov made his NHL debut with the 1991/92 Winnipeg Jets. From then until 1995 he scored 40 goals and 79 points in 155 career NHL games as a member of the Jets, Panthers and Senators. Internationally, he won Gold at the 1992 Olympics with the United Team of former Soviet republics. He also won Gold at the 1990 World Championships with the Soviet Union.

Richard Zemlak

Richard Zemlak was originally drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 1981. He made his NHL debut with the 1986/87 Quebec Nordiques. From then until 1992 he played in 132 NHL games as a member of the Nords, North Stars, Penguins and Flames.

Gordon Smith

From 1974 to 1980 defenseman Gord Smith played 299 games in the NHL. He spent most of that time with the Washington Capitals but did play for the Winnipeg Jets as well. His brother is legendary Islanders goalie Billy Smith.

Hugh Harvey

From 1974 to 1976 Hugh Harvey played 18 games in the NHL with the Kansas City Scouts. He's also notable for winning the Calder Cup in 1974 with the Hershey Bears.

Bobby Girard

From 1975 to 1980 Bob Girard played over 300 games in the NHL, dressing with the Seals, Barons and Capitals. He won the AHL's Calder Cup in 1980 with the Hershey Bears.

Hec Lalande

From 1953 to 1958 Hec Lalande played 151 games in the NHL, dressing with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. He scored 21 goals and 60 points in the NHL. He had a very successful career in the minors and in 1958 and 1959 won the Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears. Lalande passed away in 2010.

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Valeri Vasiliev

Valeri Vasiliev was a long time member of the USSR National team and spent some time as their captain. The defeceman won Olympic Gold in 1972, 1976 and a Silver in 1980. He also played in the 1972 Summit Series, 1976 Canada Cup and won the 1981 Canada Cup. Vasiliev passed away in 2012.

ITG released a few certified autographs of USSR players who never appeared in the NHL. The 8 other players are Alexander Yakushev, Boris Mikhailov, Vladimir Shadrin, Vladimir Petrov, Vladimir Myshkin, Alexander Gusev, Aleanser Maltsev and Vladislav Tretiak. Vasiliev was the last of the guys I needed. I really miss some of the creative vintage sets ITG produced under Brian Price. I find Leaf products a little boring, especially from an autograph perspective. With Vasiliev and Makarov both recently added to the collection, the biggest hole in my USSR representation is the great Valeri Kharlamov, who passed away way back in 1981 and since I don't know Russian, will be a very difficult signature to find.

Gordon Tumilson

Goalie Gordon Tumilson backstopped 3 games in the WHA with the 1972/73 Winnipeg Jets. He seems to have spent up to three years as Winnipeg's extra and practice goalie.

Blaine Rydman

From 1972 to 1974 defenceman Blaine Rydman played 39 games in the WHA as a member of the New York Raiders and Minnesota Fighting Saints. He was a tough customer who had fought some of the era's most notorious fighters.

Bill Mahoney

Bill Mahoney spent a couple seasons as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals in the early 1980s. From 1983 to 1985 he was Head Coach of the Minnesota North Stars. He left hockey and now lives comfortably as an owner of multiple Tim Horton franchises.

Kenny McCudden

Since 2015 Kenny McCudden has been an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He had previously spent 16 years as a skills coach with the AHL's Chicago Wolves.

Peter Pocklington

Peter Pocklington is best remembered as the guy who traded Gretzky to the LA Kings. He owned the Edmonton Oilers from 1976 to 1998 and has his name on the Stanley Cup a few times as a result. The wealthy Canadian businessman had an extraordinarily life and his book, I'd Trade Him Again, is worth a read.. He was once held at gunpoint as a hostage for 11 hours and in 1983 he ran, and lost to eventual PM Brian Mulroney, as leader of the Conservative party.

Molly Schaus

Molly Schaus was a long time member of Team USA's National team. She won a Silver medal at the Olympics in 2010 and 2014. Schaus also won Gold 5 times with USA at the Womens' World Championships.

Halli Kryzaniak

Halli Kryzaniak has been a member of Team Canada's National team since 2015. She's won a Silver with Canada at the World Women's Championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Kryzaniak currently plays NCAA with the University of North Dakota.

14 New autographs added since the last post makes the new total 5,502 unique NHL player autographs for 74% of everyone to every play in the league.

Its been a rather busy couple of months with a move and I'm now trying to enjoy some of the beautiful Prince Edward Island summer here in Charlottetown. Its always healthy to take a little break from one's hobby anyway, especially when you've been at it consistently for well over a decade. A few TTM autographs trickled in along with a few purchases.

Prestin Ryan

University of Maine alumni Prestin Ryan was signed by the Canucks as an undrafted free agent. He's a 'one game wonder' who played in a single NHL game with the 2005/06 Canucks. He later spent a few years in Europe before retiring in 2013.

Derek Wilkinson

From 1995 to 1999 Derek Wilkinson played in 22 NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He's worked with the Charlotte Checkers since 2002. There are very few living goalies left who's autograph I need so this is a very notable addition. I'd tried Wiklinson c/o the Checkers a few times before finally getting a return.

Tom O'Regan

From 1983 to 1986 Tom O'Regan scored 5 goals and 17 points in 61 career NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was signed as a free agent by the Penguins after 4 years at Boston University. He was team captain in his senior year. Internationally, O'Regan represented USA at the World Championships in 1989, 1990, 1995 and 1996. He brought home a bronze medal in '96. His son, Daniel, recently played in the NHL for the San Jose Sharks.

Joe Ward

Joe Ward played 4 games in the NHL with the 1980/81 Colorado Rockies.

Ward wrote me a wonderful letter and included a couple items of his father, Don, who also played in the NHL as Joe had saw that I still needed Don's autograph. But, unfortunately, those he sent me were printed but I still very much appreciate the gesture, thanks Joe!

Jim Walsh
Defenseman Jim Walsh played 4 games in the NHL with the 1981/82 Buffalo Sabres. He was an undrafted product of Northeastern University.
Walsh answered my question and signed the two protective black index cards but for whatever reason he kept the custom index I had sent to be signed. I used one of the blank protective index cards to make this custom.

Silvio 'Sam' Bettio

Silvio Bettio played 1 season, 44 games, in the NHL with the 1949/50 Boston Bruins. He scored 9 goals and 21 points. He spent over a dozen years, mostly in the AHL, as a quality pro hockey player and reliable scorer. Bettio passed away in 2006.

Rick Adduono

Rick Adduono played 1 game in the NHL with the 1975/76 Boston Bruins and another 3 with the 1979/80 Atlanta Flames. He also played a season in the WHA, scoring 20 goals and 53 points in 80 games with the 1978/79 Birmingham Bulls. He's been coaching around North America and Europe since 1991.

Darren Haydar

From 2003 to 2010 Darren Haydar played 23 games in the NHL, scoring 1 goal and 8 points. He dressed with the Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers and Colorado Avalanche. Haydar was named MVP of the AHL in 2007 when he scored 41 goals with the Chicago Wolves. He also won the AHL's Calder Cup in 2004 and 2008.

Brian Swanson

From 2000 to 2004 Brian Swanson played 70 games in the NHL, scoring 4 goals and 17 points. He spent most of that time with the Edmonton Oilers but also suited up with the Atlanta Thrashers. Internationally, he represented USA at the 1996 World Championships.

Colin Stuart

From 2007 to 2012 Colorado College alumni Colin Stuart played 56 games in the NHL, scoring 8 goals and 13 points. He played for the Atlanta Thrashers and Buffalo Sabres.

Niclas Wallin

Niclas Wallin is one of just a handful of players to make their debut post 2000, play 600+ games in the NHL and never get a certified autograph. The Swedish defeceman was a long-time member of the Carolina Hurricanes and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2006. Internationally, he represented Sweden at the 2008 World Championships.

Karl Stewart

From 2003 to 2009 Karl Stewart played 69 games in the NHL, scoring 2 goals and 6 points. He played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Niklas Treutle

Undrafted German goalie Niklas Treutle spent 1 season in North America while under contract with the Arizona Coyotes. He appeared in 2 career NHL with the 2015/16 Coyotes and dressed as a backup in 6 more for 8 total NHL games dressed with Arizona.

David Wolf

German forward David Wolf spent 1 season in North America while under contract with the Calgary Flames organization. He spent most of the season in the AHL but did appear in 3 NHL games with the 2014/2015 Calgary Flames.

Although my primary collection is collection NHL autographs, I consider myself more of a 'hockey' and not 'NHL' collector. For that reason I have a decent collection of 'side' hockey signatures including International players, Officials, Coaches, Managers and one of my personal favourites, Women of the Game. ITG and Upper Deck have released a number of women hockey autographs over the years and I've managed to acquire almost all of them. I've also started a little TTM collection of female signatures that I hope to grow in the future. I'll be targeting former/current members of the US and Canada National Teams.

Certified Autographs

Meghan Agosta

Gillian Apps

Kelly Bechard

Tessa Bonhomme

Jennifer Botterill

Cassie Campbell

Julie Chu

Delaney Collins

Melodie Daoust

Natalie Darwitz

Sarah Davis

Ann-Renee Desbiens

Meghan Duggan

Gillian Ferrari

Laura Fortino

Danielle Goyette

Cammi Granato

Geraldine Heaney

Jayna Hefford

Angela James

Brianne Jenner

Rebecca Johnston

Becky Kellar

Gina Kingsbury

Halli Kryzaniak

Charline Labonte

Genevieve Lacasse

Brigette Lacquette

Jocelyne Larocque

Carla MacLeod

Meaghan Mikkelson

Caroline Ouellette

Cherie Piper

Marie-Philip Poulin

Cheryl Pounder

Jamie Lee Rattray

Manon Rheaume

Lauriane Rougeau

France St. Louis

Jillian Saulnier

Kim St. Pierre

Sami Jo Small

Colleen Sostorics

Vicky Sunohara

Sarah Vaillancourt

Jennifer Wakefield

Catherine Ward

Tara Watchorn

Katie Weatherston

Erin Whitten

Haley Wickenheiser

Stacy Wilson

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I have a small but growing collection of female TTM autographs. I'd like to get more of players who where members of Olympic Gold/Silver medal teams. ….

Dana Antal

Laurie Baker

Alala Blahoski

Stephanie Boyd

Therese Brisson

Karyn Bye

Dara DeCosta

Lori Dupuis

Kim Insalaco

Andrea Kilbourne

Katie King

Lesley Reddon

Molly Schaus

Gretchen Ulion

Not much to show for TTM returns because I've taken my longest break from the hobby in about a decade. Most of these come from a single COMC.com package as well as a couple cheap eBay buys.

TTM returns have been brutal all year. I would have expected a few responses to trickle in, but nothing in a couple months. That's a little disappointing considering the hundreds of outstanding requests I have from the past few years.

A total of 18 new NHL autographs to share. The grand total is now 5,518 unique signatures for 74% of everyone to ever play in the NHL.

Teuvo Teravainen

Finn Teuvo Teravainen was drafted 18th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012. He made his NHL debut with the 2013/14 Hawks as their top prospect. During the 2015 NHL playoffs, Teravainen scored 4 goals and 10 points in 19 games as he and the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. With salary cap restrictions looming, the Hawks traded Teravainen to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016.

Noah Hanifin

Defenseman Noah Hanifin was drafted 5th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015 after a year at Boston College. He immediately jumped to the NHL and is entering his third full season as a Carolina Hurricane. Internationally, Hanifin represented the United States at the 2015 World Juniors along with the 2016 and 2017 World Championships.

Tobias Rieder

German Tobias Rieder was orginally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 2011. In 2013, he was traded to the Coyotes. Rieder caught on immediately with the Coyotes and is entering his fourth season in the NHL. He's score 43 goals in 234 games with Arizona so far. Internationally, he's represented Germany at the World Juniors and the World Championships.

Robb Zepp

I LOVE this card. Its nothing short of amazing that 14 years after this card was released Zepp made his NHL debut. Rob Zepp played 10 NHL games as a 32 year old rookie with the 2014/15 Philadelphia Flyers. He was originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999. To put that into context, the Thrashers drafted Zepp in the franchise's first NHL draft. By the time Zepp made his NHL debut, the team didn't exist anymore. Zepp was a well traveled goalie before making it to the NHL. His stops included a full 7 seasons in Germany with the Berlin Polar Bears.

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was drafted 19th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012. He's recently emerged as Tampa's #1 goalie and is entering his fourth year as a member of the NHL club. He's represented Russian Internationally on numerous occasions. He has two bronze medals and a silver from three World Junior tournaments. He also has a Gold medal from the 2014 World Championships and a Bronze from the 2017 World Championships.

Juuse Saros

Finn Juuse Saros was drafted 99th overall by the Nashville Predators in 2013. He's emerged as a reliable NHL backup goalie and has appeared in 22 games with the Nashville Predators. Internationally, he won a Gold medal at the 2014 World Juniors and a Silver medal at the 2016 World Championships.

Derek Ryan

Derek Ryan ended his junior career in 2007 as an undrafted free agent. He spent 4 years at the University of Alberta and then another 3 playing in Europe. In 2015, he signed his first NHL contract and made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Carolina Hurricanes. The 28 year old rookie forward broke all the odds and has played 73 NHL games with Carolina, scoring a respectable 13 goals and 31 points.

Colton Parayko

The St. Louis Blues drafted defenseman Colton Parayko in 2012 and at the time he had been playing Junior A hockey in Alberta. He attended the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 St. Louis Blues. He made an immediate impact, played the entire season and was named to the NHL All-Rookie team. In 2017, he represented Canada at the World Championships and brought home a Silver medal. He was also named to the tournament's All-Star team.

Esa Lindell

Esa Lindell made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Dallas Stars and has since played 77 NHL games with Dallas. Internationally, he's represented Finland at the World Juniors, World Championships and World Cup. He won Gold at the World Juniors in 2014 and Silver at the World Championships in 2016.

Brandan Leipsic

Brandan Leipsic was drafted by the Nashville Predators in 2010. In 2015, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs and played 6 NHL games with the 2015/16 Leafs. He scored a goal and a couple assists. This past off-season he was claimed by the Las Vegas Knights in the expansion draft. His mother was actually an Olympic gymnast.

Nikita Soshnikov

From 2015 to 2017 Russian forward Nikita Soshnikov scored 7 goals and 14 points in 67 NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was signed by the Leafs in 2015 as an undrafted free agent.

Nikita Tryamkin

Defenseman Nikita Tryamkin was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2014. From 2015 to 2017 he played 79 NHL games for the club. Internationally, he represented Russia at the 2014 World Juniors and brought home a bronze medal.

Shayne Gostisbehere

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was drafted by the Flyers in 2012 and in 2013 he won a Gold medal at the World Juniors with the United States. He was an NCAA All-Star but still wasn't considered a premier prospect until he reached the NHL. Gostisbehere took the NHL by storm in his rookie season. He emerged to be one of the NHL's top rookies, was named to the league's All-Rookie team and was 2nd in voting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. In 2016, he participated in the World Cup of Hockey with Team North America.

Brandon DeFazio

An undrafted forward, Brandon DeFazio attended Clarkson University from 2007 to 2011. He spent the next few seasons in the AHL before making his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Vancouver Canucks. DeFazio played 2 career NHL games with the Canucks. He later was property of the Dallas Stars and Boston Bruins but couldn't make it back to the NHL with either club.

Joseph Blandisi

Joseph Blandisi was originally drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2012. The club never signed him and in 2015 he signed with the New Jersey Devils as a free agent. He scored 52 goals in his last year of junior in the OHL and finished 2nd only to Connor McDavid as league MVP. Blandisi has gone on to play 68 NHL games with the Devils, scoring 8 goals and 26 points.

Bo Horvat

The Vancouver Canucks drafted Bo Horvath 9th overall in 2013. Horvat had been a junior star with the London Knigs. He made his NHL debut with the 2014/15 Canucks and is entering his fourth season as an NHL regular. Last season he scored 20 goals and 52 points for the Canucks, making him the team's leading scorer in both points and goals.

Oliver Kylington

Swedish defenseman Oliver Kylington was drafted 60th overall by the Calgary Flames in 2015. He played 1 game in the NHL for the Flames in 2015/16 as an 18 year old rookie. Internationally, he represented Sweden at the World Junior Championships in 2017.

Shaun Sabol
Defenseman Shawn Sabot dressed in 2 NHL games with the 1989/90 Philadelphia Flyers. He's also notable for winning the 1988 Calder Cup in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.
I picked up this autograph and the following Larocque signature from an old AHL program.

Denis Larocque
In 1986, defenseman Denis Larocque won the Memorial Cup with the OHL's Guelph Platters. That summer he was drafted 44th overall by the Los Angeles King. Larocque recorded 1 assist and 18 penalty minutes in 8 career NHL games with the 1987/88 Los Angeles kings. He did get record a fight with one of the NHL's most famous tough guys, Bob Propert. He was later traded to the New York Rangers but only played for their minor league team.

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And to finish off the mail post, a few hockey autographs that fall outside of the NHL collection...

Craig Hillier

The Penguins drafted Craig Hillier 23rd overall in the 1996 NHL draft. He was a top goalie prospect who never lived up to his potential. Craig Hillier appeared in 3 NHL games with the 1998/99 Pittsburgh Penguins as a backup.

Zachary Fucale

Zach Fucale had a sensational junior career playing with the Halifax Mooseheads and with Team Canada. In 2013, he won a Memorial Cup and in 2015 he won a Gold medal at the World Juniors. The Montreal Canadiens drafted Fucale 36th overall in 2013. He's appeared in 4 NHL games as a backup with the Habs but has yet to see any official time between the pipes.

Marie-Philip Poulin

Marie-Philip Poulin won Olympic Gold with Canada in 2010 and 2014. In 2010 she scored both goals as Canada beat US 2-0 to claim Olympic victory. In 2014 she one again scored the game winning Olympic goal, this time in overtime to give Canada another Gold. Since 2015 she's been captain of Canada's National team.

Catherine Ward

Defenseman Catherine Ward won Olympic Gold in 2010 and 2014 with Canada. Ward is a member of the women's Triple Gold Club, having won Olympic Gold, a Women's World Championship Gold and the Clarkson Cup.

Dan O'Toole

I have the Jay Onrait from this set and it just looked so lonely withtout the O'Toole. Years ago this pair was the best thing about getting out of bed in the morning. It was a ritual to watch their show at breakfast. In 2013 they left TSN for jobs at Fox Sports in America. That gig didn't last and now Jay and Dan are back on Canadian TV. He and Jay started at TSN in 2003.

Jason Priestley

I keep a wantlist of all the NHL related 'fans of the game' autographs but I don't normally go out of my way to pick them up. I only do so when the price makes sense. I'm not nearly as well versed in pop-culture as I am in the sports world so I didn't even know to Jason Priestley was before this card. He's a Canadian actor who's best known for his role in Beverly Hills 90210.

My beef with these particular cards is Upper Deck's usual laziness. They don't have any explanation of why Priestley is a Canucks fan. When Panini produced Fans of Game subsets, at least they included an explanation of why that particular fan is worthy of a hockey card. I had to do my own research to confirm that Priestley is indeed a big Canucks fan

Lindsay Crouse

This seems like a very unsual autograph autograph to feature in a hockey signature post eh? Well, there is a very good explanation for this oddball signature. I've been attempting to get an autograph of all the main cast members of the great 1977 hockey movie Slap Shot. Lindsay Crouse played Lily Braden, wife of Chiefs star player Ned Braden.

Since the last mail post I've added 35 new unique NHL player autographs. The grand total now stands at 5,553 unique signatures for 74% of everyone to every play in the league.

Most of these come from a deal with a fellow autograph collector. A couple outstanding TTM requests also trickled in. I mailed a stack of new requests this week so hopefully I'll have more returns to post in the coming months. For the majority of the living retired guys I still need, if they're not impossible to find, I've likely already written them on multiple occasions at more than one address. It gets harder to find motivation to send new requests when you almost know the majority won't come back.

Tony Stiles

Defenseman Tony Stiles recorded 2 goals and 9 points in 30 career NHL games with the 1983/84 Calgary Flames. Stiles was an undrafted Michigan Tech alumni when his signed with Calgary in 1982. Internationally, Stiles was a member of Canada's 4th place team at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Pat Daley

From 1979 to 1981 Pat Daley played a dozen games in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets. Internationally, he represented Canada at the 1978 World Juniors.

Claude Houde

From 1974 to 1976 defenseman Claude Houde played 59 games in the NHL with the Kansas City Scouts.

Chris Hayes

Chris Hayes played just 1 game in the NHL and it came in the postseason. Hayes played a playoff game with the Boston Bruins in 1972 for a team that went on to claim the Stanley Cup. Hayes didn't get his name on the Trophy for his one game appearance. Hayes actually qualified to have his name engraved but the Bruins choose not to include him. A little hockey trivia, Hayes is one of only 2 NHL players whose only experience in the league came during the Stanley Cup finals. The other, Doug McKay, by sheer coicidence, is also featured in this mail post.

Jay Johnston

From 1980 to 1982 defenseman Jay Johnston played 8 games in the NHL with the Washington Capitals. He's also notable for winning the AHL's Calder Cup in 1980 with the Hershey Bears. There's a nice little article from a blog that documents Johnston's full career.

Greg Meredith

From 1980 to 1983 Greg Meredith scored 6 goals and 10 points in 38 career NHL games with the Calgary Flames. He was a Notre Dame alumni who had been drafted by the Flames in 1978.

Rob Plumb

From 1977 to 1979 Rob Plumb played 14 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. He scored 3 goals and 5 points. His brother, Ron, also played in the NHL.

Kent Ruhnke

Kent Ruhnke played 2 NHL games with the 1975/76 Boston Bruins. He signed with the Bruins as an undrafted free agent who had just completed his degree at the University of Toronto. It was then and still is a rare accomplishment to go from Canadian university hockey to the NHL. Ruhnke also played 2 seasons in the WHA with Bobby Hull's Winnipeg Jets.

Vic Teal

Originally drafted by the St. Louis blues in 1969, Vic Teal played 1 game in the NHL with the 1973/74 New York Islanders. The Islanders had signed Teal as a free agent in 1973. His brother, Skip, also briefly appeared in the NHL.

Gary Dillon

Gary Dillon played 13 games in the NHL with the 1980/81 Colorado Rockies. He was later signed by the Quebec Nordiques, hence the picture, but he was never able to make it out of their AHL farm team. His brother, Wayne, also played in the NHL.

Bruce Gamble

This would certainly be the "First Star" of the mail post. I have a soft spot for goalies and Bruce Gamble played in well over 300 NHL games from 1958 to 1972. MVP of the 1968 NHL All-Star game, Gamble played for the Rangers, Bruins, Maple Leafs and Flyers. Unfortunately, Gamble had heart trouble and passed away in 1982 at only 44.

Don Poile

From 1954 to 1958 Don Poile played 66 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. He netted 7 goals and 16 points playing with Gordie Howe's Red Wings. His brother, Bud, also played in the NHL.

Pete Kelly

From 1934 to 1942 Pete Kelly scored 21 goals and 59 points in 180 career NHL games. He played for the St. Louis Eagles, Detroit Red Wings and New York/Brooklyn Americans. He won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 1936 and 1937. Kelly passed away in 2004.

Ted Hodgson

Ted Hodgson played 4 games in the NHL with the 1966/67 Boston Bruins. He later spent a couple seasons in the WHA, playing over 100 games in the league between 1972 and 1974. In the WHA he played for the Cleveland Crusaders and LA Sharks.

Lee Fogolin Sr.

From 1948 to 1957 Lee Fogolin Sr. played 427 regular season games in the NHL, playing for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. He's most notable for helping Detroit win the Stanley Cup in 1950. His son, who also goes by Lee Fogolin, became a longtime NHL player. Fogolin Sr. passed away in 2000.

Roger Lemelin

From 1974 to 1978 defenseman Roger Lemelin played 36 games in the NHL. He played for the Kansas City Souts and Colorado Rockies.

Ted Snell

From 1973 to 1975 Ted Snell scored 7 goals and 25 points in 107 career NHL games. Snell played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and Kansas City Scouts.

Larry Gould

Larry Gould played 2 games in the NHL with the 1973/74 Vancouver Canucks. He played pro hockey for a decade, from 1972 to 1982. His brother, John Gould, also played in the NHL.

Chris Pusey

Goalie Chris Pusey appeared between the pipes for 1 NHL game with the 1985/86 Detroit Red Wings. Interesting note, Pusey later played senior hockey with the Brantford Blast and helped them compete for the Allen Cup. Its notable because he did so as a defenseman, not a goalie.

Jack Hughes

From 1980 to 1982 defenseman Jack Hughes played 46 NHL games with the Colorado Rockies. He spent most of 1980 playing and travelling with the US Olympic team. Unfortunately for Hughes, he was cut shortly before the Olympics and missed out on being part of the Miracle team.

Bruce Eakin

From 1981 to 1986 Bruce Eakin scored 2 goals and 4 points in 13 career NHL games. He played for the Calgary Flames and later the Detroit Red Wings. Eakin spent most of his pro hockey career in Germany, playing until 1999.

Mike McMahon jr.

The son of an NHLer by the same name, Mike McMahon jr. played over 200 games in both the NHL and WHA. In the NHL McMahon played for the Rangers, North Stars, Blackhawks, Red Wings, Penguins and Sabres. He passed away in 2013.

Dave Rochefort

Dave Rochefort played 1 game in the NHL with the 1966/67 Detroit Red Wings. His most success came as a junior hockey player, winning the Memorial Cup in 1963 and 1966 with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Earl Ingarfield jr.

From 1979 to 1982 Earl Ingarfield jr. played 39 games in the NHL. He played for the Atlanta/Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings. His father, Earl Sr., had a long career in the NHL.

Ken Mann

Undrafted forward Ken Mann played 1 game in the NHL with the 1975/76 Detroit Red Wings. He was a star junior player who scored 44 goals in just 58 games with the 72/73 Windsor Spitfires.

Doug Halward

From 1975 to 1989 Doug Halward played 653 regular season games in the NHL. The defenseman put up a very respectable 293 points over a career that saw him play for the Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings,Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers.

Ray Staszak

Ray Staszak was a star college player who scored 37 goals and 72 points in just 38 games with the 1984/85 University of Illinois-Chicago hockey team. The Detroit Red Wings won a bidding frenzy for the free agent Staszak and Staszak became the first college hockey player to sign a million dollar NHL contract. It was huge money in 1985 and caused a ripple throughout the league. Staszak's NHL career, however, only lasted 4 games with the Red Wings. He scored 21 points in 26 AHL games but was forced to retired after part of just one pro hockey season due to injuries.

Tom Mellor

A Boston College alumni, Tom Mellor is most notable for helping the United States take home a silver medal from the 1972 Olympics. Mellor later played 26 career NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings.

Jim Shires

From 1970 to 1973 Jim Shires played 56 games in the NHL. He was a member of the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins. He was originally signed by the Red Wings as a free agent who had played 4 years of college hockey at the University of Denver.

Pat Rupp

Goalie Pat Rupp played 1 NHL game with the 1963/64 Detroit Red Wings. He's most notable for his International career, representing the United States at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.

Danny Gruen

From 1972 to 1974 Danny Gruen played 20 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. He then spent three seasons in the rival WHA before returning to the NHL in 1976/77 to play for the Colorado Rockies. Gruen scored 9 goals and 22 points in 49 career NHL games.

Ed Stankiewicz

From 1953 to 1956 Ed Stankiewicz played 6 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. His brother, Myron, also played in the NHL.

Doug McKay

Doug McKay played just 1 game in the NHL and it came during the 1950 NHL playoffs with the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings went on to win the championship but McKay's name was left off the trophy. In a rare feat, he also won the AHL's Calder Cup in 1950 with the Indianapolis Capitals. He was a much bigger part of that team's win.

Al Jensen

From 1980 to 1987 goalie Al Jensen appeared in 179 NHL games. He played for the Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals and Los Angeles Kings. Jensen and Pat Riggin won the 1983/84 William M. Jennings Trophy for backstopping the Capitals to the NHL's lowest goals against average that season. Internationally, he represented Canada at the 1977 and 1978 World Juniors. Jensen has been a long-time NHL scout since hanging up his skates.

Bob Hoffmeyer

From 1977 to 1985 Bob Hoffmeyer played a couple hundred games in the NHL, dressing with the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils. From 1987 to 1989 Hoffmeyer briefly returned to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Devils. He then turned to scouting as has been a Devils pro scout since 1993.

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Clare Drake

Clare Drake is best know for his time at the University of Alberta where he coached the school's hockey team for nearly 30 years with great success. In 1975/76, Drake spent time as head coach of the WHA's Edmonton Oilers. From 1989 to 1991 he had a short stint in the NHL as an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Jets. In 2017, Drake was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder.

I've managed to add 25 new NHL player autographs added since the last mail post. They come via TTM requests, trades and a couple small purchases. Shout out to fellow autograph collector Jerry for trading me some great autographed cards.
The grand total of unique NHL player autographs now stands at 5,578 unique player signatures for 75% of everyone to ever play in the NHL. Its pretty neat to be able to say that I have an autograph of 3/4 people who have ever played in the league. When people chat with me about the collection, they generally start by asking if I have an autograph of their favorite player or players. My usual response is that unless they've been dead for decades, I most likely do have their signature. My wantlist now consists largely of deceased players and very obscure players.

This month, the blog's format has been deliberately changed for readability.

Derek Bekar

From 1999 to 2004, Derek Bekar played 11 games in the NHL. He played for the '99/00 St. Louis Blues, '02/03 Los Angeles Kings and '03/04 New York Islanders. The University of New Hampshire alumni was held off the scoresheet but did record 6 penalty minutes in his short NHL career.

Paul Thompson

Paul Thompson played 3 NHL games with the 2015/16 New Jersey and another 21 NHL games with the 2016/17 Florida Panthers. Thompson is an undrafted University of New Hampshire alumni. He's currently under contract with the Vegas Golden Knights but has yet to play for the parent club.

John Ramage

Defenseman John Ramage played 1 NHL game with the 2014/15 Calgary Flames and 1 NHL game with the 2015/16 Columbus Blue Jackets. His father was long-time NHL player Rob Ramage.

Because I buy certified autographs of all the new players who get one, I follow the hockey card hobby very closely. John Ramage is an interesting case because he's one of just a few players since 2005/06 who have been overlooked for an NHL rookie card. He's the only NHL player from the past few years who hasn't gotten an official hockey card. There's no indication why he was overlooked. I did ask in my letter if he had any opinion on the situation, but no reply there.

Tommy Cross

Defenseman Tommy Cross was drafted 35th overall by the Boston Bruins in 2007. He spent four seasons at Boston College and a few more in the AHL before making his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Bruins. Cross has played 3 regular season and 1 playoff game in the NHL with the Bruins.

Mike Matteuci

Defenseman Mike Matteuci was signed by the Minnesota Wild as an undrafted Lake Superior State University alumni. He gained attention of NHL scouts as a feared enforcer in the IHL. Matteuci played 6 career NHL games with the Wild from 2000 to 2002.

Doug Friedman

Doug Friedman played 16 games in the NHL with the 1997/98 Edmonton Oilers and 2 games with the 1998/99 Nashville Predators. He recorded 1 assist and 34 penalty minutes in 18 career NHL games. The Boston University alumni was originally drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1991.

Garret Stroshein

Tough guy Garret Stroshein recorded 18 penalty minutes in 3 career NHL games with the 2003/04 Washington Capitals. He was an undrafted enforcer who fought his way up to the big leagues. He would have been an intimidating presence at 6.07' and 250 lbs.

Matt DelGuidice

In the early 1990s, Matt DelGuidice appeared in 11 NHL games with the Boston Bruins. In 1991, he trained with the US National pre-Olympic team as one of four goalies invited but didn't make the final cut.

Bill Root

From 1982 to 1988 Bill Root played 247 career regular season games in the NHL. He suited up with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers.

Bob Sullivan

Bob Sullivan spent one season in the NHL. He scored 18 goals and 37 points in 62 career NHL games with the 1982/83 Hartford Whalers. He was the 1981/82 AHL rookie of the year when he scored a record setting 47 goals in 74 games.

Don Head

Don Head played one season in the NHL with the Boston Bruins, appearing in 38 games between the pipes with the 1961/62 team. He famously made the January, 1962 cover of Sports Illustrated. Head is also notable for helping Canada claim Silver at the 1960 Olympics in California.

Ed Kryzanowski

From 1948 to 1953 defenseman Ed Kryzanowski played 237 regular season games in the NHL. He was a member of the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks. Kryzanowski passed away in 2007.

Curtis Murphy

Curtis Murphy played 1 game in the NHL with the 2002/03 Minnesota Wild. He was signed by the Wild as an undrafted University of North Dakota alumni. He's notable for winning the AHL's Calder Cup in 2003 and 2004. Both of those seasons Murphy also took home the AHL's Eddie Shore Award as the league's best defenseman.

George Pesut

From 1974 to 1976 George Pesut played 92 games in the NHL with the California Seals. The defenseman also played 17 games in the WHA with the 1976/77 Calgary Cowboys. He spent the latter part of his career in Germany, playing professionally in the country until 1993.

Tom Laidlaw

From 1980 to 1990 defenseman Tom Laidlaw played 705 games in the NHL. He split his career between the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings.

Dick Redmond

Dick Redmond was drafted 5th overall by the Minnesota North Stars in 1969. He made his NHL debut that year and went on to play a dozen seasons in the NHL, dressing in 771 regular season games.

Don Kozak

From 1972 to 1979 Don Kozak scored 96 goals and 182 points in 437 regular season NHL games. He spent most of his career with the Los Angeles Kings but ended his career with the Vancouver Canucks. Kozak went to the Memorial Cup two year in a row as a junior with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

George Gardner

From 1965 to 1972 George Gardner appeared in 66 NHL games. He played for the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks. From 1972 to 1974 he spent two seasons in the WHA, playing 79 games between the Los Angeles Sharks and Vancouver Blazers. Gardner passed away in 2006.

Darryl Sly

From 1965 to 1971 defenseman Darryl Sly played 79 games in the NHL. He played for the Maple Leafs, North Stars and Canucks. He's best known for helping Canada bring home a silver medal at the 1960 Olympics. Sly passed away in 2007.

Behn Wilson

From 1978 to 1988 Behn Wilson played 601 games in the NHL. The defenseman was drafted 6th overall by the Flyers in 1978. Wilson was an above average player, accumulating 359 points and nearly 1500 penalty minutes from the blueline. He was an NHL All-Star in 1981.

Dave Farrish

From 1976 to 1984 Dave Farrish played 430 regular season games in the NHL. He suited up for the Rangers, Nordiques and Maple Leafs. In 1981/82, he was named the AHL's best defenseman. Farrish returned to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Devils, Ducks, Maple Leafs and most recently the Avalanche.

Barry Long

From 1972 to 1974, defenseman Barry Long was a full time member of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. In 1974, he jumped to the WHA and played nearly 400 games in the rival league with the Edmonton Oilers and later the Winnipeg Jets. When the WHA folded in 1979, Long went back to the NHL, joining the Detroit Red Wings. He returned to Winnipeg to finish off his NHL career with the Jets in 1981.

Alan May

From 1987 to 1995 tough guy Alan May accumulated over 1300 penalty minutes in 393 career NHL games. May played for the Bruins, Oilers, Capitals, Stars and Flames. He's currently a well known hockey analyst with NBC.

Pierre Hamel

From 1974 to 1981 Pierre Hamel appeared in 69 NHL games. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets.

Joakim Lindstrom

Between 2005 and 2015 Swedish forward Joakim Lindstrom played in 150 NHL games. He went back and forth from North America to Europe a couple times but could never stick with an NHL team. He had stints with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs. Internationally, he's represented Sweden at the World Championships in 2014 and 2015, bringing home a bronze medal in 2014.

I made the custom index with Lindstrom as a member of the Crunch because he was playing for the team when he signed the index, as noted on the back of it and because he only wore #37 with the Crunch.

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Ending the post, as usual, with some more hockey autographs that fall outside of the total NHL player collection.

Scott Meyer

Goalie Scott Meyer appeared in the NHL in 1 official game as a backup goalie with the 2001/02 New York Rangers. He dressed as Dan Blackburn's backup. Meyer was an undrafted St. Cloud State alumni when he was signed by the Rangers.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray is best remember as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings from 1999 to 2006 and head coach of the St. Louis Blues from 2006 to 2010. He's currently an NCAA head coach at Western Michigan.

Kris Knoblauch

Kris Knoblauch was drafted by the New York Islanders in 1997 but never made it to the NHL as a player. In 2017, he was hired as an NHL assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers. He had spent time as head coach of the WHL's Kootenay Ice and OHL's Erie Otters.

Greg Carvel

Greg Carvel first made it to the NHL as an assistant coach with the 2003/04 Anaheim Mighty Ducks. From 2005 to 2011, he was an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators. He's currently NCAA head coach of the UMass Minutemen.

Mike Kelly

From 2014 to 2017 Mike Kelly was an NHL assistant coach with the Florida Panthers. He was hired, along with his old coaching partner Gerard Gallant, to be an assistant coach with the inaugural Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.

Jeff Jackson

Jeff Jackson is best known as a coach in the NCAA with Lake Superior State and more recently, Notre Dame. He did spend 1 year in the NHL as an assistant coach with the 2003/04 New York Islanders.

Keith Allain

From 1993 to 1997 Keith Allain was an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals. A former Yale University goalie, he also spent time in the NHL as a goalie coach with the St. Louis Blues. Since 2006 he's had a very successful run as head coach of Yale's NCAA hockey team. Allain is also notable for being on the coaching staff of USA's 1992 and 2006 Olympic hockey teams.

Mark Kaufman

Mark Kaufman has spent his entire career coaching minor league and college hockey. He spent one season in the NHL as an assistant coach with the 1995/95 San Jose Sharks. He's been an assistant coach at Ferris State University since 2007.

Dennis "Red" Gendron

From 1994 to 1996, Dennis "Red" Gendron was an assistant coach in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils. His name was engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1995 as a coach and in 2000 while he was a scout with the Devils. Gendron is currently head coach of the the University of Maine's mens hockey team.

The chase continues with 15 new NHL player autographs in the mail since the last post. That brings the grand total to 5,593 autographs for 75% of everyone who has every played in the NHL.

Thanks to Kingsley and Jerry for trades. The only purchase here was Les Costello. The signature comes from an old Flying Fathers program that I won for a steal.
Another notable addition in this post is Kay Whitemore's autograph. I've sent half a dozen TTM requests to him over the years but a trade finally landed me his signature. I say its notable because he's one of the last living goalies I was missing.

Les Costello

From 1948 to 1950 Les Costello played 15 regular season and 6 playoff games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a star junior player who won the Memorial Cup twice with the St. Michael's Majors. Costello scored 2 goals and 4 points in 5 playoff games with the 1948 Maple Leafs as they claimed the Stanley Cup. Costello got his named engraved on hockey's holy grail. He retired from hockey in 1950 to become a priest. As a priest he founded the Flyer Fathers hockey team, a famous group of priests who traveled around playing local teams for charity. Costello passed away in 2002.

Andrey Pedan

Andrey Pedan was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2011 NHL draft by the New York Islanders. The defenseman was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in 2014 and made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Canucks. Pedan played 13 games in the NHL with the team that season. In 2017, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins but has yet to make it back to the NHL.

Buddy Robinson

From 2015 to 2017 Buddy Robinson scored 1 goal and 2 points in 7 career NHL games with the Ottawa Senators. He was originally signed by the Sens as an undrafted free agent from Lake Superior State University. In the summer of 2017 he signed a deal with the Winnipeg Jets but has yet to make it out of their AHL club.

Viktor Loov

Swedish defenseman Viktor Loov recorded 2 assists in 4 career NHL games with the 2015/16 Toronto Maple Leafs. He was later traded to and signed by the New Jersey Devils but has yet to play for the NHL club.

Rene Chapdelaine
From 1990 to 1993 defenseman Rene Chapdelaine played 32 games in the NHL with Wayne Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings. He joined the Kings after four years at Lake Superior State University.

Lude Check

Lude Check played 1 game in the NHL with the 1943/44 Detroit Red Wings and 26 games with the 1944/45 Chicago Blackhawks. He scored 6 goals and 8 points in 27 career NHL games. Check passed away in 2009.

Duane Rupp

From 1962 to 1973 defenseman Duane Rupp played 374 regular season games in the NHL. He's best year was with the 1967/68 Toronto Maple Leafs when he was a staple on the team's blueline and participated in the NHL's 1968 NHL All-Star game. Rupp played for the Rangers, Leafs, North Stars and Penguins. From 1974 to 1976 he spent a couple seasons in the WHA, playing with the Vancouver Blazers and Calgary Cowboys.

Greg Paslawski

From 1983 to 1994 Greg Paslawski played 650 games in the NHL, dressing with the Canadiens, Blues, Jets, Sabres, Nordiques, Flyers and Flames. The well traveled Paslawski was a solid point producer, netting 187 goals and 372 points in the NHL.

Kay Whitmore

From 1988 to 2002 Kay Whitmore played 155 games in the NHL. He spent most of that time with the Hartford Whalers or Vancouver Canucks. He's notable for serving as Vancouver's backup goalie during their 1994 playoff run that saw them make it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals, loosing to the Rangers. After long stints in the minors and a year in Europe, Whitmore later returned to the NHL to play a handful of games between the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames. He was a well known hockey commentator after hanging up his skates and currently works for the NHL as the league's goaltending supervisor.

Steve Vickers

From 1972 to 1982 Steve Vickers scored 246 goals and 586 points in 698 regular season NHL games with the New York Rangers. Vickers is most notable for winning the NHL's 1972/73 Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. He was an NHL All-Star with the Rangers in 1975 and 1976. He scored a career high 41 goals with the 1974/75 Rangers, the only NHL team he played for.

Ken Strong

From 1982 to 1985 Ken Strong scored 2 goals and 4 points in 15 career NHL games, all with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1981 but acquired by the Leafs in the Darryl Sittler trade.

Cam Plante

Defenseman Cam Plante played 2 games in the NHL with the 1984/85 Toronto Maple Leafs. He continued to play pro hockey until 1998. His sons, Tyler and Alex Plante, both made it to the NHL. Alex played a handful of games with the Oilers and Tyler, a goalie, backup up 7 NHL games with the Florida Panthers.

Val James

Val James played 7 NHL games with the 1981/82 Buffalo Sabres and 4 games with the 1986/87 Toronto Maple Leafs. He released a book in 2015 that I'd very much like to pickup and read; Black Ice: The Val James Story.

Willy Lindstrom

From 1975 to 1979 Swedish forward Willy Lindstrom starred with the WHA's Winnipeg Jets, winning the Avco Cup in 1978 and 1979. He followed the Jets into the NHL and continued to put up points, scoring 32 goals for the 81/82 Jets. He was later traded to the Edmonton Oilers and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 1984 and 1985. Lindstrom then spent a couple seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins before retiring from the NHL in 1987. During his career he was a teammate of Bobby Hull, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Lindstrom later scouted for the NHL's Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Phoenix Coyotes. Internationally, he took home a Bronze medal representing Sweden at the 1974 and 1975 World Championships.

Dean Clark

Forward Dean Clark played 1 game in the NHL. It came with the 1983/84 Edmonton Oilers, a team stacked with the likes of Wayne Gretzky and other future Hall of Famers who would go on to win the Stanley Cup that season. It was actually Clark's only game of pro hockey as he spent the remainder of the season in the WHL and later attended the University of Alberta.

Some mail to end 2017 with 27 new NHL player signatures. The grand total of unique player autographs now stands at 5,620 for 75% of everyone who has ever played.

This mail features a package from COMC.com, a couple small trades, a small purchase and some TTM returns.

Johnny Gaudreau

The Calgary Flames found a gem when they drafted Johnny Gaudreau 104th overall in 2011. He turned into a top prospect at Boston College and won the 2014 Hobey Baker Award. He was an instant hit at the NHL level and finished his first season as a Calder Trophy finalist. He's produced at nearly a point-per-game pace with Calgary and in 2016/17 won the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy. Internationally, Gaudreau helped US win gold at the 2013 World Junior Championships and represented America at the Men's World Championships in 2014 and 2017.

Scott Harrington

Scott Harrington was a 2nd round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011. Since making his NHL debut with the 2014/15 Penguins, Harrington has played 62 regular season games in the NHL. He was traded to Toronto in the Phil Kessel trade, played part of a season for the Maple Leafs, and was again traded, this time to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The defenseman has turned into a regular NHL player with the 2017/18 Blue Jackets. Internationally, he represented Canada at the World Junior Hockey championships in 2012 and 2013.

Laurent Dauphin

The Coyotes drafted Laurent Dauphin 39th overall in 2013. From 2015 to 2017 he scored 3 goals in 32 NHL games with the Coyotes. He's since been traded to the Chicago Blackhawks but has yet to crack their NHL roster.

Frank Vatrano

The Boston Bruins signed Frank Vatrano as an undrafted free agent from UMass-Amherst. Since then, he's played over 100 games in the NHL with Boston. Vatrano was the AHL's leading goal scorer in 2015/16 with 36 goals in just 36 games as a Providence Bruin. He was also named the AHL's rookie of the year that season. Internationally, he represented the United States at the 2016 World Championships.

Colin Smith

Forward Colin Smith played 1 game in the NHL with the 2014/15 Colorado Avalanche. He was later traded to the Maple Leafs but hasn't been able to break out of their AHL club.

Ben Hutton

A University of Maine alumni, defenseman Ben Hutton is in his third season as a full time member of the Vancouver Canucks' blueline. He's approaching 200 games played with the Canucks. Internationally, Hutton represented Canada at the 2016 World Championships, helping his country take home Gold.

Melker Karlsson

The San Jose Sharks signed Melker Karlsson as a 24 year old undrafted Swedish professional in 2015. Now entering his fourth season with the Sharks, Karlsson has played well over 200 games in the NHL. He's a reliable bottom line forward who was recently signed to a three year extension by the Sharks.

Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Defenseman Trevor Van Riemsdyk was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted University of New Hampshire player in 2014. The younger brother of NHL player James Van Riemsdyk, Trevor is most notable for helping the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 2015. Trevor has played nearly 200 games in the NHL between the Hawks and his current club, the Carolina Hurricanes. Internationally, he represented USA at the 2017 World Hockey Championships.

Brett MacDonald

Defenseman Brett MacDonald played 1 game in the NHL with the 1987/88 Vancouver Canucks. He spent the rest of his lengthy pro hockey career in the minors.

Doug Wickenheiser

Through the 1980's Doug Wickenheiser played well over 500 games in the NHL, suiting up with the Canadiens, Blues, Canucks, Rangers and Capitals. He may be best known for being the #1 overall draft pick of the 1980 draft, selected by Montreal. Wickenheiser had just led the Regina Pats to the Memorial Cup tournament and had been named the CHL's player of the year. He's a cousin of famous Canadian Olympian Haley Wickenheiser. Doug Wickenheiser was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and passed away in 1999 at only 37.

Tim Higgins

From 1978 to 1989 Tim Higgins played over 700 games in the NHL, scoring 154 goals and 351 regular season points. He was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings. Higgins was originally drafted 10th overall by Chicago in 1978.

Mike McEwen

From 1976 to 1988 Mike McEwen played over 700 games in the NHL. He played for the Rangers, Rockies, Islanders, Kings, Capitals, Red Wings and Whalers. He scored over 400 points as a reliable puck moving defenseman. He was a important part of the 1979 New York Rangers team that made it to the Stanley Cup finals. A few years later, with the Islanders, McEwen returned to the finals, this time coming out on the winning side. McEwen is most notable for being a member of the 1981, 1982 and 1983 Stanley Cup wining New York Islanders.

John Tonelli

John Tonelli is one of the most notable hockey players from the 1980s/90s who does not have a certified autograph card. His career was certainly worthy of one. He was a part of the New York Islanders' Stanley Cup dynasty in the 1980s, scored 20+ goals nine times (including a 42 goal season in 1984/85) and played over 1000 games in the NHL.

Steve Konroyd

From 1980 to 1995 Steve Konroyd played just under 1,000 regular season+playoff games in the NHL. He was a member of the Flames, Islanders, Blackhawks, Whalers, Red Wings and Senators. Internationally, he represented Canada at the World Championships in 1985 and in 1991. In '85 Konroyd helped Canada take home a Silver.

Bill Stewart

From 1977 to 1986 defenseman Bill Stewart played 260 games in the NHL. He played for the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota North Stars. Stewart briefly returned to the NHL as a head coach with the 1998/99 New York Islanders.

Jere Gillis

Drafted by the Vancouver Canucks 4th overall in 1977, Jere Gillis spent a decade in the big leagues and played 386 NHL games. He played for the Canucks, Rangers, Nordiques, Sabres and Flyers. After his hockey career Gillis became a Hollywood stuntman and has had roles in notable films such as The Notebook, The Day After Tomorrow, Punisher and Pacific Rim to name just a few.

Lance Nethery

Lance Nethery scored 11 goals and 25 points in 41 career NHL games in the early 1980s. A Cornell alumni, he played for the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers. In 1985, Nethery took his skills overseas and has spent most of his time since then in Europe as a player and later as a coach.

Udo Kiessling

Defenseman Udo Kiessling played 1 game in the NHL with the 1982/83 Minnesota North Stars. It made him the first German born and trained player to make the NHL. Kiessling is best known for his long professional hockey career in Germany and his role with the country's national team. Kiessling represented Germany at the Olympics an incredible five times. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000.

Jason Kasdorf

Jason Kasdorf was originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 2011. In 2015, he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres. At the very end of the 2015/16 season, after Kasdorf had finished his college career with RPI, he played a single game in the NHL with the Sabres. His first full season of pro hockey, 2016/17, was predominantly spent in the ECHL.

Adam Almquist

Swedish defenseman Adam Almquist recorded 1 goal in 2 career NHL games with the 2013/14 Detroit Red Wings. He won a Calder Cup with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins in 2013. He's been playing in Europe since 2014/15.

Patrick Sieloff

Defenseman Patrick Sieloff was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2012 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames. He played 1 game in the NHL with the 2015/16 Flames and scored a goal. That remains Sieloff's only NHL game and in the summer of 2016 he was traded to the Ottawa Senators. Internationally, Sieloff represented USA at the 2013 World Juniors, helping his country win Gold.

Jody Gage

From 1980 to 1992 Jody Gage scored 14 goals and 29 points in 68 career games in the NHL. He was a member of the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres. He was a long time pro hockey player who dominated the AHL, scoring 40+ goals 7 times in the league and winning the Calder Cup twice. He was also named the 1987/88 AHL's MVP in a season that saw him score 60 goals in 76 games with the Rochester Americans. He later spent over a decade as General Manager of the Americans.

Neil Nicholson

Between 1970 and 1978 Neil Nicholson played 39 games in the NHL. The defenseman dressed with the Oakland Seals and New York Islanders

Glenn Goldup

From 1973 to 1982 Glenn Goldup scored 52 goals and 119 points in 291 career regular season games in the NHL. He with the Montreal Canadiens but spent most of his career with the Los Angeles Kings. He played 3 games for the 1976 Stanley Cup winning Habs, not enough to get his name on the trophy. His father, Hank Goldup, also played in the NHL.

Michel Mongeau

From 1989 to 1993 Michel Mongeau scored 6 goals and 25 points in 54 career NHL games. He played for the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning, who had selected Mongeau in the 1992 NHL expansion draft. Mongeau passed away in 2010 from a battle with cancer, he was just 45.

Neil Sheehy

A Harvard alumni, tough guy defenseman Neil Sheehy was signed by the Calgary Flames as an undrafted free agent in 1983. He accumulated over 1300 penalty minutes in 379 regular season NHL games from 1983 to 1992. Sheehy is notable for helping Calgary reach the 1986 Stanley Cup finals and for being the only non-goalie to wear the #0 in an official NHL game. He wore the strange number while with the 1987/88 Hartford Whalers.

Bo Berglund

From 1983 to 1986 Bo Berglund played 130 games in the NHL. He was a member of the Nordiques, North Stars and Flyers. As a member of the Swedish national team he won Bronze at the Olympics in 1980 and 1988.

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On top of the 27 NHL player autographs, I also have an NHL coach autograph and 3 female signatures to share.

Don Perry

As a player, Don Perry had a career that lasted two decades. He was a high scoring defenseman who spent most of his career in the old Eastern Hockey League. Perry became a minor league coach and eventually reached the NHL that way. In the early 1980s, Perry was head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. He coached one full season in the NHL and parts of two others.

Shannon Szabados

Shannon Szabados is one of the most recognizable names in women's hockey. The goalie first made history in 2002/03 when she became the first female to play junior hockey in the WHL. She played men's hockey in junior, college and pro. Szabados spent two full seasons as a professional goalie with the SPHL's Columbus Cottonmouths, the only female to sign and play in the league. Internationally, Szabados won Gold at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics with Canada.

Blayre Turnbull

Blayre Turnbull has represented Canada at the Women's World Hockey Championships in 2016 and 2017, bringing home Silver on both occasions. She played NCAA hockey with the Wisconsin Badgers from 2011 to 2015.

Natalie Spooner

Natalie Spooner has been a member of Canada's National Women's Team since 2011. In 2014, she helped Canada bring home a Gold from the Olympics.

There are 19 new NHL player autographs to share since my last mail post. The grand total now stands at 5,639 unique NHL player signatures for 75% of everyone to ever play in the league. Most of these ones come via TTM requests but there is also a couple trades and a very small purchase mixed in.

I'm still very much feeling the crushing weight of my student debt, and I'm not even owing that much compared to many of my peers. Currently trying to save for real life necessities like a house and retirement plan so hockey autograph buying has become and more difficult to justify. Its unfortunate because I've had some killer offers lately for rare autographs that I haven't been able to accept. Every time I miss out on a super obscure signature I try and tell myself, "well at least you know there's one out there, so there's bound to be another..." Patience and persistence are keys to this hobby.

Michael Mersch

Michael Mersch was drafted by the LA Kings in the 4th round of the 2011 NHL draft. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2014 and jumped straight to the AHL. Mersch scored 1 goal and 3 points in 17 NHL games with the 2015/16 LA Kings.

Ben Harpur

Defenseman Ben Harper made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Senators and has since played over 30 games in the NHL with Ottawa. As a junior, he helped the 2013/14 Guelph Storm with the OHL championship and compete for the 2014 Memorial Cup.

Dean Kukan

Dean Kukan is an undrafted Swiss defenseman who was signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2015. He played 8 games in the NHL with the 2015/16 Blue Jackets and remains in their system. Internationally, he's represented Switzerland at the World Championship on three occasions.

Ross Johnston

I was especially eager to add this signature because Ross Johnston is from the same small province, Prince Edward Island, as I am. He's played a few games for the New York Islanders since making his NHL debut in 2015/16 and is mostly known as an enforcer and grinder. I recall watching him play locally for the Summerside Capitals and Charlottetown Islanders.

Casey Nelson

Casey Nelson was signed by the Buffalo Sabres in 2016 as an undrafted Minnesota State University player. He made his NHL debut at the end of the 2015/16 NHL season after the college year had finished. Since then, he's played over 20 NHL games with the Sabres.

Rob Skrlac

Enforcer Rob Skrlac was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 9th round of the 1995 NHL draft but wasn't signed by the club. He spent the majority of his 8 year pro hockey career playing for the AHL's Albany River Rats. Skrlac played 8 games in the NHL with the 2003/04 New Jersey Devils, scoring 1 goal and getting 22 penalty minutes.

I had to laugh when I opened this envelope. This mail post would have featured a Skrlac autograph anyway because I had just traded for one. Same week I get this return so I now have one on the tradelist!

Michel Larocque

Not to be confused with another goalie by the same name, Michel "Bunny" Larocque, this Michel Larocque appeared in 3 NHL games with the 2000/01 Chicago Blackhawks. A Boston University alumni, he was originally drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 1996.

Mike Lenarduzzi

From 1992 to 1994 Mike Lenarduzzi played 4 games in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers, who had drafted him in the third round of the 1990 NHL draft.

This envelope came back pretty mangled, looks like it got stuck in one of their sorting machines. Luckily the index card came out ok, save for a little piece torn from the bottom.

Mark Osiecki

From 1991 to 1993 defenseman Mark Osiecki played 93 games in the NHL. He played for the Calgary Flames, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota North Stars. Internationally, Osiecki represented USA at the 1992 World Championships. He's had a long coaching career since retiring as a player and is currently an associate coach at the University of Wisconsin.

Matt Hervey

Defenseman Matt Hervey played 2 games with the 1988/89 Winnipeg Jets, 16 games with the 1990/91 Boston Bruins and 17 games with the 1991/92 Tampa Bay Lightning. He was signed by the Jets as an undrafted WHL junior player.

Paul Brydges

Forward Paul Brydges scored 2 goals and 4 points in 15 career NHL games with the 1986/87 Buffalo Sabres. He's also notable for helping the Guelph Platters win the 1986 Memorial Cup and the Rochester Americans win the 1987 Calder Cup.

Ron Smith

Ron Smith played 11 games in the NHL with the 1972/73 New York Islanders. He helped the Cornwall Royals win the Memorial Cup in 1972 and that summer was drafted in the fourth round by the Islanders. Smith later became mayor of Port Hope, Ontario from 1994 to 2000.

Steve Alley

You might notice that this autograph looks different than Alley's signatures from his playing days. Had he not written me back using the same handwriting, answering the questions I asked about his playing days, I might have been suspicious it wasn't Alley that inked it. Evidently, he's changed his signature since his playing days. In the early 1980s, Alley played 15 games in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers. Prior to that he had spent a couple seasons in the WHA with the Birmingham Bulls. Internationally, Alley represented the United States at the 1976 Olympics as well as the World Championships in 1974, 1975 and 1978.

Grant Sasser
Forward Grant Sasser played 3 games in the NHL with the 1983/84 Pittsburgh Penguins. A native of Portland, he became the first person from Oregon to play in the NHL. He wrote me back a wonderful little note about how his first face-off in the NHL was against none other than Wayne Gretzky.

Mark Fayne

This is certainly the MVP of this mail post. It comes from a fellow collector who saw I needed Fayne's signature and gratuitously sent me this. Its such a notable addition because it completes the 2010/2011 season of autographs. Of the 149 player to make their NHL debuts that season, Fayne was the last I needed. I've tried writing to Fayne half a dozen times via a number of teams but never got a reply so I'm gracious for the help from another collector. I have to say, sometimes it can be difficult to deal with fellow autograph hunters who only care about $ but thank God there are enough good guys in the hobby to overshadow the bad.

From 2010 to 2017, Fayne played nearly 400 regular season games in the NHL. The defenseman is most notable for helping the New Jersey Devils reach the 2012 Stanley Cup finals. Internationally, he represented USA at the 2011 World Championships.

Randy Velischek

From 1982 to 1992, defenseman Randy Velischek played over 500 games in the NHL. He was a member of the Minnesota North Stars, New Jersey Devils and Quebec Nordiques. His son, Alex, was drafted by the Penguins in 2009 and also had a brief pro hockey career.

Jeff Larmer

From 1981 to 1986, Jeff Larmer scored 37 goals and 88 points in 158 career NHL games. He played for the Colorado Rockies, New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks. He's the younger brother of retired NHL star Steve Larmer.

Chris Oddleifson

Chris Oddleifson was drafted 10th overall by the California Seals in 1970 but was traded to the Boston Bruins before he ever played for the Seals. Oddleifson made his NHL debut with the 1972/73 Bruins but it was his career as a Vancouver Canuck that he'll be remembered for. From 1974 to 1980 he was one of best known Canucks and served as team captain during the 1976/77 season.

Dwight Bialowas

Dwight Bialowas was drafted 18th overall by the Atlanta Flames in 1972. From 1973 to 1977 he played in 164 NHL games, scoring 11 goals and 57 points.

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Hockey autographs #20 and #21 of this post fall outside of my NHL player collection.

Jon Gustafson

April 15, 1993 Jon Gustafson dressed as the Toronto Maple Leafs backup goaltender. He was backup to Felix Potvin but wasn't needed. It was his only game at the NHL level. This one goes in the NHL Backups only collection.

Emerance Maschmeyer

As a junior Emerance Maschmeyer dressed in a couple preseason games with the AJHL's Lloydminster Bobcats, playing against young men. She later represented Canada at the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Women's World Championships, taking home a silver medal each time. She spent four years playing NCAA hockey at Harvard and is currently a member of the Montreal Canadiennes of the CWHL.

I try and collect a signature of every female hockey player who has had a certified autograph card released (see collection here). For an unknown reason, Maschmeyer's signatures appear to be short print compared to others.

Mail - 61 new autographs for the collection. Most of these come from a trade with a local collector - Thanks Billy! Its not often that I get the opportunity to add so many new signatures at one time. With these new additions the grand total of unique NHL player signatures now stands at exactly 5,700 unique NHL signatures for 76.5% of everyone to ever suit up in the league since it was created in 1917/18.

Patrick Roy and Patrick Sharp represent a big milestone in the collection. I now have an autograph of every single NHL player who has had a certified signature produced. I have a couple Patrick Roy signatures in my possession (they are photos to be framed for my wall) but this was the first certified autograph card, and thus allows me to officially cross Roy off the list and add him into the collection. Its also why I wasn't in a rush to get one. They are plentiful but seeing as how it was the last certified NHL signature I needed, I felt it was due time to cross him off the list. As soon as I had the Patrick Sharp incoming, I knew I had to get the Roy. This means that unless there are some new vintage signatures in upcoming releases, then the only certified autographs you'll see in my mail posts going forward will be from new players, specifically 2015 and later.

Patrick Roy

Not much I can say about Patrick Roy other than he's undoubtedly one of the best goalies of all All-Time. His resume includes 4 Stanley Cups, 3 Conn Smythe Trophies, 5 Jennings Trophies, 3 Vezina Trophies and a Jack Adams as NHL coach of the year in 2014 for good measure.

Patrick Sharp

For a modern semi-star, Patrick Sharp has notably few autographs on the market. He only has a handful of certified autographs. They also tend to sell rather well, or have in the past. I finally was able to find one at a reasonable price. The eight time 20+ goal scorer won the Stanley Cup 3 times with the Chicago Blackhawks. Sharp is also notable for being on Canada's 2014 gold medal winning Olympic team.

Tyler Graovac

From 2014 to the current season Tyler Graovac has played over 60 games in the NHL. He spent his first three seasons in the league with the team that drafted him, the Minnesota Wild, but most recently played with the Washington Capitals. I tend to avoid The Cup cards because they are expensive and super thick (I store my collection in binders, not boxes). I had no choice here with Graovac as this is his only certified autograph card. I only paid a few bucks for this 3 color rookie patch. Almost feel bad for the guy who pulled it out of a $500 pack of cards.

Doug Murray

From 2005 to 2014 defenseman Douglas Murray played over 500 games in the NHL. He spent most of that time with the Sharks but also dressed for the Penguins and Canadiens. Internationally, he represented Sweden at the 2010 Olympics and 2008 World Championships.

Brent Regner

Drafted in 2008 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Regner spent years riding the buses in the minor leagues before making his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Florida Panthers. The defenseman played 7 career NHL games with the Panthers that season.

Kyle Rau

Kyle Rau made his NHL debut with the 2015/16 Florida Panthers. He's since played 36 games in the NHL, most recently as a member of the Minnesota Wild. Internationally, he represented the United States at the 2012 World Juniors. His brother, Chad, also played in the NHL.

Bob Wilkie

Bob Wilkie played 8 games with the 1990/91 Detroit Red Wings and 10 games with the 1993/94 Philadelphia Flyers for a total of 18 career NHL games.

Peter Marsh
Peter Marsh was a junior sensation who was drafted 2nd overall by the Cincinnati Stingers in the 1976 WHA draft and lured to the league by a big contract. He played three strong seasons in the WHA before being drafted 1st overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1979 NHL expansion draft. He spent five seasons as a quality NHL player but was never able to reach the success he had in the WHA.

Paul McIntosh

From 1974 to 1976 defenceman Paul McIntosh played 48 games in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres.

Mike Robitaille

From 1969 to 1977 defenseman Mike Robitaille played nearly 400 games in the NHL. He became a hockey commentator/broadcaster after hanging up his skates.

Mike Marson

From 1974 to 1980 Mike Marson scored 24 goals and 48 points in 196 career games in the NHL. He holds a very notable place in hockey history as only the second black player, after Willie O'Ree, to play in the NHL. He's also a notoriously tough signer so I'm thrilled to add his signature to the collection.

Normand Lacombe

Normand Lacombe was drafted 10th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 1983. From 1984 to 1991 he played over 300 games in the NHL, dressing with the Sabres, Oilers and Flyers. He's most notable for winning the Stanley Cup with the 1987/88 Edmonton Oilers.

Michael Ware

From 1988 to 1990 Michael Ware played 5 career NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers. His 3 games with the Stanley Cup winning 89/90 Oilers wasn't enough to qualify for his name on the Trophy. Ware continued playing pro hockey overseas in Great Britain until 2004.

Ron Shudra

Defenseman Ron Shudra recorded 5 assists in 10 career NHL games with the 1987/88 Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky and the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup that season but Shudra's name wasn't included on the Cup for his 10 regular season game contribution. He spent most of his career in Great Britain, playing professionally until 2008.

Walt Poddubny

Walt Poddubny was a very productive NHL player, scoring 422 points in 468 career NHL games. He had two 38 goal seasons and a career year of 40 goals and 87 points in 75 games with the 1986/87 New York Rangers. Poddubny's life after the NHL wasn't easy and he passed away in 2009 at only 49.

Tomas Forslund

From 1991 to 1993 Swedish forward Tomas Forslund scored 5 goals and 16 points in 44 career NHL games with the Calgary Flames. Internationally, he represented Sweden at the 1991 Canada Cup and from 1994 to 1996, three consecutive World Championship squads. Forslund helped his country bring home Bronze at the '94 Worlds.

Pat MacLeod

From 1990 to 1996 Pat MacLeod played 53 games in the NHL. The defenseman recorded 5 goals and 18 points in the NHL.

Michel Picard

From 1990 to 2001 Michel Picard scored 28 goals and 70 points in 166 career NHL games. He played for the Whalers, Sharks, Senators, Blues, Oilers and Flyers. He's one of those guys who put up incredible numbers in the AHL but could never stick with an NHL club.

Andy Schneider

Andy Schneider played 10 games in the NHL with the 1993/94 Ottawa Senators. He spent most of his career in Germany, retiring only in 2011.

Daniel Guerard

Daniel Guerard played 2 games in the NHL with the 1994/95 Ottawa Senators. I could never find his current whereabouts to write to so happy to add this signature via trade.

Jeff Lazaro

From 1990 to 1993 Jeff Lazaro played over 100 games in the NHL, dressing for the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators.

David Williams

From 1991 to 1995 David Williams played 173 games in the NHL. The defenseman dressed for the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Mighty Ducks. He's the first player born and raised in New Jersey to play in the NHL.

Corey Foster

Drafted 12th overall by New Jersey in 1988, from 1989 to 1997 Corey Foster played 45 games in the NHL. The defenseman was a member of the Devils, Flyers, Penguins and Islanders.

Craig Redmond

From 1984 to 1989 Craig Redmond played 191 games in the NHL, suiting up for the LA Kings and Edmonton Oilers. He sat out most of the 1987/88 NHL season because the Kings refused to let him play on Canada's Olympic team. He retired in 1989 but returned to play one more season in the AHL in 1995/96.

Rick Chartraw

From 1974 to 1984 defenseman Rick Chartraw played over 400 games in the NHL. He won 4 Stanley Cups as a member of the Montreal Canadiens from 1976 to 1979. In 1984 he won the Cup for a 5th time as an Edmonton Oiler, was awarded a Cup ring but with just 1 playoff games and 24 regular season games, didn't qualify to have his name engraved on the Trophy. Internationally, he represented the United States at the 1976 Canada Cup.

Craig Ferguson

From 1993 to 2000 Craig Ferguson played 27 games in the NHL. He was dominant at the AHL level but was never able to transition his game to the next level.

Paul Dipietro

From 1991 to 1996 Paul Depietro played just under 200 regular season games in the NHL. He's best remembered for helping the Montreal Canadiens win the 1993 Stanley Cup. He scored 8 goals and 13 points in 17 playoff games for Montreal. He played in Europe after leaving the NHL and got his Swiss citizenship to represent Switzerland at the 2006 Olympics. DiPietro and the Swiss team are remembered for upsetting team Canada during those games.

Jim Korn

From 1979 to 1990 Jim Korn played nearly 600 regular season games in the NHL. The defenseman played for the Red Wings, Maple Leafs, Sabres, Devils and Flames.

Jerry Butler

This one is signed in pen so it didn't scan well, unfortunately. From 1972 to 1983 Jerry Butler played 643 regular season games in the NHL. He played for the Rangers, Blues, Maple Leafs, Canucks and Jets.

Willie Huber

This Willie Huber autograph scanned poorly but the pen signature is very visible in person. Huber died of a heart attack in 2010 at just 52 so its autographs aren't plentiful. From 1978 to 1988 he played 655 regular season games in the NHL. He represented the Red Wings at the 1982/83 NHL All-Star game. At 6'5" and 228 lbs he was one of the biggest players of his generation.

Billy Harris

There have been 2 people by the name of Billy Harris to play in the NHL. This Billy Harris is the more recent. From 1972 to 1984 he played just shy of 900 regular season games in the NHL. Harris was drafted 1st overall by the Islanders in 1972. He then went on to have 6 20+ goal season in New York. Unfortunately for Harris, he was traded to the LA Kings in 1980, just before his Islanders when on a 4 year Cup dynasty.

Alain Daigle

From 1974 to 1980 Alain Daigle played nearly 400 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Sylvain Turgeon

I had tried writing to Sylvain Turgeon a few times over the years so it was nice to finally acquire this one via trade. Turgeon was drafted 2nd overall by the Hartford Whalers in 1983. He showed some flashes of brilliance with a 45 goal season with the 1985/86 Whalers but he fizzled out rather quickly and was out of the NHL by 1995. His brother, Pierre, had a much more successful NHL career.

Anatoli Semenov

From 1990 to 1997 Russian forward Anatoli Semenov scored 68 goals and 194 points in 362 regular season NHL games. He played for the Oilers, Lightning, Canucks, Mighty Ducks, Flyers and Sabres. Internationally, he represented Russia on numerous occasions, winning an Olympic gold medal in 1988.

George "Dusty" Blair

Dusty Blair played 2 games in the NHL with the 1950/51 Toronto Maple Leafs. He played professional hockey around North America until 1965. Blair passed away in 2010.

Chuck Blair

Chuck Blair played 1 career NHL game with the 1948/49 Toronto Maple Leafs. He spent most of his career in the AHL, playing pro hockey until 1961. Brother of Dusty, Chuck passed away in 2006.

Gary Marsh

Gary Marsh played 6 NHL games with the 1967/68 Detroit Red Wings and 1 NHL game with the 1968/69 Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored a goal and 4 points in 7 career games.

Glen Sonmor

From 1953 to 1955 Glen Sonmor played 28 games in the NHL with the New York Rangers. He's better remembered for his time behind the bench in both the WHA and the NHL. In the NHL he coached the Minnesota North Stars from 1979 to 1983, leading them to the Stanley Cup finals in 1981. Sonmor passed away in 2015.

Bill Cupolo

Bill Cupolo played 1 season in the NHL, scoring 11 goals and 24 points in 47 games with the 1944/45 Boston Bruins. Cupolo passed away in 2005.

Cy Thomas

Cy Thomas spent 1 season in the NHL, splitting his 14 career NHL games between the 1947/48 Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs. Thomas passed away in 2009.

Darren Veitch

Though the 1980s Darren Vietch played over 500 NHL games. He played for the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was originally drafted 5th overall by Washington in 1980.

Garry Swain

Garry Swain was drafted 4th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1968. He played 9 career NHL games with the Penguins during the 1968/69 NHL season. He toiled in the minors for a few years before joining the WHA's New England Whalers. He played 3 seasons with the Whalers, scoring 22 goals and 55 points in 171 career WHA games played.

Doug Morrison

From 1979 to 1985 Doug Morrison scored 7 goals and 10 points in 23 career NHL games, all with the Boston Bruins. His brother, Mark Morrison, also played in the NHL.

Normand Aubin

From 1981 to 1983 Normand Aubin scored 18 goals and 31 points in 69 career NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a junior phenom, scoring 258 goals in 244 QMJHL games.

Vic Heyliger

From 1937 to 1944 Victor Heyliger played 33 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks. He's best known for his coaching career as the long time bench boss of the University of Michigan. He coached the school to 5 NCAA Division 1 titles during the 1950s.

Harry Bell

Harry Bell played 1 game in the NHL with the 1946/47 New York Rangers. He recorded 1 point, an assist, in his only NHL game. Bell passed away in 2009.

Al 'Red' Staley

Alan 'Red' Staley recorded 1 assist in his only NHL game with the 1948/49 New York Rangers.

Billy Reay

As a player, Billy Reay playing in nearly 500 NHL games, mostly with the Montreal Canadiens. He won the Stanley Cup in '46 and '53 with the Habs. Even so, it was as the long-time head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks that he will likely best be remembered. Reay also spent a couple seasons as bench boss of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Stan Baluik

Stan Baluik played 7 NHL games with the 1959/60 Boston Bruins. Baluik was an even better golfer, won pro tournaments and became a golf pro later in life.

Aggie Kukulowicz

From 1952 to 1954 Aggie Kukulowicz played 4 games in the NHL for the New York Rangers. The forward scored 1 goal for the Rangers. Fluent in Russia because of his heritage, Kukulowicz is also notable for being Canada's official translator of the 1972 Summit Series. He passed away in 2008.

Aldo Palazzari

Aldo Palazzari spent 1 season in the NHL. He played 36 games in the NHL, splitting his time between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. His son, Doug, also played in the NHL.

Frank Sullivan

From 1949 to 1956 Frank Sullivan played 8 games in the NHL. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and later the Chicago Blackhawks. His brother, Peter, also played in the NHL. Frank passed away in 2009.

Alex Shibicky

From 1935 to 1946 Alex Shibicky scored 110 goals and 201 points in 322 regular season games in the NHL. He spent his whole career with the New York Rangers and won the Stanley Cup in 1940. He is said to be the first NHL player to use the slapshot.

Darryl Edestrand

From 1967 to 1979 Darryl Edestrand played about 500 regular season+playoff games in the NHL. Edestrand played for the Blues, Flyers, Penguins, Bruins and Kings. He recently passed away, October 2017.

Mike Boland

Not only were there two NHL players by the name of Mike Boland, but they both made their NHL debuts during the same season: 1974/75. This particular Mike Boland played 1 game with the Kansas City Scouts that season. He toiled in the minors until the Buffalo Sabres gave him a second shot at the NHL. Boland played 22 NHL games with the 1978/79 Sabres.

Tony Featherstone

During the 1970s Tony Featherstone played over 100 games in both the NHL and WHA. He was originally drafted by the Oakland Seals 7th overall in 1969.

Barry Boughner

From 1969 to 1971 Barry Boughner played 20 games in the NHL with the Oakland/California Seals.

Gord McRae

During the 1970s Gord McRae backstopped the Toronto Maple Leafs in 71 NHL games.

Hal Phillipoff

Harold Phillipoff was drafted 10th overall by the Atlanta Flames in 1976. From 1977 to 1980 he played 141 games in the NHL, dressing with Atlanta and later the Chicago Blackhawks.

Ron Wilson

There are actually 2 Ron Wilsons who have made waves in the NHL and the hockey scene during about the same time period. This is likely the lesser known of the two even though he played over 800 games in the NHL From 1979 to 1994. This Ron Wilson also became a coach but at the AHL level.

Peter Lappin

Peter Lappin played 6 NHL games with the 1989/90 Minnesota North Stars and 1 NHL game with the 1991/92 San Jose Sharks. Not sure why he signed the card on the back but I'll try and look for an upgrade down the road. If have a couple outstanding TTM requests to Lappin so who knows, if I'm lucky one of those might show up in the mail someday.

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Kerry Bond

This one took over 5 years to get back to me! Had a 2013 stamp on it. Its nice to get a return like this now and then only to give me hope in the thousands of outstanding requests I have dating back years and years. Kerry Bond spent two seasons in the WHA, playing 86 games for the Indianapolis Racers.

Pierre Creamer

During the 1980s Pierre Creamer spent 3 years coaching the AHL's Sherbrooke Canadiens, affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. In 1985 he coached the team to a Calder Cup championship. Creamer coached the Pittsburgh Penguins for one full season. He guided Mario Lemieux and the 1987/88 Penguins to a 36-25-9 record before he was relieved of duties at season's end. Interestingly, it was the only season Creamer spent coaching at the NHL level. He holds the distinction of being the only coach in NHL history to have coached just 1 season in the league and it be a winning record.

Terry Bangen

Terry Bangen has spent decades in the hockey world, mostly as a head coach in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers and Tri-City Americans. He spent 1 season in the NHL, as an assistant coach with the 1996/97 Vancouver Canucks. He's currently an assistant coach in the ECHL.

Lisa Brown-Miller

Throughout the 1990s Lisa Brown-Miller was a staple on the US women's national team. She's most notable for helping the Americans defeat Canada and win Gold at the 1998 Olympics.

Joe Morgan

I don't normally share my baseball autographs but since these two came via TTM and are cool old school guys, I thought I'd share. I collect baseball signatures from players who have played hockey or have a notable connection to the game of hockey. I have a surprising amount, enough that I had to recently move the collection into a larger binder. As you can see from the explanation on the back of this vintage Topps baseball card, Joe Morgan was an All-American hockey player in college. You can read about his hockey career here.

Dennis Ribant
Like Joe Morgan, Dennis Ribant grew up playing hockey along with baseball. Ribant actually played junior hockey in the Red Wings organization with guys like Paul Henderson. Read about Ribant's hockey career here.

Steve Levy

I've been slowly picking away at these 'Fans of the Game' autographs. The 2013/14 Panini Fans of the Game in Crown Royale were different from previous years in that they didn't have a base counterpart and seem to be a little harder to find. This goes into my 'voices of the game' binder as Levy is a long-time NHL sportscaster who currently works for ESPN. Although I tend to pick up these cards long after the release date, when the prices die down, and don't give them much priority on the wantlist, I do enjoy them very much. Its a shame that the NHLPA and NHL don't give a rats ass about collectors and grant Upper Deck an exclusive to produce sub-par boring products. At least Panini tried to mix it up a little with stuff like this. Panini also had a much broader autograph checklist for NHL rookies. Upper Deck sticks to virtually the same bunch all year.

This was a big month of hockey ink in the mail. The autographs come from trades, purchases and through the mail returns. The best pieces came from a lot of old NHL programs I bought. I bought the lot on a gamble. Pictures were poor and the autographs weren't identified but my trained 'autograph eye' was able to pick out a couple big names and I scooped up the lot. I paid a little more than I would have liked but it produced extra signatures of Juha Widing and Bill Flett that I haven't decided yet If I'll sell or hold on to yet. Those two should recoup a good bit of the original cost of the lot if I do sell them. However, I'd always prefer to trade for signatures I don't have. On top of the goodies shown below, I added a bunch of cuts to my tradelist.

45 New NHL signatures to share in this post. There are actually 64 autographs featured in the post because I have 19 'oddballs' to share as well. The 45 new NHL signatures raises the grand total of unique autographs to 5,745 for 77% of everyone to ever play in the league.

I've recently embarked on a new hockey related autograph project - Pucks & Politics. That project has been keeping me busy lately. After being a hockey fan, I'm a political junkie. I merged the two in what is also my first foray into custom hockey cards. Hopefully I'll be able to show off a few of these on the next mail post. I written to nearly 200 Canadian Members of Parliament, all of which I've sent a custom made hockey card. Its going to be interesting seeing what my success rate is with these.

Gaetan Duchesne

From 1981 to 1995 Gaetan Duchesne played over 1000 games in the NHL. He's notable for helping the Minnesota North Stars reach the 1991 Stanley Cup finals. In 2007, Gaetan died from a heart attack at just 44. His son, Jeremy, was a goalie who briefly played in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Mitch Wilson

Mitch Wilson played 9 games with the 1984/85 New Jersey Devils and 17 with the 1986/87 Pittsburgh Penguins. He was a tough customer who recorded 2 goals, 5 points and over 100 penalty minutes during his short NHL career. Unfortunately, Wilson was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago and is now fighting for his life.

Kurtis Gabriel

Forward Kurtis Gabriel was drafted in the 3rd round by the Minnesota Wild in 2013. He played junior with the Owen Sound Attack and turned pro for the 2014/15 season. Since then he's played 16 regular season games in the NHL with Minnesota. Gabriel also played 4 NHL playoff games for the Wild in 2016.

Jan Benda

Jan Benda was born in Belgium but played junior in Canada. He's most notable for playing 9 NHL games with the 1997/98 Washington Capitals, who had signed him as a free agent. He was signed by the Edmonton Oilers in 2001 but released after training camp. Internationally, he has represented Germany at the World Championships, World Cup and 3 Olympic Games. The 45 year old continues to play lower level pro hockey in Germany.

Al Sims
From 1973 to 1983 Al Sims played over 500 regular season+playoff games in the NHL. He was a member of the Bruins, Whalers and Kings. Sims later became a coach, spending time in the NHL as an assistant with Anaheim and head coach of the 1996/97 San Jose Sharks.

Rob Palmer

There have been 2 Rob Palmers to play in the NHL. This one was born in 1952 and played 16 games in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1970s.

Ron Stackhouse

From 1970 to 1982 defenseman Ron Stackhouse played 889 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 459 points. He represented the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 1980 NHL All-Star game.

Wayne Maki

From 1967 to 1973 Wayne Maki scored 57 goals and 136 points in 246 NHL games. He played for the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks. Maki scored 25 goals and 63 points for the inaugural 1970/71 Vancouver Canucks. Maki's career and life was cut short when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died in 1974 at only 29.

Juha Widing

From 1969 to 1977 Juha Widing scored 144 goals and 370 points in 574 career NHL games. He also played a season in the WHA, scoring 18 goals and 42 points with the 1977/78 Edmonton Oilers. Internationally, he represented Sweden at the 1976 Canada Cup. Widing died of a heart attack in 1984 at just 37.

Bill McCreary Sr.

From 1953 to 1971 Bill McCreary played over 300 games in the NHL. He later returned to the NHL as a head coach and General Manager. His son, Bill McCreary Jr., played in the NHL and his nephew is the referee Bill McCreary.

Rick Kessell

From 1969 to 1974 Rick Kessell played 134 games in the NHL. He played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and California Golden Seals.

Bob Jones

Bob Jones played 2 games in the NHL with the 1968/69 New York Rangers. He later played 161 games in the WHA. His brother, Jim Jones, also played in both the NHL and WHA.

Eddie Bush

From 1938 to 1942 Eddie Bush played 26 regular season games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. On April 9th, 1942 Bush set a new NHL record for points by a defenseman in a Stanley Cup finals game with 5, scoring a goal and 4 assists. That postseason was actually his last appearance in the NHL. He later spent a couple decades coaching hockey and passed away n 1984.

I bought a team signed 1960/61 Hamilton Red Wings sheet for just a couple dollars. Bush, who was the team's coach, was the signature I was after when I puchased the sheet for a steal. It also gave me an upgraded Bob Dillabough autograph, the old one now added to my tradelist.

Wayne Rivers

He's the answer to an interesting trivia question. Rivers scored the last regular season goal in the Original Six in 1967. I was very happy to add this Rivers autograph for so cheap because he's a hard guy to track down. This is from the same sheet that gave me the Eddie Bush autograph. Rivers played over 100 games in the NHL and over 350 games in the WHA. He scored 54 goals for the 1974/75 WHA San Diego Mariners.

Jean-Francois Sauve

From 1980 to 1987 Jean-Francois Sauve played 290 games in the NHL, scoring a very respectable 65 goals and 203 points. He played for the Buffalo Sabres and Quebec Nordiques. His brother, Bob Sauve, was an NHL goalie.

Alain Lemieux

Alain Lemieux is best known as the older brother of NHL legend Mario. From 1981 to 1987 Alain scored 72 points in 119 regular season NHL games. Lemieux spent most of his time in the NHL between the St. Louis Blues and Quebec Nordiques. He did play 1 game with his brother on the 1986/87 Pittsburgh Penguins.

J.C. Tremblay

In my opinion, J.C. Tremblay might be the Hockey Hall of Fame's biggest snub. He was a top defenseman on 5 Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup winning teams. He wasn't just on those teams, he was a leader. He was one of the most dominant blueliners of his time but in 1972, after being named to the Summit Series, he signed with the WHA and was therefore dropped from the '72 series. Tremblay was a star defenseman on the WHA Nordiques for 7 seasons and was named to the league's inaugural Hall of Fame class. His jump to the Rival League, combined with an early death from cancer at 55 in 1994, make Tremblay one of the most notable snubs in the history of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Hank Goldup

From 1939 to 1946 Hank Goldup scored 63 goals and 143 points in 202 regular season games in the NHL. He won the Stanley Cup in 1942 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hank passed away in 2008. His son, Glenn, also played in the NHL.

Lorne Ferguson

From 1949 to 1959 Lorne Ferguson played over 400 games in the NHL. He played for the Bruins, Red Wings and Blackhawks. Ferguson passed away in 2008.

Claude Legris

Goalie Claude Legris played 4 games in the NHL during the early 1980s with the Detroit Red Wings.

Ray Maluta

From 1975 to 1977 defenseman Ray Maluta played 25 games in the NHL with the Boston Bruins.

Gary Geldart

Defenceman Gary Geldart played 4 NHL games with the 1970/71 Minnesota North Stars.

Richard David

Richard David played 14 games for the 1978/79 WHA Quebec Nordiques. He followed the franchise into the NHL and from 1979 to 1983 David played 31 games in the NHL.

Gary Holt

From 1973 to 1978 Gary Holt played 101 games in the NHL. He scored 13 goals and 24 points while playing for the California Seals, Cleveland Barons and St. Louis Blues. His brother, Randy, also played in the NHL.

Mitch Babin

Forward Mitch Babin played 8 NHL games with the 1975/76 St. Louis Blues.

John Schella

John Schella played 2 seasons in the NHL in the early 1970s with the Vancouver Canucks. From 1972 to 1978 he was a member of the Houston Aeros, playing nearly 400 games in the WHA. The defenseman spent 3 seasons as a teammate of Gordie Howe's on the Aeros, winning the Avco Cup twice.

Frank Hughes

Skilled forward Frank Hughes was originally drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1969. He played 5 NHL games with the 1971/72 California Golden Seals before making his mark in the WHA. Hughes was a star player with the Houston Aeros, twice scoring 40+ goals a season. He helped Gordie Howe and the Aeros win the Avco Cup in 1974 and 1975.

Tony Cassolato

From 1976 to 1979 Tony Cassolato scored 44 goals and 88 points in 184 WHA games, playing with the San Diego Mariners and Birmingham Bulls. When the league folded, he jumped to the NHL. From 1979 to 1982 he played 23 games in the NHL with the Washington Capitals. He's notable for winning the 1980 AHL Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears and representing Canada at the 1974 World Junior Championships.

Barrie Moore

From 1995 to 2000 Barrie Moore scored 2 goals and 8 points in 39 career NHL games. He played for the Buffalo Sabres, Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals. Moore is also notable for winning the AHL's Calder Cup in 1996 with the Rochester Americans.

Jim Boo

Defenseman Jim Boo played 6 games in the NHL with the 1977/78 Minnesota North Stars. He accumulated 0 points and 22 penalty minutes. Boo was signed by the North Stars as an undrafted University of Minnesota alumni.

Rick Boh

Undrafted Colorado College alumni Rick Boh scored 2 goals and 3 points in 8 career NHL games with the 1987/88 Minnesota North Stars.

Helmut Balderis

Helmut Balderis spent a couple decades as a Soviet star, remember as one of the best hockey players not in the NHL. He retired in 1985 but in 1989 he came out of retirement to fulfill a dream of playing in the NHL. Way past his prime, Balderis scored 3 goals and 9 points in 26 NHL games with the 1989/90 Minnesota North Stars as a 37 year old rookie. In 1998, he was inducted in to the IIHF International Hockey Hall of Fame.

Eddy Godin

From 1977 to 1979 Eddy Godin played 27 games in the NHL with the Washington Capitals.

Rocky Dundas

A skilled junior player who helped the Medicine Hat Tigers win the 1987 Memorial Cup, Rocky Dundas played 5 NHL games with the 1989/90 Toronto Maple Leafs. He recorded 0 points and 14 penalty minutes. Not wanting to continue life as an enforcer, Dundas retired at the end of that season and went back to school, becoming a very successful guy on his own accord.

Brian McCutcheon

From 1974 to 1977 Brian McCutcheon played 37 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. He's since had a long career as a coach, including time as Cornell's head coach and time as an assistant coach in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres.

Tom Martin

From 1984 to 1990 Tom Martin scored 12 goals and 23 points in 92 career NHL games. He played for the Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers and Minnesota North Stars. He's infamous for a trade in junior that saw him being traded for a bus, forever earning the nickname "Bussey."

Claude Larose

There have been 2 people with the name Claude Larose to play in the NHL. This is the much lesser known of the two. This Claude Larose, born in 1955, was a star junior player who was the 1st overall pick of the 1975 WHA draft, joining the Cincinnati Stingers. Larose played 4 seasons in the WHA, scoring over 200 points in 252 games. When the league folded in 1979, he became property of the New York Rangers, who had drafted Larose in the 1975 NHL draft. Larose played 25 regular season NHL games and a couple of playoff games for the Rangers.

Paul Miller

A Boston University alumni, Paul Miller played 3 NHL games with the 1981/82 Colorado Rockies. His older brother, Bob Miller, also played in the NHL.

Marc LaBelle

Marc LaBelle was first signed by the Montreal Canadiens in 1990 as an undrafted junior player. Known mostly for his tough style of play, LaBelle bounced around the minors before landing with the Dallas Stars. He played 9 NHL games with the 1996/97 Stars. The forward recorded 0 points but did rack up 46 penalty minutes.

Greg Kuznik

Greg Kuznik was originally drafted by the Hartford Whalers in 1996. The defenceman followed the franchise to Carolina and and played 1 NHL game for the 2000/01 Hurricanes. In 2003, he moved overseas and began a long and successful career in Europe. In 2011, the Canadian born player represented Slovenia at the 2011 World Championships.

Evgeny Konstantinov

Russian goalie Evgeny Konstantinov appeared in 2 NHL games as a member of the Tampa Bay Lighting in the early 2000s. He last played pro hockey in 2009 in the KHL.

Goran Bezina

Goran Bezina played 3 games in the NHL with the 2003/04 Phoenix Coyotes. He was originally drafted by the Coyotes in 1999. Internationally, Bezina represented Switzerland at a number of World Championships and the 2006 Olympics.

Greg Koehler

Undrafted UMass-Lowell alumni Greg Koehler played 1 game in the NHL with the 2000/2001 Carolina Hurricanes. Ken Dryden featured a very young Koehler in his 1989 book Home Game.

Kevin Colley

Forward Kevin Colley posted 52 penalty minutes and 0 points in 16 NHL games with the 2005/06 New York Islanders. It was his only season in the NHL because a neck injury forced Colley to retire that year. His father, Tom, also played in the NHL.

Jean-Philippe Cote

Jean-Philippe Cote was originally drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2000 but never signed with the team. The defenseman was signed by Montreal and made his NHL debut with the 2005/06 Habs. He played 8 NHL games for Montreal that season. Seven full seasons went by before Cote returned to the NHL, playing 19 games with the 2013/14 Tampa Bay Lightning. Like Colley above, I used a photo of him with the AHL Bulldogs because the #12 he signed with was from his time with Hamilton. Cote still plays pro in France.

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I'm going to expand on these posts a little with more of my hockey 'oddball' autographs. I like collecting signatures of athletes from other sports, tv personalities, political figures etc. but only if I can tie them to hockey. The baseball collection alone is now big enough to warrant a 2nd binder.

Emilio Estevez

As soon as a I saw that Leaf released this card I knew I needed to have one. I was born in the early 1990s so I grew up on the Mighty Ducks movies. Emilio Estevez famously portrayed coach Gordon Bombay in the movie.

Nick Niedert

I scanned the front and back here so you can get the explanation of why I'd show off this signature and why I'd want it. Niedert's incredible hockey journey is still going. His hockey statistics pages are ridiculously long. Its awesome, but hard to believe, that there's a human being so dedicated to this game that he travels all around North America playing in lower level pro leagues for next to nothing.

Sam Gellard

From 1972-1974 Sam Gellard played 28 games in the WHA with the Philadelphia and later Vancouver Blazers. He contributed 7 goals and 11 points. He was signed by the Blazers as an undrafted University of Pennsylvania product.

Danny Sullivan

Goalie Danny Sullivan played 1 WHA game with the 1972/73 Philadelphia Blazers and 1 WHA game with the 1973/74 Vancouver Blazers.

Gaye Cooley

Goalie Gaye Cooley played in 1 WHA game and it came during the 1976 Avco Cup playoffs with the New England Whalers. He was a former NCAA star at Michigan State.

Pierre Roy

Defenseman Pierre Roy played over 300 games in the WHA. He had a career year with the 1975/76 Nordiques, contributing 36 points and 258 penalty minutes.

Dick Paradise

From 1972 to 1974 Dick Paradise played 144 games in the WHA with the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Paradise passed away in 1992 at 47. His brother, Bob, played in the NHL.

Gord Gallant

From 1973 to 1977 Gordie "Machine Gun" Gallant accumulated 849 penalty minutes in 273 WHA games. The undrafted tough guy played for the Minnesota Fighting Saints, Quebec Nordiques and Birmingham Bulls. He's a legend of his own when it comes to 'old time hockey stories' and the World Hockey Association.

Bill Klatt

Forward Bill Klatt played 2 seasons in the WHA for his hometown Minnesota Fighting Saints. He scored 50 goals and 78 points in 143 WHA games. He died from leukemia in 2011.

Don Burgess

Forward Don Burgess played in the WHA for as long as the league existed. He scored 107 goals and 229 points in 446 regular season WHA games, suiting up for the Blazers, Mariners and Racers.

Gil Hudon

Gil Hudon dressed in the NHL as a backup only with the 1983/84 Philadelphia Flyers.

Stelio Zupancich

Only a handful of modern Canadian Olympians haven't played in the NHL, Stelio Zupancich is one of those. Zupancich played on the 1980 Canadian Olympic team that visited Lake Placid. Zupancich contributed 4 points in 6 games. He played junior hockey for the Oshawa Generals but never went on to play pro in North America.

Mark Grant

There's no explanation on the back of this card as to why Padres pitcher Mark Grant struck up a goalie pose for this baseball card. I asked Grant in the letter I sent him and he wrote me back with wonderful little explanation of how he grew up playing hockey and just wanted to do a little something different for the photoshoot.

Jack Lazorko

As the card notes, Lazorko was indeed a good hockey goalie. Hockey certainly influenced him as a baseball player and you can read about his ties to hockey here. His son, Nick Lazorko, actually played some professional hockey.

Mike Kilkenny

The back of this card notes that Kilkenny was a good enough hockey playing in high school that he had offers that he turned down so he could play baseball instead. I found an old article where he mentioned that it was hockey's roughness that made him choose baseball, where he would be at much less risk of an injury.

Doug Rader

Rader doesn't have a baseball card that mentions his incredibly interesting hockey background so I made this one. Amazingly, Rader played semi-pro hockey using a fake name so his baseball coaches and family wouldn't find out he was playing the violent sport to supplement his college income.

Derek McCallum

These Bowman baseball cards have a facsimile signature on them but as you can see, I asked Derek if he could add the real thing. McCallum grew up a strong hockey player and he even has an eliteprospects.com profile. You can read about McCallum's hockey career here.

Jeff Lageman

Not only did Jeff sign this card for me, he wrote me back a wonderful little letter expanding on the story explained on the back. Its not often you see an NFL/Hockey card!

Blaine Schmidt
There are numerous baseball/hockey ties, but not nearly as many with football. As this card notes, the 6.4' 290 lbs offensive lineman would occasionally lace up his skates and play hockey. I'm been doing research lately to find more like this.

Not a huge mail post but certainly enough to show. A lot of these new NHL autographs come from a couple trades with another collector. Jerry, thanks for the trades and you have autographs incoming! With a dozen new additions, the grand total of unique NHL player signature stands at 5,757 for 77% of everyone to ever play in the league.

I've recently been busy having tons of fun with a new hobby, making 'Pucks & Politics' hockey cards and sending them to Members of the Canadian Parliament for autographs. I've probably made close to 300 cards over the past couple of months and have already gotten 75 back signed. I've also gotten back some incredible letters from our politicians. Halifax Mayor Mike Savage sent me back a whole box with the card that included a Halifax T-Shirt. I'm sending to all parties so no political biases. Politics and hockey are my two favorite things so its been a blast.
I haven't scanned any of these cards yet because they would have taken over this mail post, and 75 cards is a lot to scan. I've been getting a high return rate with them so my stack of mail recently has been much larger than usual. I'll likely give it a month or two and then, depending if I can find the time during the summer, share them all here in a post of their own. If you aren't Canadian, the names won't sound familiar. If you're Canadian, you'll recognize tons of them because their names are in the news all the time.

You might notice that this is a smaller mail post than usual. I've been at this hobby for well over a decade now and in retrospect, I find it important to take a 'break' every now and then. Creating and sending hockey cards that feature Canadian politicians was a nice step away from my usual habit of researching and writing to NHLers. A couple years ago, it was NHLbackups.com that was another side project. Now that I've written to almost all the members of Canada's House of Commons and with the excitement of NHL playoffs, I've once again picked up my working NHL wantlist and have turned my focus back on getting to that 80% mark. My current focus is to try and finish up all my post-2000 debut wants.

Ray Podloski

Ray Podloski played 8 games in the NHL with the 1988/89 Boston Bruins. He spent most of his career in Austria, playing professionally there until 2005.

Randy Ireland

Goalie Randy Ireland played 2 games in the NHL with the 1978/79 Buffalo Sabres. Originally drafted by the Blackhawks, Ireland also dressed as a backup goalie with the 1977/78 Chicago Blackhawks, sitting behind Tony Esposito.

David Schlemko

David Schlemko is a rare modern day NHL regular with no certified autograph. He was originally signed by the Coyotes as an undrafted free agent. The defenseman has played nearly 400 NHL games since making his debut with the 2008/09 Coyotes. He's played for Phoenix/Arizona, Dallas, Calgary, New Jersey, San Jose and Montreal.

Greg Redquest

I've tried sending 3 or 4 requests to Redquest, who is now a coach/instructor, over the past decade but could never track him down. A goalie, Greg Redquest appeared in 1 NHL game with the 1977/78 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Murray Wilson

Murray Wilson has one certified autograph from Upper Deck's Centennial Canadiens release. While I still have it on my wantlist, cards from that set sell for more than they should so I've never been able to pick one up. This signed card will fill the spot until I find a certified autograph to take its place. As a member of the Montreal Canadiens, Wilson has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup 4 times.

Doug Grant

From 1973 to 1980 Doug Grant played 77 games in the NHL, dressing with the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues. He's a Newfoundlander who was discovered while paying senior hockey.

John Gould

From 1971 to 1980 John Gould played over 500 games in the NHL. Gould played for Buffalo, Vancouver and Atlanta. His best years were with the Canucks, scoring 30+ goals for them in two consecutive seasons. His brother, Larry Gould, also played in the NHL.

Jason Miller

From 1990 to 1993 Jason Miller played 6 games in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils. Miller had been drafted by New Jersey 18th overall in 1989. He spent most of his career in Germany, playing pro there until 2010.

Daniel Shank

From 1989 to 1992 Daniel Shank scored 13 goals and 27 points in 77 games in the NHL. He played for the Detroit Red Wings and later Hartford Whalers.

Dwayne Hay

From 1997 to 2001 Dwayne Hay played 79 games in the NHL, scoring 2 goals and 6 points. He played for the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames. Internationally, he won Gold at the 1997 World Juniors Championships with Canada.

Jeff Ware

From 1996 to 1999 Jeff Ware played 21 games in the NHL. The defenseman played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. He was originally drafted 15th overall by the Leafs in 1995.

Larry McIntyre

From 1969 to 1973 Larry McIntyre played 41 games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The defenceman recorded 3 points and 26 penalty minutes.

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As usual, ending the post with new hockey autographs that don't fall within the NHL players collection.

Erin Ambrose

Defence Erin Ambrose was one of the last cuts from the 2018 Canadian Olympic team. She won Silver with Canada at the 2017 World Championships. Prior to that, she had twice won Gold at the World Under 18 Championships. This goes into my "Women of Hockey" collection.

Jack Kelley

Jack Kelley started his coaching career with Boston University in the 1960s. In 1972/73, he became the first Coach and General Manager of the WHA's New England Whalers. He stepped down as coach but remained the GM until 1981, following the franchise into the NHL. He later worked for the Red Wings and during the 1990s was President of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Allain Roy

A Harvard University grad who was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 1989, Allain Roy's claim to fame was his time representing Canada at the 1994 Olympics. He was carried as Canada's 3rd goalie to the tournament and is one of the few players from the team who never played in the NHL.

Ron Asselstine
Ron Asselstine was an NHL Official from 1979 to 1997, officiating in over 2,000 games. In his letter back to me he told me to check out this video on youtube, which he calls his highlight. Amazing!

Don Parsons

Most of the hockey players who tore up North America minor leagues made it to the NHL in some capacity. Don Parsons never made it to the big leagues, but his hockeydb.com page is something worth checking out. He scored an incredible 682 goals during his pro hockey career and when he retired he held the distinction of being pro hockey's most prolific goal scorer to never play in the NHL.

Russ Farwell

From 1990 to 1994 Russ Farwell was General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers. He's biggest claim to fame during that tenure was the Eric Lindros trade. He's been GM of the WHL's Seattle Thunderbids since 1995.

Tim Harkness

Tim Harkness signed this custom card for me explaining his link to hockey. I scanned front and back so you could read the story. Harkness was offered a contract by the Montreal Canadiens but turned it down to pursue his dream of playing baseball. He also wrote me back a wonderful letter about his hockey playing days and wrote about an exhibition game he played against the Montreal Canadiens.

Peter Hankinson

The explanation of why I sent to Peter Hankinson is on the back of the card. He never reached the NHL but is notable because he was drafted by two professional sports leagues, the NHL and MLB. It takes an incredible athlete to be drafted by both pro leagues and only about a dozen people have ever done it.

Craig Quinlan

As noted on the back of the card I made, Quinlan is in an elite group of athletes who were drafted by the NHL and MLB. Incredibly, his older brother Tom Quinlan, was also drafted in both leagues!

Johnny Pesky
Mr. Red Sox, Johnny Pesky doesn't have a baseball card that mentions his ties to hockey so I bought this dirt cheap autograph and made a custom card. Pesky spent his entire life around hockey and did occasionally join Boston Bruins practices.

Mail - Some WHA Signatures

38 New Autographs, Mostly TTM

Mail - Final ITG Franchises Auto Found

End of April's Mail

Mail - Finnish Hospitality

Mail: Eichel Auto, TTMs & More

Mail: Overdue Steve Yzerman Autograph

New Autos ft. Jacques Plante & Dan Snyder

Mail - Sergei Makarov

Some Summer Mail

The Women of Hockey in Autographs

Back from a Hobby Break - Mail

Fall 2017 Mail - The Search Continues

Milestone Mail: All-Time NHL Player Collection at 75%

Mail - The Flying Father

Last Mail Post of 2017

First Mail Post of 2018

BIG Mail Post Brings Grand Total to 5,700 Autographs

Mail - Programs, Cuts & Oddballs

Mail featuring Mr. Red Sox