Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Milan Hejduk





Currently with the Colorado Avalanche.
Fan letter sent November 24, 2010.
3/3 autographed cards received December 27, 2010.
I honestly wasn't expecting these to come back signed, mainly because of the results that Sal got from the Colorado Avalanche.  However, after looking at some other autographs of Hejduk around the Internet, I'm not so sure that this isn't ghost-signed.  Can anyone tell if these are authentic or not?

Todd Gill


Retired player.  Autographed insert acquired in trade on December 15, 2010.

Last card from Sal.

Brian Campbell


Acquired in a trade December 15, 2010.

Currently with the Chicago Blackhawks.

One of the other cards that I got from Sal.  Not quite as good as Briere's signature, but good enough for me.

Daniel Briere

Currently with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Acquired in a trade December 15, 2010.

Fellow blogger and autograph collector Sal traded me this Briere autograph, along with two other cards, for a Cam Ward autographed card that I got signed for him in-person.  As many of you already know, Briere got beat recently in the Stanley Cup Final by his former teammate, Brian Campbell, whose autograph you can find here.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Lauri Tukonen

Insert in 2008-09 Upper Deck Black Diamond pack.

Currently in Finland with Lukko Rauma.

Kind of a bust for the Kings former 11th overall pick from Finland.  He did not score a point in his five career NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings, and I guess would have been one of their worst first round picks of recent memory, if anyone really remembers him that is.  Sorry, Lauri.  He's still only 24, so who knows if he'll come back; but, most likely, he won't make much of an impact.  I don't mind getting an autographed card inserted in a pack; but, I can try getting my other cards autographed through other means and get better luck that way.

Roberto Luongo Jersey Card

Insert in 2008-09 Upper Deck Black Diamond cards.

These cards were actually relatively inexpensive on ebay, and this was the best find of all the cards that I got shipped to me today.  Kinda looks like they put the old Canucks jerseys from about 2006-07 on here, because there is no green of basically any other colors of their current jerseys on this card other than the royal blue.

Tom Poti Jersey Card

Insert in 2006-07 Fleer card pack.

Currently with the Washington Capitals.

I have decided to post my other collectibles and cards that I have.  I got this jersey card in a pack of 2006-07 Fleer cards, and even though Poti has never impressed me, it's still cool to get a jersey card.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Brad Richards


Fan letter sent November 26, 2010.
3/3 Autographed cards received December 10, 2010.
Currently with the Dallas Stars.

My first TTM success came today when I got back from getting tile for a new shower in my parents' house (I live with them along with my brother) and it was good to find something in my mailbox after an average start to the day.  I don't know how long I should expect to wait for autographs, but I hope this doesn't make me spoiled or something about autograph collecting.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Note About Links Under Header

All the links under the header are to other websites.  I don't keep up with addresses.  Once on Sal's Hockey Autographs, you will be able to go to other websites (if necessary) in order to get a couple other addresses for NHL players.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Rostislav Olesz

Insert in 2006-07 Fleer card pack.

I still can't believe that I got this insert in a pack of Fleer cards.  I actually got a rare Alex Rodriguez card in 1994 or 1995 that I have since put in my closet because of the steroids scandal in baseball.  Anyway, Olesz signed his last name first on this card.

Jussi Jokinen

Acquired in-person November 22, 2010.

Currently with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jussi Jokinen has, for the most part, only been known as a shootout specialist from the start of the 2005-06 season; but last year he was able to lead the Hurricanes in goals with 30 tallies.  However, he just really hasn't been able to find his goal scoring touch as much this season and maybe he'll just be some one-time 30-goal scorer.  Yet another autograph from the season-ticket holder signing session that I was lucky enough to get into.

Tuomo Ruutu

Acquired in-person November 22, 2010.

Currently with the Carolina Hurricanes.
I got this card in a pack of 2006-07 Fleer hockey cards.  It's obviously from Ruutu's oft-injured Blackhawks days.  For some reason the players couldn't choose another color marker that day or something (which I really would've preferred on the multi-player signed poster).

Ian White, Jamie McBain, Jon Matsumoto, Troy Bodie

Acquired in-person November 22, 2010.


I acquired all four of these signatures at a season-ticket holder event at the RBC Center.  Actually, a friend of my parents is a season-ticket holder and he took me with him so that I could get some autographs.  The item is just some extra poster that was free and I decided to pick it up and I got the autographs from the above players.  The top scan is Troy Bodie (20) and Jamie McBain (4) and the bottom scan is (from left to right) Jon Matsumoto (18), Ian White (7), and the afformentioned McBain autograph.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Drayson Bowman and Jamie McBain


Acquired in person September 18, 2010.

These two guys have played a few games for the Hurricanes over the last couple of seasons but haven't really had much of a chance to develop into good players, yet.  Like all but one of the other Hurricanes autographs, I got this at the Caniac Carnival yesterday.  I don't know how these players will work out, although McBain did have three goals and seven assists along with a plus-six in 14 games for the Hurricanes last season.  Not bad for a rookie defenseman.

Jussi Jokinen

Acquired in person September 18, 2010.

Jussi has just come off his first 30-goal season of his career and showed that he can be more than just a shootout specialist.  He also had several key goals in the 2009 playoffs for the Hurricanes.  I also got this (along with two other autographs) at the Caniac Carnival autograph signing session.

Cam Ward

First acquired through ebay.  Second in person on September 18, 2010.

The photo of Cam Ward's save against Fernando Pisani in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final was bought just after their Stanley Cup win in 2006 and it was pretty cool getting him to sign it in person at the Caniac Carnival in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Cam smiled the moment that he saw the photo and recognized what it was; kinda wonder if he had seen the photo much before or since then.  Maybe not since he obviously made the save.  He is by far my favorite hockey player and even though he is far behind any wins record holders, he probably has the most upside of any goalie under 30 years of age right now.  I know I'm biased, but his stats in the 2008-09 season prove in my mind that he can be a good number one goalie in the NHL; I just hope that he does well for the rest of his career and doesn't have any more injury-riddled seasons.

Martin Brodeur


Acquired through NHL Auctions.

Brodeur is currently the NHL leader in career wins with 602 and shutouts with 110.  He also has the record for the most 40-win seasons (eight), the all-time minutes leader and the record-holder for the most consecutive openers with the same team.  In the playoffs, he is tied with Patrick Roy for the most career shutouts (23) but is 52 wins behind Roy in playoff wins.

Nicklas Lidstrom


Acquired through NHL Auctions.

Nicklas Lidstrom is considered by some to be one of the best (if not the best) defenseman to ever play in the NHL, and has won the Norris Trophy six times along with the Conn Smythe Trophy with Detroit in 2002.  He has 1,046 career points and is a plus-431 for his NHL career.  He was also the first European to captain a team to the Stanley Cup, back in 2008 when he was with the Detroit Red Wings.

Joe Sakic


Acquired through NHL Auctions.
Joe Sakic retired in 2009 after 20 seasons with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise.  He scored 625 goals and 1,016 assists and won two Stanley Cups in Colorado in 1996 and 2001, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in '96 after a phenomenal playoff year with 18 goals and 16 assists in 22 playoff games.  He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Award, and Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL MVP in 2001.  Sakic was also a 12-time NHL All-Star.

Eric Staal


Acquired in person September 18, 2010.

I got this poster from the 2005-06 season autographed at the Carolina Hurricanes "Caniac Carnival" yesterday.  Eric Staal is currently the captain of the Hurricanes, with whom he has had a 45- and 40-goal season along with two 30-goal campaigns.  The Hurricanes record improved dramatically once Staal was elected the new captain of the franchise in the 2009-10 season.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Maurice "Rocket" Richard

I feel extremely lucky to have gotten this autograph from NHL Auctions a couple of year's back. The Rocket Richard Trophy is awarded to the NHL's top goal scorer year after year and there is no better goal scorer to honor than Maurice Richard, who was the first player in league history to score 50 goals in 50 games and also score 500 goals in one's career. He is now deceased and there is no way to get one other than buy it from some reputable autograph seller who got it signed while he was alive.