Guy Lafleur

Purchased on eBay.

Five Stanley Cups will certainly put your name in the history books, that is if three Art Ross Trophies, a Conn Smythe Trophy, two Hart Trophies and three Lester B. Pearson Trophies for being the MVP as voted on by the players won't by themselves.  But, poor Ted Lindsay, right after they come out with an award with his name all over, he has his own trophy broken at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.  I guess the people there don't care so much about hockey history as they would in Toronto.  Anyway Guy Lafleur is the guy on the card and his autograph; sorry about the tangent, but that reminds me, I forgot to get the Lindsay autograph up here on Blogger...I'll do that in the next week or so.

Lanny McDonald Autographed Card

Purchased on eBay.

Lanny McDonald had a 16-year NHL career during which he amassed 500 goals and 506 assists with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames.  The highlight of his career was obviously winning the Stanley Cup in 1989 with Calgary in Game 6 in Montreal, the final game of his career.  I never knew the New Jersey Devils had a 500-goal scorer in their history, it just never happened while they played in Meadowlands Arena (later Continental Airlines Arena and currently Izod Center) in East Rutherford, or while they have been in New Jersey at all.  I don't know what it is but it seems as though there have been so many past NHL greats who had superior signatures when you compare them to current NHL players.

Andy Bathgate Autographed Card

Bought on eBay.  Retired Player.  Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978.  I bought this card on eBay for a couple of dollars a few days ago, as I haven't gotten many returns, nor have I sent out any letters lately.  973 points in 1069 NHL regular season games isn't bad to say the least for the 50's, 60's and early 70's.  One Stanley Cup with Toronto in 1964 and one Hart Trophy in 1959 with the Rangers.  More autographs coming in the next week or two.

Zdeno Chara

Fan letter sent December 19, 2010.

2/4 autographed cards received December 1, 2011.

One of my returns that I completely forgot about for some odd reason, Chara threw away two other Fleer cards, I guess so I couldn't trade them...which was my intention in sending more than one copy of a card...dangit!!!

Dylan Reese Jersey Card

Currently with the New York Islanders.

I honestly don't know when I got this card, because I just found it while looking through the current stack of cards that I want to get autographed.

Comment on autograph collecting.

I don't send fan letters to players' homes unless I can't find an alternate address to send to (such as their current teams for current players or agents or current work locations for retired players).  It might not be the quickest way to get a return, but I don't like the idea of stalking players at their home addresses.  Just a thought based on a comment from someone on my blog.

Brent Seabrook

Fan letter sent May 24, 2011.
1/3 cards returned autographed on May 10, 2012.

It took 50 weeks to get this card back from Brent Seabrook, but I was happy when I saw "Chicago, Ill." on the postmark...although I was really hoping that it was my Patrick Kane cards coming back...or Marian Hossa.  Anyway...

Milan Hejduk Jersey Card

Pulled from a pack of 2011-12 Upper Deck Artifacts April 29, 2012.

Vincent Lecavalier

Fan letter sent November 26, 2010.

1/3 cards returned autographed on April 28, 2012.

Well, it took a while to get this card back signed from Vincent Lecavalier, and he only signed one of the three cards that I sent to him; but, I am still happy with the result.  Lucky for me the Post Office took the stamp, which was only 44 cents at the time, without any extras on Lecavalier's part.  I included the pre-printed letter that he included with the cards.
 

Gump Worsley

Acquired through eBay.

Lorne "Gump" Worsley ended his career with a record of 335 wins, 352 losses, 150 ties and 43 shutouts.  His 352 losses is tied with Curtis Joseph for second-most all-time behind Martin Brodeur.  He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980.

Sid Abel

Autographed puck acquired through eBay in April.

The third member of the Detroit Red Wings "Production Line" made famous during the 40s and 50s along with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay.  Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

Erik Cole TTM Success

 
Fan letter sent September 19, 2011.
3/3 Autographed cards received  April 16, 2012.

Currently with the Montreal Canadiens.

Erik Cole was a fan favorite of Carolina Hurricanes fans for several years until he signed with the Montreal Canadiens last summer as a free agent after the Hurricanes refused to meet his salary demands by July 1.  I was really excited to finally get his autograph in the mail today after waiting almost seven months from the time I sent out the fan letter.  I honestly don't blame him for wanting to move on as I feel the Hurricanes organization probably tried to sign him for less than what he wanted and I am really fed up with Peter Karmanos, Jr., the Hurricanes owner, and Jim Rutherford, the GM, for not signing the right players and not trying to make their team better than it should be.  Anyway, despite the Canadiens not coming close to the playoffs, Cole had a career-high in goals (35) and tied his career best in points (61) this past season.  It looks as though he realized mid-signature on the Fleer card that his current number (72) wouldn't have looked correct on the Hurricanes' card, when his number was 26.