Jari Kurri

Retired player.  Purchased on eBay.  Currently serves as General Manager of the Finnish national team.  Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

A big part of the Edmonton Oilers five Stanley Cups, Jari Kurri scored 601 goals and recorded 1,398 total points in 1,251 regular season NHL games and 106 goals and 233 points in 200 Playoff games with the Oilers, Kings, Rangers, Ducks and Avalanche.  Kurri played for Jokerit of Finland's SM-liiga during the 1994-95 NHL lockout, regular season and playoffs, the team he played for before playing in the NHL.

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.

Bobby Hull

Retired player.  Elected to Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

Purchased September 18, 2011.

Having played 24 seasons in the NHL and WHA, Bobby Hull's numbers are staggering.  610 goals and 560 assists in the NHL; 303 goals and 335 assists in the WHA.  One Stanley Cup.  You just never know when or if you will ever win a Stanley Cup (or another one having won his only Cup in his fourth NHL season).  Anyway, I was looking through the collection of autographed cards and this was one that stood out to me; another fairly cheap addition to my autograph collection.

Jaromir Jagr Second Attempt Success

Currently with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Fan letter sent May 17, 2011.

2/2 Autographed cards received September 17, 2011.

I had written to Jagr a few months prior to sending out this letter and got it returned to me unopened from some sports agent in California.  Well, I scoured through the Internet fan success posts on a few forums and found his team in the Czech Republic (this being before he signed with the Flyers).  So lo and behold less than a month before the season starts I receive a letter today with my name on it, albeit not in my handwriting and not my envelope that I had sent with the letter, a turnaround time of about four months from the Czech Republic, my first success overseas (woohoo!!!).  Both cards signed by Jagr.  Another 500+ goal scorer to add to my growing list of autographs!!!

Keith Tkachuk

Retired 500-Goal Scorer.

Fan letter sent May 18, 2011.

3/3 autographed cards received August 9, 2011.

Tkachuk retired after the 2009-10 NHL season with 538 goals and 1,065 points in 1,201 games played.  He started out with the Jets/Coyotes organization before being traded to the St. Louis Blues in 2001 and although he played for the Atlanta Thrashers for 18 regular season and four post-season games in 2007, he went back to the Blues the very next season and ended his career in St. Louis.  Letter and cards were sent to his home address.  I only have autographs of five of the 41 500-goal scorers now (Gretzky, Messier, Richard, Sakic, and now Tkachuk) but I'm hoping to add to that collection in the near future (I have letters out to Jaromir Jagr, Mats Sundin, and Mark Recchi so far with no response as of yet; Jagr I believe is my second try, this time to a different address than the first).

Mark Messier

Acquired through NHL Auctions.

I believe that this is the last autograph that I got through my excessive spending spree on NHL Auctions and it shows Mark Messier hoisting the Stanley Cup above his head in Edmonton during his Oilers' retirement ceremony.  I left it out of a frame for a while and therefore the photo is a little bent, but a pretty cool autographed photo, nonetheless.

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.

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.

The Great One.

Well, here's my first post, even though it's a year after I posted my first entry. I actually got this one (along with just about all the others as well) from NHL Auctions (which I would highly NOT recommend because you could end up spending thousands for maybe ten autographs at best) although all his autographs are through Wayne Gretzky Authentic (if you buy them that is). I'll try to post better photos once I get a digital camera, but since this is the only way I can do it right now (through my phone that is), I'll just post it. I really don't have any interesting stories about how I got these, or the others for that matter. I have got to try to get autographs through the mail from the recommended guys through Sal's Hockey Autograph Blog.