Ilya Bryzgalov

Ilya Bryzgalov

Currently with the Anaheim Ducks.

Fan letter sent: May 7, 2007.

Autographs received: August 31, 2007.

Ilya Bryzgalov. The Ken Wregget of today. The "he would be a starting goalie on any other team" guy. I was quite pleased to get these cards back from him, but of course the Upper Deck card signature looks crummy, because of the high amount of gloss. I guess I should get into the habit of rubbing the cards with an eraser before sending them out. That's why I like the 05-06 Parkhurst cards so much--they have very little gloss, and take signatures well.

Anyway, here's a pretty funny clip of Bryzgalov on YouTube, suggesting why Chris Pronger may have decided to leave Edmonton and sign with Anaheim.

Mike York

Mike York

Currently with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Fan letter sent: February 12, 2007.

Autograph received: August 30, 2007.

I wrote to Mike York way back in February, when he was still with the New York Islanders.

Francois Beauchemin

Francois Beauchemin

Currently with the Anaheim Ducks.

Fan letter sent: May 7, 2007.

Autographs received: August 28, 2007.

I sent this letter to Beauchemin c/o the Ducks, but he mailed it back from his home in Canada. Mad props to Francois for paying the postage (my envelope had American stamps, since I thought he'd be sending it back from Anaheim).

Cam Stewart

Cam Stewart

Retired player. Currently an Assistant Coach with the Houston Aeros (AHL).

Fan letter sent: January 22, 2007.

Autographs received: August 27, 2007.

Cam Stewart--who played two seasons with the Aeros in the late 1990s--has been an assistant coach of theirs since 2002.

Randy Velischek

Randy Velischek

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: July 6, 2007.

Autographs received: August 25, 2007.

Though he retired over ten years ago, Randy Velischek is still a great signer. Although I never wrote to him "back in the day", so I can't say he's "still" a good signer...but he is currently a great signer, as he signed these four nicely in black Sharpie.

Zdeno Ciger

Zdeno Ciger

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: July 5, 2007.

Autographs received: around August 20, 2007.

I remember doing a crossword puzzle once in college, in some non-hockey type of magazine. One of the clues was "Edmonton hockey player". The letters were _I_ER. For some strange reason, I just assumed the answer was "CIGER", because he was, after all, an Edmonton hockey player. Unfortunately, the answer they wanted was "OILER"--same amount of letters, has an I and ends with ER. Of course, this screwed up the rest of the cross words that intersected with it. I should have written to "Entertainment Weekly", or whatever magazine it was, and complained about the ambiguity of the answer.

But that's neither here nor there. I wrote to Zdeno Ciger in Slovakia, and he used some sort of weird thick marker that was fading.

In all the letters I send to Europe, I put a piece of cardboard in my return envelope--just to give the cards a bit of extra protection in their overseas voyages to and from the player. Nothing fancy, just a comic book board that I've cut down. Ciger also autographed that piece of cardboard...also for some strange reason. Maybe when I asked him to please sign my cards, he also took that to mean anything cardboard in the envelope. Of course, I'm not complaining...I have a several odds and ends (Post-It notes, etc.) signed by players. They don't make it to the forefront of my collection, but they are still kept.

Vincent Damphousse

Vincent Damphousse

Retired player. Currently employed by the NHLPA.

Fan letter sent: July 5, 2007.

Autographs received: around August 20, 2007.

Earlier this summer, my friend Anthony up in Montreal met Vincent Damphousse and got a postcard signed for me. I also wrote to Damphousse, sending him five cards--all of which he signed quite nicely. Man, I could have sent five more cards...he has so many good ones (I'd love to get a '93-94 Power Play card and his RC signed). Vinny played a long time, and was a darn good player. Of course--and I've said this before--I'll never forget when he was the All-Star Game MVP back in 1991. Four goals. Awesome.

Rick Green

Rick Green

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: July 2, 2007.

Autographs received: around August 20, 2007.

I spent the last week in Los Angeles, taking a mini-vacation and also serving as Best Man in my friend's wedding. So, when I got back to Chicago, I had three more TTM successes. I'm not sure what came in when, so I'm just going with August 20 as the receive date.

Anywho, Rick Green nicely signed these cards in fading marker. Can't win them all. One card I included was his Rookie Card from the 1977-78 Topps set--I'm surprised that I had it. He played a long time in the NHL, so it was cool to get some 'graphs from him.

Brendan Shanahan

Brendan Shanahan

Currently with the New York Rangers.

Purchased on eBay. Added to my collection August 20, 2007.

I've been a fan of Shanahan (say that 3x fast!) since 1989, when he penned an article for Inside Hockey magazine. He was maybe 19--not much older than me at the time, as I was 14. So, I kind of related to him, in a way. The article in question was about what hockey players say to each other on the ice. He lamented about one time when someone said to him "Who names their kid Brendan?", which Shanny thought that was kind of mean.

Darius Kasparaitis

Darius Kasparaitis

Currently with the New York Rangers.

Purchased on eBay. Added to my collection August 20, 2007.

Ah, yes...Kasparaitis. Sounds like a disease, one that frustrates Mario Lemieux and makes Jaromir Jagr cry. I've always wanted this guy's autograph, but we all pretty much know how difficult it is to get signed by anyone on the New York Rangers (I think Wayne Presley is the *only* Ranger to send back my cards signed). So, I figured it would not hurt to pony up a few bucks for this autograph.

Andrei Lomakin

Andrei Lomakin

Deceased player (1964-2006)

Purchased on eBay. Added to my collection August 20, 2007.

I recently learned that Andrei Lomakin died in December of 2006. Old news by now, but still, I was surprised that a player I remember watching in the 1990s had passed away.

Gilles Tremblay

Gilles Tremblay

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: June 18, 2007.

Autograph received: August 6, 2007.

Jody Hull

Jody Hull

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: July 9, 2007.

Autographs received: August 4, 2007.

Pierre Pilote

Pierre Pilote

Retired player. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1975,

Fan letter sent: May 25, 2007.

Autograph received: August 4, 2007.

Huzzah! Another signed HOF card from the '83 set. Pilote was an All-Star eight times, and won the Norris Trophy three times. He was a part of the Stanley Cup winning team in 1961, and inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.

Stephane Richer

Stephane Richer

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: July 6, 2007.

Autographs received: August 3, 2007.

Richer signed all five of my cards--quite nicely in blue Sharpie--and even included an extra card. Several Canadiens have also included cards from this set, including
Henri Richard and Elmer Lach.

Jean Beliveau

Jean Beliveau

Retired player. Inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1972.

Fan letter sent: July 5, 2007.

Autograph received: August 2, 2007.

"Mr. Everything". I once met Jean Beliveau way back in 1990, when the NHL All-Star Game was in Chicago. Four years later, my Mom got him to autograph a copy of Sports Illustrated from 1956, which I have framed and hanging on my wall. It is flattering that retired amazing greats like Beliveau still sign autographs.

Gordie Roberts

Gordie Roberts

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: April 18, 2007.

Autograph received: August 1, 2007.

Gordie Roberts played pro hockey a long time--four years in the WHA, 15 years in the NHL and two more in the old IHL--including the inaugural season for the Chicago Wolves.