Matt Ravlich

Matt Ravlich

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: January 22, 2008.

Autographs received: January 31, 2008.

Nine days. Not bad. Although Ravlich signed in pen, I almost expect sigs from "Original Six" Era players to be in ballpoint pen instead of marker.

Ravlich was even so kind to use the letter I sent him to wrap around the card, so as to keep it from getting damaged in its return trip to me.

Ilkka Sinisalo

Ilkka Sinisalo

Retired player. Currently a scout with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 28, 2008.

All right! Four for four. But signed in pen. Oh well...

Denis Arkhipov

Denis Arkhipov

Currently with Kazan Ak-Bars of the Russian Super League.

Fan letter sent: October 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 26, 2008.

Arkhipov played a few seasons with the Nashville Predators, and last season with the Chicago Blackhawks. I wanted to get his 2006-07 Hawks team card signed, so I wrote to him c/o the Russian team (Kazan Ak-Bars) that he is now playing with.

I also enclosed two 4" by 6" photos that I found from the Kazan Ak-Bars website. Although I don't read Russian, I was able to find the roster page, and then Arkhipov's page. At the bottom of his page is a link to an image gallery. I downloaded two of the images, and printed them out on high-quality glossy photo paper on my Epson printer. I figured if I was going to spend 90 cents sending a letter--and enclosing $2 for return postage--I should include a few other things to get signed besides the card.

Writing to players in Russia--especially untested ones--can be a bit of a long shot. But this one paid off...sort of. Arkhipov used a fading marker, so the signature doesn't look good on the 'Hawks card or the portrait shot. But it looks pretty good on the photo where he is standing.

I also sent a fan letter to former Vancouver Canucks goaltender Mika Noronen, who is also with Kazan Ak-Bars. It would be cool if I had a success from him too.

Karlis Skrastins

Karlis Skrastins

Currently with the Colorado Avalanche.

Fan letter sent: February 12, 2007.

Autographs received: January 22, 2008.

I wrote to Skrastins right after he broke Tim Horton's record of consecutive games played by a defensenen, back in February of 2007. I had pretty much given up on getting my cards back, but then I got them today--just three weeks shy of a year.

Radim Vrbata

Radim Vrbata

Currently with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Fan letter sent: October 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 19, 2008.

This is the second time I have written to Vrbata. The first time, about a year ago, he signed both of my cards. I was kind of annoyed that the Blackhawks traded Vrbata, as he seemed to have a nice scoring touch. But I guess the organ-I-zation thought that Vrbata was not tough enough, and would not go into traffic. He seems to be doing pretty good with the Coyotes so far this season.

Marc-Andre Fleury

Marc-Andre Fleury

Currently with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Fan letter sent: November 6, 2006.

Autographs received: January 18, 2008.

Man, I had pretty much given up on getting these cards back from Marc-Andre Fleury. It had been over one year, after all. But I got these cards back--and the post office even delivered it to me even though it had an old 39-cent stamp and not the newer 41-cent stamp.

Fleury personalized both of these cards "To Sal", but was in a hurry because he put them back in the envelope too quickly, and some of the ink from the Fleer card got onto the back of the Parkhurst card. No big deal, as it doesn't look like the 'graph on the Fleer card was smudged or anything.

Sheldon Souray

Sheldon Souray

Currently with the Edmonton Oilers.

Fan letter sent: November 9, 2007.

Autographs received: January 15, 2008.

Nice! A current player, and a relatively quick turnaround time--about nine weeks.

Troy Crowder

Troy Crowder

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 14, 2008.

I don't think any hockey fan over the age of 30 will ever forget the fight between Troy Crowder and Bob Probert....



The only guy I ever see come close to beating Probert in a fight was Dave Manson of the Chicago Blackhawks--and those guys would usually fight to a standstill, if I remember correctly. But this was the first time I think any of us saw Probert get defeated. Probert was like the Darth Vader of the NHL in the 1990s--you saw him, and you hoped that you weren't the guy he was after.

So, this fight put Troy Crowder on the map and made him an instant heavyweight. The fight, among other things, are discussed in this interview over at HockeyFights.com.

Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe

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

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autograph received: January 10, 2008.

Gordie Howe, a.k.a. Mr. Hockey! Howe did not sign the card I sent him, but he did enclose this hand-signed photo, which is still way cool of him. Eventually, though, I hope to get his HHOF card signed by him one day.

Scott Arniel

Scott Arniel

Retired player. Currently the Head Coach of the Manitoba Moose (AHL).

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 10, 2008.

Mike Ramsey

Mike Ramsey

Retired player. Currently an Assistant Coach with the Minnesota Wild.

Fan letter sent: November 16, 2007.

Autographs received: January 10, 2008.

Ramsey played a long time in the NHL. He was also a member of the "Miracle on Ice", as he played for Team USA during the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Rick Lessard

Rick Lessard

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 10, 2008.

Lessard was part of the San Jose Sharks inaugural season. He added his uniform number under his signature on these cards.

Jeff Bes

Jeff Bes

Currently with the Laredo Bucks (CHL).

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 7, 2008.

Today was pretty awesome, as I got back six replies!!! The first was of former Chicago Wolves player Jeff Bes, who is now with the Lauredo Bucks of the CHL. Bes played 24 games for the Wolves during the '97-98 season. A minor goal (no pun intended) is to get an autograph from every Wolves player who's ever appeared on a trading card.

Todd Nelson

Todd Nelson

Retired player. Currently an Assistant Coach with the Chicago Wolves (AHL).

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 7, 2008.

Todd Nelson used to play for the Muskegon Lumberjacks, which was a team I grew up following back in the 1990s. He's now an Assistant Coach for the Chicago Wolves, which is my favorite AHL team.

Glenn Mulvenna

Glenn Mulvenna

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 7, 2008.

Yay! Another former member of the Muskegon Lumberjacks, Mully signed both cards.

Danton Cole

Danton Cole

Retired player. Currently the Head Coach of the University of Alabama-Huntsville (CHA).

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 7, 2008.

Fantastic! Four cards signed by the former Winnipeg Jet. Cole is now the head coach of the University of Alabama-Huntsville, which is a NCAA Division 1 team.

Peter Zezel

Peter Zezel

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 7, 2008.

A quick return, I got these cards back from Peter Zezel in twelve days. He signed his rookie card in black, and the other three cards in blue--perhaps to match the team colors (the Flyers uniform has black, while the Blues, Maple Leafs and Capitals uniforms all have blue). I am not a huge Peter Zezel fan per se; rather, I admired him because he was in the hockey movie Youngblood. He's probably the "extra" who gets the most screen time. Any time the coach mentions "Rossini", it's actually Zezel playing that character. Rossini wears #12 in that film, and is one of the assistant captains on the Mustangs. You can see him at the end of the film, when the coach wants Dean Youngblood to come off the ice--he sends Rossini out to sub for Youngblood, who sternly refuses, sending Rossini back to the bench.

Brent Sutter

Brent Sutter

Currently the Head Coach of the New Jersey Devils.

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 7, 2007.

Everyone who has written to Brent Sutter has only had nice things to say about him. I got these four cards back in twelve days! Mind you, he's an NHL Head Coach now, and has lots of things to do. Plus, two of those days were New Year's Eve and New Years Day. And yet, twelve days!!! Quite the quick signer. What a guy!!!

Bruce Hoffort

Bruce Hoffort

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: December 26, 2007.

Autographs received: January 4, 2008.

The day after Christmas, I sent out six fan letters. Nine days later, I got back these cards signed by Bruce Hoffort. That's a very quick turnaround time, considering that is counting both a Sunday and a Holiday (New Year's Day). I've heard complaints about Hoffort's autograph being smudgy and illegible, but I think these look good.

As far as my 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier set goes, I now have 29 of the 131 cards autographed.