Alexei Yashin

Alexei Yashin

Currently with St. Petersburg SKA of the KHL (Russia).

Signed insert card. Purchased May 2011.

I love those Classic Prospects sets made in the early-to-mid 1990s. So many of the signed insert cards one could get were of prospects who never ended up playing in the NHL. This card is an exception.

Despite having a tumultuous NHL career, Alexei Yashin was a good player--sometimes even great.

This insert card from the 1993-94 Classic Pro Prospects set is signed in blue Sharpie marker and numbered 364 / 500.

Craig Hartsburg

Craig Hartsburg

Retired player. Currently the Associate Coach of the Calgary Flames.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Hartsburg played one season in the WHA with the Birmingham Bulls, then10 more with the Minnesota North Stars. Sine 1994, he has coached in both junior hockey and the NHL.

Kent Huskins

Kent Huskins

Currently with the San Jose Sharks.

Fan letter sent: February 7, 2011.

Autograph received: June 17, 2011.

Huskins was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1998, but never played for them. So far he's skated for the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks. It would be cool if he also played with the Los Angeles Kings--and thus played for all of the California teams.

Anyway, Huskins signed my card in black Sharpie marker. I now have 34 out of 100 cards signed from the 2007-08 OPC Marquee Rookies subset.

Steve Downie

Steve Downie

Currently with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Fan letter sent: December 27, 2010.

Autographs received: June 14, 2011

This is an odd return. I sent Steve Downie one card, and he sent back two different cards--nicely signed in blue Sharpie marker.

The card I sent was from the 2008-09 AHL Top Prospects set. The cards he sent back were from the 2009-10 Upper Deck and 2010-11 O-Pee-Chee sets. I think he mixed up my cards with those of another TTM collector.

If anyone got my AHL card by mistake, drop me a line. I'm trying to get every card in that set signed.

Harold Snepts

Harold Snepts

Retired player.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Things have kept me busier than usual the past 2 weeks, but I finally have some free time and plan on updating this blog regularly again.

This card, signed in blue Sharpie marker, was bought at a card show a few months ago. I'm still going through my stash of autographs that I've squired over the past few months--purchases, TTM successes and signed insert cards. 

Steve Thomas

Steve Thomas

Retired player.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Yay! Steve Thomas--nicknamed "Stumpy" by his teammates--was an exciting player to watch during his NHL career. He was a solid goal scorer and solid bodychecker.

To this day,  I still believe that the Chicago Blackhawks would have beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals if Thomas was still with the 'Hawks. His scoring punch would have made the difference.

Arturs Irbe

Arturs Irbe

Retired player. Currently the Goalie Coach for the Washington Capitals.

Fan letter sent: October 18, 2010

Autographs received: June 6, 2011.

Can hockey autographs make a political statement?

The answer is yes!

After about 8 months, former NHL goaltender Arturs Irbe signed  4 of my cards in blue Sharpie marker. Each card shows Irbe with a different team:  the San Jose Sharks, the Kansas City Blades (IHL), the Carolina Hurricanes and the Dynamo Riga of the old Russian Elite League.

But Irbe declined to sign a 5th card:


Irbe did not sign the card that showed him with the Central Red Army team--also known as CSKA Moscow.

I am positive that this was not random. Irbe neatly signed each card, adding his uniform number. One more card would not make a difference to a player who obviously makes an effort to give fans a nice autograph.

A native or Riga, Latvia, Irbe played all 5 exhibition games for the Central Red Army during a North American tour in the 1989-90 season. Irbe went 4 and 1 in those games, and then rejoined Dynamo Riga. Irbe was Riga's top goaltender, so perhaps he was coerced or otherwise forced to play for the Central Red Army. It doesn't make sense that they would freely loan their top goalie to a rival team--to a team that beat them in the Soviet Elite League finals the previous year--even for an exhibition series.

Irbe also played for the Soviet Union during the 1989 and 1990 World Championships, leading the team to gold both seasons. But he refused to play for them in 1991. According to his Wikipedia entry:

He refused to play for the Soviet Union in 1991 because Latvia had proclaimed independence from the Soviet Union on May 4, 1990 and the Soviet government attempted to use military force in January 1991 to stop Latvia's independence.

So, even 20 years later, Irbe still has bad feelings about the Soviet Union and his involvement with the Central Red Army team. I am sure that is why he did not sign the Red Army card.

Steve Larmer

Steve Larmer

Retired player.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Larmer was one of my favorite players for the Chicago Blackhawks during the late 1980s and early 1990s. I purchased 50 different signed cards from a dealer at a show in March 2011. They were $1 per card, or 50 for $37. I picked up these two to get to 50.

Bill Derlago

Bill Derlago

Retired player.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Over the past 4 years, I've been trying to get the entire 1981-82 Topps Hockey set signed.

I wrote to Derlago back in 2007, but never got my cards back. So when I saw this card at a show a few months ago, I had to get it.

I now have 97 out of 196 cards from this set signed.

FAILURE - Steve McCarthy

Steve McCarthy

Currently with TPS Turku HC (Finland). 

Fan letter sent: December 6, 2010.

UNsigned cards received: May 29, 2011

I was excited when I got my return envelope, postmarked SUOMI FINLAND - PRIORITY.

However, Steve McCarthy did not sign my cards. This bums me out. He played for both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Wolves (AHL)--my two favorite hockey teams. So I was really hoping that he'd sign my cards.

Strangely enough, McCarthy enclosed a fourth card, also unsigned.

The card shows McCarthy as a member of Ufa Salavat Yulayev of the Kontinential Hockey League in Russia. He played for them during the 2008-09 season.

This card is kind of odd. It is printed on thin plastic instead of cardboard. It is numbered #272 on the back, so it is apparently part of a larger KHL set and not a team-issue set.

I find it strange that a player would not sign cards through the mail, and yet enclose an extra "oddball" card in the return envelope. It just doesn't make sense.

Anze Kopitar

Anze Kopitar

Currently with the Los Angeles Kings.

Fan letter sent: December 6, 2010.

Autographs received: May 29, 2011

Anze Kopitar is one of the most consistent TTM autograph signers among the new crop of NHL stars. He signed both cards in black marker. I had a similar success back in 2008, when he signed two other cards for me.

Moe Lemay

Moe Lemay

Retired player.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Moe Lemay played in the NHL from 1982 to 1989. He then spent the next 11 seasons playing in Europe.

This 1985-86 O-Pee-Chee card shows the Canuck's infamous "Flying V" jersey.

Ken Solheim

Ken Solheim

Retired player.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

This card is so messed up. The photo has been repainted to make Solheim appear as a Detroit Red Wing, but the small print says "Now with Minnesota." But when this card came out, he was neither with Detroit nor Minnesota. Here is an article I wrote about this card over at Puck Junk.

Dale Hunter

Dale Hunter

Retired player. Currently the Head Coach of the London Knights (OHL).

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Dale Hunter played 19 seasons in the NHL--7 with the Quebec Nordiques, 11 1/2 with the Washington Capitals and a 1/2 season with the Colorado Avalanche. For the past 10 years, he's been the coach of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Jim Korn

Jim Korn

Retired player.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Jim Korn played 11 seasons in the NHL. He played with the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames.

Andrei Markov

Andrei Markov

Currently with the Montreal Canadiens.

Signed insert card. Purchased May 2011. 

From my fourth box of 2010-11 Artifacts, I pulled this "Autofacts" autographed card of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov. I now have 10 different signed cards from this particular set.

Andrew Cogliano

Andrew Cogliano

Currently with the Edmonton Oilers.

Fan letter sent: December 30, 2010.

Autographs received: May 20, 2011

Cogliano signed both of my cards in black Sharpie marker, adding his number 13 after his signature. He has played in 328 straight regular season games for the Oilers--that's 4 82-game seasons without missing a single game.

Dan Bonar

Dan Bonar

Retired player.

Fan letter sent: October 2, 2010.

Autographs received: May 17, 2011

Dan Bonar played 3 seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. Interestingly, he signed the front and the back of my card in blue ballpoint pen.

Mario Marois

Mario Marois

Retired player.

Purchased at a card show in March 2011

Mario Marois enjoyed a 15-year NHL career with 5 different teams: the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues. During the 1980-81 season, he was traded twice (New York to Vancouver to Quebec).