Arthurs Irbe, Mark Fitzpatrick and Darcy Wakaluk
Irbe is a well known goalie who had a successful NHL career. I remember his sensational play in the 2002 playoffs. Fitzpatrick missed most of the 90/91 season with a potentially fatal and rare disease. He returned and won the 1992 Bill Masterton trophy. He served as a capable NHL backup goalie for 10 years. Wakaluk played nearly 200 games between the pipes in the NHL, this is his only autograph card.
Peter Skudra, Craig Billington and Frederic Chabot
Skudra, a Latvian like Irbe, served as an NHL backup for 6 years with the Rangers, Sabres, Bruins and Canucks. This is his only signature card. Billington played in the NHL for 15 seasons. Joe Pelletier has a great story about his career here. Chabot's only graph, he played just a handful of NHL games. He is currently the Oilers goaltending coach.
Mike Fountain, Brett Hauer, Brett Harkins
Fountain played 11 NHL games; 6 for Vancouver, 3 for Carolina and 2 for Ottawa. This Classic signature, same for Hauer and Harkins, is Fountain's only graph. Hauer played 29 games for the 95/96 Edmonton Oilers, 5 for the 99/00 Oilers and 3 for the 01/02 Nashville Predators. Harkins played 78 career NHL games.
David Gosselin, Jim Montgomery and Luke Sellars
Gosselin played just 13 career NHL games, all for the Preds. He was an odd addition to the SPA SOTT set. He still plays in Quebec's LNAH. Montgomery's only autograph card, he bounced around the NHL for a few years playing 122 games along the way. He dressed for St. Louis, Philly, Montreal, San Jose and Dallas. Even though Sellars only plead one career NHL game, and it was for the 01/02 Atlanta Thrashers, this is probably my favourite autograph of the post. I like it because this is his only graph, from 99/00 Bowman CHL. There are a number of autographs I need from this set and they aren't easily obtained at a reasonable price.
Vaclav Nedorost, Brad Larsen and Shjon Podein
Nedorost split his 99 career NHL games between the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers. After 294 games, most recently with the 07/08 Atlanta Thrashers, Larsen retired to become an assistant coach with the AHL's Springfield Falcons. Podein played an impressive 127 NHL playoff games on top of 699 solid regular season games. After coming so close to a championship with the 96/97 Flyers, losing in the Cup finals, he finally claimed the trophy as a regular on the 2001 Colorado Avalanche. Podein is also notable for his off ice work, claiming the 2001 King Clancy trophy.
Kristian Kudroc, Nikita Alexeev and Alexander Kharitonov
With only 26 NHL games, this is Kudroc's only autograph. 22 of those were for the Lightning and the other 2 games came as a part of the 03/04 Florida Panthers. Alexeev, the 8th overall pick of the 2000 draft, never turned into an NHL scorer, amassing only 20 goals in 159 games. He currently plays for Kazan in the KHL. Kharitonov's only signature, he played just 71 games between the Lightning and Islanders.
Eric Cairns, Shane Churla and Mike Mottau
With well over 1000 NHL penalty minutes, Cairns worked with his fists. The same can be said for Churla, who has 2301 career NHL penalty minutes. Churla was recently in the news, he was arrested in a road rage incident. Mike Mottau is currently in his second season patrolling the blue line for the New York Islanders.
Sergei Vyshedkevich, Hnat Domenichelli and Serge Aubin
Segei Vyshedkevich (gesundheit) only played 30 NHL games for the Thrashers between 1999 and 2001. This is his only auto. Domenichelli had a highly acclaimed junior career and was the 1996 CHL player of the year. After 267 unremarkable games in the NHL Hnat moved on to play dominant hockey in Switzerland. He even adopted the country as his own, playing for them in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Aubin played 5 full season in the NHL and has sine moved on to be an impact player in Europe.
Joey Tetarenko, Ivan Majesky and John Jakopin
Tetarenko only has a couple of NHL hockey cards and this signature happens to be one of them. He played 69 games for the Panthers and split his last 4 NHL appearances between the Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes in 03/04. Majesky played 3 NHL seasons for 3 different teams; the Panthers in 02/03, Thrashers in 03/04 and Capitals in 05/05. Needless to say, he played no playoff games. This is also Jakopin's only autograph, and one of only 3 NHL cards for the veteran of 113 games.
Brad Ference, Robert Svehla and Mike Hough
Ference played 250 NHL games, his last as a member of the 06/07 Calgary Flames. This is his only signature card. Svehla played 655 regular season games in the NHL, all but one season in Florida. I remember him best for that one year away from the Panthers, when he was a member of the 02/03 Toronto Maple Leafs, ironically choosing to wear number 67.
Christian Laflamme, Brad Brown and Reto Von Arx
Laflamme retired with well over 300 NHL games to his credit. Defenseman Brad Brown played 6 season the NHL, beginning with the Montreal Canadiens. This is Reto's only autograph, no surprise since he only played 19 games for the Hawks before returning to Europe.
Todd Elik, Andre Savage and David Shaw
Elik played over 500 NHL games and played pro hockey into his mid 40's. This is his only graph. This is also Savage's only signature card. He played 66 NHL games. Shaw's only graph as well, he was more accomplished, playing over 800 NHL games beginning in 1983 with the Quebec Nordiques.
Petr Hubacek, Jesse Boulerice and Brent Fedyk
Bubacek played only 6 NHL games for the 00/01 Philadelphia Flyers. Boulerice just retired. He's best known for the 2007 cross check to the head of Ryan Kesler that lead to a 25 game suspension. Fedyk retired with nearly 500 career NHL games.
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