Herb Carnegie

Herb Carnegie and Angela James

While neither player appeared in an NHL game I am very happy to add them as they are both big names in terms of the history of our game.  Carnegie was considered good enough to play in the NHL but is said to have missed his chance due to the colour barrier of the period.  He just recently passed away and this is currently his only autograph card.  There is a actually a great story behind this very card that you can read here.  Angela James is a pioneer of women's hockey and was recently inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Two great additions to my "oddball" autograph binder.  

Andy Chiodo and Jim Craig

Chiodo, once considered a top goaltending prospect, only mustered 8 NHL games, all in 03/04 with Pittsburgh.  This is his only signature card.  Even though Jim Craig only has 30 NHL games to his credit he is a household name for US hockey fans thanks to the job he did for the 1980 US "Miracle" Gold Medal Winning olympic team.  

Tod Sloan and Vic Hadfield

Sloan played well over 700 NHL games in the Original 6 era.  He won two Cups with Toronto and finished his career as a member of the Cup winning 1961 Blackhawks.  His autographs are rather hard to come by. Hadfield is a legendary New York Ranger who played in over 1000 games through 16 NHL seasons, his last three being with the Penguins.  

Marcel Bonin and Paul Holmgren

Bonin won 4 Stanley Cups in a career that lasted only 8 seasons.  Sports Flash autographs, from the early 90s, were inserted one per sealed set.  His only other autograph is in the Habs Centennial set.  Holmgren appeared in the 1981 NHL All-Star game and an additional 500+ NHL games but is best known as the gutsy Flyers General Manager.  His only other autograph is from the 04/05 Franchise series.  

Per Ledin and Matt Bartkowski

Ledin appeared in 3 games for the Colorado Avalanche at the very end of the 08/09 season.  His only autographs come from these hard to find Elitset autograph sets.  Bartkowski has played 9 games for the Bruins, 3 this year and 6 during their Cup winning season.  While he did not appear in their Stanley Cup run he was kept as an extra in case of injury and therefore got to raise the Cup and take part in the celebration.  

Paul Byron and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond

 As a rookie Byron appeared in 8 games for Buffalo in 2011.  He has since moved on to Calgary and has played in 22 games for the Flames.  Letourneau-Leblond is a tough customer who fought his way from the UHL all the way to the NHL, appearing in 37 contests for the Devils.  PL3 holds the distinction of having the longest NHL name ever.  

Cam Talbot, Wade Dubielewicz and Philippe Sauve

Cam Talbot currently sits in my backup only binder, yet to see time in net for the Rangers he served some time as backup in 2011.  Dubielewicz has seen time between the pipes for the Islanders, Blue Jackets and Wild but mostly occupied the backup job.  Son of NHL goalie Bob Sauve, Philippe played a little for Colorado, Calgary, Pheonix, and Boston.  

Adam Dennis and Tyler Plante

Both of these goalies fall into the backup only category.  Dennis first appeared on the bench in an NHL game for the 2006 Buffalo Sabres.  Tyler Plante has been called up to the Florida Panthers on a few occasions, never seeing any playing time but opening lots of doors.  

Steve Downie, Jeff Tambellini and Doug O'Brien

Downie recently joined his third NHL team, the Colorado Avalanche.  He is a rare player to can rack up penalty minutes and points.  Since his rookie year in 05/06 Tambellini has played well over 200 NHL games but never a full season in the big league, always bouncing back and forth with the AHL.  He has since left for Europe.  Defensemen Doug O'Brien played 5 games for the 05/06 Tampa Bay Lightning.  

Tim Brent and Jeff Woywitka

Brent is the answer to an interesting fact, he was drafted twice by the same team, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in both 2002 and 2004.  He played only 15 games for Anaheim, all in 06/07.  It wasn't until a breakout 2010/11 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs that Brent established himself as a full time NHLer.  Jeff Woywitka has seen almost 300 NHL games.  He is currently a member of the New York Rangers but has been a health scratch throughout their playoff run.

Yann Sauve, Stephane Da Costa and Patrick Wiercioch

Defenseman Yann Sauve dressed for 5 games with the 10/11 Canucks.  Born in France, Da Costa became only the sixth player from the country to play in the NHL.  Patrick Wiercioch scored 2 points in his 8 game NHL stint with the 2010/11 Ottawa Senators.  

Phil Russell, Ben Eager and Tony Tanti

Russell, who played over 1000 NHL games through the 1970s and 80s, gets his first autographs in ITG's Enforcers.  He put up over 400 points and 2000 penalty minutes in his career.  Tony Tanti split his last three NHL seasons between Buffalo and Pittsburgh but is best remembered as Vancouver Canucks.  He was one of the teams best players through the 80s, putting up 3 40+ goal seasons and two with 39.  Since breaking into the league in 05/06 Ben Eager has established himself as solid NHL player, suiting up for the Flyers, Blackhawks, Thrashers, Sharks and Oilers. He was a member of the 2010 Blackhawks Stanley Cup winning team.  

Peter Maher

I'll end this mail post the same way I started it, with "oddball" autograph.  Maher, who never played any pro hockey, has been calling Flames hockey since 1980.