Joby Messier, Jeff Nelson and Richard Smehlik
From 1992-1995 Joby Messier, second cousin of Mark, played
25 games for the New York Rangers.
He played 4 regular season games, collecting 2 assists, during the 94 Stanley Cup winnings season. Towards the
end of his career he was involved in a serious car accident that ended the
career of his brother, Mitch. Read
a well written article about the incident. Jeff Nelson played over 50 NHL games between the
Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators. His 9 games for the Preds came during their inaugural 98/99
season, making him an original Predator.
His lengthy pro career came to an end only last year, retiring after 2
years in the Central Hockey League.
Smehlik played most of his 700+ game NHL career for the Buffalo Sabres,
helping them reach the finals in 1999.
His only year away was his last season, splitting time between the
Trashers and Devils. He retired
shortly after winning the Stanley Cup as a member of the 03 New Jersey Devils team.
Jason Bonsignore, Peter Ferraro, Chris Ferraro
Bonsignore saw 79 games of NHL action between the Edmonton
Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning. He
is largely known as a draft bust, being Edmonton’s first pick, 4th
overall, in 1994. Bonsignore
actually told his tale of being a ‘bust’ in this great article. After Ron and Rich Sutter,
Peter Ferraro and his brother Chris, in 1995, became only the second set of
identical twins to play in the NHL.
Peter managed a few more games than his brother, seeing time with Pittsburgh,
New York, Boston and most recently the 02 Caps. He retired in 2009 after a couple years in the ECHL. Chris played 74 NHL games between both
New York teams, Edmonton, Pittsburgh and Washington. He missed most of the 01/02 season due to the illness and
ultimate untimely death of his newly wed wife.
Chris Marinucci, Shean Donovan, Derek Plante
Drafted by the New York Islanders in 1990, Marinucci played
four years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, winning the prestigious Hobby
Baker award in 1994. He made his
NHL debut for the New York Islanders the very next year.
He would only play 12 games with the club, netting 5 points. His only other NHL experience came in a
one game stint with the 96/97 LA Kings.
If you include the playoffs Shean Donovan played in exactly 1, 000 NHL
games, retiring as an Ottawa Senator in 2010. He was a 3rd or 4th line depth player
who’s best year came in 03/04 when he helped Calgary reach the Cup finals. A teammate of Marinucci’s in Minnesota,
Derek Plante is now an assistant coach for the University. He played just under 500 NHL games
between Buffalo, Dallas, Chicago and Philadelphia. He had a few solid years in Buffalo, his best being a 27
goal, 53 point season in 96/97. He
would score the game winning goal of game 7 in the 1997 playoffs to
eliminate the Ottawa Senators.
Zac Bierk, Terry Ryan
Zac Bierk’s older brother is actually Skid Row singer
Sebastian Bach, while I can’t say I’ve ever listened to the band his cameo on
Trailer Park Boys is priceless.
Zac’s father, David, was a very well known painter. Zac appeared in 47 NHL game, most
between Tampa and Pheonix, 1 being with the 00/01 Minnesota Wild. Newfoundland born Terry Ryan played 8
games for the Montreal Canadiens in the late 90s. He’s currently writing a book about his career.
Pat Conacher, Mike Eastwood, Glen Wesley
Cocacher played nearly 20 years of pro hockey. He won a Stanley Cup with the Oilers in
1984. He nearly won another with
the legendary Wayne Gretzky, making it all the way to the finals with the 93
Kings. He spent 3 years as an
assistant coach in Pheonix and is currently head coach of the Reginal Pats in
the CHL. Mike Eastwood spent the
first few years of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs before being traded
to the Winnipeg Jets in a deal that saw Tie Domi go the other way. He was a member of the original Pheonix
Coyote team in 1996. The rest of
his lengthy career was spent with the Rangers, Blues, Blackhawks and
Penguins. Glen Wesley played over
1,500 career NHL games in a career that started with the Bruins in 1987. It took him 4 trips to the finals but
he finally got his Stanley Cup with the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes.
Jesse Belanger, Boris Mironov, Brad Werenka
Belanger was a prolific scorer in the QMJHL and then the AHL
before cracking Montreal’s lineup for 4 games in 91/92. He appeared in 19 games an and
additional 9 playoffs games the next year, playing a small role in the Montreal
Canadien’s 1993 Stanley Cup win.
The excitement was short lived for Belanger, that summer he was picked
by Florida in the expansion draft.
He played the next 3 years on a bad Panthers team and was traded to
Vancouver before the 1996 playoff run.
He would go on to see limited ice time in a handful of games for
Vancouver and Edmonton, a second tour of Montreal in 99/00 and his last taste
of the NHL in 00/01 with the New York Islanders. He’s still playing pro in Quebec’s LNAH. Defenseman Boris Mironov split his first
NHL season between the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets but was still good
enough to be named to the 1994 NHL all rookie team. With over 700 NHL games to his credit, Mironov was a top D
in Edmonton and Chicago for a number of seasons. He won an Olympic silver and bronze with Russia in 98 and
02. His play began to diminish in 2003
when the Blackhawks traded him to New York for a conditional draft pick. He spent one full season in New York
before retiring in 2004.
Werenka bounced around with the Oilers, Nordiques and Blackhawks before
finding an NHL home with the 97/98 Penguins. He played two and a half seasons in Pittsburgh and was traded
to the Flames midway through the 99/00 year. He never played a full season in Calgary as concussions
forced him to retire a year later.
Jeremy Reich, Ty Jones, Jean-Yves Leroux
Reich, a second round pick by Chicago in 1997, made his NHL
debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 03/04. He would play 9 games for the team. He next appearance in the NHL would
come in 2006, playing the better part of two years for the Bruins. He left the NHL in 2008 with 99 regular
season games and 4 playoff games to his credit. Jones was Chicago’s first pick, 16th overall, in
1997 and did little more than Reich.
Jones would play only 8 games for the Blackhawks, all during the 98/99
season. His only other National Hockey
League action came during the 03/04 season in which he suited up for 6 games
with the Florida Panthers. Leroux
spent all of his 220 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks from 1996-2001.
Kirk Muller, Dmitri Mironov, Eric Messier
Kirk Muller had a distinguished 19 year career in the
NHL. Playing for the New Jersey
Devils, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida
Panthers and Dallas Stars he netted nearly 1000 points and was an NHL all star
and member of team Canada on multiple occasions. He was an important member of two Stanley Cup teams, the 93
Habs and 2000 Dallas Stars. He has
since taken up coaching and is current head bench boss of the Hurricanes. The second Mironov of this post, Dmitri, is Boris’ big brother. One of many
new, older Russians coming into the league in the early 90s, Dmitri was able to
make an immediate impact on the Toronto Maple Leafs when he joined them in the
early 90s as a 26 year old Olympian.
He was a key contributor to the Leafs playoff run in 94 and after seeing
time in Pittsburgh and Anaheim he would win a Cup with the Red Wings in
1998. He retired in 2001
after three years with the Washington Capitals. Eric Messier, no relation to any of the other Messiers,
played the better part of half a dozen seasons in Colorado and retired after
one year for Florida in 2004. His
most notable accomplishment was being a member of Colorado’s Stanley Cup
winning team in 2001.
Alexander Selivanov, Alexei Zhitnik, Shaun Van Allen
Selivanov played half a dozen seasons in the NHL between
Tampa, Edmonton and Columbus. He
had a 31 goal season for the Lightning and a 27 goal campaign for the 99/00
Oilers. He was married to Phil
Esposito’s daughter, unfortunately she died earlier this year. Zhitnik played 15 seasons of full time
NHL hockey. He spent the better
part of 10 of those years in Buffalo, helping them reach the finals in 99. He played in 2 All-Star games and has
many International awards including Olympic gold and silver medals. Van Allen
spent a dozen seasons in the NHL playing for Edmonton, Anaheim, Ottawa, Dallas
and Montreal.
Nolan Pratt, Cam Stewart, Eric Desjardins
Pratt amassed over 600 NHL games playing for Carolina, Tampa
Bay and Buffalo. He won a Cup with
the Lightning in 2004. Stewart’s
200+ NHL games came with Boston, Florida and Minnesota. His career ended early in 2001 due to
concussion issues. Most of
Desjardin’s 17 NHL seasons were spent as a Top 2 Defenseman. Among his many accolades are 3 All Star
games, a Stanley Cup in 93 and being named to Canada’s 1998 Olympic team.
Toby Petersen, Nathan Paetsch, Bobby Sanguinetti
Petersen has played for the Penguins, Oilers and as recently
as 2012, the Dallas Stars. He’s a
fourth/third line center with 400+ games on his resume. After making his Sabres debut in 05/06
Paetsch played 3 ½ seasons for Buffalo before moving on to Columbus, his last
NHL destination in 09/10. He’s
since moved to Europe. A first
round draft pick in 2006, Sanguinetti has only played 8 NHL games, 5 for the
09/10 Rangers and the other 3 for last years Carolina Hurricanes.
Kevin Marshall and Tyler Moss
I was able
to pick up the whole Ramparts team signed /175 set for a reasonable price. So far Marshall is the only NHL player
from the team, having made his debut for the Philadelphia Flyers this
year. He doesn’t have a certified
NHL autograph yet, which is why I bought the set. He played in 10 games this year for Philadelphia and was recently signed by the Washington Capitals. Moss made NHL appearances for Calgary, Carolina and most recently Vancouver in 02/03. He still plays overseas.
Jack Egers and Norm Ferguson
Egers had two stellar, 20 goal seasons for the St. Louis
Blues in 71/72 and 72/73. He was
then plagued by injuries and never played another full season in the NHL. Nova Scotia born Ferguson played 4 seasons
for the Oakland/California Golden Seals before moving to the WHA, were he put
together 3 straight 35+ goal seasons.
Ron Greschner and Bob Baun
Greschner played all of his 1000+ NHL games in New York with
the Rangers and was a fan favorite for most of that time. Baun is famous for playing, and
contributing, to the crucial end of the 1964 Stanley Cup finals, all while
playing with a broken ankle. He
also won the cup with the Leafs in 62,63 and 67.
Billy Smith and Doug Favell
Smith is a Hockey Hall of Famer who backstopped the New York
Islanders to 4 Stanley Cups. Favell,
another goalie, played a dozen NHL seasons, a few as a starter in Philadelphia,
Toronto and Colorado. He was also
a pro lacrosse player.
Lyndon Byers and Al Secord
Byers retired from pro hockey in 1995 but only gets his
first certified autograph in 2011.
From 1983-1992 he played 279 regular season games for the Bruins,
recording over 1000 Penalty Minutes.
He held a regular spot on the roster that went all the way to the 1990 Cup
finals, losing to the Oilers.
Secord, who wasn’t afraid to drop the gloves, also had a scoring touch
and netted 54 goals for the Hawks during the 82/83 season. His production dried up after leaving
Chicago in 1987. He’s currently an
airline pilot.
Terry Richardson and Perry Berezan
Richardson appeared in 19 games for the Red Wings from
1973-1977. He also played a game
for the 78/79 St. Louis Blues. Berezan
was the Calgary Flame credited for the 1986 Steve Smith own net playoff goal
that eliminated the Oilers. He
left the Flames in 1989, being traded just weeks before they won the Cup. He then spent 3 seasons in Minnesota
but was picked up by the expansion San Jose Sharks. Berezan was an original Shark, playing 66 games for the team
during their inaugural 1991/92 season.
He retired after only 1 more year in San Jose.
Larry Hale and Ken Block
Hale spent four seasons in Philadelphia before jumping over
to the WHA, playing 6 full seasons for the Houston Aeros. He helped the Aeros win the 1974 and 75
Avco Cup as WHA champs. Block
played 1 NHL game for the 70/71 Vancouver Canucks. He was, however, a full time WHA player for the league’s
whole existence, playing 7 seasons in the rival league and retiring in 1979.
Tim Bothwell and Charlie Bourgeois
Bothwell played over 500 NHL games between the New York
Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Hartford Whalers. He was an assistant coach for the 2006 women’s Gold medal
winning Olympic team. Bourgeois
saw NHL action with Calgary, St. Louis and Hartford. He now runs a successful hockey camp in New Brunswick.
Lyle Phair and Bob Paradise
From 1985-1988 Phair played just under 50 games for the LA
Kings. Throughout the 1970s
Paradise appeared in nearly 400 NHL games, suiting up for the North Stars,
Flames, Penguins and Capitals.
Before his hockey career got under way he had actually been offered and
turned down a baseball contract from the Boston Red Sox.
Mike Bloom and Moe L’Abbe
Bloom scored 77 points in his 201 NHL game career with the
Red Wings and Capitals. L’Abbe
played 5 games for the 72/73 Chicago Blackhawks.
Rick Chinnick and Ron Areshenkoff
Chinnick played 4 games for the Minnesota North Stars in the
mid 70s. Areshenkoff played 4
games for 79/80 Edmonton Oilers.
Jim Stewart
Stewart played 1 game for the 79/80 Boston Bruins. After retiring from his own hockey
career he was a long time goalie coach.
A great little article notes Stewart’s involvement in Cup
winner and playoff MVP Jonathan Quick’s career.
Noureen DeWulf and Alexander Gusev
Two more autographs for my ‘oddball’ binder as Gusev never
played in the NHL. DeWulf gets
this NHL autograph card for being an actress and wife of goalie Ryan
Miller. Gusev is best known for
being a member of the USSR team that faced team Canada in the 1972 Summit
series.
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