1973/74 Winnipeg Jets Program

One item to show in this post, a 1973/74 Winnipeg Jets WHA program signed by 20 players.
The program produced 10 autographs for my collection and 10 traders. 5 of the new autographs are WHA only players and 5 go into my NHL collection. With the 5 additions the new grand total of unique NHL player signatures grows to 5,136 for 69% of everyone who's every played in the league since its creation in 1917.
My most regular search on places like ebay is for old signed hockey programs, not just from the NHL but WHA and AHL programs are even more desirable for me as they tend to produce the rarer autographs I now seek. The one problem I find with signed programs is that many sellers want some pretty crazy prices for them. The reality is, there isn't a huge market for signed programs that are generally hard to display. I do love to pick them up when the price is right. 

The Program:

The signed pages:

Final product:

5 for my NHL autograph collection

Bob Woytowich

From 1964 to 1972 Bob Woytowich played over 500 games in the NHL. The Defenceman spent time with the Bruins, North Stars, Penguins and Kings. Woytowich, of Polish descent, is notable for being the first captain of North Stars history, from 1967 to 1968. He later spent 4 seasons in the WHA, playing for the Winnipeg Jets and Indianapolis Racers. Woytowich passed away almost 30 years ago so his signatures aren't easy to find and it was the first autograph on this program that caught my attention. Unfortunately he died rather young when he had a heart attack while driving and crashed. 

Kelly Pratt

Kelly Pratt's first season as a pro was spent with Bobby Hull's 1973/74 Winnipeg Jets, were he scored 4 goals and 10 points in 46 WHA games. Pratt later moved to the NHL, playing one season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pratt recorded 6 points in 22 career NHL games with the 1974/75 Penguins.

Jim Hargreaves

Defenceman Jim Hargreaves was drafted 16th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 1970. From 1970  to 1973 he played 66 NHL games with Vancouver. He later spent 3 seasons in the WHA, playing for the Winnipeg Jets, Indianapolis Racers and San Diego Mariners.

Ron Snell

From 1968 to 1970 Ron Snell played 7 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, scoring 3 goals and 5 points. From 1973 to 1975 Snell played 90 games in the WHA with the Winnipeg Jets.

Larry Hornung

From 1970 to 1972 Larry Hornung played 48 regular season and 11 playoff games in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues. He found more success in the WHA, playing almost 400 games from 1972 to 1978. In the WHA he played for the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers and San Diego Mariners. The defenceman was even named to the 1972/73 WHA All-Star team and in 1976 he helped the Jets win the Acvo Cup as WHA champs. Hornung passed away from cancer in 2001.

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These 5 go into my WHA only collection of autographs.

Ted Hargreaves

Ted Hargreaves made a name for himself with the Canadian national team, helping Canada win a bronze at the 1968 Olympics. From 1969 to 1971 he was property of the Toronto Maple Lefas but was unable to crack the NHL roster. Hargreaves later played 1 season in the WHA, scoring 7 goals and 19 points in 74 games with the 1973/74 Winnipeg Jets. Hargreaves passed away in 2005 from a battle with cancer. 

Ken Stephanson

Defenceman Ken Stephanson was property of both the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins in the 1960s but was never able to crack an NHL roster. He spent 2 seasons in the WHA. Stephanson played  77 games with the 1972/73 Ottawa Nationals and another 29 WHA games with the 1973/74 Winnipeg Jets. 

Dan Spring

Dan Spring was drafted 12th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1971 but was never able to make the NHL roster. From 1973 to 1975 Dan Spring was a member of the Winnipeg Jets and from 1975 to 1976 played for the Edmonton Oilers. Over those 3 seasons he scored 39 goals and 90 points in 201 regular season WHA games. His brother, Frank, was also a pro hockey player and made it to the NHL.

Jean-Guy Gratton

Jean-Guy Gratton spent 3 years in the WHA with the Winnipeg Jets, scoring 31 goals and 72 points in 188 games.

Cal Swenson

Cal Swenson spent two seasons in the WHA with the Winnipeg Jets, playing over 100 games for the club. He passed away in 2014. 

The last 10 autographs I already had and have been added to my tradelists:

Bob Ash

Dunc Rousseau

Danny Johnson

Ernie Wakely

Norm Beaudin

Duke Asmundson

Ab McDonald

Nick Mickoski

Joe Zanussi

Bobby Hull