Not a huge mail post but certainly enough to show. A lot of these new NHL autographs come from a couple trades with another collector. Jerry, thanks for the trades and you have autographs incoming! With a dozen new additions, the grand total of unique NHL player signature stands at 5,757 for 77% of everyone to ever play in the league.
I've recently been busy having tons of fun with a new hobby, making 'Pucks & Politics' hockey cards and sending them to Members of the Canadian Parliament for autographs. I've probably made close to 300 cards over the past couple of months and have already gotten 75 back signed. I've also gotten back some incredible letters from our politicians. Halifax Mayor Mike Savage sent me back a whole box with the card that included a Halifax T-Shirt. I'm sending to all parties so no political biases. Politics and hockey are my two favorite things so its been a blast.
I haven't scanned any of these cards yet because they would have taken over this mail post, and 75 cards is a lot to scan. I've been getting a high return rate with them so my stack of mail recently has been much larger than usual. I'll likely give it a month or two and then, depending if I can find the time during the summer, share them all here in a post of their own. If you aren't Canadian, the names won't sound familiar. If you're Canadian, you'll recognize tons of them because their names are in the news all the time.
You might notice that this is a smaller mail post than usual. I've been at this hobby for well over a decade now and in retrospect, I find it important to take a 'break' every now and then. Creating and sending hockey cards that feature Canadian politicians was a nice step away from my usual habit of researching and writing to NHLers. A couple years ago, it was NHLbackups.com that was another side project. Now that I've written to almost all the members of Canada's House of Commons and with the excitement of NHL playoffs, I've once again picked up my working NHL wantlist and have turned my focus back on getting to that 80% mark. My current focus is to try and finish up all my post-2000 debut wants.
Ray Podloski
Ray Podloski played 8 games in the NHL with the 1988/89 Boston Bruins. He spent most of his career in Austria, playing professionally there until 2005.
Randy Ireland
Goalie Randy Ireland played 2 games in the NHL with the 1978/79 Buffalo Sabres. Originally drafted by the Blackhawks, Ireland also dressed as a backup goalie with the 1977/78 Chicago Blackhawks, sitting behind Tony Esposito.
David Schlemko
David Schlemko is a rare modern day NHL regular with no certified autograph. He was originally signed by the Coyotes as an undrafted free agent. The defenseman has played nearly 400 NHL games since making his debut with the 2008/09 Coyotes. He's played for Phoenix/Arizona, Dallas, Calgary, New Jersey, San Jose and Montreal.
Greg Redquest
I've tried sending 3 or 4 requests to Redquest, who is now a coach/instructor, over the past decade but could never track him down. A goalie, Greg Redquest appeared in 1 NHL game with the 1977/78 Pittsburgh Penguins.
Murray Wilson
Murray Wilson has one certified autograph from Upper Deck's Centennial Canadiens release. While I still have it on my wantlist, cards from that set sell for more than they should so I've never been able to pick one up. This signed card will fill the spot until I find a certified autograph to take its place. As a member of the Montreal Canadiens, Wilson has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup 4 times.
Doug Grant
From 1973 to 1980 Doug Grant played 77 games in the NHL, dressing with the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues. He's a Newfoundlander who was discovered while paying senior hockey.
John Gould
From 1971 to 1980 John Gould played over 500 games in the NHL. Gould played for Buffalo, Vancouver and Atlanta. His best years were with the Canucks, scoring 30+ goals for them in two consecutive seasons. His brother, Larry Gould, also played in the NHL.
Jason Miller
From 1990 to 1993 Jason Miller played 6 games in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils. Miller had been drafted by New Jersey 18th overall in 1989. He spent most of his career in Germany, playing pro there until 2010.
Daniel Shank
From 1989 to 1992 Daniel Shank scored 13 goals and 27 points in 77 games in the NHL. He played for the Detroit Red Wings and later Hartford Whalers.
Dwayne Hay
From 1997 to 2001 Dwayne Hay played 79 games in the NHL, scoring 2 goals and 6 points. He played for the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames. Internationally, he won Gold at the 1997 World Juniors Championships with Canada.
Jeff Ware
From 1996 to 1999 Jeff Ware played 21 games in the NHL. The defenseman played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. He was originally drafted 15th overall by the Leafs in 1995.
Larry McIntyre
From 1969 to 1973 Larry McIntyre played 41 games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The defenceman recorded 3 points and 26 penalty minutes.
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As usual, ending the post with new hockey autographs that don't fall within the NHL players collection.
Erin Ambrose
Defence Erin Ambrose was one of the last cuts from the 2018 Canadian Olympic team. She won Silver with Canada at the 2017 World Championships. Prior to that, she had twice won Gold at the World Under 18 Championships. This goes into my "Women of Hockey" collection.
Jack Kelley
Jack Kelley started his coaching career with Boston University in the 1960s. In 1972/73, he became the first Coach and General Manager of the WHA's New England Whalers. He stepped down as coach but remained the GM until 1981, following the franchise into the NHL. He later worked for the Red Wings and during the 1990s was President of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Allain Roy
A Harvard University grad who was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 1989, Allain Roy's claim to fame was his time representing Canada at the 1994 Olympics. He was carried as Canada's 3rd goalie to the tournament and is one of the few players from the team who never played in the NHL.
Ron Asselstine was an NHL Official from 1979 to 1997, officiating in over 2,000 games. In his letter back to me he told me to check out this video on youtube, which he calls his highlight. Amazing!
Don Parsons
Most of the hockey players who tore up North America minor leagues made it to the NHL in some capacity. Don Parsons never made it to the big leagues, but his hockeydb.com page is something worth checking out. He scored an incredible 682 goals during his pro hockey career and when he retired he held the distinction of being pro hockey's most prolific goal scorer to never play in the NHL.
Russ Farwell
From 1990 to 1994 Russ Farwell was General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers. He's biggest claim to fame during that tenure was the Eric Lindros trade. He's been GM of the WHL's Seattle Thunderbids since 1995.
Tim Harkness
Tim Harkness signed this custom card for me explaining his link to hockey. I scanned front and back so you could read the story. Harkness was offered a contract by the Montreal Canadiens but turned it down to pursue his dream of playing baseball. He also wrote me back a wonderful letter about his hockey playing days and wrote about an exhibition game he played against the Montreal Canadiens.
Peter Hankinson
The explanation of why I sent to Peter Hankinson is on the back of the card. He never reached the NHL but is notable because he was drafted by two professional sports leagues, the NHL and MLB. It takes an incredible athlete to be drafted by both pro leagues and only about a dozen people have ever done it.
Craig Quinlan
As noted on the back of the card I made, Quinlan is in an elite group of athletes who were drafted by the NHL and MLB. Incredibly, his older brother Tom Quinlan, was also drafted in both leagues!
Johnny Pesky
Mr. Red Sox, Johnny Pesky doesn't have a baseball card that mentions his ties to hockey so I bought this dirt cheap autograph and made a custom card. Pesky spent his entire life around hockey and did occasionally join Boston Bruins practices.
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