Month of Mail - July 2024

It's been a beautiful month of July here in Prince Edward Island and made all the better with an excellent addition of autographs. Most of these come from a beauty of a find, a team signed sheet of the 1934-35 Philadelphia Arrows. 

8 new autographs gives me 7,610 unique NHL player autographs for 93% of everyone to ever play in the league. 

Herb Gardiner (d. 1972)

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958,  defenseman Herb Gardiner won the Hart Trophy in 1927 as the MVP of the NHL. He played for the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks.

Helge Bostrom (d. 1977)

Helge "Bulge" or "Arbuckle" Bostrom played for the Chicago Blacks Hawks from 1930 to 1933. A big defenceman, he was a season pro at 36 when he joined the Hawks. He was captain of the Black Hawks for the 1932-33 season.

Buddy Maracle (d. 1958)

Henry Elmer "Buddy" or "Bud" Maracle is very notable in hockey history for being the first full-blood Native American to play in the NHL. He recorded 4 points in 11 regular season NHL games with the 1930-31 New York Rangers. He also dressed in 4 playoff games for the Rangers that season.

Roy Burmister (d. 1980)

From 1929 to 1932 Roy Burmister scored 4 goals and 7 points in 67 career NHL games. He played for the New York Americans. 

Gus Forslund (d. 1962)

Gus Forslund spent one season in the NHL, scoring 13 points in 48 games with the Ottawa Senators. He was born in Sweden but moved to Canada as a child. That still makes him the first born Swede to play in the NHL. 

Harry Oliver (d. 1985)

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967, Harry Oliver was the leading scorer of the Stanley Cup winning 1929 Boston Bruins. From 1926 to 1937 he played nearly 500 games in the NHL between the Boston Bruins and New York Americans.

Jim Archibald

From 1984 to 1987 Jim Archibald played 16 games in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars. His son, Josh, also played in the NHL. I wrote to Archibald many times and even wrote to Josh asking if he could help me, but all to no avail. I finally caved and bought this one since Archibald is one of the very last living former NHLers I still needed.

Mason Marchment

A late bloomer, Marchment only recently got his first certified autograph card. He had 22 goals and 53 points with the 2023-24 Dallas Stars. His father, Bryan, was a long time NHL defenseman.