Thursday, April 2, 2026

Months of Mail - January, February and March 2026

The over two decade long quest for a signature of every current and former National Hockey League player continues with 14 new NHL player autographs added to start 2026. 
The grand total of unique NHL player autographs in my collection now stands at 7,840 for 94% of everyone to ever play in the NHL. 

                            Herb Stuart (d. 1981)
Goalie Herb Stuart played 3 games in the NHL with the 1926-27 Detroit Cougars. I have a soft spot for goalies and with so few left on my wantlist, its always great to add a new netminder.

                         Patsy Callighen (d. 1964)
Patsy Callighen spent one season in the NHL, playing 36 regular season and 9 playoff games with the 1927-28 New York Rangers. The defenseman recorded 0 points in his 45 total NHL games.  He's most notable for helping the Rangers win 1928 Stanley Cup.

                           Ernie Kenny (d. 1970)
Ernie Kenny played half a dozen NHL games with the 1930-31 New York Rangers and another 4 games with the 1934-35 Chicago Blackhawks. He was held pointless in his 10 career NHL games.

                        Hal Picketts (d. 2002)
Hal Picketts spent one season in the NHL, playing 48 games with the 1933-34 New York Americans.

                      Eric Pettinger (d. 1968)
From 1928 to 1931 Eric Pettinger payed just over 100 total games in the NHL. He suited up for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators. His brother, Gordon, also played in the NHL.

                     Clarence Schmidt (d. 1997)
Minnesota native Clarence Schmidt had a short two year professional hockey career that saw him play 7 games in the NHL with the 1943-44 Boston Bruins. He scored 1 goal in the NHL. He has no relation to legendary Bruin Milt Schmidt. 

                  Irwin "Yank" Boyd (d. 1979)
From 1931 to 1944 Yank Boyd played 97 regular season games in the NHL, scoring 10 goals and 20 points. He played for the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. Born in Pennsylvania, he was the only American born player in the NHL when he made his debut with the 1931-32 Bruins.

                Doug "Andy" Anderson (d. 1998)
Doug Anderson played 2 games in the NHL, both during the Stanley Cup finals with the 1953 Montreal Canadiens. He never played a regular season games in the NHL. The '53 Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup but Anderson's name was left off the trophy.

                     Bill "Red" Anderson (d. 1991)
Red Anderson played pro hockey from 1934 to 1943. In his very last pro season he was recalled to the NHL by the Boston Bruins during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Bruins dressed Anderson for one game, his only appearance in the NHL and at the very end of his career. 

                          Hal Cooper (d. 1977)
Hal Cooper played 8 games in the NHL with the 1944-45 New York Rangers.

                   Norm Calladine (d. 1988)
From 1942 to 1945 Norm Calladine played 63 games in the NHL with the Boston Bruins. He was a productive player who scored 19 goals and 48 points with the Bruins.

                  Johnny Holota (d. 1951)
From 1942 to 1946 Johnny Holota played 15 games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. He scored 2 goals in the NHL. Holota's career ended abruptly when he died tragically young in a 1951 car accident.

                    Sid McNabney (d. 1957)
Sid McNabney played 5 games in the NHL, all in the playoffs with the 1951 Montreal Canadiens. Cancer killed him in 1957, he was just 28.

                           Wayne Ramsey
Wayne Ramsey played 2 games in the NHL with the 1977-78 Buffalo Sabres. Unfortunately, I have to believe he wants absolutely nothing to do with his past hockey carer. He never acknowledged any of my numerous requests over the years and I've never heard of anyone getting his autograph during his later life. He was the very last autograph I needed for 77-78 season of debuts so I was thrilled to finally find his autograph, signed when he was with the 1978-79 Toledo Goaldiggers.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Also added some new autographs of NHL "backup only" goalies and NHL coaches who never played in the league

                              Jim Baxter
Jim Baxter dressed in 5 NHL games as a backup goalie over 2 season with the 1977-78 and 1978-79 Detroit Red Wings. He never saw any time in net so isn't in the NHL record books.

                          Richard Martens
Goalie Rick Martens dressed in 1 NHL game as a backup goalie with the 1978-79 Vancouver Canucks. 

                   Reid Cooper
Reid Cooper dressed in 1 NHL game as a backup goalie with the Washington Capitals on April 13, 2023 against the New Jersey Devils. He's somewhat notable for being the first and only goalie to wear #97 in the NHL.

                 Samuel Richard
Samuel Richard dressed in 1 NHL game as an emergency backup goalie with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He suited up for the 2022-23 Maple Leafs in a game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Gardens.

                    Matt Onuska
Matt Onuska dressed in 1 NHL game as a backup goalie with the 2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs. The game came April 11, 2023 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

                      Calle Clang
Calle Clang has dressed in 3 NHL games as a backup goalie with Anaheim Ducks over 2 NHL seasons.

                      Bill LaForge (d. 2005)
Bill LaForge's first and only stint in the NHL was with the 1984-85 Vancouver Canucks. He lasted 20 games as the team's head coach before being dismissed. 

                       Scott Ford
Scott Ford is in his second season as an assistant coach with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets. He was hired by the team in 2024. He's a former professional player who spent lots of time in the AHL.

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Last mail post of 2025

Added some great autographs to finish the year. With six new signatures the grand total of unique NHL player signatures in my collection now stands at 7,826 for 94% of everyone to ever play in the NHL. 


                         Butch Paul (d. 1966)
I was thrilled to find a Butch Paul autograph for a steal of a deal. Classic Auctions recently had a team signed '64-65 Red Wings program listed but they failed to notice the Paul autograph on the program. Lucky for me, I take a very close look at all the team signed stuff. The autograph didn't scan well but you can click to enlarge and its very clear in hand. Butch Paul played 3 games in the NHL with the 1964-65 Detroit Red Wings. He died tragically young in a 1966 car accident, he was only 22. He was the last autograph I needed to complete the 1964-65 year of debuts.

                     Dan Olesevich (d. 1983)
A long time Detroit Red Wings trainer and practice goalie, Dan Olesevich is most notable for appearing in one NHL game as an emergency goalie with the 1961-62 New York Rangers. He signed this "Ollie" Olesevich, his nicknamed while he played in the 50s. Like the Paul autograph, it is clear to see in person and if you click to enlarge, you can see it much better. He was the very last autograph I needed to complete the 1961-62 year of debuts.

                         Bert Gardiner (d. 2001)
Goalie Bert Gardiner played in the NHL with the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins. From 1935 to 1944 he played 144 regular season NHL games. Gardiner lived a long life after hockey but moved to California, away from the game and his autograph proved rather difficult to find. 

                Henry "Hank" Lehvonen (d. 2022)
Defenseman Hank Lehvonen played 4 games in the NHL with the 1974-75 Kansas City Scouts. He was one of the last autographs I needed from the '74-75 year of debuts

                         Tom Polanic (d. 2019)
From 1969 to 1971 Tom Polanic played 19 games in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars. Polanic was the very last guy I needed for the 1969-70 year of debuts

                   Quinton Byfield
The LA Kings drafted Quinton Byfield 2nd overall in 2022. He's already had two 20 goal season in the NHL. Byfield was of the last autographs I needed from the 2020-21 Year of Debuts


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



The last two autographs go in my collection of NHL backup autographs

                             Ron Marlow
Goalie Ron Marlow dressed in 3 NHL games as a backup goalie with the 1973-74 New York Islanders. 

                    Mike Parson
Mike Parson dressed in 1 NHL game as a backup goalie with the 1992-93 Boston Bruins.




---

Thursday, December 11, 2025

A Season in Autographs: 2021/2022

From 1917/18 to 2021/22 a grand total of 8,325 people have played in the NHL. 


2020/2021                                                                               


174 Players made their NHL debuts through the 2021/2022 season

In The Collection: 167/174 = 96%


*Dylan Holloway made his debut during the playoffs



Nick Abruzzese

Alexander Alexeyev

Hugo Alnefelt

Justus Annunen

Ronald Attard

Brandon Baddock

Justin Barron

Adam Beckman

Matty Beniers

Brandon Biro

Kasper Björkqvist

Nick Blankenburg

Matt Boldy

Thomas Bordeleau

Bobby Brink

Philip Broberg

Michael Carcone

Noah Cates

Mitchell Chaffee

Yegor Chinakhov

Declan Chisholm

Jake Christiansen

Paul Cotter

Jonathan Dahlén

Riley Damiani

Justin Danforth

Nico Daws

Sean Day

Connor Dewar

Cam Dineen

Pavel Dorofeyev

Lukáš Dostál

Hunter Drew

Jack Drury

Walker Duehr

Brandon Duhaime

Sean Durzi

William Eklund

Michael Eyssimont

Samuel Fagemo

Casey Fitzgerald

Trey Fix-Wolansky

Gabriel Fortier

Jesper Frödén

Zachary Fucale

Jakub Galvas

Mason Geertsen

Benoit-Olivier Groulx

Jayden Halbgewachs

Filip Hallander

Jordan Harris

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard

Santeri Hatakka

Zack Hayes

Cameron Hillis

Thomas Hodges

Hayden Hodgson

Joel Hofer

Gregory Hofmann

Linus Högberg

Dylan Holloway

Alexander Holtz

Adam Huska

Grant Hutton

Bokondji Imama

Connor Ingram

Seth Jarvis

Lucas Johansen

Kent Johnson

Ben Jones

Axel Jonsson-Fjällby

Erik Källgren

Fredrik Karlström

Mark Kastelic

Boris Katchouk

Bryce Kindopp

Artemi Kniazev

Pyotr Kochetkov

Vladislav Kolyachonok

Kaedan Korczak

Johnathan Kovacevic

Jack LaFontaine

Hendrix Lapierre

Brett Leason

Jake Leschyshyn

Jon Lizotte

Viktor Lodin

Anton Lundell

Nils Lundkvist

Matias Maccelli

Jeff Malott

Dysin Mayo

Jack McBain

Ben McCartney

Marc McLaughlin

Michael McNiven

Mason McTavish

Dawson Mercer

Ryan Merkley

Carson Meyer

Ben Meyers

Daniil Miromanov

J.J. Moser

Jacob Moverare

Jake Neighbours

Markus Niemeläinen

Mattias Norlinder

Thomas Novak

Nikita Okhotyuk

Brayden Pachal

Chase Pearson

Cole Perfetti

Jacob Perreault

Scott Perunovich

JJ Peterka

Jacob Peterson

Michael Pezzetta

Isaak Phillips

Vasily Podkolzin

Owen Power

Chase Priskie

Aliaksei Protas

Ethan Prow

Valtteri Puustinen

Jack Quinn

Darren Raddysh

Taylor Raddysh

Adam Raška

Isaac Ratcliffe

Lucas Raymond

Scott Reedy

Kristian Reichel

Lukas Reichel

Cole Reinhardt

Marco Rossi

Kristiāns Rubīns

Jonas Røndbjerg

Robin Salo

Dylan Samberg

Dmitri Samorukov

Linus Sandin

Felix Sandström

Zachary Sawchenko

Akira Schmid

Braden Schneider

Corey Schueneman

Cole Schwindt

Moritz Seider

Kirill Semyonov

Mason Shaw

Cole Sillinger

Josiah Slavin

Nathan Smith

Joe Snively

Arvid Söderblom

Mads Søgaard

Egor Sokolov

Jordan Spence

Alex Steeves

Daniil Tarasov

Lassi Thomson

Vladimir Tkachev

Philip Tomasino

Alexey Toropchenko

Brayden Tracey

Riley Tufte

Alex Turcotte

Karel Vejmelka

Alex Vlasic

Reilly Walsh

Jasper Weatherby

Maxwell Willman

Joseph Woll

Fabian Zetterlund