This mail post is a mix of TTM returns and some small purchases. Most of the newer signatures come via a COMC.com package. The David Koci and Pavel Skrbek autographs come via a Czech seller. That was an interested transaction. I stumbled a site, all Czech, from a google image search. Thanks to google translate, I was able to navigate and contact the admin about two cards, again only possible thanks to google translate. The website didn't have an international buyer option but I was able to ask if they would ship to Canada. After a little back and forth in roughly translated messages, the cards were on their way to Canada.
This post features 18 new NHL autographs. That brings the grand total of unique NHL player signatures up to 5,946 for 78% of everyone who has ever played in the league.
Russian forward Igor Nikulin played 1 game in the NHL with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and it came during the 1997 NHL playoffs. Russians like Nikulin, who only spent a brief time in North America, are some of the hardest autographs to find. I had my eye on this particular signature for some time but I didn't have a comparable Nikulin signature in order to verify its authentication. Once I found that, I quickly added this because I knew it was the right autograph.
If you are browsing my complete autograph collection, you'll notice that contrary to most statistical websites, I've included guys like Charles McAvoy, who made his NHL debut in the 2017 playoffs, with the 2016/17 season debuts. Most statistical records would include McAvoy in the 2017/18 debuts because it was his first regular season play. I disagree with this method because of guys like Igor Nikulin. If you move guys like McAvoy ahead a year, then you get inconsistencies with the few players who only played in the NHL playoffs.
Forward Martin Desjardins recorded 2 points in 8 career NHL games with the 1989/90 Montreal Canadiens. He spent a couple seasons in Europe before retiring in 1998. I haven't been able to find a trace of him since then so I was happy to find his signature on an old AHL program.
Fred Perlini recorded 5 points in 8 career NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the early 1980s. He spent most of his career in Britain, where he dominated. Perlini recorded 3 consecutive 170+ point seasons, all in 35 games or under.
An undrafted University of Minnesota alumni, from 1974-1978 Bill Butters played over 200 games in the WHA. He then played a couple seasons in the NHL, dressing in 72 games with the Minnesota North Stars.
David Koci
From 2006-2011 Czech tough guy David Koci played 142 NHL games, recording 4 points and 461 penalty minutes. He played for the Blackhawks, Lightning, Blues and Avalanche.
This autograph is also notable because its the last I needed to complete the 2006/07 debut year. I now have an autograph of all 139 players who made their NHL debuts that season.
Pavel Skrbek
Czech defenseman Pavel Skrbek was drafted 28th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1996. From 1998 to 2002, he played 12 games in the NHL, dressing for the Penguins and Nashville Predators.
Niklas Svedberg
Swedish goalie Niklas Svedberg played in 19 NHL games with the Boston Bruins from 2013-2015. He also dressed as an NHL backup with the Minnesota Wild during the 2017/18 season but never saw any time between the crease for the club. He's currently back in Sweden playing pro. He was named the 2012/2013 AHL goalie of the year but couldn't crack the next level.
Tristan Jarry
Tristan Jarry has played in 27 NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has a Stanley Cup ring from 2016 and 2017 as the team's third string goalie behind Murray and Fleury but didn't get his name on the Cup either time.
Charlie Lindgren
An undrafted St. Cloud State alumni, Charlie Lindgren has played in 17 NHL games with the Montreal Canadiens since 2015. He was recently signed to a new 3 year contract by the Habs.
Brady Austin
Defenseman Brady Austin played 5 NHL games with the 2016/17 Buffalo Sabres.
Nikita Scherbak
Russian forward Nikita Scherbak was a first round draft pick by the Canadiens in 2014. He's scored 5 goals and 7 points in 29 career NHL games with the Habs.
Jack Roslovic
Jack Roslovic was drafted 25th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2015. He's recently caught on as a full time member of club and has posted 15 points in 36 NHL games thus far.
Evgeny Svechnikov
Evgeny Svechnikov was drafted 19th overall by the Red Wings in 2015. The Russian forward has played 16 NHL so far in his career. Internationally, he won a Silver medal at the 2016 World Junior Championships. His brother, Andrei, was recently drafted 2nd overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Colin White
Boston College alumni Colin White was drafted 21st overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2015. Internationally, he represented the USA on the world stage multiple times. He won a Gold in 2017 and a Bronze in 2016 at the World Juniors and in 2018 he won a Bronze at the Men's World Championships.
Blake Speers
Blake Speers played 3 NHL games with the 2016/17 New Jersey Devils. Internationally, he won a Silver medal as a member of Canada's 2017 World Junior team.
Jaccob Slavin
A product of Colorado College, defenseman Jaccob Slavin has been a mainstay on the Carolina blueline since 2015. He's already played well over 200 NHL games and in 2017 he signed a 7 year extension with Carolina.
Tanner Richard
Swiss-Canadian forward Tanner Richard played 3 NHL games with the 2016/17 Tampa Bay Lightning. His father, Mike, also had a brief NHL career.
Swedish forward Anton Rodin played 3 games in the NHL with the 2016/17 Vancouver Canucks.
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As usual, I'll end the post with my additional hockey autographs that fall outside of my NHL player collection...
From 1974 to 1977 Jim Boyd scored 49 goals and 129 points in 169 career WHA games. He spent most of that time with the Phoenix Roadrunners but also played for the Calgary Cowboys.
From 1974 to 1976 Bill Reed played 40 games in the WHA between the Baltimore Blades and Calgary Cowboys. Reed is also notable for being an extra in the movie Slap Shot.
From 1974 to 1977 defenseman Keith Kokkola played 54 games in the WHA. He was a member of the Chicago Cougars, Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics and Birmingham Bulls. Kokkola passed away in 2004 at 55.
Sarah Potomak
Sarah Potomak currently plays NCAA hockey for the University of Minnesota's female team. She represented Canada at the 2017 World Championships, taking home a Silver medal.
Haley Irwin
Haley Irwin has been on Canada's female Olympic hockey team for three Olympic Games, taking home 2 Gold medals (2010 & 2014) and a Silver (2018).
I scanned the back of this card as well so you can understand why I have it/what the hockey connection is. As the card says, Berenguer's son did play professional hockey in the New Jersey Devils organization with the ECHL's Trenton Devils. I now have well over 100+ baseball/hockey autographs, all scanned here.
I included the Eric Gelinas card here because its the hockey card I display these two baseball signatures with. As noted on the back of Eric's card, his father, Marc, and brother, Karl, were both professional baseball players. I sent these all to Marc, who was very kind and got his sons to sign their cards for me as well. Thank-you so much Marc!
Chris Walby
I've been collecting baseball/hockey autographs for a couple years now but only recently started a football collection. The first step was research, which I've completed. Not as many connections as baseball, but I was still able to uncover some really interesting stories. About a month ago I sent my first batch of football requests from this research and now those have started to come back. I scanned the back of these cards as well so you can read the hockey connection. Walby was 6 ft 7 and 325 lbs during his CFL career so even as a junior hockey player, he would have been an intimidating player. He works for TSN now so that is were I got such a quick reply from him and a very nice signature.
I was very happy to have this as one of my first "Touchdown Hockey" returns because Bobby Taylor is one of the most notable football/hockey players. He played professionally in both sports for many years and very nearly reached the NHL.
Bruce Covernton is another interesting football/hockey story. Before embarking on this CFL career, Covernton was a junior hockey, even getting in a game with the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings.
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