Month of Mail - January 2023

A couple great and unexpected TTM returns this past month in Gustavsson and Stewart. 

With 3 new NHL player autographs added this month the grand total goes up to 7,296  unique NHL player signatures, still 91% overall. 

                  Peter Gustavsson

A Swedish forward, Peter Gustavsson had a brief stint in North America. He spent most of the 1981-82 season with the Forth Worth Texans but did get a couple games in the NHL with the Colorado Rockies. He spent the rest of his career in Sweden. 

                     Ryan Stewart

Ryan Stewart was Winnipeg's first round pick of the 1985 NHL draft, 18th overall. He played 3 NHL games with the 1985-86 Jets, scoring 1 goal. Illness and injuries plagued Stewart's career. 

I was thrilled to have finally located him as I didn't even have a signature example on file for Stewart, largely due to the common name. 

                   Kaapo Kahkonen

Kaapo Kahkonen is nearing 100 NHL games played between the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks. Internationally, he backstopped Finland to a Gold medal at the 2016 World Juniors.

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                      Jay Varady

Jay Varady played for Union College but never turned pro as a player. He rose up through the hockey ranks behind the bench. He was a head coach in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners from 2018 to 2022. In 2022, he was hired by the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant coach. It goes with my collection of NHL managers/coaches autographs who only appeared in the NHL as such. 

                     Dale McMullin

Dale McMullin played 1 game in the WHA with the 1977-78 Edmonton Oilers. He was a star junior player with the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings and was drafted in both the WHA and NHL. This goes into my WHA collection. 

                         Bill Pye

Bill Pye made it to the NHL as a backup goalie with the 1992-93 Buffalo Sabres. This goes in my collection of NHL backups. 

                   Chris Rogles

Chris Rogles dressed in 1 NHL game as a backup goalie with the 1993-94 Chicago Blackhawks. He dressed as backup behind Jeff Hackett.

                  Mikhail Berdin

Russian netminder Mikhail Berdin dressed in 10 NHL games as backup goalie with the 2021-22 Winnipeg Jets. With luck certainly not on his side, Berdin was member of the Jets for an extended period of time but never saw any action in the NHL.

                               Vern Buffey

Vern Buffey spent a number of years as an NHL official, working when there was only 6 teams. This goes into my collection of NHL officials autographs.