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Thursday, June 1, 2023

Month of Mail - May 2023

Huge thanks to a fellow collector for helping with the Darrell May. May is an NHL scout and he was able to get him in person at a junior game. Thanks to Ty for hooking me up with the Gardiner autograph and thanks to Mattias in Sweden for some great vintage signatures.

A 1961 OHA playoff program signed by players from both teams provided me an autograph of Andre Champagne and Billy Taylor. A team signed 1948 Rangers program landed me the Trudell autograph. 

With 13 new NHL player autographs added in May, the grand total of unique NHL player signatures in my collection is currently 7,354 for 92% of everyone to ever play in the NHL. 


                      Chuck Gardiner (d. 1934)
Chuck Gardiner won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie in 1932 and 1934. He was captain of the Blackhawks in 1934 when he backstopped the team to a Stanley Cup championship. Tragically, Gardiner died a few months later from illness. He was an inaugural inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.

                  Rene Trudell (d. 1984)
From 1945 to 1948 Rene Trudell scored 24 goals and 52 points in 129 NHL games with the New York Rangers. 

                        Jimmy Haggarty (d. 1998)
Jim Haggarty scored 1 goal and 2 points in 5 career NHL games with the 1941-42 Montreal Canadiens. Haggarty is also notable for winning a Silver medal at the 1936 Olympics with Canada.

                      Bob Whitelaw (d. 1972)
From 1940 to 1942 defenseman Bob Whitelaw played 32 regular season and 8 playoff games in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings.

                        Jack Keating (d. 1951)
From 1938 to 1940 Jack Keating scored 3 goals in 12 career NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings.

                       Warren Godfrey (d. 1997)
From 1952 to 1968 Warren Godfrey played 788 regular season games in the NHL between the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings.

              Bob Walton (d. 1992)
Bob Walton played 4 games in the NHL with the 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens. His son, Mike Walton, also played in the NHL.

           Bert Peer (d. 1992)
Bert Peer played 1 game in the NHL with the 1939-40 Detroit Red Wings.

               Bill "Batt" Phillips (d. 1998)
Bill Phillips spent one season in the NHL, playing 27 regular season and 4 playoff games with the 1929-30 Montreal Maroons.

                         Andre Champagne
Andre Champagne played 2 games in the NHL with the 1962-63 Toronto Maple Leafs. I spent a lot of time searching for Champagne's current whereabouts but always came up empty. Finally found his autograph on an old program.

                          Billy Taylor (d. 1979)
Billy Taylor played 2 games in the NHL with the 1964-65 New York Rangers. His father of the same name also played in the NHL.

                       Bucky Hollingworth (d. 1974)
Defenseman Gord "Bucky" Hollingworth played 163 games in the NHL between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings.

                                Darrell May
From 1985 to 1988 Darrell May played 6 games in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues. He's been working as a scout in Western Canada for the Chicago Blackhawks since 2009. 


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The final two autographs of the post go into my World Hockey Association autograph collection

                      Bill Morris
Bill Morris scored 4 goals and 12 points in 36 career WHA games with the 1974-75 Edmonton Oilers.

                    Blair Davidson
Blair Davidson played 2 games in the WHA with the 1976-77 Phoenix Roadrunners.


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