Feb 7--Tim Higgins

Tim Higgins




Selected by Chicago Blackhawks round 1 #10 overall 1978 NHL Amateur Draft.

Tim Higgins had logged four seasons of junior hockey and one Memorial Cup appearance before being drafted by Chicago in 1978. He spent some time honing his professional skills in the minors before making his NHL debut with the Black Hawks during the 1978-79 season.

By the following season, he had earned a full-time job with the Hawks and tallied 25 points in 74 games. In 1980-81, Higgins had his career best point totals - 24 goals and 35 assists in 78 games. His totals were not far behind the next year when he combined for 50 points in 74 games. His numbers started to fall off somewhat in 1982-83 and deteriorated even more the following season when lack of ice time and disagreements with coaching staff took a heavy toll.

After a trade to the New Jersey Devils in January 1984, Higgins bounced back, scoring 18 goals in 37 games with the Devils. The next two seasons Higgins was again in good scoring form, and he remained with the Devils until the end of the 1985-86 season. In June of 1986 he was traded to Detroit for Claude Loiselle. Higgins played his last two professional seasons with the Red Wings, retiring in 1989 after 706 NHL games.

CAREER NHL STATISTICS Years Teams GP G A TP PIM 1978-1989 Chicago, New Jersey, Detroit 706 154 198 352 719

CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS Years Teams GP G A TP PIM 1979-1989 Chicago, Detroit 65 5 8 13 77

Received these blue ink signed cards TTM plus he included a signed business card.

Feb 6--17 Players

Nothing for any of the 17 players for todays birthdate. So, it'll be just a liitle bit of this, a little bit of that.


1966 - Stan Mikita played with a helmet for the first time in his NHL career, and scored two goals and an assist as Chicago beat Toronto 3-2.
1990 - Brett Hull becomes 1st son of NHL 50 goal scorer (Bobby) to score 50

2000 - Wayne Gretzky's sweater #99 was officially retired permanently by the NHL, in a pre-game ceremony before the 2000 All-Star Game in Toronto.

Heres a program from the early days (1993) of the NHL Oldtimers (Alumni) tour.

Middle insert of cards of some of the players and referees.

In some form or another, I have autos of 12 of the 18 pictured players.

Feb 5--Jim Storm

Jim Storm

 

Selected by Hartford Whalers round 4 #75 overall 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

Left-winger Jim Storm played parts of three seasons with the Hartford Whalers and Dallas Stars in the 90s. He was decent goal scorer who enjoyed most of his success in college and the minors.  Storm played in 84 games and scored 7 goals and 15 assists.

 

Bought this at a card show in the 90's. This was when autographed cards in packs were fairly new and to get one  that was numbered  1540/1950 was a big deal. At least I thought so for $1.00.

This address was valid in November 2011.

 

Jim Storm
2609 Harvest Hill Dr.
Brighton, MI 48114

Feb 4--Denis Cyr

L'un Denis




Selected by Calgary Flames round 1 #13 overall 1980 NHL Entry Draft.

Played on "Le Trois Denis " line with Denis Savard and Denis Tremblay for Montreal Junior Canadiens from 1977 to 1979. All three players shared the exact same birthdate and grew up in the same neighbourhood in Verdun. What are the odds on that?. He was first draft pick in Calgary Flames history after Atlanta franchise announced its intention to relocate to Calgary.

Cyr wasn't able to continue his scoring prowess with the Flames, and as a result he was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks in 1982 for Carey Wilson. The Hawks were hoping for Cyr to rekindle his chemistry with Denis Savard, who had already established himself as an elite NHLer by this time. However, Cyr still could not secure a permanent NHL position and after a couple of seasons moved on to the St. Louis Blues, and then retired after three seasons in their organization, most of which was spent playing for their minor league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the International Hockey League.

CAREER NHL STATISTICS Years Teams GP G A TP PIM 1980-1986 Calgary, Chicago, St. Louis 193 41 43 84 36

CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS Years Teams GP G A TP PIM 1983-1985 Chicago, St. Louis 4 0 0 0 0



Feb 3--Mark Kirton

Mark Kirton

 

Selected by Toronto Maple Leafs round 3 #48 overall 1978 NHL Amateur Draft.

Centre Mark Kirton was a fine skater and playmaker with a combative side that allowed him to handle the physical demands of the NHL. The young pivot enjoyed a solid year with the AHL's New Brunswick Hawks in 1978-79. In 1979-80 he made Toronto out of training camp and scored a goal in two games before being sent down to the farm. The young forward hurt his knee in his second game in Moncton and was out of the lineup for a number of weeks. Rather than hang his head, Kirton continued to work on his weaknesses and averaged a point per game for New Brunswick in 61 contests after regaining his health.

After playing eleven games in 1980-81, Kirton was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for veteran netminder Jim Rutherford. Kirton was traded to the Vancouver Canucks early in 1982-83 for Ivan Boldirev. He proved to be a useful checking pivot for the Canucks in parts of three seasons. Between 1985 and 1989 he played a solid two-way role for the Fredericton Express and Newmarket Saints before retiring.

CAREER NHL STATISTICS Years Teams GP G A TP PIM 1979-1985 Toronto, Detroit, Vancouver 266 57 56 113 121

CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS Years Teams GP G A TP PIM 1983 Vancouver 4 1 2 3 7

His work address is:

Coldwell Banker Home & Family Realty, Brokerage

1515 Rebecca Street, Unit 19

Oakville, ON L6L5G8

Received these blue ink signed cards IP.

Feb 2--Gary Dornhoefer

Gary Dornhoefer

He played two years of junior with the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association while his NHL rights were owned by the Boston Bruins.

 He made his pro debut with the Bruins in 1963-64, playing in 32 games, scoring 12 goals and ten assists. Over the next two years he was inserted into the lineup for just 30 games and was left unprotected in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. The Philadelphia Flyers selected him with the 13th pick overall, and from there his career was defined. Fans of old-fashioned, gritty, hard-working hockey players loved the style of Gary Dornhoefer, who will be forever remembered as one of the key figures on the famed "Broad Street Bullies" with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1970s. The Flyers, called goons by some hockey observers, could also play hockey, and that was what made them special, winning two Stanley Cups in 1973-74 and 1974-75.

Dornhoefer played in 787 games over 14 seasons, scoring 214 goals and 328 assists for 542 points, adding 1291 penalty minutes.

Received these blue ink signed cards TTM.



Feb 1--Jim Jackson

Jim Jackson

Undrafted and unsigned, the Calgary Flames inked him as a free agent at the start of the 1982-83 season. This came about largely at the insistence of the team's chief scout, Gerry Blair, who was a neighbour of Jackson's and knew of his intense desire to play.Stocky left-winger Jim Jackson played with tremendous heart during his short NHL career. He was a fairly productive scorer in junior and the minors but was relegated to a more defensive role in the big league. Jackson spent two seasons as a role player for a Calgary club that was competitive in the regular season but annihilated in the playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers. Aside from a five-game stint with the Buffalo Sabres in 1987-88, Jackson toiled in the minors the remainder of his career until his retirement in 1990.

In 112 National Hockey games, Jim scored 17 goals and 47 points

Received these blue ink signed cards IP at NHL SloPitch Tourney.