Two out of three ain't bad

Don't be sad. Cause two out of three ain't bad. I'm referring to the incarnation of Toronto's Kid line of  Rocky Ray Saganiuk, John Murray Anderson and Lawrence Joseph Boschman. I recently picked up this autographed Sherwood PMPS left handed stick.

 

 

Near the knob is this black ink autograph of Rocky Saganiuk.

Under the D in Sherwood is a blue ink autograph of John Anderson, which has faded badly.

 



 

And getting progressively worse, the invisible (no autograph) of Laurie Boschman.

 

Brings back memories of that Leafs team. From Punch Imlach being brought back as coach, the trading of Lanny McDonald and Tiger Williams and bringing back Carl Brewer, the soap opera that was named Ballard was in full effect. Never a dull moment.

NHL Alumni Tour 2016-Brantford-25 years old

Long time, no post. Last night was the annual NHL Alumni Tour in support of the Torch Run.

 

Here's the autographs I obtained in person.

I had Mark LaForest sign this wire photo for my collection. He remembered that I gave him one last year and said he still had it in a good place. I guess when you played 25 games for the Leafs, there aren't too many photos available.

Mike Krushelnyski  86/87 OPC # 193 and 85/86 OPC # 49

 

Dave "Tiger" Williams 86/87 OPC # 6 and 80/81 OPC # 105

Owen Nolan 90/91 ProSet #401 and 90/91 Upper Deck #352

 

Dave Andreychuk signed wire photo

Dave Andreychuk 90/91 Upper Deck # 41

 

Bryan Muir-CIC 

 

 



At last, got the last autograph to finish off this Leaf Alumni poster. You can read here when I received the poster and the one autograph I was missing.

 

 

All in all, a very productive night. Nolan and Andreychuk were new this year so hopefully they'll be back next year. Here's the link to the rest of this year's tour.

 

Hockey Night in Brantford 2016

Last night was the fifth annual Hockey Night in Brantford game. Proceeds will benefit the Arnold Anderson Sports Fund Charity, which promotes the physical, mental and social development of financially disadvantaged children by providing financial sports grants to eligible families. You can read the background in the Press Release here. This year they actually had posters printed up and a set roster of autograph signer.

Not a great job by me cropping this photo but you get the idea. In addition to this, I got some 4 x 6 photos signed that I brought.

Got this signed between periods. I was late getting there and when I walked in the door to the rink, Adam was standing there signing autographs.

Zac commented that he had never seen this Buffalo shot before.

Wished Brandon best of luck and hope he has a breakout season.

I always thought Laura was bigger than she actually is. I guess most times I've seen her, she's been in uniform and all those pads give an illusion of size.

They raised $72000 and everyone had a great time. Waiting for next year.

Todays newspaper headline

Didn't have to wait till next year

I recently won at a contest at P-Town Tom's blog Waiting 'til Next Year. He tailored the package to my team (Blue Jays). I knew it was going to be good when I saw this.

Something happened to the scan of the note Tom sent but it was the back that got my attention. I'd seen where he uses calendar pages for these notes. But that happened to be my birthdate. What a coincidence. The card at the top was one of the great cards I received. Here are the rest.

Great additions to my ever growing Blue Jays collection. Because of the postal situation, I asked Tom to hold off on sending the cards. After a week, I told Tom to send them as things were still up in the air. Lo and behold, he sent them on a Saturday and I received them on Thursday. I've had things take up to two weeks to make it up here in Canada. Thanks again Tom for the contest and understanding.

"Cause I try and I try and I try and I try

Stealing Home at All Trade Bait All The Time had a 100,000 views contest and wonder of wonders, Mr. Randomizer selected me. I received my prize winnings on Wednesday of this week. Since I'm located in Canada, the package was tailored for Blue Jays. I'm glad as I'm slowly working on picking up these cards. Let's take a look at what I received..

2016 Topps Opening Day # 22 Roberto Osuna

    2016 Topps # 121 Roberto Osuna

      2016 Topps # 343 Drew Hutchison

2016 Topps # 182 Kevin Pillar

   2016Topps # 74 Troy Tulowitzki

     2016 Topps # 162 League Leaders

2016 Topps # 349 Ben Revere

2013 Topps  # 525 J.P. Arencibia

2014 Topps Update  FF-OV-Omar Visquel

2013 Topps  # 468 Anthony Gose

1986 Topps  # 386 Cecil Fielder RC

1988Topps  Tom Henke # 396

1990 Best Woody Williams # 210

2016 Topps Heritage Aaron Sanchez # 416

2015 Topps  Kendall Graveman # 14 RC

2015 Topps  Daniel Norris  # 217 RC

2015 Topps  Jose Bautista # 25

1993  Upper Deck  Todd Stottlemyer # 413

   

93/94 Pinnacle Nifty Fifty # 2

and

with my fantastic scanning skills in evidence, an upside down Toronto Maple Leafs pin.

In an earlier e-mail correspondence, it was noted I was a hockey fan and something would be sent to cover that.

Thanks again Stealing Home for the contest. I got Satisfaction out of this package.

Glad I didn't have Sticky Fingers when I opened it.

90/91 Score Young Superstars # 18

# 18 Mathieu Schneider

Young--21 years old  

Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services

Regular season

GP 1289    G 223   A  520    Pts 743   PIM 1245

Playoffs

    GP 116        G  12   A  43    Pts. 55  PIM  155         

Drafted 3rd Rd 1987 NHL Entry Draft 44th overall by the Montreal Canadiens

Selected to All-Star Game 1996 2003

Won Stanley Cup with the 1993 Montreal Canadiens

Won World Cup with Team USA 1996

3 time Olympian 1998 2002 2006

On Feb 16, 2001, he became the first defenceman in NHL history to score against all 30
 teams. 
Traded 7 times, signed as  free agent 3 times and claimed 1 time in an expansion draft. A well travelled man.

Claim to Fame--All time leading Jewish scorer in NHL history.


Inducted to USHHOF 2015

Young 12/18       Superstar 5/18

Okay Score. You are doing a fairly decent job in picking "young" players. That shouldn't be too hard. On the "Superstar" side of things, you've proven that it's a little tougher. Maybe you'll pick up your game as we continue forward with the next 22 selections. Kind of like the NHL Draft.

As of this writing, Zistle has documented 301 different cards for the veteran.

90/91 Score Young Superstars # 17

# 17 Kevin Stevens

Young--22 years old  

Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services

Regular season

GP 874    G 329   A  397   Pts 726   PIM 1470

Playoffs

 GP 103     G  46   A  60     Pts. 106   PIM  170

NHL second All-Star Team 1991, 1993
NHL first All-Star Team 1992
Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh Penguins 1991 1992

During game 7 of the 93 playoffs, he was knocked out after getting Rich Pilon's visor in his face and fell flat on his face breaking several bones. Even though he came back from this huge injury, his game was never the same. He also fell flat on his face off ice as well. During the 99/00 season, he was caught in a sleazy motel room with a prostitute, glass pipe and crack.He entered the NHL/NHLPA substance abuse program to get clean. Another case of what if.

Young    11/17      Superstar     5/17  

Family Day Feb 15 2016

Yesterday was Family Day here in Ontario. It is celebrated on the third Monday of February. It is a day off with pay to spend time with your family and loved ones. It's also a day off between New Years and Easter, which is supposedly a long time. I'll take it. I used it mostly to rest up but I did make it to one event. It was a free Family Skate Day presented by RBC Canada. In Brantford, this year they brought in Tyler McGregor, a sledge hockey player with the bronze medal team at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics. 

Here's Tyler holding that bronze medal. I'm always surprised to find out how heavy those things weigh. 

As a RBC Olympian, he had these postcards to autograph and give out. This event was held at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre and there was a hockey tournament being played. From what I observed, there were a lot of kids getting his autograph on this as well as mini sticks and pucks. ( I didn't get either of those)

I did get these two custom index cards signed that I made sure had plenty of white space for his signature. 

He also had his sled ("sledge") there on display so you could see up close what it looked like. I should have taken a picture but neglected to do so. 

You can read his inspiring story here.

That was my Family Day 2016. 

90/91 Score Young Superstars # 16

# 16 Darren Turcotte

Young--22 years old  

Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services

Regular season

GP 635    G 195  A  216  Pts 411   PIM 301

Playoffs

GP 35     G  6   A  8    Pts. 14      PIM  12 

Selected by the New York Rangers in the 6th round (114th overall) in the 1986 Entry Draft)

Debuted on Oct 6th, 1988 playing left wing with centre Marcel Dionne and right winger Guy Lafleur. He was a pure goal scorer with a quick shot. Missed a lot of time due to various injuries including 13 games in 96/97. He puncture his eardrum with a cotton swab, affecting his balance.

Played in the 1991 All-Star Game.

Young      10/16         Superstar        5/16

Not a heck of a lot to say. Again, another not young, not superstar. He does get props from me as he did own some card stores during the "junk wax" era.    

90/91 Score Young Superstars # 15

# 15 Curtis Joseph

Young--24 years old  

Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services

Regular season

GP 943   W 454   L  352  T/O  90  SO 51  GAA   2.79

Playoffs

      GP 132    W  63   L  66    T/O  0  SO  16   GAA   2.45      

Signed as a free agent by St. Louis Blues in 1989.

Selected to play in the 1994, 1999 and 2000 All-star Games.

1996 IIHF Worlds and World Cup of Hickey

1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics

2007 Spengler Cup

Winner of the 2000 King Clancy Memorial Trophy.

He has the most career wins of any goalie who never played on a Stanley Cup winning team. Also the first goalie to have 30 or more regular season wins for five different teams.

I've scanned in the card I got signed IP last year.  As a long suffering Leafs fan, he did bring us to the playoffs but not the promised land. I have a very difficult time labelling him a superstar. Star yes . My opinion.

Young      10/15         Superstar        5/15     

90/91 Score Young Superstars # 14

# 14 Scott Young

Young--24 years old  

Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services

Regular season

GP 1181    G 342   A  414   Pts 756  PIM 448

Playoffs

GP 141   G  44   A  43    Pts. 87  PIM  64

Selected 11th overall in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by the Hartford Whalers. Also played for Pittsburgh, Quebec, Colorado, Anaheim, St. Louis and Dallas. Was a member of the 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 1996 Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup winning teams. He played in three world juniors, three Olympics, three world championships, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and twice with the US national team's regular season. He was an All-Star defenceman at BU but spent most of his professional career at right wing. Scott was a reliable performer who had speed, a heavy shot and ability to read plays made for a long NHL career. 

In my opinion, I don't consider him young (except for the surname) or a superstar.


Scores total so far


Young       10/14            Superstar     5/14