Tyler Bozak – Toronto Marlies (AHL)

Tyler Bozak signed and personalized 1/1 (an 8×10) in 20 days through the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

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Taylor Hall – Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Taylor Hall, a top prospect for the 2010 NHL Entry draft signed my 8×10 and card (2/2) through the team’s address in 14 days.  Unfortunately, I spaced out when I was packaging, and didn’t label my SASE well (Do Not Bend!), nor did I throw in an extra piece of flexible cardboard to prevent damage.  I think the photo will come out OK after spending a few hours under a heavy book, but the card is permanently creased.

Portland Pirates: 50/50

Here are a few of the autographs I received in my dealings with a fellow who gets Portland Pirates in person.  The Pirates are the AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres, and they had some excellent prospects playing there last season.  Jhonas Enroth will be putting pressure on Ryan Miller soon, while Nate Gerbe and Tim Kennedy will be pushing for spots on the forward lines as soon as this coming season.

2009 NHL Entry Draft

The first round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft went into the books tonight.  Going through my collection, I have been lucky enough to add most of these guys to my collection already.  Garth Snow managed to keep it a fairly good secret, but he made the expected pick and selected John Tavares from the Ontario Hockey League.  Tampa Bay was up next, and selected Victor Hedman, whom I actually don’t have a signature from.  Colorado picked up Matt Duchene from the Brampton Battallion at number three.

After the top three, the focus shifted to the WHL.  Evander Kane went fourth overall to the Atlanta Thrashers, and Brayden Schenn was selected by the Kings (much to my chagrin, I was hoping he’d be reunited with his brother Luke in TO).

I have several more first rounders in my collection, but I think batting .800 for the Top 5 picks of the NHL Entry Draft in any single year is pretty good (unless the draft year is 1999, of course).

Dustin Tokarski

Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick, Team Canada gold medal winning goalie, and Memorial Cup MVP Dustin Tokarski is going to break the drought that has been in my mailbox, and my blog postings here.  Tokarski signed 3 different cards for me, in 152 days.  I sent the request to his Jr team, the Spokane Chiefs, but this was returned from his hometown of Watson, SK.

Michael Del Zotto – 50/50

One more card from my 50/50 with Chris in London.  New York Rangers first rounder Michael Del Zotto is now a part of my 2009 NHL draft pick collection.

Nazem Kadri – 50/50

In today’s mail I received my end of a 50/50 from a collector in London, ON.  He helped me out with several members of the OHL’s London Knights.  One of them was projected top 10 pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft – Nazem Kadri.  This is a custom design that I made up for guys in the CHL Top Prospects Game.

Viktor Tikhnov – Phoenix (NHL)

Today’s mail ended an incredibly long drought.  I received 4/4 signed cards from Phoenix Coyotes forward Viktor Tikhnov.  It took 230 days, but I won’t complain when I get the cards back.

Max Pacioretty – Hamilton (AHL)

Max Pacioretty signed 2/3 through the Hamilton Bulldogs in 147 days.  He sent me back someone else’s custom, but that’s no big deal.  He also added a signed 8×10, wrote a letter, and sent back my SASE with a note on it saying “Save this stamp.”  Awesome success.  I had kind of written this one off, because he has been bouncing back and forth between Montreal and Hamilton all season.   He placed the letter, picture and signed custom in a manilla folder before mailing everything out in his own envelope as well.

Brett Sonne – Calgary (WHL)

Brett Sonne signed 1/2 (he kept a copy of the World Junior custom card, as I offered) in 38 days through the Calgary Hitmen.  I am slowly making progress getting these cards signed.  Sonne marks my third, out of 22 guys on the team.