Dion Phaneuf TTM Success

Mailed:  1/14/2014
Received:  6/24/2017
Days:  1257
c/o:  Toronto Maple Leafs

I wrote to Dion back in 2009 when he was with the Calgary Flames.  The Flames intercepted all mail to Dion, Iginla and Kipper back then so all I got back was a team issued card signed.  I have met him a couple of times and he has always signed for everyone.  He is currently with the Ottawa Senators, but I think he may not be for long, as they were not happy when he didn't waive his no movement clause to be exposed in the expansion draft.

James Van Riemsdyk TTM Success

Mailed:  3/13/2013
Received:  2/13/2015
Days:  702
c/o: Toronto Maple Leafs

I got this one back just shy of 2 years.  JVR has been great for an awful Toronto team.  He has 43 points this season, and that is with the Leafs virtually scoring no goals since January 1st.  It sounds like the Leafs' management are about to blow up the team, but I think they will build around JVR and hope for a good draft pick this year.

Jay McClement TTM Success

Mailed:  11/26/2013
Received:  12/22/2014
Days:  391
c/o: Toronto Maple Leafs

It was a little over a year to get this one back.  I have a massive collection of his cards.  He is from Kingston, so I have always followed him through his career.  He is now playing with the Hurricanes and has 5 points so far this year.

Wendel Clark In Person

Wendel Clark was in town to promote the up coming World Jr. Championships.  Napanee is going to host an exhibition game between Team Finland and the Czech Republic as well as hosting those 2 teams for their North American training camp leading up to the tournament.  This is great for our small town to see such great hockey.  They gave away some pre-signed pucks, but he hung around after the announcement to sign autographs anyway, so I got another puck signed.

Jonathan Bernier TTM Success

Mailed:  10/23/2014
Received:  4/24/2014
Days:  183
c/o: Toronto Maple Leafs

Bernier had a decent year with the Leafs, considering the swiss cheese for defence they had.  He had a .922 save percentage which is really good, but a 2.70 GAA which is below average.  I am sure the Leafs will be trading Reimer by the trade deadline, so that will take some pressure off of him I think.  If they make some moves, they could be a good team next season.  I honestly don't think they are far off right now.

Clarke MacArthur TTM Success

Mailed:  2/2/2011
Received:  06/26/2013
Days:  875
c/o: Toronto Maple Leafs

Almost 3 years since I mailed this one.  You would think, that with the lockout and 2 off seasons, that he would have time to get to his mail.  Anyway, better late than never I guess.  Clarke had 20 points this year for the Leafs and he has been the subject of trade rumors.

Mike Palmateer WTF????

Mailed:  5/6/2010
Received:  04/03/2013
Days:  1063
c/o: Home

I am not really sure whether to call this a success or not.  I sent him 2 cards, almost a full 3 years ago.  The response I get was, a form letter directing me to his website for autograph requests.  If you go to the website http://mikepalmateer.ca/contacts you will notice that he charges $25 per card, and $50 for a jersey.  What a douche bag.  So, he did include a website ad  that he signed or autopened with my returned cards, so I sort of got an autograph.  $25 to sign a card through the mail in insane.  I have sent $5 to some of the older guys, which I believe is the most any card is worth.  Anyways, here is the postcard I got.

Matt Frattin TTM Success

Mailed:  2/5/2013
Received:  03/20/2013
Days:  43
c/o: Toronto Maple Leafs

Matt should have really been on the Leafs from the start of the season.  He was the last player sent back to the Marlies after training camp.  He had 17 points in 21 games with the Marlies, which earned him a callup as soon as they had a spot.  He did get injured after 10 points in 10 games with the Leafs, but is back now and has 1 point in his last 4 games.

NHL Alumni Game 2012

The NHL Alumni tour came through Napanee, Ontario at the Strathcona Paper Centre, last week.  It is a more low key tour than the Oldtimers Hockey Challenge Tour that comes to Kingston, Ontario every year.  We got a deal on the tickets through my daughters' school, which was cool.  If you want to check out the tour schedule, go to www.benefithockey.com for more information and to see if the tour is coming near you. Walter Gretzky was the ambassador for the event and he signed autographs for the entire 3 hours.  He really is a cool guy.  He was joking around with people and posing for photographs and signing tons of autographs.  I got him to sign a puck for me, and he also signed this notepad type of paper for me.

Marty McSorley was the last guy to come out.  I was there with 2 friends and ran into another guy I knew, so there was only 4 of us getting autographs.  He went over to a chair and sat down to sign.  He said he had both hips replaced and the plane ride from LA, left him really sore.  He always takes his time signing the autographs, but he was chatting with us about the lockout and also about the 1993 Stalney Cup Finals where he got targeted for having an illegal stick.  It was interesting to get his take on that as I am a huge Habs fan and I watched every minute of those cup playoffs.  It was just so cool of him to sit around and chat with us for about 30 minutes at the end of a long day.

Dave Reid also spent a bit of time with us.  He used to own a card shop in Whitby, Ontario, so I asked him if he collected his own cards.  He said they always got a bunch of the base cards by the company that produced them, but he didn't go after the memorabilia or autographed cards.

Gary Leeman.

Bill Derlago.

Brent Gretzky.  I watched him play junior with the Belleville Bulls.

Mike Krushelnyski.

Brad Marsh.

Wendel Clark TTM Success

Mailed:  05/28/2012
Received:  09/07/2012
Days:  102
c/o: Restaurant in Vaughn, ON

Wendel is one of the most popular players to ever wear a Leafs' jersey.  He had many "Gordie Howe Hat Tricks" over his career and I remember watching every Detroit/Toronto game when I was growing up, just to see Wendel and Bob Probert go at it.  This is also an addition to my 01-02 Fleer Greats of the Game set.

Bobby Baun TTM Success

Mailed:  07/13/2010
Received:  04/26/2012
Days:  653
c/o: Home

Almost 2 full years for this one.  I only sent him 2 cards, so he threw in an extra one for me.  Bobby was a member of the last Stanley Cup winning Leafs' team(1967).  I had to throw that in there.  He was one of the best defensive defencemen to play for the Leafs.

 

2012 NHL All Star Game in Ottawa, Ontario (part 1)

Ottawa is only about a 2 hour drive away from where I live.  So, a few friends and myself drove up there to take in the festivities.  My sister had been given some tickets to the game on Sunday night, and we ended up getting scalper tickets for the Skills Competition on Saturday night.

The Fan Fair at the Convention Centre, was lined up as far as the eye could see.  There were some really good autograph guests in there too, but there was no way we wanted to stand in line for hours just to get in, and then stand in more lines to do anything inside.  So, we ended up going to the Chateau Laurier, where the players were staying.  There was a ton of asshole dealers there getting as many autographs as possible.  I suggest you don't buy anything on EBAY from AUTHENTICSIGS.  When I can find out who the others were, I will post their IDs too.  The giant, fat russian that we have seen before was out there too.  He would literally run people over to get to someone.  It was really sad.  This had a huge impact on the autographs that we were able to obtain for sure.
Now to the positives.  This is who I did get.

 Steven Stamkos signed 8x10 photo.  I love this pic and the auto is awesome.  I am going to have to make some room on my wall for this one.

Jarome Iginla signed puck.  I was really lucky in getting this signed as he was really annoyed with the dirt bag dealers that were getting 5 photos signed each.  I asked him to personalize it and told him that he didn't sign for me yet, so he signed it.

I was able to get Henrik Sedin to sign this photo of the twins, but I wasn't able to get Daniel.  The only opportunity I did have, he was carrying his daughter and there was no way I was going to even bother him.  I let the dealers piss him off in that case.

Henrik Lundqvist came out of a side door.  I had to follow him down the street a bit and he got a red light.  I asked him to sign the McFarlane base.  He seemed a bit annoyed but signed it anyway.  I have always liked his play and I have had this figure for about 5 years waiting to get it signed, so it was nice to cross this one off.

Joffrey Lupul and Shea Weber signed cards.

My buddy had a Carey Price jersey to get signed, we were all on the lookout for him as it was the only thing he wanted to get done.  Once he got his autograph, I slid in to get another McFarlane signed.  Carey is quiet but always signs for us when we have met him.

Darryl Sittler IP

Darryl Sittler was doing a signing at my local Canadian Tire store.  They renovated the store and had something going on there every day.  I got Mr. Sittler last year at Feb Fest in Kingston, but, I found out about that event too late to get the 01-02 Fleer GOTG card signed.  I thought for sure I had this card but I couldn't find it at the time.  I bought one on www.ebay.com last weekend and prayed that it would arrive in time.  It arrived on Friday so I could add to my set build.  I took my daughter with me and he gave her a personalized photo as well.  Darryl has the NHL record for points in 1 game.  He scored 6 goals and added 4 assists for 10 points in a game against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 7, 1976.  I doubt that this record will ever be broken.

Toronto Maple Leafs IP

The Toronto Maple Leafs are at CFB Trenton for the next 3 days on a team building exercise and their practices are open to the public.  Trenton, ON is obviously Leaf country as there were so many people out that they had to let people in to view the practice in 20 minute shifts.  Autographs at the arena were really not happening.  David Steckel was the only player to come out and sign for people.  We thought the day was done, but we lucked out in our parking spot in that the bus went out right in front of us.  We had to go in the same direction as the bus to go home anyway, so we just lagged behind it a bit.  It pulled off into the mess hall on the base and it was open to the public there as well.  We lucked out really and got most of the team to sign for us there. 
Dion Phaneuf is a true class act.  I mean, all of the Leaf players were super nice, but Dion really stood out for me.  He even thanked the lunch ladies at the mess hall for lunch on his way out.  He was the last person to board the bus after signing for everyone.  Way to go Dion!  That is the way a true captain should be.

Nazem Kadri signed this puck.

Carl Gunnarsson signed puck.

Jonas Gustavsson signed McFarlane.  I was hoping he would add "The Monster" inscription but it was busy.

Colby Armstrong signed puck.   @armdog on twitter

Joffrey Lupul signed puck.  @jlupul on twitter

Jake Gardiner signed puck.

John-Michael Liles, David Steckel and Nikolai Kulemin.

James Reimer, Dion Phaneuf and Mike Komisarek.  @mkomisarek on twitter

Tim Connolly, Phil Kessel and Mikhail Grabovski.

Medigas Celebrity Classic Golf Tournament IP

The Medigas Celebrity Golf Tournament was this past weekend in Belleville, Ontario.  This is definitely the best celebrity golf tournament in the area.  The list of stars and retired stars, is amazing.  This tournament was started by Rick Meagher and has grown and raised a ton of money for charity. 

P.K. Subban was a huge draw for autograph collectors...and dealers.  P.K. and the tournament organizers were getting angry with the throngs of autograph requests and were turning people away.  I had gotten P.K. at last year's event, but I told a buddy at work that I would try to get a picture signed for his son who is a huge Subban and Habs fan.  Once I told P.K. that it was for a kid and asked him to personalize it, he was fine with that.  I didn't bother asking for anything for myself at that point.

Stephane Richer was there last year as well, so this year I found a picture for him to sign.

Rick Vaive is always so nice to the fans.  I had gotten him on hockey cards every other time I saw him, but this time I thought a picture would be a nice change.

This tournament always features lots of current and former Belleville Bulls' players.  Eric Tangradi is an american born player that now plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins.  I follow him on twitter @ETangradi.  He is hilarious, so add him if you use twitter.

Billy Smith is always amazing to get at these events.  He even brought a bunch of oversize picture cards to hand out to kids.

Colby Armstrong TTM Success

Mailed:  10/06/2011
Received:  04/21/2011
Days:  197
c/o: Toronto Maple Leafs

I liked Colby when he was with the Penguins.  He plays with alot of energy and is out there working hard every shift.  I pulled the winter classic jumbo card out of a UD blaster box and thought it would be a neat item to get autographed.  He was injured for a bit of this season, so you can't really gauge the year he could have had.  Given a more prominent role on the Leafs, should help his numbers next year.

James Reimer IP

James Reimer did a public autograph signing at the Pickering Flea Market on Saturday.  The deal was, you got a free autograph of whatever you wanted, but if you wanted a 2nd item, you had to buy it from the promoter (mostly 8x10s and pucks for $8-$10) and pay $10 for the autograph.  What a great deal of one of the best young goalies in the NHL.  James just confirmed that he is going to play for Team Canada at the up coming World Championships.  He seems like a nice guy and was joking and chatting with most people that came through.  It was a very busy signing to say the least.  I brought a team Canada puck and purchased an 8x10 from the promoter.

Toronto Maple Leafs IP

6 of us made the trip up to Ottawa for the Senators vs Leafs game on Saturday.  The Leafs won 4-2...BOOOO.  Anyway, we hounded the Leafs at the Brookstreet Hotel in Ottawa and got the following autographs.

Dion Phaneuf is a really classy guy.  Came right over to us and signed for everyone.  He seems to genuinely love interacting with the fans.  I got him to sign an 8x10.

Joffrey Lupul is a nice guy too.  A class act.  I follow him on twitter @JLupul.  He tweets fairly regularly.  Mike Komisarek told us he would sign after he put his stuff on the bus.  We all thought that meant he wouldn't be back, but sure enough, he came right off the bus and over to us to sign.  James Reimer was out too, and unfortunately, all I had was a hockey card for him to sign.  I really wish I had an 8x10 or something.  This kid is for real.

We would have gotten more, but the staff at the Brookstreet Hotel are completely out of touch with reality.  They actually went so far as to setup a decoy gated off area in the lobby for people to stand behind to "get autographs".  Of course, no players went out through the front door, so most people got nothing.  We went to another area and had success there.

Nikolai Kulemin TTM Success

Mailed:  01/06/2011
Received:  02/18/2011
Days:  43
c/o: Toronto Maple Leafs

Nikolai has been getting better with every season that he has played in Toronto.  He has 21 goals and 41 points so far this year which are career highs for him.  The Leafs have 24 games left, so he should add to those totals very nicely. 

Darryl Sittler In Person

Darryl Sittler was the special guest for the annual Feb Fest in Kingston, Ontario.  He was signing autographs for free today.  Darryl still holds the NHL record for 10 points in one game against the Boston Bruins back in 1976.  I am not sure that this record will ever fall.  He signed an 8x10 and a card for me.  I had my daughters with me so he signed a promo handout for each of them as well.  He personalized the 8x10 as well.  I am not a Leaf fan, but I can definitely respect an NHL legend.  It is a great autograph to add to my collection.