John Erskine and Danny Taylor IP

The local NHLers and prospects participated in a charity event to raise money for Kingston Minor Hockey.  There is quite a few local guys playing in the NHL, OHL, AHL, and NCAA.  I think some of the guys left from different areas of the rink, so I missed a lot of them.  I know a lot of people were dissappointed that Taylor Hall was not there but he had another commitment in Niagara Falls.
Danny Taylor played for the Kingston Frontenacs and was drafted by the LA Kings.  Although he was born in England, he has lived in Kingston, ON for most of his life.  He has only played 1 period of play in the NHL and he has bounced around in the minors quite a bit before going over to Europe to play last season.  He is currently a free agent, so hopefully he will get signed by a North American team.  I actually purchased his used pads from the Kingston Frontenacs a few years ago, and I have been using them ever since.  I have every NHL card of him that has ever been made.  08-09 UD Black had letter mark cards that spelled out the players' names.  I was trying to collect them one by one, but the "Y" was short printed and hadn't come up yet.  Some one listed a whole set, so I bought it.  I waited a while and eventually another "Y" popped up on ebay, so I bought it too.  I gave Danny my second set, and he thanked me.  We chatted for a few minutes and he signed a puck for me.  He is a great guy and a great goalie, so hopefully he makes his way back to the NHL.

John Erskine is a monster of a defenceman that plays for the Washington Capitals.  He was originally drafted by the Dallas Stars in 98.

Jannik Hansen TTM Success

Mailed:  02/09/2011
Received:  07/26/2011
Days:  167
c/o: Vancouver Canucks

Jannik is one of the fastest skaters that I have ever seen.  He really came into his own this year in the playoffs for the Canucks.  He should have an expanded and full time role with the Canucks this season.

Kevin Bieksa TTM Success

Mailed:  01/06/2011
Received:  07/18/2011
Days:  193
c/o: Vancouver Canucks

Kevin was an integral part of getting the Canucks to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  He just signed on for 5 more season in Vancouver, and with the rest of their high end talent locked up, look for them to continue to contend for a Stanley Cup in the next few years.

Medigas Celebrity Classic Golf Tournament IP Part 2

Shawn Matthias is a former Belleville Bull and is now with the Florida Panthers.

Mike Murphy is another Kingston, Ontario product.  He played for the Bulls and was CHL goalie of the year.  He is now a Carolina Hurricanes prospect and is playing for their farm team, the Charlotte Checkers.
He also is big on twitter, so follow him @MichaelMurphy31

 Peter Mahovlich(the Little M) was there this  year as well.  He is now a scout for the Florida Panthers.

Ric Seiling, Brad Richardson, Shawn Antoski.

Danny Gare, Tony McKegney, Rick Meagher.

Gilles Gilbert, Butch Goring, Mike Murphy.

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.

Johnny Bucyk TTM Success

Mailed:  05/13/2011
Received:  07/07/2011
Days:  54
c/o: Boston Bruins Alumni Association

I am still working on this set.  I read online that Johnny charges $5 for TTM requests.  The Canada Post strike/lockout delayed this I am sure.  He scored 1369 points, mostly with the Bruins.  He started his career with 2 seasons for the Detroit Red Wings.  He was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1981.

Alex Delvecchio TTM Success

Mailed:  05/13/2011
Received:  06/29/2011
Days:  47
c/o:  Home

47 days with the Canada Post Lockout/Strike situation.  This is another card from the 01-02 Fleer Greats of the Game set.  Alex was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977 and had 1281 points in a great NHL career.  I had read online that he will only respond to autograph requests by mail with $10 included.  I sent a $10 CDN bill and that worked.