Niklas Hjalmarsson

Mailed on 12/20/10 and received 3/3 back on 2/22/11. Niklas is an incredibly reliable defenseman for the Hawks and I look forward to watching him for many years. He was one of the few free agents from the Cup team that we were able to re-sign and he was definitely one that deserved it. Niklas has always been a reliable signer ttm and in person. Cards were mailed to the Hawks

Martin Havlat

Mailed on 9/7/10 and received 2/2 back on 2/18/11. I love Marty Havlat. He had a great season this last year and was an all-star for the Wild. He had a great career here in Chicago and I miss seeing those skills on the ice every night. He is one of the best in the league as long as he stays healthy. He usually goes a long time between times that he signs so hopefully he will pick up the pen again and sign. Cards were mailed to the Wild.

Show and Tell: Quality of Signatures

I got both of these when I was able to hound the Blackhawks in 2008. Nikolai Khabibulin has one of the most detailed and interesting signatures in the NHL. He takes his time signing even when he is signing for a lot of people. I was only able to get him once though, he was usually very tough to get. He knew all the backdoors and tricky routes to dodge the hounds. He was very nice the time I was able to get him though. Now compare the quality of Khabibulin's signature to the Jonathan Toews card I received on the same day. Jonny was in a hurry when he signed this one, the saddest part is that its on about a $20 rookie card. Its great of him to sign but I always get a kick out of this card when I see it. I think every autograph I've gotten from Mr. Toews has been very different. Some guys take their time some don't, but hey an autograph is an autograph. Feel free to share some of your good or bad stories concerning autograph quality.

Brent Sopel

Mailed on 12/20/10 and received 1/1 back on 2/5/10. I love this return because I'm a huge Hawks fan and I love the cup in the card! Brent was a huge part of the stanley cup winning team and I gave him a lot of grief when he was in a Hawks uniform but after seeing some of the defensive play this last season, I would take Mr. Sopel back in a second. Card was mailed to the Atlanta Thrashers.