Tuomo Ruutu

Mailed on 1/3/11 and received 1/2 back on 3/28/11. Tuomo has really become a great scorer in Carolina and plays with an aggressive edge. Not the prettiest signature in the world but I like Tuomo so I won't hold it against him. Cards were mailed to the Hurricanes.

Jordan Hendry

Mailed on 12/10/10 and received 2/2 back on 3/25/11. I've always been a Jordan Hendry fan. I wish he would be a permanent player on our 3rd defensive pair. He is very solid on the ice, skates well, and has some offensive talent. He deserves to be in the lineup every day. Cards were mailed to the Hawks

Ryan Malone

Mailed on 3/31/09 and received 1/2 back on 3/25/11. Almost two years for this one, I imagine I sent this one to the Pittsburgh Penguins and it came back from Tampa Bay. Signed card also came with a letter from the Lightning thanking fans for writing. I'm glad this one found its way back after so long. Goodluck to the Lightning in the playoffs and I hope all their players are catching up on their mail.

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.

Garnet Exelby

Received this on on 1/28/11 and got 4/4 back in about a month. Mr. Exelby has been great for me TTM, I got him recently and then bought a few newer cards to send him and he graciously signed these as well. Garnet has been solid in Rockford this season and I hope he gets a shot in Chicago at some point. Cards were sent to Rockford.

CONTEST WINNER!

Thanks so much for all the responses! The correct answer was Niklas Hjalmarsson on the index card. I was surprised with how many people answered with Nick Leddy but I entered everyone who emailed me because I appreciate the feedback. The winner is Devon, congrats! I'll have a new contest for you pretty soon.

Show and Tell: Rookie Gems

So I've decided to add a little extra to my site, every so often I will post some items that I haven't gotten through the mail on here so you folks can check them out. I have to give credit to my friend Sal who is the creator of Sal's Hockey Autographs who I first saw this on his site. Check out Sal's site which can be found on the right side of my page.

Today I've decided to show you my Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews signed rookie cards I managed to get at Hawks practices. The Hawks used to practice at the Edge in Bensonville, IL and it was possible to get a few autographs. But their new location is much harder to get guys to sign. So I'm happy I got these when I could. I really like the Toews autograph because it's one of his better signatures, he can get quite sloppy at times. The Kaner card is also pretty sweet. These are two of my nicer signed Hawks cards and I hope you enjoyed taking a look.