Just a single TTM success to report today – Hockey Hall of Famer Al MacInnis.  A 15-time All Star, MacInnis was inducted into the HOF in 2007 after 23 seasons in the NHL and was famous for his powerful slap shot, considered by many observors as the game’s hardest.  MacInnis was a key player with the Calgary Flames in their run to the Stanley Cup championship in 1989.  A very nice success anytime a HOFer shows up in the mailbox.

Looking forward to get back to hockey action in Hershey this weekend.  John Carlson will be back in Hershey this weekend after scoring the winning goal in OT for the U.S. Junior National team against Team Canda in the gold medal game of  the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships, and we’re hoping to catch up with him and teammate Karl Alzner to work on some photos.  Hopefully, we’ll be successful in our game of hide and seek with Alzner.  The WBS Penguins and Syracuse Crunch are in Chocolatetown this weekend.  Hope you’ll check back to see how we did.

My favorite NHL team is looking awfully shaky recently, with the Penguins dropping a 4-3 decision Monday night in Minnesota against the Wild.  Hopefully, this losing streak is just one of those periods that every team goes through during the course of a long season.  Here’s the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s game story from last night’s contest.

Was anyone surprised to learn that Mark McGwire took steriods and HGH?  Can’t believe there’s really even one person that could honestly say that.  His announcement yesterday was more than a little anti-climatic.  After his “I’m not here to talk about the past” appearance in front of Congress a few years ago, I figured his legal team had crafted that sort of language to offer up when he was questioned.

We got to relax a little this weekend, which is a pretty good thing given how cold it is outside. The Hershey Bears were away from home this weekend in frigid Manitoba, winning a pair of games against the Moose to extend Hershey’s winning streak to 12 games.  The Bears are 14 points ahead of the second place Albany River Rats in the East Division standings and own the best points total in the AHL.  By the time next weekend arrives, I’m sure my sons and I will be ready to see a little hockey action in person in Hershey against the visiting WBS Penguins and Syracuse Crunch. We did continue to add to our hockey collection this week as a few TTM returns arrived in our mailbox, including:

• David Booth – 2/2 in 12 days c/o Florida Panthers – Booth is still trying to recuperate after a devastating open ice hit from the Philadelphia Flyers’ Mike Richards back on October 24th, but the Panthers’ winger is back on the ice skating and may yet return to action this action.  A video of the hit appears below at the bottom of this post.
• Lew Morrison – 1/1 in 23 days c/o Home – a nice success from a former Pittsburgh Penguin
• Brian Rolston – 2/2 in 5 days c/o Home

I managed to get a bunch of TTM requests out in the mail during the holidays so we’ll hopefully continue to see more good news in our mailbox this coming week.

Here are a few other goodies I found on the web today on our favorite teams:

• Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offers a post-season analysis of the Steelers.
• PG columnist Ron Cook says the Steelers should extend the contract of head coach Mike Tomlin.
• The Penguins start a five-game road trip on the right foot with a 4-1 win in Toronto.
• A nice PG feature story on the Penguins’ all-team team of the 1970s.
• More on NHL concussions from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
• The Pirates have a mental-conditioning coordinator.  Who cares – the team will still be irrelevant once again in 2010.
• Former #1 pick Neil Walker likely a short-timer with the Bucs.  There are a few interesting comments at the end of the story about how remaining free agents (perhaps feeling somewhat desperate to find a place to play this season) will likely begin signing with the Pirates in the weeks ahead of spring training.  You know your team is not doing well when the desperate lower-tier free agents are only considering playing for your team when there’s no where else to go.

My sons and I typically make the York Sports Night an annual visit, but I don’t think we’ll be going to this year’s event on January 20 due to a work conflict I have that evening.  HOFer Harry Carson and former Flyers forward Brian Propp highlight the celebrity listing for the evening.  I’ve already received signed items from Carson and Propp, so I think I’m covered.

If you missed or had forgotten about the hit Booth took from Richards, a video of the incident appears below:

Make it 10 consecutive wins for Hershey after a spirited 4-1 victory over the visiting PhiladelphiaAdirondack Phantoms.  Back with the Bears for some rehab action was Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov (yet another spelling of his first name!)  Varly was solid in net and looked like he was ready for NHL action, but heard he suffered another injury in this game with Hershey.  There were lots of collectors braving the cold waiting for Varly to sign after the game, and if you waited him out and then sprinted around to the back of the arena when he was ready drive back to DC, Varly signed whatever you needed, including multiples and duplicates.

Earlier, we were treated to lots of brush-offs from frustrated Phantoms players.  I still have no idea how both John Grahame and Andreas Nodl got by all of us outside the visitor’s entrance after the game.  We’re ready for new 09-10 team card sets to come out, because we had very little for Adirondack.  Our successes included:

• Greg Gilbert – 4/4
• Jonathon Kalinski – 3/4 (wouldn’t sign CIC)
• Garrett Klotz – 1/1
• Joonas Lehtivuori – 1/1
• Kevin Marshall – 1/1
• Joey Mormina – 1/1
• Jared Ross – 1/1

We while froze ourselves stiff waiting for Varlamov, we picked up a nice success from Hershey’s Sean Collins.

Here’s the information on Varlamov’s injury.  He didn’t show any outward signs of any injury in playing the entire game, but it’s too bad to see Varly struggling to get back on the ice full-time.

And here are the highlights of the Bears’ terrific win (with thanks to the Hershey Bears’ You Tube site!)

No Hershey games this coming weekend as the team is on the road in Manitoba, so that’ll open up some time for other things around here!

Hershey ran its winning streak to nine by downing the visiting Binghamton Senators by a 5-3 score.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, it’s great to be able to watch the Bears dominate game after game, but this winning streak is really starting to put a crimp in our autograph collecting.  We didn’t have a lot of things for the Binghamton players to sign, but more than a few guys simply stomped past the few of us that were waiting outside on this bitterly cold evening.

Our successes included:

• Jason Bailey – 1/1
• Josh Hennessy – 1/1
• Chris Holt – 1/1
• Geoff Kindrade – 1/1
• Brian Lee – 1/2  (He personalized our custom index card for my son, but would only sign one item for him.  I would be curious what happened with Brian that has caused him to become a “one per” signer.  When he first appeared in the AHL, he was a great signer.  Last year he wouldn’t sign at all, so I’m glad he’s at least doing one per person.  I think part of the problem might have started in Hershey a couple years ago when another collector asked Brian to sign 8 of the same Heroes & Prospects cards one night.  I really think Lee’s a pretty decent defenseman who’s going to play for a good while in the NHL, but something happened that’s made him a real toughie!)
• Craig Schira – 1/1
• Zack Smith – 2/2
• Brandon Svendsen – 1/1

Here are your video highlights of Hershey’s win over the Senators!

For Hershey Bears fans, Sunday’s game was another routine blow-out, as Hershey crushed the visiting Norfolk Admirals by a 7-1 tally.  It’s really easy to get a spoiled attitude watching Hershey play over the past few seasons, with all the success the team has enjoyed.

After the game, we finished cleaning up a few leftover cards we had for Norfolk players and coaches, including:

• Mitch Fadden – 1/1
• Adam Hall – 2/3 (just one per person)
• Jim Johnson – 3/5
• Justin Keller – 1/1
• Lukas Krajicek – 2/2
• Matt Lashoff – 1/1
• Leigh Mendelson – 1/1 (he thanked me for asking him to sign our custom – said he doesn’t get much opportunity)
• Mark Parrish – 3/3 (nothing left, he has signed every unsigned card we had of him – a signing machine and great with fans)
• Darren Rumble – 1/1
• Juraj Simek – 1/1
• Ty Wishart – 1/1

After Norfolk pulled out, we went over to the Hershey exit and got a couple signed cards from Boyd Gordon, who is rehabbing an injury with the Bears before returning to full-time duty in Washington with the Capitals.

Guess who never found out all-time great Gordie Howe was in the building tonight?  Me.  Didn’t learn that Mr. Hockey was visiting Hershey with his son, Mark, until it was too late!  Check out this story on his visit.

Here are your game highlights!  Thanks to John Walton Hockey for the link to the You Tube posting.  The quality of the editing of the Bears’ highlights videos I’ve been linking to is just excellent!  Much appreciation to whomever with the Hershey organization that is responsible for these.

After looking rusty throughout their first period of play after the Christmas break, the Hershey Bears came alive and drubbed the visiting Syracuse Crunch, AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets, by a 4-1 margin. Mathieu Perrault had a pair of goals to pace the Bears’ offensive attack and goalie Braden Holtby was impressive in net, turning aside 33 of 34 shots.

Our post-game autograph session with Syracuse players was impacted by a misty drizzle that was falling, but we did manage to get a few things signed. Thankfully, the Crunch are now in Hershey’s division and will be back again this season.

Our successes included:

• Jared Aulin – 3/3 (another former Hershey player)
• Grant Clitsome – 2/2
• Dan Fritsche – 4/4
• Karl Goehring – 2/2 (now an assistant coach with Syracuse)
• Kevin Harvey – 2/2
• Nick Holden – 2/2
• Dan LaCosta – 4/4
• Kevin Lalande – 1/1
• Jordan LaValle-Smotherman – 2/2
• David Liffiton – 1/1
• Derek MacKenzie – 2/2
• Alexandre Picard – 1/1

We also got signed custom index cards from Jonathan Sigalet and assistant coach Trent Cull, but these were badly soaked by rain dripping off the roof of the arena.

It was a little disappointing that Syracuse tough guy Jon Mirasty was scratched from the line-up.  Mirasty isn’t a huge guy (just 5-10 tall, but a solid 228 pounds), but he plays a tough brand of hockey.

Elsewhere in the AHL, Chris Chelios has signed another tryout contract with the Chicago Wolves.  Good thing – I just dropped a few cards in the mail hoping Chelios will sign TTM for me.

On recall with the Washington Capitals, Michal Neuvirth is giddy after besting New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur in a 4-1 win for the Caps.  Check out the game story.

Here are your game highlights of Hershey’s win over Syracuse.

We didn’t get to Saturday night’s Hershey-Rochester game due to the massive snowstorm that blanketed south-central Pennsylvania (I know we shoveled well over a foot of snow from our driveway), so we were more than ready to see the Toronto Marlies tangle with the Bears on Sunday. As has become the norm as of late, Hershey whipped up on the Marlies, winning 5-1. Despite being overwhelmed on the ice, the Toronto players were good signers outside after the game.

We picked up signed items from the following players and coaches:

• Alex Berry – 1/1
• Troy Bodie – 1/1
• Tyler Bozak – 1/1
• Andre Deveaux – 2/2
• Dallas Eakins – 1/1
• Josh Engel – 1/1
• Jonas Frogren – 2/2
• Stefano Giliati – 1/1
• Derek King – 11/11 (can’t believe how quickly he signs!)
• Joey MacDonald – 2/2
• Brendan Mikkelson – 4/5 (didn’t sign our CIC)
• Juraj Mikus – 1/1
• Adam Munro – 1/1
• Ben Ondrus – 1/1
• Phil Oreskovic – 1/1
• Kyle Rogers – 1/1
• Jay Rosehill – 1/1
• Greg Scott – 1/1
• Robert Slaney – 1/1

I was pretty pleased with our take, all things considered.

Check out the highlights of this game below:

Thanks for continuing to visit our site and best wishes to you for a happy holiday season!

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ron Cook has this exactly right – check out his column.  Highly recommended.

My youngest son and I were looking forward to seeing the Rochester Americans play the Hershey Bears at Giant Center on Saturday night – two first-place teams should have brought out the best in both teams.  Wrong again!  Led by a hat-trick from Keith Aucoin, the Bears drubbed the Americans 6-2 on the ice, and as has been the pattern after other recent Hershey blowout wins, visiting players with bad moods after losing big doesn’t equal lots of autographs for collectors.  We did OK, but it was a struggle just to get what we managed.

Contributing to our difficulties was the fact that the Rochester bus driver inched his vehicle practically inside the Giant Center, leaving little room for collectors to stand.  And to that yet another super-efficient security guard who herded us around like we were his little flock of sheep.  And finally, there were lots of non-regulars looking to see former Bear Graham Mink, now with the Americans.  As it turns out, Mink was the last player to leave the building and didn’t sign ONE thing.

Despite these troubles, we managed to score signed items from:

• Jimmy Bonneau – 2/2
• Brady Calla – 2/2
• Michael Caruso – 2/2
• Keaton Ellerby – 4/4
• Jason Garrison – 3/3
• Benoit Groulx – 1/2 (he must not have seem the other card in my son’s book)
• Jordan Henry – 2/2
• Steve MacIntyre – 2/3
• Alexander Salak – 1/1
• Chris Taylor – 4/4 (my newest nominee for least effort expended when signing an autograph – check out his minimalist signature!)
• Clay Wilson – 3/3

The Americans will be back in Hershey again next Saturday night, so we’re hoping to finish off all the stuff we still have left over for Rochester players.

In other happenings:

• The Penguins down the Florida Panthers in OT – Malkin scores the game-winner on the power play
• The Pirates decide they can do without Matt Capps as their closer – sure, the front-office is investing all their money in building a better product on the field and not pocketing profits.  If I was a player, I would avoid the Pirates like the plague.  I’m sure Bobby Crosby is going to just love his time in Pittsburgh (before he is dealt before the trading deadline).
• Former Bucco Jason Bay says no to the Red Sox – I don’t think he’s using the Red Sox to leverage a better deal from the Pirates!
• The Steelers didn’t lose today!  Oh they didn’t play?  ESPN on the looming shake-ups that must happen with the Steelers this off-season.

With Hershey consistently being one of the top teams in the AHL over the past few seasons, it’s great to be a fan watching the action.  But, as an autograph collector, visiting players frequently storm out of the Giant Center in a foul mood after another beat-down administered by the Bears.  It happened once again when Hartford got whipped 9-2 by Hershey.  The game wasn’t as close as the score either.  The Wolf Pack players looked like they had zero interest in playing.

Goalie Steve Valliquette, freshly demoted to the AHL from the Rangers, was yanked from the game after giving up Hershey’s first five goals, saw his GAA balloon t0 8.32 and wouldn’t stop to sign after the game, saying “I’m not signing tonight.”  Too bad.  Good thing for us that other Hartford players were still fan-friendly despite the thoroughly-awful performance.  We got signed items from:

• Mike Berube – 1/1
• Dane Byers – 1/1
• Derek Couture – 1/1
• Paul Crowder – 1/1
• J.J. Daigneault – 1/1 (one of Hartford’s assistant coaches)
• Brodie Dupont – 1/1
• Ryan Garlock – 3/3
• Evgeny Grachev – 1/1
• Corey Potter – 1/1
• Bobby Sanguinetti – 3/3 (he walks straight over to autograph collectors without even needing to be asked – cool move!)
• Michael Sauer – 1/1
• Justin Soryal – 1/1
• David Urquhart – 1/1