Thought I would do a quick post a day before the 4th of July. It will be crazy here as we live by many lakes and it is a big draw for visitors to come and enjoy the fireworks shot over the lake, we do not attend these fireworks displays because I have seen enough and we dislike the ones that people shoot off near our homes. I got another through the mail autographs from Kim Insalaco who has a card in the 2005-06 United States Women's National Team. Kim signed an index card for me earlier in the year and must love signing in red.
This now gives me 10 cards from the 2005-06 United States Women's National Team and getting Natalie Darwitz auto was a big one to get and the other one is Angela Ruggiero but I have only seen this card for sale for nearly $60 and I have sent many times to her with only one successful reply so to lay out $60 is really taking a big chance. If I saw her signing at an event then yes I would do it but no I won't spend that much and take that risk (That is for how I feel Today)This is a very nice unique item that I got Tricia Dunn to sign. This is a first day cover silk Cachet for the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy. The postmark is Ja. 11,2006 Colorado Springs, CO is the cancellation stamp. Notice the cost of a postage stamp 20 years ago was only 39 cents and currently it is up to 78 cents and on July 12th it jumps up to 82 cents. Tricia is not an easy auto to get but I am very happy with this one, the cachet is really nice and is like cloth and Tricia signed this Tricia D Luoma.This card of Stephanie Boyd is from the 1994-95 Classic Women of Hockey set of 40 cards in which these cards consist of 20 Team Canada players one checklist card and 19 Team USA cards. I have 18 team USA cards autographed as I still need Stephanie Boyd as the last Team USA players autograph. I sent a autograph request out on Weds. in hope that she gets the request and signs the 2 cards I sent. She was born in Canada but played for Team USA which is what makes getting her autograph somewhat difficult. I will be sending more autograph requests to the 1997-98 University of Minnesota cards and enclosing a silver sharpie in a bubble mailer which I plan on sending to Laura Tryba, I am only waiting for the 3 cards to arrive so I can send them out to her and one of the cards has the first ever goal scorer Julie Otto as scoring the first ever goal for the University of Minnesota Women's Hockey assisted by Laura Tryba. I hope I can get both to sign as that would be huge.This is the front of the card showing Julie Otto and Brittny Ralph but Ralph did not assist she was on the ice and is celebrating when the goal was scored. I wonder if she got to keep the puck, I plan on asking her that when I send the card out for here auto, time will hopefully answer that question.This is the back of the card above which shows a small inset photo of Otto and Tryba. I might ask them to each sign the back by their respective photo and the front and I might ask Brittny Ralph to sign the front as well since she is the other player depicted on the front. As you can see the first ever goal was scored by Julie Otto from a rebound by Laura Tryba at the games 1:55 mark.This card I am showing is one my Wife bought for me back in 2013 and I still and always will keep this card. The serial number is 056/100. The number 56 was Bergeron's jersey number back when he was a rookie. Just a really nice card. Also want to say congratulations to Patrice Bergeron for being elected to the HHOF and he will soon have his jersey number retired where it will hang with all the other Bruins greats. That is all I got for this post and looking forward to getting more autographs back of the Women in Hockey and I will be doing a post on Linda Sinrod once I get her card back signed.Friday, July 3, 2026
More Pick-ups and A Happy 4th
Saturday, June 27, 2026
This could get a little Stick(Y)
As an autograph collector I usually only collect autographs on a players card or a custom/index card. My reason for not trying to players auto's on memorabilia is because they take up too much room.
I do like when a card Manufacturer creates a card that has either the players jersey swatch or stick embedded in the card and the player signs the piece of memorabilia. I did go out and buy an item that go's against my collecting thoughts by picking up a unique item.
I have been collecting only Women's Hockey Player autographs and been trying to get players from different colleges. I have been very successful in getting a majority of team sets signed by all the players within said set. The 1997-98 Golden Gophers Women's Hockey is their inaugural season and I am still short a few players for completion.
I saw this 1997-98 Golden Gophers Women's Hockey souvenir stick signed by all the players so I just finally said just make an offer and see if I can get it a bit lower. The photo tells the story as to the seller letting me have it for my offer.
One of the players autograph that is very difficult to acquire is Nadine Muzzerall. Muzzerall has been the head coach of University of Ohio Women's hockey, her first season was 2016-17 and is still the current head coach. She has guided the Ohio State Women's Hockey to 2 National championships, 2022 and 2024. I sent her the 1997-98 Minnesota card but I never got it back. That is the biggest reason for buying this stick and if you look closely the very end of the handle you can see that great hockey name..... Hattie Hoff #2.I just had to show this card again as it still remains one of my favorite autographs. Not only is the name great but the autograph is very legible which is an indication she took her time to sign, the silver sharpie blends in perfectly with the cards white shadow that borders the players image.
That is all for now, so until next time Happy Collecting and just remember to have fun collecting!!!
Friday, June 26, 2026
Some Really Decent Mail Day Autographs and a yard sale pick up of 4
Yes there has been some really decent mail this week and some really nice surprises as well. The last batch of autograph requests went out on the 15th of June and there were two that I thought I would get back signed and the other two I was doubtful I would ever see the cards again. I will be posting these newest autographs but first want to discuss other Women's hockey news.
The PWHL had their draft with the number one selection being Caroline "KK" Harvey followed by Abbey Murphy. Harvey was drafted by the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Abbey Murphy going to the Seattle Torrent. It will be interesting next season when the 2026-27 Upper Deck PWHL cards are released with the amount of attention her Young Guns card will receive. It would be really nice to pull her Young Guns Silver or Red Outburst card and the impossibility of pulling the Gold one of one young guns card.
I will be buying some of the 2025-26 Upper Deck PWHL boxes but still not sure how many, I was thinking of buying a case which is 16 boxes and 12 packs a box 6 cards a pack 72 cards multiplied by 16 would be 192 packs and 1,152 cards. Sounds like it would be very fun and the amount of complete sets would be around 15+.
I got a autograph success back and you never really know for sure who the auto is from until you open and see but what I do is I journal and keep all of the players name and addresses and the date of mailing so if the cancellation of the stamp is legible I look to compare the city and state and I am pretty accurate. So Earlier in the year I had an envelope that was lost from Lisa Chesson so I resent with the same cards. Well she sent back those cards and one other and I was very pleased to of got the extra 2 cards she added. I planned on sending her the 2014 Team USA card but she beat me to the punch. She sent the 2014 which is the card on the left and the other card that I never knew existed she sent and auto'd too.
The card on the right is I believe from 2007-08 and I have seen a Natalie Darwitz from the same set. I love the color and design and the backs of the cards are also very bright and show a photo of the player in street clothes.
This is the reverse side of that card and it also list the players height, weight, Birth Place, hometown, high school and college. I also like the trivia did you know about the player depicted. Her first year with the U.S. Women's National Team was 2007 which is why I believe this card to be a 2007-08 date. I will do more research into these cards. If anyone reading this has any info about these cards such as dates, player checklist please contact me ASAP.
The last autograph card I got back this week is from the same set as Natalie Darwitz's the 2005-06 U.S. Women's National Team card of Lyndsay Wall. Lyndsay has signed for me in the past but again I felt confident sending to her. and she did not disappoint.
These cards are much better looking in person as the scanner seems to pick up the vertical lines as you can see in the scan but still I now have 10 autographs from this 2005-06 U.S. Women's National Team Card set of I believe there to be at least 20 different players, I love these challenges but I will add that it is frustrating when you send an auto request to the player and it comes back as a RTS and the address is correct. The player can refuse the item and tell the postal carrier and it comes back with the yellow label. It usually states this: Return to Sender, Not deliverable as addressed, Unable to forward. The RTS I got back someone wrote in red pen ANK MOVED which indicates Address Not Known. You can drive yourself crazy searching for a different address because it is pointless because you do have the correct address but it is the player who just does not want to take the time to sign.
I sent an auto request to Linda Sinrod. Linda holds the Guiness World's Record for the oldest living player(Female) 84 years 198 days old. Linda will be inducted into the United States 80+ Hall of Fame this fall. I am adding another album of all of the autograph cards I get from these hockey pioneers who are trailblazers. I am in my mid 60's and I could not play hockey now, these players are truly amazing and they love the game and play for as long as they can. Linda did retire on April 7, 2025 because she was told by her doctors that she could tear the tendons she had previously torn. Congrats Linda on your upcoming induction to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.I did pick up these 4 cards for a buck and figured you really can't go wrong with 2 Rose cards a Carew and a Yaz card and the Rose and Yaz are in very nice condition.
Until my next post I hope everyone is having fun collecting and enjoying the hobby!!!
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
We Gotcha Bonnie and Thank-You
I did some more research about Bonnie Shea and I said once I got back her autograph I would post it in my next blog post. Today is that day but let's add a few more tidbits about Bonnie Shea.
Bonnie started playing hockey with the boys primarily because there was no girls teams. She has said to be the first girl to play on a boys team in Duluth, Minnesota. The year was 1951 at the age of 7 where she played for her home town team of all boys. When she was in high school her hockey coach invited her to try out for the high school team. When the High school principal found out he said that girls are not allowed to play on the boy's hockey team. At the age of 15 Bonnie had to stop playing the game she loved because there were no teams where a girl could play hockey.
One day she was watching television and saw an announcement that UMD was starting a club team for Women's hockey. Bonnie was 40 years old and she contacted UMD and said she wanted to play and I am 40 years old. She was told to report because Bonnie did graduate from UMD. Bonnie was a teacher and she would take the time and play floor hockey with some students. One student actually made it to the NHL as a goaltender. That player was Robb Stauber who played 4 years with the Los Angeles Kings and 1 season with the Buffalo Sabres. Stauber played in the 1992-93 play-offs with the Kings winning 3 and losing 1.
Bonnie is now with WHAM (Women's Hockey Association of Minnesota) this is for players who played High School or College hockey and they played against Men's teams. Bonnie was a very gifted scorer and was a quick skater, quick enough to see an opposing player (Man) going to hit her but with her quick speed she was able to avoid the check and the player went hard into the boards.
Bonnie also enjoys watching the NFL and her favorite team is the Minnesota Vikings where she has been a season ticket holder for 20 years. She was chose to blow the Gjallarhorn at a Vikings pre season game.
Bonnie signed the 2 cards I sent her and she did add a nice letter so without further ado here are those 2 auto's.
Another nice addition to my Women in Hockey Autograph Collection. One more thing of importance. Bonnie Shea will be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame this coming fall 2026. Congrats Bonnie on a amazing career and I hope you are able to continue to play the game that you love and that you continue having fun playing.These 2 cards are both from Allen & Ginter. The card on the left is the N-28 while the card on the right is the N-43. The cards could also be found in an album that was made by A&G and they are now a days difficult to locate. The cards cut from the albums are a paper type much thinner but still quite valuable and more valuable if left intact in the album. I owned 2 different albums at one time.This tobacco card is from the T-201 Mecca double folds and lifting the top of the card straight up you get the other player which with Cobb is Sam Crawford. The backs of the card have a 1 year stats of each player.This card is the Old Judge card of Del Darling of the Chicago White Stockings. The Old Judges were issued by the Goodwin & Company New York. This is the largest set of tobacco cards issued from 1886-1890 and consists of over 4,500 card variations and slightly over 500 different players. There are numerous poses per player. One player Billy Hoy was Deaf, Dumb and earned the nickname as Dummy Hoy. Hoy played a important part of Baseball the signals were used to communicate with him and that is how the signals used in today's game were introduced back then. Billy Hoy was 99 years old when he passed away in 1961 at that time he was the oldest living major leaguer. I do have his Old Judge card and it is a very highly sought after card. I have seen less that 10 which makes it very valuable and highly sought after.
Sunday, June 7, 2026
What a Beautiful Name for the Game of Hockey
You know there are many ways to collect cards, autographs, memorabilia but there are different reasons why I collect certain players. Not always because of a player being a superstar as I have others reasons. The player I want to start off with played for the inaugural Minnesota Gophers 1997-98 season. She played that only season for the Gophers and then played 3 seasons with University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Earlier in the year I sent her the 1997-98 Minnesota Gophers card of herself asking if she would autograph the card for me. I got it back and like a lot of her teammates some signed the back of the card because the front of the card is a dark brown almost black background. Signing with a black sharpie can make the autograph difficult to see. So I had one more card of her from that year and I sent it in a bubble mailer and I added a silver sharpie. I asked her if she would please sign the front of the card using the silver sharpie as I got back the first card I sent you where you signed the back and I said I understood why you signed the back of the card. I told her she could keep the silver sharpie. So without further ado here is the card she signed.
Hattie Hoff and a beautiful looking autograph and you can see how the silver marker really pops on the dark background. What a perfect name for a hockey player. Hattie for a hat trick and even the last name HOFF just one letter "F" too many for hall of fame. These cards are really beautifully done especially for being done 28 years ago. I love how you can see a shadow outline around the players photo. The backs of the cards are also well done with a brief description about the players career and academics in college. So this player may never had been a big time scorer but as I said earlier I have many reasons for getting excited about getting certain players whether it be because of things they have done outside of the game or the name itself which is the reason for this autograph. Hattie even has a very beautiful autograph and I am very happy I got this one back signed.This index card I sent to Kelly Stephens was sent out about a week before I bought the 6 sets from the 2014 Team USA cards. I then sent 3 cards to each player including 3 to Kelly Stephens so I am hoping the 2014 cards come back signed.
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
As A Autograph Collector you just never know
As I think about what I want to say in this new blog post I stop and say who am I writing this for?? Are there readers who actually read my blog?? Should I care?? The answer should be obvious because why would the questions arise so yes it does bother me but I then say to myself I can use this blog for my benefit of keeping all of my collecting data here. My want list, my cards that I am proud of by showing a scan. As a collector yourself stop and think about why you collect, is it to show others your collection?? I bet a majority of collectors have done a want list and your a few cards away from having the whole set complete but you need those last 2 cards. You then search more for the cards and finally you have found the last 2 cards for completion. As time moves along you feel great about the achievement being done but don't you love discussing your collection with others?? This is what is missing in today's collecting society being able to discuss your collection with others.
As a autograph collector I have found this to be a bumpy road with some smoother roads and some with potholes but the last few weeks I am seeing a turn around with players as far as being a more positive route. I was very fortunate to buy a nice collection of 2014 Women's National team USA sets, six to be exact. The set consists of 25 different players so I decided to try and get the entire set autographed, I sent to 22 of the 25 players and yes I do know this will not be an easy task but I am willing to try. When I write to a player I always am very honest and courteous and there are players who will sign 99% of the time just as there are players who refuse to sign at all. The first thing I do every morning is I go to my informed delivery to see if I have any autographs coming in the mail. Today I see 3 possibly a fourth as one is written in pen addressed to myself but my return envelopes I use my own address labels so I think I know who it is from. The last 3 mail days I have received 10 autograph successes and it appears to be from the new set I am attempting to complete. Here are some of my latest autograph through the mail successes.
There are some players who are very good about signing and some that take a long time and many who just do not sign. This player though has gone above and beyond. The first time I sent her an auto request I did not own any of her cards so I sent her 2 index cards to sign. When I got back her auto request she did not sign the 2 index cards but she went ahead and signed 4 cards of hers, I never knew the cards existed. The 3 cards above were from that ebay purchase that I sent out on the 19th of May and I got them back 10 days later. As you can see she signed 2 in silver and one in gold, the gold one actually in person looks easier to see. She is one of the best signers through the mail.This was actually the first time sending to Gigi Marvin but I am pleased with the result. This is another card from the 2014 Team USA Women's Hockey set of 25 cards. So now I am at 3 signed and I know it will be a huge challenge getting them all signed but I enjoy the challenge as it keeps me wondering daily who I will get back as a success.
Sunday, May 17, 2026
Wow What A Huge Find!!!
As I start writing this blog I still can not believe that I actually found these cards. I found 6 complete sets of the 2014 Women's National Team USA cards. This set is large with 25 players and this set does not have a checklist card. The backs of the cards show no card number but the front and back of the cards show the players jersey number. I will list the cards by jersey number order. This set of cards shows no manufacturer which is consistent with all of the other Women's National Team USA cards.
These cards are not as plentiful as say a Upper Deck type of cards and as a youngster growing up in the 60's our cards did not have the UV coating. I will say that I hate the UV coating. The reason I dislike the UV coating on cards is because the cards if left in a count box or stacked they tend to stick together. These cards did stick but were very easy to get apart and there was no card damage. Let's look at all 25 cards.
This card is Lee Stecklein and is the first card in the checklist. Lee Stecklein is currently playing for the Minnesota Frost of the PWHL. She also won a Gold medal with team USA at this years winter Olympics.
This card is of Jincy Dunne who plays for the Minnesota Frost from the PWHL. She played 22 games for the New York Sirens then traded to the Frost. Yes she is the older sister of Joy Dunne who plays for Ohio State and has one more year there next season.
This card is of Monique Lamoureux who in the 2014 Winter Olympics went on to win a Silver medal with team USA. She won a Gold medal with Team USA in the 2018 Winter Olympics.This card is of Megan Bozek who went on to win 2 Silver Medals with Team USA. She was a standout player for the University of Minnesota.


























































