Let us never forget

 As a huge collector of Women's autographs I enjoy this hobby not just collecting the autographs but what I enjoy the most is watching these Women play and when I get their autograph through the mail it makes it that much nicer. That is the part about life that I can understand and there are other parts of life that baffles me. I try and stay positive with everything I do and it is not always very easy. Currently I am following the careers of many great female hockey players and now that they have their own professional league it makes it more enjoyable as I look forward to their annual PWHL draft and then I can follow them and watch them play and compete for that Cup of their own, the Walter Cup.

This next card I will show is what I have been referring to as not understanding why things happen to people that have so much to offer not just to the game but to others. The love in their hearts and their caring approach to others, teammates, friends and family members. 

This card is the 2013-14 Upper Deck Series 1 Game Worn Jersey card of Mandi Schwartz who played college hockey for the Yale Bulldogs. Her first season 2006-07 Mandi played in 31 games and finished the season with 13 points 5 goals and 8 assists. The 2007-08 season she played in 31 games with 14 points 4 goals and 10 assists. The 2008-09 season Mandi played in 11 games and this is the year she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December 2008 her junior year at Yale. Mandi underwent multiple treatments and continued to fight but she sadly passed away April 3, 2011 at the age of 23. Mandi played minor hockey at Athol Murray college of Notre Dame of Wilcox, Saskatchewan.

This is the back of the Jersey card and as you can see at the very top of the card what Mandi says. I was fortunate to get 2 of these cards and they are worth much more to me because of the kind of person she was. Life is so hard and I do not understand why beautiful people seem to lose their lives at such an early age. Owning this card is sad because I would rather of been able to write to her asking for her autograph instead of this card. I love the card but it makes me sad knowing she passed away but I also look at it as a way to always remember her and I can turn it over and see her smiling face and I can touch the jersey piece and say I have a piece of something that she wore in a Yale game of course I would still rather have just her autograph because that would indicate she would still be with us. I did see this card as check listed in the Beckett Monthly Price Guide.

The next autograph I got through the mail today is the 2022 Upper Deck PHF All-Star Showcase Captains card of Shiann Darkangelo of the Toronto Six. This was in Buffalo and if you look closely at the upper left corner you can see it says Breaking Boundaries. She signed the card in a Silver Sharpie which pops well on this card because of the darker background. Her autograph is not bad but it could be better. I have been studying her autograph and I am convinced that I see a capital letter "D" and a lower case letter "d" I can easily see where she wrote her jersey number of 27 above the signature itself. Shiann will be playing this season with the new Detroit Franchise of the PWHL in 2026-27 season.

This card is the 2025 Leaf Women of Sport of Jade Iginla certified autograph card serial numbered 1/10. Jade was picked in this years PWHL draft in the second round 18th overall by the Hamilton team.

Jade is the daughter of NHL Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla. It will be interesting to see how Jade and the other picks perform this year. The next release of Upper Decks PWHL will be very interesting with young guns rookie cards of Caroline Harvey and Abbey Murphy. I wonder if it will cause the cost per box to rise. Now that the National is over I hope everyone who attended found cards they needed. The only national I ever attended was the one in Atlantic City in 1988. It was a great show and we got to spend the evenings walking the boardwalk and sitting on the bench listening to the waves crash. Stay safe and as always Happy Collecting!!!