Signature Sundays - Mega Mullet

Well, we've reached the point on the calendar where we as fans are officially missing would-be 2012-13 regular season NHL hockey games.  I don't think anyone out there truly has a good grasp on where this situation is heading, or how long it's going to drag out for.  I'm not as upset as I should be, I've been enjoying playoff baseball and Barclay's Premier League soccer (a direction many fans seem to have turned to fill their hockey void).  Nonetheless, I figured I'd use this week's Signature Sundays segment to quench the mullet drought that many NHL fans may be suffering from:

Here is one of the more unique autographed cards in my relatively small collection, Barry Melrose.  This is another from the 2006-07 Parkhurst set.  The '06-07 Parkhurst autos remain some of my favorite hockey autographs in existence thanks to the minimal card design, great photographs, amazing checklist, and the fact that all of the signatures are on-card.

The latest generation of hockey fans may recognize Melrose as an ESPN analyst, or maybe even for his brief, unsuccessful return to coaching with the Tampa Bay Lightning a couple of years ago.  For me though, I always remember him as the coach of the LA Kings in that infamous 1993 Stanley Cup Final, just as he's depicted on this card.  He's gone on to become one of those names that even casual sports fans associate with the game of hockey, sort of like Don Cherry I guess.  I obviously recognize that Melrose doesn't hold a candle to Cherry as far as his widespread popularity goes, but there are some similarities there in that both men took teams to the Stanley Cup Finals as head coach and neither was able to capture the prize.

Barry represents my third 2006-07 Parkhurst autograph, joining Willie O'Ree and Milt Schmidt.  I actually picked this card up just about a year ago.  I paid $5 for it, which I thought was more than fair.

Don't worry NHL fans, I know it might feel rough right now, but Barry and his neckwarmer will be back with more NHL analysis one day, hopefully soon...