Sunday, July 21, 2013

Signature Sundays - Three Blackhawks

I'm already over the Bruins' Stanley Cup Finals loss to the Chicago Blackhawks a few weeks back.  In fact, in the time that's passed since Chicago lifted the Cup, I've acquired three Blackhawks autos from 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures...

First, the guy with probably the most notable playing career of the three, Dirk Graham.  Dirk enjoyed a decent NHL career with the North Stars and Blackhawks, though most fans (myself included) remember his time with the latter more than the former.  Graham was a reliable two-way forward, as is evidenced by his Selke Trophy win, and was Chicago's captain for a number of seasons.  He got as far as the Stanley Cup Finals with the team, but unfortunately had to go up against that amazing, early '90s Penguins team.


Here's a guy who's had more success in a suit than he ever had in an NHL sweater, Dale Tallon.  Dale may never have been able to hoist the Cup as a player, but if you've enjoyed either of the 'Hawks Stanley Cup Championships in recent years you have him to thank, at least in part.  Dale was GM of the franchise when they drafted Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and brought in other key players like Patrick Sharp and Brian Campbell.  Tallon's now GM for the Florida Panthers, where I'm sure fans would love to see similar success...


Last but not least, another gentleman who has really made his mark long after hanging up his skates for the final time.  Darryl Sutter played his entire NHL career with Chicago, but is probably more recognizable to modern hockey fans as the Stanley Cup-winning coach of the Los Angeles Kings.

As you can see based on the write-up on the back, Sutter spent a lot of time with the Blackhawks organization before finally winning it all with LA. 

Three more interesting autos from Panini Classics Signatures, these bring my running tally up to 16 autographs from this set...

3 comments:

JediJeff said...

That's three great autos.

Hackenbush said...

Nice. Dale Tallon never got the credit he deserved. He was also a heck of a color man when he was in the booth.

Swing And A Pop-up said...

May I express my jealousy?

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