Panini sneakily included a bunch of hand-signed Classics Signatures cards into their 2013-14 Contenders release, so now I'm chasing these autographs all over again just as I was about to wrap the series up. Here are three more knocked off the list...
One of the greatest American-born defenseman to play the game, Derian was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. A first round draft pick for the Stars franchise in 1990 (when they were still in Minnesota), he would become captain of the team and lead them to Stanley Cup glory in 1999. There is a whole lot going on with that autograph, that's for sure.
640 career goals and well over 1,300 points. Finally won a Cup with Tampa Bay at the tail end of his career. I guess the argument you could make against him (and probably the reason he's not in the Hall) is that his numbers are based largely on longevity. He played the sixth most regular season games of anyone ever, and never had a single 100 point season despite playing in a highly offensive era.
Here's a guy you wouldn't want to see lined up across the ice from you. Twist was regularly mixing it up with opponents, and by all accounts threw one of the hardest punches of his time. Just type his name into YouTube and you'll quickly see what I mean. I'm surprised he even had the hand strength to sign this card after punching all that face over the years. He retired at a relatively young age when a serious motorcycle accident forced a premature end to his career, but he's remained involved in the world of sports as an analyst/radio show host.
Maybe not the biggest names, but three interesting players nonetheless...
Certainly a nice Hat-trick there! Neat combo and of course Dave is my favourite of that trio.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave! I figured you'd like that one best given the sweet Andreychuk you posted recently (and the fact that he's your namesake!).
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