Signature Sundays - An Explanation of Cliff Ronning's Unreal Video Game Speed (and Other Autos)

The New England Patriots have the Monday Night Football game this week, so for me that means a free Sunday of sorting cards and getting a couple of packages ready to go (although I'll at least have the Broncos/Chiefs game on in the background).  Before I get to all that let's take a look at another half dozen hockey autographs from 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures...

First up, Gary Leeman of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Is it me, or does it look like Gary signed something other than his name here?  Not sure I see a Gary or a Leeman in that auto, but oh well.  He was a consistent scorer early in his career with the Leafs, and is most known for his 51-goal season with the team in '89-90.  Toronto dumped him to Calgary at the perfect time as his numbers began to decline, as part of the trade that brought them Doug Gilmour (must be a tough one for Flames fans to swallow).  Gary would go on to play for a couple more teams (including the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens in 1993) before retiring.

The back mentions how Leeman was actually a defenseman before his days in the NHL.

I can't say I know too much about Cliff Ronning, despite the fact that he was seemingly in every single set that I ever collected as a kid.  I must have had a hundred Cliff Ronning cards.  It's easy to see why when you look at how long his career spanned.  His first NHL action actually came in the Stanley Cup finals, which is kind of cool, all the way back in 1985-86 with the St. Louis Blues.  His most productive years came after St. Louis dealt him to the Canucks during the 1990-91 season.  What I did not realize is that after his time with Vancouver he went on to play for the Coyotes, Predators, Kings, Wild and even Islanders before the NHL lockout in 2004-05 effectively ended his career.

I would like to point out what I think is one of the coolest random facts I've ever seen on the back of a hockey card.  Apparently Cliff Ronning was such a formidable force in many of the early NHL video games produced by EA sports because he was friends with EA's founder since childhood.  I'm sure Cliff torched me for an extra goal or two in all those seasons I used to play through as the Red Wings!

If you don't know who Bruce Shoebottom is, don't worry.  He played just 35 games with the Bruins as an enforcer between 1987-88 and 1990-91.  Before this set, his only cards I'm aware of were in '90-91 Pro Set and the 2011-12 Pinnacle Tough Times insert set.  Apparently he's most famous for an incident later in his career in minor league hockey where he pushed a penalty box attendant, head-butted an off-duty police officer, then suffered a neck injury while being subdued via choke hold by another cop.  Alright then...

I find it interesting that Panini chose to depict Adam Graves with the Oilers for this set.  I know he won a Cup with Edmonton, but he was there just two years before moving on to the Rangers where he played for 10 years and also won a Cup.  With the Rangers he was much more instrumental in bringing home the championship, notching 52 goals (a team record at the time for goals in a season) during that 1993-94 season.  He added another 10 goals during the playoff run that year as well.  I do love this old photo though, complete with Dominos ad on the boards.

John Vanbiesbrouck is one card I'm really happy to cross off the list for this set.  I struggled to find one at a decent price for months, before ultimately scoring on a lot that included John.  He's one of the best American-born goalies ever (maybe the best?), and is a member of the US Hockey Hall of Fame.  Vanbiesbrouck was also a Vezina winner and First-Team All-Star in his impressive career.  All told he racked up 374 wins and 40 shutouts.

Last but not least, CuJo!  Panini selected a great photo of the 3-time All-Star for this one.  I almost didn't notice at first that the goal is falling forward onto Joseph, due to the fact that Brent Sutter of the Blackhawks is getting roughed up pretty well along the right side of the photo.  Curtis has a nice large autograph, and adds his #31 as well.  Curtis is not noted as a short print, but I've seen only two of them (this one included) on eBay in all the months I've been watching, and he set me back more than most other autos for this set at around $20.

That does it for this week.  It seems hard to believe, but these cards bring me to a total of 50 autographs and counting now from this set!  I've still got more to come though, and I've saved some of the best for last...