2009 Meigray Expo & Summer Sale Purchases

July 12th, 2009

Just returned from the 2009 Meigray Expo and I’ve gotta say, it’s gotten a lot better since the first one that I attended four or five years ago.  Perhaps it was even longer ago — I just remember that it wasn’t all that much fun.

This year, though, was a pretty good time.

Here’s a picture that Pyzik (the Murray Craven guy) took of my back talking to Brett as we waited in line to get into the Meigray warehouse for the Summer Sale.

Among all of the conversations I had over the weekend, I have to say, the ones that resulted from standing in line, checking in and checking out, were the best.  Not sure how I always ended up around Caps fans though…

I was also surprised at how many collectors mentioned that they knew of my website — which got me thinking, man, I need to update this thing!

In the end, for the weekend, I spent a little more than I’d planned on.

I added 5 new jerseys to my collection — home and road 08/09 Lawrence Nycholat Avs, road 07/08 Jake Taylor Wolf Pack, home 07/08 Corey Potter Wolf Pack, and a home 08/09 Sean Avery Wolf Pack — to bring the total to 272.

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08-09 Lawrence Nycholat Vancouver Canucks Jersey

March 22nd, 2009

This is the game worn 2008-09 road Vancouver Canucks jersey of defenseman Lawrence Nycholat.

A depth player for the Canucks, Nycholat only appeared in 14 games for the Canucks, contributing one assist, before being claimed off of waivers by the Calgary Flames (and subsequently being traded to the Colorado Avalanche).

The jersey shows light wear as expected. Just some board burns and light stick marks throughout.

One of the marks — on the right arm near the number 2 — made for an easy photo match to a game played on November 17, 2008.

The interior shows some piling around the fight strap (obviously from the velcro) and around the cuffs. The fightstrap has “NYCHOLAT 32″ penned in with a fine tip sharpie.

The set 1 jersey is a size 58, manufactured by Rbk and is composed of airknit, knit, mesh, and edge materials. Everything is sewn on — name is on a nameplate. Meigray number is F09933.

I acquired this jersey (along with the home version) on March 20, 2009 from Meigray.

This jersey is in my collection because Nycholat spent just over two seasons playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Together, they are my twenty-third and twenty-fourth Nycholat jerseys.

Posted in National Hockey League, Vancouver Canucks | No Comments »

04-05 Jamie Lundmark Hartford Wolf Pack Jersey

February 24th, 2009

This is the game worn 2004-05 road Hartford Wolf Pack jersey of center Jamie Lundmark.

Originally drafted 9th overall by the New York Rangers in 1999, Lundmark was expected to be a top-six forward on Broadway.

Following a bright start in Hartford during the 2001-02 season, Lundmark’s stock began to fall due to a lack of icetime with the Rangers over the next two seasons.

For the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Lundmark began the season playing in Italy before returning to Hartford in an attempt to resurrect his standing with the organization.

No longer the finesse player he once was at the AHL level, Lundmark’s style of play had been transformed into a gritty checking forward. The offensive skill was there, as he chipped in 14 goals, but his 146 PIM’s put him well above any of the other skill players in the league.

Chippy is a pretty decent way to describe his play during the 2004-2005 season.

This jersey is a size 54 manufactured by SP. It’s from Set 2.

It’s an airknit material with mesh underarms. This was the final season (they also wore this style in 2003-04) that the underarm mesh was grey.

Team officials realized after the fact that it sort of looked like a wet armpit from the stands. Yeah, not exactly what they were going for when they designed it.

The jersey shows moderate wear with lots of stick marks and board burns across the front hem — many of which made this jersey very easy to photo match to one of my photos.

Yes, I was on the bench. No, I didn’t not get a high-five.

The nameplate is airknit and the individual letters have been sewn on. Everything else is also sewn.

I originally acquired this jersey on November 30, 2008 from Meigray during their 2008 Black Friday Sale.

Posted in American Hockey League, Hartford Wolf Pack | No Comments »

05-06 Chris Myers Quinnipiac Bobcats Jersey

February 17th, 2009

This is the game worn 2005-06 home Quinnipiac University Bobcats jersey of winger Chris Myers.

As a freshman in 2005-06, Myers had his most productive season playing in 33 games while netting 8 goals and 13 assists along with 30 penalty minutes.

This size 52 home jersey is manufactured by SP, though the back of the neck features an ironed on ITECH logo. The jersey is a knit material except for the maroon striping, which is an airknit material.

The crest and numbers are all sewn on, as is the tackle twill nameplate with individual two-color letters sewn on.

There are repairs on the jersey but it’s littered with board burns, stick marks, and small slices in the material.

As pointed out by another collector on one of my other Quinnipiac hockey jerseys, this jersey was worn during the 2004-05 season and the 2005-06 season. The evidence of an oval Atlantic Hockey patch having been removed is apparent from the inside. On top of it, the rectangular ECAC patch is sewn on.

Quinnipiac University joined the ECAC for the 2005-06 season.

I acquired this jersey on November 28, 2008 from Anthony Grasso.

Posted in NCAA, Quinnipiac Bobcats | 4 Comments »

Mike Emrick to Miss Winter Classic

January 1st, 2009

Hall of Fame broadcaster “Doc” Emrick will be unable to call Thursday’s Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic due to laryngitis. Dave Strader, who is the play-by-play voice of the Phoenix Coyotes and has also worked for NBC Sports, will fill in for Emrick.

“Last year’s game was a lifetime memory and I couldn’t wait to call this year’s game at Wrigely,” said Emrick. “I’m extremely disappointed but I know Dave will do a wonderful job.”

To this, I say THANK GOD.

Mike Emrick is easily the worst hockey announcer ever. He’s like hockey’s equivalent of Joe Buck. How these two clowns reached the top of their profession is beyond me, but if I had to rank all of the NHL’s announcers, Emrick would be in the bottom five.

Yes, I think the Bruins’ Jack Edwards is better. Because he IS!

So it was very exciting to here the news about Emrick. Strader’s not exactly one of my favorites either, but he’s a definite improvement — he will make it listenable this year…

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Black Friday Aquisitions

December 1st, 2008

Of late, I’ve taken a bit of a break when it comes to adding to the collection…

That is, until this past Black Friday.

I didn’t actually intend to buy anything — haven’t even really been looking, actually, but this year’s MeiGray Black Friday Sale was too good to pass up.

I added 6 jerseys to my collection last week.

Yeah, six. Four from MeiGray and two from fellow collector Anthony Grasso.

It began as I perused the forum on Friday morning. Right there up top, the very first listing was “Game worn NCAA for sale”…

Having been on the lookout for Quinnipiac University jerseys semi-actively, off and on, for about a year now with very little success (I only have one), I nearly fell out of my chair to see that Anthony had three QU Bobcat home jerseys listed!

THREE! My first instinct was to email him and purchase all three, but I restrained myself and ended up selecting a Dan Lefort and Chris Myers jersey, both of which were thankfully still available.

As is usual — I’ve dealt with Anthony once before in the past — the jerseys are in my possession already. He’s that quick.

Later that day, I couldn’t help but read the details of MeiGray’s Black Friday sale — you know, if he plays, he’s 50% off.

I immediately made out a list of the players that I was interested in.

As luck would have it, my first two choices were healthy scratches. Bummer.

But my list was long… I had more than a few to fall back on…

In the end, the first jersey I settled on was a Fedor Tyutin jersey. He played for the Columbus Blue Jackets on Black Friday.

It’s a 2003-04 Hartford Wolf Pack set 1 home jersey, making it the jersey Tyutin wore in his North American pro debut. It’s also a jersey that I believe I’ll be able to photomatch from a photo I took while I worked for the team.

I’m also expecting it to show a nameplate change as at the very start of the season, Tyutin’s name was spelled Tjutin. We’ll see.

The second jersey I selected was a Jamie Lundmark jersey. He dressed for the Quad City Flames on Black Friday.

It’s a 2004-05 Hartford Wolf Pack set 2 road jersey. This one will be photomatched 100% to numerous photos I took during the playoff series against the Lowell Lock Monsters. Looking forward to posting it when it arrives.

The third jersey I purchased was an Andrew Hutchinson jersey. He suited up for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Black Friday and then on Sunday he was traded to the Dallas Stars.

That jersey is a 2007-08 Hartford Wolf Pack set 2 home jersey. I wanted this one because it was the first jersey he wore as captain of the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Many think Hutchinson was the third captain of the Wolf Pack, behind Ken Gernander and Craig Weller (two players of which I also own their first Wolf Pack captain jerseys), but during the John Paddock era, both Derek Armstrong and Terry Virtue wore the ‘C’ in Gernander’s absence.

Casual fans tend to forget stuff like that. Diehards too. Team photographers, well, they remember an awful lot…

This jersey should also be a simple photomatch to photos I took during final home game of the season.

The fourth and final jersey is a Pascal Morency jersey. He played a few shifts for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Black Friday.

This one is a 2007-08 Bridgeport Sound Tigers set 1 road jersey. This one doesn’t really fit my Hartford theme…

I should hate Bridgeport, but have ever seen this guy play?

Wow. I haven’t seen a player bring this much energy into a building since P.J. Stock’s rookie season with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Unfortunately, Morency doesn’t have the scoring touch that Stock had. Yeah, you might wonder what offensive ability P.J. Stock had, but in the AHL he had some upside in the offensive zone. No, really…

But that aside, while Morency may never make the NHL, he’s easily one of the most entertaining hockey players I’ve seen in the past 20 years. It’s a shame he has a bit of an injury bug…

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

91-92 Brent Gretzky Belleville Bulls Jersey

November 15th, 2008

This is the game worn 1991-92 road Belleville Bulls jersey of center Brent Gretzky.

Gretzky, the younger brother of Wayne Gretzky, was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round, 49th overall, in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.

Though he didn’t achieve the NHL success of his older brother, skating in just 13 NHL games, he had a very successful minor league career before retiring after the 2005-06 season.

This jersey is a size 52 Maska ultrafil manufactured by CCM. It shows light wear, with some nice board burns on the shoulders and some stick marks around the hem and cuffs.

All of the logos, numbers, and the assistant captain’s “A” are sewn on. The ultrafil nameplate is all sewn as well. Along the hem, the CHL logo and CCM brand are embroidered.

Inside, along the side seam is the large Maska tag often found in jerseys from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. It’s possible that this is actually a 1990-91 jersey.

I acquired this jersey on January 16, 2006 from Curtis Hall.

This jersey doesn’t really fit into my collection, as Brent Gretzky never played for a team based out of Hartford (he did play one season out of Danbury, CT), but who wouldn’t want a game worn Gretzky in the collection?

Posted in Belleville Bulls, Ontario Hockey League | 4 Comments »

07-08 Artem Anisimov Hartford Wolf Pack Jersey

September 26th, 2008

This is the game worn 2007-08 home Hartford Wolf Pack jersey of center Artem Anisimov.

Anisimov was selected by the New York Rangers in the second round, 54th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

The skilled 19-year old made his North American professional debut skating for the Hartford Wolf Pack on October 6, 2007 in this jersey.

Due to the bungled Rbk Edge jersey rollout, many teams in the American Hockey League were forced to wear 2006-07 airknits for the first few games of the season.

The Wolf Pack played just one regular season home game in this set before switching to the Rbk Edge style for the duration of 2007-08 season.

Considering it is a one game wonder, Anisimov spent the entire pre-season with the Rangers, it shows considerable wear on the sleeves.

Light stick marks and board burns litter the cuffs and the sleeves. There is also one light mark across the front hem.

The jersey is a size 56 and is an airknit with mesh underarms identical to those used during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 season. The numbers are a Rangers shadow style and do not match any other home jersey the Wolf Pack have ever worn with navy on white on red.

The nameplate is airknit and the name has been screened on. Everything else is sewn.

The jersey has been photo matched to numerous photos taken on opening night.

I originally acquired this jersey on November 29, 2007 in an AHL/Meigray auction.

Posted in American Hockey League, Hartford Wolf Pack | 2 Comments »

06-07 Artem Anisimov Yaroslavl Lokomotiv Jersey

August 31st, 2008

This is the game worn 2006-07 road Yaroslavl Lokomotiv jersey of center Artem Anisimov.

Anisimov was selected by the New York Rangers in the second round, 54th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

A skilled stickhandler, Anisimov played his first North American season in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack as a 19-year old. After a slow start, though he skated with the NY Rangers for the entire pre-season, Anisimov put together an impressive rookie season scoring 16 goals and 27 assists in 74 games played.

During the season, he also represented Russia at the 2008 World Junior Championships in late December.

It would not be surprising to see him make his NHL debut on Broadway during the 2008-09 season.

This jersey is a size 54 airknit and mesh jersey manufactured by Kait Sport. All logos and numbers are sublimated. The name is also sublimated. The sponsor patches on the shoulders are sewn.

Overall, the jersey shows light wear, most of which is on the sleeves. There is no fight strap.

I acquired this jersey on March 16, 2008 from Galina Bondarenko.

This jersey is in my collection because Artem Anisimov played for the Hartford Wolf Pack during the 2007-08 season.

Posted in Russian Super League, Yaroslavl Lokomotiv | 1 Comment »

88-90 Scott Young Hartford Whalers Jersey

July 27th, 2008

This is a game worn home Hartford Whalers jersey from the 1980’s of right wing Scott Young.

Scott Young was drafted eleventh overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft behind players Jimmy Carson, Zarley Zalapski, and Jocelyn Lemieux who would also eventually spend time with the Whalers. Of those players, though, Young would have the longest and most successful NHL career.

Many NHL fans tend to forget that Scott YOung began his long NHL career in Hartford. Prior to “sticking” with the St. Louis Blues, Young bounced from Hartford to Pittsburgh (for Rob Brown), then to Quebec, which moved to Colorado where he was dealt to Anaheim. From there, he signed with the St. Louis Blues spending 4 seasons there before heading to Dallas.

For his final season in 2005-06, he returned to the St. Louis Blues.

Based on the lack of the NHL’s 75th Annoversary patch, this jersey is from either the 1988-89 or 1989-90 season.

The jersey is a Maska airknit manufactured by CCM that I originally acquired from another collector in 1997.

There is no size printed or penned in on the tag. Young’s number 27 is written on it in black sharpie.

Name, numbers, and crest are all sewn. There is no nameplate, the letters are individually sewn on directly. The rear CCM hem pattern is white-white-white, with blue lettering, and is embroidered.

Inside, the fightstrap shows some fraying and the velcro is filled with green thread from the green pants the team wore at the time.

The exterior of the jersey shows tons of wear. Board burns, repairs, and thick stick marks litter the entire jersey.

There are some easily identifiable black marks across the front crest as well as the back numbers, but to date, I haven’t found a photo match though I’ve no doubt one will turn up sooner or later. As luck would have it, most of the time the photos on hockey cards were not taken in Hartford, so the Whale are almost always in their road greens in the photos.

Posted in Hartford Whalers, National Hockey League | 4 Comments »