Denis Metlyuk Autograph Card

Denis Metlyuk was a Russian hockey player who was active from the early 1990s until the mid-oughts. He was drafted in the second round (31st overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1992 and thus came to North America to try his luck, suiting up for 81 games over two seasons with the AHL's Hershey Bears.

Which is where this signed insert card from Classic's 1993-94 4 Sport set, showing him wearing the Bears' classic burgundy uniform, albeit with the team's logo airbrushed out and a HERSHEY wordmark taking its place:

It's signed in blue sharpie and numbered 2087/2960, an incredibly specific run.

Metlyuk spent most of his career in the Russian Superliga playing for Tolyatti Lada HC, a team so poor the KHL expelled it because its arena wasn't up to league standards.

Mark DeSantis Autograph Card

Mark DeSantis was a career minor-leaguer who was never drafted and spent the bulk of his playing time in the South, in such leagues as the original IHL (San Diego Gulls, San Antonio Dragons, Grand Rapids Griffins), ECHL (Greensboro Monarchs, Jacksonville Lizard Kings, Louisiana IceGators, Augusta Lynx (get it?), Toledo Storm), AHL (Baltimore Bandits, Providence Bruins), the short-lived (1996-2001) WPHL (New Mexico Scorpions), CHL (San Antonio Iguanas, Amarillo Gorillas, Rapid City Rush), the recent-times (2007-10) IHL (Port Huron IceHawks) and the British Elite League (Basingstoke Bison).

With the Gorillas (2002-04), he was a player-coach, which prepared him for his later career behind the bench, first as an assistant with the Rush (2009-10), then head coach with the SPHL's Fayetteville FireAntz and CHL's Brampton Beast (2013-14), before returning with the Rush in their ECHL iteration, first as associate coach (2014-16), and as head coach this past season (2016-17).

He also played roller-hockey with the Anaheim Bullfrogs in the defunct 1996 league.

He must love to travel.

Here he is in the signed insert version of card #150 from Classic's 1993-94 4-Sport set, numbered 2562/3000:

On it, he's wearing the San Diego Gulls' "classic" white (home) uniform.

The Gulls, of course, were revived in last year's AHL realignment as the Anaheim Ducks' main affiliate. I'll probably dive deeper into the city's hockey-related history later this summer.

Mike Dunham Autograph Card

Mike Dunham was a winner for pretty much his entire life.

Sharing goaltending duties with Garth Snow for the University of Maine Black Bears, Dunham went 6-0-0 in his second season in 1991-92, and an incredible 21-1-1 the next as the team won the NCAA championship, justifying the New Jersey Devils selecting him 53rd overall at the 1990 draft, the same year they chose Martin Brodeur with the 20th pick; the pair would share the William Jennings Trophy as the tandem with the league's lowest goals-against average in 1996-97.

As the 1993-94 came to a close, he suited up for the Devils' AHL farm team, the Albany River Rats, following a Team USA eighth-place finish at the 1994 Winter Games in which he shared the net with Snow again.

He won the 1995 Calder Cup with the River Rats and sharing the Playoff MVP award (the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy) with Corey Schwabb, forcing the parent team to give him a legitimate shot at making the NHL. He was left unprotected at the 1998 Expansion Draft, however, and the Nashville Predators made him one of the five (!!!) goalies they selected, along with Frédéric Chabot (Los Angeles Kings), Mike Richter (New York Rangers, although he was on the verge of becoming a free agent and chose to re-sign with NY), Tomas Vokoun (Montréal Canadiens) and Mikhail Shtalenkov (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).

He would share the net with All-Star Vokoun for four solid seasons before an injury to Richter forced the Rangers to acquire his services in exchange for third-line forward Rem Murray.

Snow, who had just been named the New York Islanders' GM, signed Dunham to his final NHL contract, a one-year pact with the Isles for the 2006-07 season, to help guide (and in case of injuries to) Rick DiPietro.

Internationally, Dunham won silver with the American team at the 2002 Olympics and bronze at the 1992 World Juniors and the 2004 World Championships.

Here he is with the River Rats, on a card from Classic's 1993-94 4 Sport set, signed in thin blue sharpie, that is numbered #1449/2960:

Yes, he should have used Brian's gear instead of the brand's second-tier Heaton equipment, but he enjoyed a decent career regardless.

He has been the Isles' goaltending coach since 2008-09, adding the same duties to their AHL counterpart Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the past two seasons as well.

Cory Stillman Autograph Card

I last featured Cory Stillman months before he retired to become a member of the Carolina Hurricanes' player development staff, in 2011. He still holds that position to this day.

This card, though, featuring him wearing the St. John Flames' red (away) uniform - at the time the Calgary Flames' AHL affiliate - is from Classic's 1993-94 4 Sport set, signed in thin blue sharpie, and is numbered #322/3000:

The fact that it's a side-angle picture and shows no reference to the team he plays for is, indeed, a deliberate attempt to trick collectors into thinking this is an NHL card, but the back clearly shows it only has AHL clearance. Which is fine by me. The re-pack box I got it from just specified I was guaranteed an autograph, not what level the player was from; I'm glad I got an actual pro, and getting a guy who played 1025 regular-season NHL games, scored 278 goals for 727 points, and went 19-32-51 in 82 playoff games to go with his two Stanley Cups was a definite win in my books.

His two best seasons were, in fact, his two Cup seasons, as he scored 25 goals and gathered 80 points in 81 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003-04 and, following the season-long lock-out, got 76 points in 72 for the Hurricanes. He also scored 27 goals twice for the Flames, and was a consistent 50-point producer.

Jeff O'Neill Autograph Card

Jeff O'Neill played for 11 seasons in the NHL, starting off with the Hartford Whalers (who had chosen him 5th overall in the 1994 draft) in 1995-96, moving along with the team as they became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997-98, and ending with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2006-07 under his long-time head coach Paul Maurice, who has coached him in all three uniforms.

All told, he played 821 regular-season games (237 goals, 496 points) and 34 playoff games (9 goals, 17 points), never hitting the point-per-game mark, but with three straight terrific goal-scoring seasons in 2000-01 (41), 2001-02 (31) and 2002-03 (30).

He had had an exceptional junior career with the Guelph Storm, going from 79 points in 65 games in 1992-93 to 126 (in 66 games) the next year and 124 points in only 57 games in 1994-95, which led to his being chosen for All-Star games, such as the one pictured here, pitting the OHL All-Stars versus those of the Québec league (LHJMQ):

Both teams are wearing uniforms inspired by those of the New Jersey Devils. The card is from Classic's 1993-94 4 Sport set, signed in blue sharpie, and numbered #1716/3000.

Garth Snow Autograph Card

It had been a while since I twin-posted with Sal's Hockey Autographs page, but since he posted (yet another) card I also own, I figured now was as good a time as any...

And for the occasion, none other than the New York Islanders' current General Manager, Garth Snow:

Sal has card #1811/3050, I have #2030, signed in thin blue sharpie. It's from Classic's 1993-94 4 Sport set.

Snow was drafted 114th overall (6th round) in 1987 by the Québec Nordiques, and he opted to go through the U.S. College route after that, spending 4 seasons with the University Of Maine Black Bears before reporting to the Nordiques' AHL affiliate Cornwall Aces, of which he is seen here sporting the blue (away) uniform. He only played 7 games with the Nordiques before they sent him packing to the Philadelphia Flyers, starting him on a journey that would lead him to playing 368 games with 5 NHL teams (plus 3 AHL teams and a 16-game stint in Russia during the 2004-05 lockout) over 13 seasons.

Snow will be remembered for two things: the first will be his playing days, where his over-sized equipment inspired rule change after rule change - first with his shoulder pads, which took nearly twice the room they should have:

then with his leg pads, which he would add a piece of plastic to at the skate end to cover more space there, then for adding four inches in length at the top, helping cover his 5-hole when he went down butterfly style (see how they cover half the Isles' logo in the picture below):

He'll also be remembered for what happened off the ice: In 2006, the Isles hired Neil Smith as GM and were in the process of rebuilding their image, making room for past legends in the front office and getting involved in the community again... which lasted all of 41 days. As team owner Charles Wang was talking to Snow - then the team's backup goalie, slated to play 20-some games - about his plans for the team, he was impressed by Snow's knowledge of even the most obscure NHL players, as well as the CBA, and promptly offered him the GM job, which he took, announcing his retirement the next day.

And he's been the best GM they've had in 25 years, bringing such players as Marc-André Bergeron, Ryan Smyth, Evgeni Nabokov, Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin, Doug Weight and Mark Streit into the fold.