Two Martin Hohenberger Autograph Cards

Sure, Martin Hohenberger is an obscure player to most hockey fans, but to Montréal Canadiens fans, he's a draft pick bust that hurts. You see, the Habs chose him in the third round of the 1995 draft, with the 74th overall pick - a pick that used to belong to the Philadelphia Flyers, that they sent along with Mark Recchi for John LeClair (a future multiple 50-goal scorer and First Team All-Star), Éric Desjardins (a regular for Team Canada in international competitions who would also captain the Flyers for a while), and Gilbert Dionne (a three-time 20-goal scorer with the Habs). In other words, he needed to be great to make the trade anywhere close to even.

Still available at the 74th spot were Sami Kapanen (87th),  Marc Savard (91st), my former teammates Benoît Gratton (105th) and Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (179th), the best goalie of his era Miikka Kiprusoff (116th), Hohenberger's Prince George Cougars teammate Chris Mason (122nd), Jan Hrdina (128th), Brent Sopel (144th), Stéphane Robidas (164th), and P.J. Axelsson (177th).

The 1980s and 1990s were a time where the Habs usually failed with their first-rounders, usually because they'd choose a big player from the WHL (''fat Western beef'' was their nickname in these parts) to try to bulk up their line-up, but the guys who'd actually make the team would instead be late-round or undrafted Quebecers or Europeans.

Martin Hohenberger was a bit of both. An Austrian center who was already 6'1'' at age 17, he had played his Juniors career in the WHL, so he ''played big'' despite weighing less than 190 pounds. He would bulk up to 207 later in his career when he moved back to Austria after the 1998-99 season.

He never played with the Habs but did play 9 games with their AHL affiliate Fredericton Canadiens; he spent the rest of his North American professional career in the ECHL, with the New Orleans Brass, scoring 11 goals with 11 assists for 22 points in 66 games spread over two seasons.

He did become a point-per-game player upon returning to Austria, and even played for the national team in the 2000, 2002 and 2003 World Championships, as well as the 2002 Olympics. Unfortunately, that didn't help Montréal.

He stopped playing after suiting up for 7 games (no points, 18 penalty minutes) with the Graz ATSE in 2010-11 at age 34.

These two cards found in repackaged boxes show him wearing the Cougars' New York Rangers-inspired white (home) uniform in a photo shoot:

They were both manufactured by Signature Rookies and signed on-card in blue sharpie - probably the same one, seeing as the card on the right, from the 1995-96 Draft 96 set (card #9, numbered 1218/4500), bears an almost-transparent autograph; the card on the left is from their 1995-96 Draft Day set (card #15, numbered 266/4500).

You'll notice the team's logo was airbrushed out, because the card manufacturer didn't purchase the rights to show them - and didn't want to get sued; instead, they used a Rangers-type font to spell out the city's name. Here's what the logo looked like back then:

And here's what it looks like nowadays:

Cory Keenan Autograph Card

You might not know who Cory Keenan is, and for the longest time, neither did I. And for the longest time, all I had going were the stats on the back of this card:

But that was when I got this card in a re-pack, which is of course Signature Rookies' signature move: open backs of ''brand-name'' cards (usually low-level brands like Pro Set, Score, O-Pee-Chee, maybe some by Pacific), keep and sell the valuable ones on the secondary market and re-package the commons and semi-stars with ''guaranteed autographed cards'' of every single non-professional player they can get their hands on, in this case, Keenan, wearing the Austrian League's EC Villacher white (home) uniform with the front logo airbrushed out. It's from the 1995-96 Draft Day 96 set (card #18), and the autograph is numbered 797/4500 and signed in thin blue sharpie.

You probably noticed on the card that he was a 6th round pick of the Hartford Whalers. That, and his birthdate is possibly the only thing this card has that matches what Hockey DB has on him, as the parts of two seasons on the back of the card don't appear in their statistics.

 The card does mention his stint with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, though I'm not sure 118 points over 3 seasons (198 games) makes him a ''star player''.

Jochen Hecht Autograph Card

Freshly retired from the NHL, Jochen Hecht plans to finish out his professional career the same way he started it:playing for the Mannheim Eagles in Germany.

A former second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues, Hecht became a regular 50-point producer for the Buffalo Sabres for the first decade of the new century. He represented Germany at the World Juniors and the Olympics. He was the second German-born player to captain an NHL team when the Sabres, in yet another display of lack of direction, had a rotating captaincy for the 2007-08 season.

I assume this card shows him wearing Germany's uniform at the 1996 World Juniors:

It is card #8 in Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set of signed cards to be inserted in packs of random brands/random pack cubes, and was signed in skinny blue sharpie, and is numbered 4207/4500. He was an honest, hard-working, moderately talented top-6 winger in his day.

Andy Delmore Autograph card

Honestly, I have trouble figuring out where defenseman Andy Delmore went wrong. He went undrafted after 4 seasons in Juniors, including a 21-goal, 59-point season in 1995-96 and a 78-point season in 1996-97, both for the Sarnia Sting.

The Philadelphia Flyers then signed him to a free agent contract, and he became the first rookie defenseman to ever score a hat trick in the playoffs. He then became a top-5 scoring threat (for defensemen), and even led the league in goals with 18 in 2002-03, tied with Sergei Gonchar and Nicklas Lidstrom.

He's still the only Flyers defenseman to score a playoff hat trick, and holds the team record for goals in a single playoff season, with 5. He's also won the Eddie Shore Award, the AHL's equivalent of the Norris trophy.

Among his other distinctions, though, lies the fact that he belonged to three straight NHL teams without ever playing for them: the San Jose Sharks got his rights from the Buffalo Sabres in 2004, but traded him the same day to the Boston Bruins, who never got to suit him up. After the 2004-05 lock-out, he then signed with the Detroit Red Wings, but the Columbus Blue Jackets claimed him off waivers before the season even started; he only played 7 games in Columbus before settling in the AHL for a few seasons and moving onto Europe, where he played in Germany in for two years, coming back to the AHL for a season split between two teams, and playing in Italy last year.

He's currently in an Austrian league.

This card is from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set (card #7, numbered 2858/4500), and was signed in blue sharpie. I'm not sure if it was a lazy signature or if he was just trying to not have it hidden by the Sting's black, Bruins-like uniform, but he didn't waste a lot of ink on the card, that's for sure!

David Belitski Autograph Card

David Belitski was a moderately successful goalie in the OHL, with two winning seasons (out of 4) with the Kitchener Rangers but an unfortunate GAA over 4.00 for his career in juniors which led to his not being drafted by NHL teams and a career that was spent mostly in second-tier leagues in Germany, but also with 4 ECHL teams, 3 games with the AHL's Toronto Roadrunners, and 11 games in 2000-01 in the WPHL with the Lake Charles Ice Pirates - a team and league I had no idea even existed. (Now I want cards of them). He seems to have retired after a 3-game stint with the ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings in 2006-07, filling in for then-Vancouver Canucks' prospect Julien Ellis.

And you know what? That's fine, because that's more pro games than I will (likely) ever play. And perhaps more tourism than I'll ever live to see, as well.

This is card #3 in Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set of signed cards to be inserted in packs of random brands/random pack cubes, was signed in skinny blue sharpie (with his jersey number #1 added), and is numbered 3373/4500. It sees him sporting the Rangers' white (home) jersey, and Louisville equipment which I never particularly liked: the gloves seemed like pale imitations of the ones Brian's made, and the blocker and pads looked and felt like Vaughn knock-offs, particularly Vaughn's Legacy 2000 series - which may explain why very few marquee NHL goalies wore them (I was a Brian's man myself). Cool, simple mask, though.

Shane Kenny Autograph Card

It seems Sal's at his last ''NHL Bust'' post for a while, and once again, I too have the exact same Shane Kenny card! That's the sixth post of identical players we've shared recently!

A second-round choice of the Philadelphia Flyers, 48th overall in 1995, concluded his OHL career by playing 59 games with the Sarnia Sting after three-plus seasons with the Owen Sound Platers, in which the 6'3'', 230-lbs defenseman averaged more than half a point per game, and two penalty minutes per.

He never played in the NHL; instead, he bounced from minor league to minor league, playing 24 games in the AHL with the Rochester Americans, a bunch in the UHL, IHL, and ECHL, parts of two years in Holland, and two stints in the Québec Senior League (now the NAHL) with the Laval Chiefs. I strongly recommend the documentary The Chiefs to understand how bad an ordeal that was - sleeping in 'lost' rooms at the arena, sharing bunk beds while rats roam around, with a prison in the backyard. I played there myself, in 1995-96 as a third-string goalie/relief goon with the Laval Titans, but also as a student and later assistant-teacher (for goalies) at the Jacques St-Jean hockey school.

This card, showing Kenny with the Platers' white (home) jersey, is from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set (card #10, numbered #1165/4500 - Sal has #3085 or 3055, it's hard to decipher). Sal complained a tad about Kenny's signature (in thin blue sharpie), which seems just to be his initials; on the other hand, he did have 4500 of these to sign (and maybe others, as he may have been asked to sign or similar sets by the same company like Kevin Bolibruck), so one has to realize he probably didn't want to go all-out.

Jonas Andersson-Junkka Autograph Card

Yet another twin post with Sal's ''NHL Busts'' series! This time around, Jonas Andersson-Junkka!

Drafted 104th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1993, Andersson-Junkka only played one season in North America, in 2000-01 for the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. He played until 2003-04 in Europe, collecting between 0.25 and 0.5 points per game, on average. He's seen here wearing an airbrushed version of Team Sweden's jersey, with the three crowns on the front of the jersey taken away, and a generic 'SWEDEN' taking their place; he has represented his home country in both the U-18 and U-20 (World Juniors) tournaments.

The card is from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set (card #), and is numbered 198/4500 (Sal's is #1776). It can usually be found for cheap on Ebay, although some sellers dream about making $10 out of it.

2 Kevin Bolibruck Autograph Cards

How do you one-up legendary hockey card guru Sal when you've been following and duplicating his ''NHL Busts'' series of hockey autographs?

You see his Kevin Bolibruck, and you add another...

First, ''his'', from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set, (card #5), numbered 1793/4500, sporting his hometown junior team Peterborough Petes' white (home) jersey, with its logo hidden for copyright purposes:

And secondly, from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft Day set (card #4), a wholly different set of 4500 signed cards (this one numbered 2350) for/of relative nobodies, wearing the Petes' dark blue (away) uniform:

Bolibruck was drafted twice: first by the Ottawa Senators in the 4th round (89th overall, 1995), then by the Edmonton Oilers in the 7th round (176th overall, 1997). In the meantime, his rights had been acquired by the Chicago Blackhawks, but since he failed to sign a pro contract with either the Sens or Hawks, he was eligible for draft again after a two-year hiatus.

While he never did play in the NHL, he did spend 5 seasons in the AHL and has been playing in Europe since 2003-04. He is currently back in Italy's top league with the Pontebba Sport Ghiaccio, with whom he won the 2008 Italian Cup.

Chad Allan Autograph Card

For the second straight day, here's a twin post with one of (ultimate hockey card blogger) Sal's, ''NHL bust'' Chad Allan, seen here in the 1990s Saskatoon Blades uniform (somewhat loosely based on the St. Louis Blues' mid-nineties foray into integrating the colour red to the blue-and-yellow); the Blades have kept some of the same colours throughout the years, but the yellow is now relegated to ''third jersey'' status and looks more like the mid-2000s Buffalo Sabres' jerseys than the Blues'...

Nowadays, the Blades use mostly all-blue uniforms:

Picture taken from the Blades' website

But back to Chad Allan, a third-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks (65th overall) in 1994 (ahead of Sheldon Souray, Chris Drury, Milan Hejduk, Marty Turco, Daniel Alfredsson, Bryce Salvador, enforcer/comedian André Roy, Tim Thomas, Evgeni Nabokov, Tomas Vokoun, Steve Sullivan, Richard Zednik, Sergei Berezin, Tomas Holmstrom, Dick Tarnstrom, and Kim Johnsson - most of whom are either still active or former All Stars).

A decent-sized defensive defenseman, Allan played 5 seasons with the Blades, followed by 5 seasons in the AHL (four with the Syracuse Crunch and one with the St. John's Maple Leafs), and then 8 more in Europe; he also played a half season split between Europe and the UHL (formerly the IHL), for the Kalamazoo Wings.

This card was also from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set (card #1!!!), and is numbered 1314/4500. Notice how the logo was airbrushed out and instead replaced with a generic rendering of the city's name, because SR didn't have the rights to reproduce CHL/WHL logos... I like how it was signed in (very) thin blue sharpie.

Lou Body Autograph Card

 Once more, a post similar to Sal's!

From Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set is card #4, Harvard Crimson's ''consistent defensive-minded rearguard'', Lou Body, numbered 1234/4500 - yes, that's one-two-three-four. It was signed in (very) thin blue sharpie.

What's funny is that the year before this card's issue (i.e. the one he's supposed to be pictured in), Body was actually playing for the ECHL's Richmond Renegades; he stopped playing for Harvard University in 1993-94.

Undrafted, Body stopped playing organized hockey after the 1995-96 season after a second consecutive 24-point season with the Renegades.

Brad Brown Autograph Card

Brad Brown was one of many bizarre first-round pick of the Montréal Canadiens. A defensive defenseman, the 6'3'', 220-lbs North Bay Centennials rearguard was chosen 18th overall in 1994, ahead of such other players as Vezina and Hart winner José Theodore, Stanley Cup winners Mathieu Dandenault and Patrik Elias,  All Stars Sheldon Souray, Chris Drury, Milan Hejduk, Marty Turco, Daniel Alfredsson, Tim Thomas, Evgeni Nabokov, Tomas Vokoun, Steve Sullivan, Dick Tarnstrom, and Kim Johnsson, role players Shane Hnidy, Sergei Berezin, Tomas Holmstrom and Mike Peluso, Olympian Richard Zednik, as well as a former teammate of mine, enforcer Sylvain Blouin.

Brown is seen here wearing the Centennials' Boston Bruins-like white (home) jersey, except the team's logo has been airbrushed out and replaced by a generic rendering of the city instead, because the card brand's manufacturer had a license to display the players but not the teams, just like The Score Board did with this Joe Thornton card. The logo actually looked like this:

The team was sold in 2002 and moved to Michigan to become the Saginaw Spirit, Stephen Colbert's favourite OHL team (and the reason why the team's secondary mascot is named Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle).

This card (#6) is from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set; like the Score Board set alluded previously, it is a set of numbered signed cards (this one is #1441 of 4500) the brand included in boxes of repackaged common cards from worthless sets (such as the second-year Pro Set, Pro Set Platinum and Parkhurt cards) to entice people to pay around $1 per pack of 7 cards not worth a penny each.

The cool part of it is you get to learn about ''prospects'' who will likely never set foot on an NHL rink, but once in a while, you get a Thornton, or a Brown, who did manage to play 330 NHL games, most of them with the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild, but also a few with the Habs, Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers. He retired after the 2008-09 season, which he finished with the AHL's Quad City Flames.