Randy Cunneyworth Autograph Card

After the Buffalo Sabres hired Randy Cunneyworth as a scout a couple of years ago, it was rumoured he might eventually be tapped to take on its head coaching position should the Ron Rolston/Ted Nolan experiment fail.

Those rumours were only half-founded, as he was instead chosen as the head coach of their AHL affiliate Rochester Americans this week. He had already coached the team for eight years in the past (from 2000-01 until 2007-08) and captained it as a player.

His coaching resume also includes a division title with the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs in 2010-11, and one of the worst seasons in Montréal Canadiens history in 2001-12, one many see as a means to just eject him from the organization altogether as a scapegoat. Hey, at least it allowed the Habs to draft Alex Galchenyuk third overall that summer.

In an NHL career that started in 1980-81 and ended in 1998-99, Cunneyworth played a total of 866 regular-season games (189 goals, 225 assists, 414 points) and merely 45 more in the playoffs, playing for cellar dwellers such as the Sabres (twice), the 1980s Pittsburgh Penguins, less than 30 games with the Winnipeg Jets, the Hartford Whalers, the 1993-94 Chicago Blackhawks, and the mid-1990s Ottawa Senators. In 16 NHL seasons, he played for 15 different head coaches.

He served as the Sens' captain from 1995 until 1998, between Gord Dineen and Alexei Yashin, which is a fitting way to feature him as #7 in my Sens Numbers Project with the signed inset version of card #175 from Pinnacle's 1997-98 Be A Player set:

It shows him in the beautiful, original black (away) Sens uniform (with my favourite logo of theirs), as the captain, and is signed on-card inn thin black sharpie.

Randy Cunneyworth: 3 Autographed Cards

What a clear and beautiful signature! I sent Mr. Cunneyworth these cards and a fan letter on November 30th and got them back signed in black sharpie on December 23rd - three weeks later!

Randy Cunneyworth was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres after a 54-goal, 128-point season in the OHL, having played 67 games with the Ottawa 67's. Unfortunately, the Sabres never really gave him a chance, always relegating him to their AHL farm club, the Rochester Americans, so the Pittsburgh Penguins gave him a shot at a regular NHL spot in 1985-86. He spent 4 seasons producing regularly with seasons of 15, 26, 35 and 25 goals before they shipped him off to Winnipeg.

He didn't remain long with the Winnipeg Jets - 28 games - before they sent him to the Hartford Whalers, where despite being injured often, he made a name for himself through hard-nosed hard work and an average of a point per two games. He would often be a nuisance to my favourite teams, the Québec Nordiques and Montréal Canadiens.

After a short stint with the Chicago Blackhawks, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators and became only their second full-time captain. To this day, he is still the franchise's second-longest-serving captain, behind current owner of the title Daniel Alfredsson.

After Ottawa, he went back to the Sabres organization where, again, he spent time in the minors but at least played in the NHL playoffs. In the AHL, he was a player/coach, then was named the Americans' head coach for nearly a decade. After a short stint as assistant coach with the Atlanta Thrashers, he is now the Hamilton Bulldogs' head coach.

The card on the left is from the 1991-92 Pro Set collection (card #392), and the one in the middle is from the 1992-93 Parkhurst set (card #284), also made by Pro Set. The one on the right depicting him in a Blackhawks uniform is from Leaf's 1993-94 Donruss set (card #413), which came out late enough in the year that it has him with the team he started the season but didn't finish with; it should be one of very few cards of him in that uniform, seeing as most sets featured him with the Whalers and the following season's cards will have him as a Senator.