Some Olympic stories from our recent autograph signing with Bruins star Patrice Bergeron. 

Bergie’s roommates in Vancouver were Sidney Crosby and Shea Weber, his 2005 World Junior teammates.  Each Canadian player was given up to 6 tickets per game, but requests had to be made by mid-January.  The players had to buy their own souvenirs.  Luckily there was a store set up in the Athletes’ Village, so the players did not have to spend four hours in line like most consumers.  While their daytime itineraries were pretty full with practices, meetings, and video sessions, the players were able to spend a lot of time with friends and family, usually after games.  Since Team Canada games started at 5:00 p.m. local time, games were finished before 8:00 which allowed for plenty of down time. 

 

After the gold medal game, Bergie said most players partied at Molson Canadian Hockey House for a while, before dispersing to do their own things.  He was up all night and got no sleep before he boarded a plane the next morning. 

Jonas Gustavsson told me that he received so much swag (t-shirts, caps, etc.) as a member of the Swedish Olympic team; he couldn’t carry it all home.  So he left a duffle bag full of goodies in his room when he checked out of the village.  AAARRRGGGHHH!!!  I lectured him that if a similar situation should ever arrive, to call me and I will send a personal valet to help him carry his items.  I love that kind of stuff, and can’t believe it went to waste.  How cool would it be to have an actual Team Sweden Olympic track suit or the like?

 

I told Patrik Elias this story, and he told me he did the exact same thing.  Elias bought so many souvenirs for people that he had to leave a pile of his Team Czech Republic goodies behind due to lack of space in his luggage.  I’m thinking whoever was responsible for cleaning out those rooms made out like bandits.

 

I learned that as a bowler, the aforementioned Gustavsson is a pretty good hockey goalie.  I was privileged to watch The Monster take on teammate Fredrik Sjostrom in a friendly post-season bowling match while they were stranded in Toronto awaiting the volcanic dust to clear over Europe.  Sjostrom beat Gustavsson by the menial score of 89-83.  Jonas told me he was just warming up, and I commented that was a good thing, since I didn’t think he could score any worse.

The 2010 Boston Marathon was won by Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot in a course record time of 2:05.52, breaking the previous record of 2:07.14 set by Kenya’s Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot in 2006.  Believe it or not, the two men are not related.  Wouldn’t that be akin to Wayne Gretzky’s scoring records being broken by another man from Brantford named Wayne Gretzky?

An oldie but a goodie – Clark, the Canadian Hockey Goalie.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdf4GeT4ELA

Hopefully everyone has received Frozen Pond’s spring mailing over the past few weeks.  We are offering the largest selection of 2010 Team Canada Olympic signed items available anywhere, and these items are HOT!!!  For those yet to receive a hard copy, a digital version is available at http://www.frozenpond.com/download/fp_spring2010.pdf.

A hearty “Mazel Tov” to our friend Vinnie Lecavalier on the birth of his first child.  Victoria Lecavalier was born May 3 and checked in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces.  She will be eligible for the NHL Draft in 2028.

Speaking of Vinnie, please enjoy this story about Frozen Pond friend Hayden Allison’s recent encounter with his favorite player.

A Bobby Orr rookie game-worn jersey recent sold at auction for the astounding price of $191,200 U.S. How long until a Sidney Crosby jersey surpasses this amount?

There are a lot of rumors circulating about the short term viability of Upper Deck.  The company that once dominated the sports card industry is now fighting for its survival.  They lost their license from Major League Baseball in 2009, but continued to produce cards regardless.  This resulted in a lawsuit that cost UD over $2.4 million in settlement fees.

 

This came on the heels of another settlement with Konami, where UD admitted they stole intellectual property by fraudulently manufacturing and distributing Yu-Gi-Oh cards without a license.  That settlement was also rumoured to be well into seven-figures.

 

Upper Deck also lost their basketball and football trading card licenses, as well as their exclusivity to produce NHL hockey cards.  This has left the company with only a fraction of their previous revenue streams.  Players are complaining about not getting paid for autographs signed, and the MLBPA went so far as to “strongly advise” players not to return any signed cards to UD until payments were brought up to date.  The union also recommended against signing any new agreements with the company.

 

The above happenings coupled with the fact that UD laid off a good percentage of their staff makes you wonder how long they can continue to operate.  Established in 1989, Upper Deck helped revolutionize the trading card industry and became the most powerful player in the history of the sports collectibles hobby.  But some bad decision making and rumors of inappropriate business dealings has haunted them in recent years.  Look for Panini America to take over as the new company of choice for hobbyists.

Panani did make a brilliant move by hiring Al Muir as their hockey brand manager.  The former editor of Beckett Hockey Magazine has kept a low profile since being unceremoniously let go almost two years ago.  Muir has been in the industry as long as anyone and is extremely knowledgeable of the marketplace.  I’m expecting great things from this company.

 

The NHL Alumni took all the sticks from an end-of-season Leafs game and auctioned them off to raise money for their internal charities.  I love examining results such as these, because they are a near-exemplary “apples to apples” comparison of player popularity.  Here are the results:

 

Beauchemin - $300
Bozak - $151

Caputi - $110

Exelby - $132

Giguere - $215

Grabovski - $211

Gunnarsson - $142

Gustavsson - $721

Hanson - $142

Kaberle - $210

Kessel - $253

Komisarek - $142 (game-issued)

Kulemin - $170

Mitchell - $110

Orr - $120

Phaneuf - $1050 (plus helmet)

Schenn - $170

Stalberg - $130

Wallin - $100

 

Not counting Phaneuf, whose selling price was skewed due to the inclusion of a helmet, is it surprising that Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson’s stick sold for almost 2.5X as much as the next popular Leaf?  Not to me.

This one is rated PG13, but had to be included here since it involves two of my favorite things – Hank Azaria and baseball.  It is also unbelievably hilarious.

http://www.funnyordie.com/hank_azaria

It’s nothing to do with anything, but I really like this song - Fireflies, by Owl City.  Not a huge fan of the video though. (I think this blog has set an all-time record for number of included links.)

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jean Beliveau.  Good health, my friend.

Signed Olympic jerseys may be tougher to come by this year, as it seems Nike seriously underestimated demand for their product. There are no jerseys to be had at the wholesale level right now, and apparently no more are being produced. I had a request to provide 30 Team Russia jerseys for the wives of the players to wear in the stands, but coming up with the jerseys was an impossibility. We are doing an autograph session with Phil Kessel this week, but have no access to Team USA jerseys.  We have a handful of Canada jerseys in stock, but are debating whether or not to save them for possible higher-dollar sales down the road.

 

I am sure that Nike had vast amounts of unsold product after the disastrous 2006 Olympic hockey results, and played it extra cautious this time around.  Hopefully there will be enough jerseys available to at least come close to meeting customer demand.

 

 

 

Sports Collectors Digest (SCD) has been the sports collectibles industry publication dating back to the 1970’s. It was a must read, and I remember eagerly anticipating each week’s issue and reading it cover to cover. In its heyday, some issues were over 400 pages thick.

 

The economic downturn has obviously hit the company hard. It was not unusual for issues in 2009 to peak at 36 pages, while they rarely exceeded 50.  SCD took to accepting ads from less than reputable companies in an effort to stay afloat. This never would have happened in the old days, when all advertisers were screened and the publication diligently followed up on customer service issues.

 

I let it go the first time, but there’s no way it’s going unmentioned again. The Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate that is also owned by the parent club, sent out an email blast in November promoting their upcoming bobble head nights. I had to send the Leafs an email, making note that 3 of the 5 players listed had their names spelled wrong.

 

Vesa Toskula (Toskala)

Terry Sawchuck (Sawchuk)

Jonus (Jonas) Gustavsson

 

Remember all the Fabian Brunnstrom hype last year? Dallas won the sweepstakes for the free agent Swedish star, and he looked like an amazing find after scoring a hat trick in his first NHL game (only the 3^rd player ever to accomplish the feat).  This year, he has one goal and eight points and has spent time in the minors.

 

We can actually play this game with a lot of players.  Last season I called Kyle Turris a “Jonathan Toews clone” and picked him to win the Calder Trophy. After a disappointing 20-point year, Turris has spent the entire 2009-10 season playing in the AHL.  Viktor Tikhonov and Mikkel Boedker also spent the majority of last season on the Coyotes roster and had huge expectations thrust upon them. Right now, both are struggling to score for the San Antonio Rampage.

 

Other players having disappointing seasons include:

 

Shawn Horcoff – 19 points in 45 games and making $5.5 million a year

Chris Drury – 19 points in 47 games

Sergei Samsonov – 15 points in 40 games (so much for his re-birth)

Dennis Wideman - -8 for Boston after finishing with a +32 last season

Chris Higgins – 13 points in 51 games for the Rangers

Jonathan Cheechoo – 13 points in 51 games for the Senators – did he really win the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2006?

Rod Brind’Amour – 12 points in 49 games

Andrew Cogliano – 12 points in 50 games

Ethan Moreau – 8 points in 49 games

Ville Leino – 7 points in 42 games; Justin Abdelkader – 6 points in 48 games – see my comments on them in “The Pond Chronicle”

 

McFarlane Toys recently released a promotional photo of Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson signing bases that are to be randomly included in packaging for their NHL 24 series being shipped in April.

My favorite part of the image is the framed autographed photo of Patrick Roy in the background.  That was actually my Christmas gift to Jonas.  He idolized Roy as a youth, and the photo is inscribed “To Jonas, Best of luck in your NHL career, Your friend, Patrick Roy”. Thanks for your help Patrick.

Some random observations that have been taking up space in my mind.

NHL hockey pucks from Sher-Wood (formerly InGlas Co) are made in Slovakia. This would just be the rubber puck itself, as they are printed and designed in Quebec.

We recently actually had someone return a signed puck they had ordered because “I wanted a Bobby Hull Blackhawks puck, not a puck from Slovakia.”

 

 

Along those lines, can I make a respectful request to customers in general?  Be nice.  If you wanted an autographed Doug Gilmour Leafs puck and got sent a Calgary puck by mistake, just let us know and we will correct he mistake.  It’s amazing when we receive emails saying “This is entirely unacceptable and I will never do business with your company again.”

By no means are these occurrences frequent, but they do happen.  It is extremely busy during the Christmas season, and quality control suffers a little in the process.  All you have to do is inform us of the situation and it will be rectified.  If your steak dinner is brought to your table with fries instead of a baked potato, do you storm out of the restaurant?  Mistakes are bound to occur in the course of doing business, and we appreciate everyone’s patience while things get sorted out.

 

We are big fans here of Toronto Maple Leafs rookie goaltender, Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson.  Everyone that sees him play says he is the real deal.  He was an extremely late bloomer, not hitting the radar of NHL scouts until he was 24 years old.  At least twenty-five teams showed interest in him in the off-season, and after a marathon tour and a lot of self thought, he decided the Leafs were the best team for him.

He lost his father a few years ago, his mother over the summer, and has since had two heart procedures performed.  Mix in a groin injury and it has been a difficult start to his career on this side of the ocean.

 

But Cookie (I like to call him ‘Cookie Monster’) has taken it all in stride and has the attitude of a champion.  He is still projected as the Leafs goaltender of the future and we foresee him becoming one of the top backstoppers in the league.

In a recent auction of game-used jerseys from the November 7 Hall of Fame game, Gustavsson’s sweater sold for more ($1,550) than any other player on the Leafs.

So a professional athlete had an extramarital affair; what a surprise.  You are rich, you are famous, you are in shape, and you are on the road a lot.  What do you think these guys do with their nights?  By no means am I condoning cheating on your wife – I am just saying it is far more prevalent than you would think.  What would you do if beautiful women threw themselves at you on a regular basis?

 

So Brian Burke’s son is gay.  Good for him and it’s great that Burkie accepts him as he is.  Is this really newsworthy?  I suggest we keep the sexual orientation of celebrity relatives out of the sports pages. 

 

I wrote several months ago about the demise of the BC Sports chain of stores in the Northeast U.S.  I commented how that took away another autographed memorabilia outlet and was not good for the hobby.

 

On a positive note, some stores in the chain have emerged from liquidation proceedings and reopened.  On a negative note, I received an email from a former store employee saying they stiffed several employees on money-owed when they (temporarily) went under and have no plans to make good on these debts.

Has anyone checked out my predictions (made in September) in the current edition of The Pond Chronicle?

Joe Thornton will finish top-3 in scoring.  Ryan Getzlaf and Zach Parise will each get 100 points.  The Red Wings will take a huge step backwards.  The Flyers will have goaltending issues.  Tim Thomas will struggle.  Carolina and Montreal will not make the playoffs.  The Sharks and Flames in the Western Conference and the Capitals and Penguins in the East.

 

I am thinking of renting myself out as an oracle.  Just pay no attention to my pick of Nikita Filatov as top rookie and we are good to go.

 

Thank you for all the positive comments about my last blog, The Autograph Collector’s Manifesto.  Make sure you print out a copy and show it to anyone that questions why you collect what you do.

 

Hobby icon Richard Scott is back with a new collector’s magazine called The Wantlist.  Make sure you check out his new website and consider a subscription to the magazine.  And no, I am not only saying this because I am a columnist. 

Sorry Leafs fans, but it is true.  Phil Kessel was burned in a deal last year and has no desire to make any public autograph appearances in the near future.  This is too bad, because Toronto drives the memorabilia market and Leafs fans really need someone to cheer for.  Someone besides The Monster, of course.

 

Thank you to McFarlane Toys for moving up the release date of NHL Series 23.  The new projected arrival for the first week of January will get us the figures in time for our January 8 autograph session with Marc-Andre Fleury.  Heck – it saves me a trip to Pittsburgh to get them signed.

In the same series is a new Alex Ovechkin figure that has people raving about the unique pose.  While it is definitely a cool figure, am I the only one that thinks it looks exactly like ‘N SYNC’s Joey Fatone?

 

I attended last month’s HOF Induction ceremony in Toronto and in one way it was a very unique experience.  This was my seventh year enjoying the ceremonies, but it was the first time I had ever seen current and recently retired players in attendance.

A number of Devils’ players (Brodeur, Langenbrunner, White, Parise, Pandolfo, Clarkson) shocked Lou Lamoriello by flying in to attend the ceremony.  This was no small feat, as Lamoriello keeps tabs on EVERYONE affiliated with the team, and surprising him is not the easiest of tasks.  Lamoriello even noted their attendance in his speech and comically mentioned that he hoped they anted up for a private plane since they better be back in New Jersey in time for curfew (they had a game the next night).

 

 Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios were in attendance to support Steve Yzerman, and I was able to spend some time with Mike Modano, who along with Brendan Morrow, came to see Brett Hull’s enshrinement. 

 

Obviously the NHL schedule played a part in allowing these players to attend, but it was a great bonus having them in the room.

 

I wrote several months ago about the Autograph Alert website and its commitment to exposing forgeries and fraudulent dealers within the hobby.  While not sports focused, this site is still a must read for anyone that thinks a company is reputable or beyond reproach just because their name is recognizable.  JSA, PSA/DNA, and a number of the large auction houses have been exposed and we commend the proprietors of the site (who are anonymous) for the work they are doing.  While the site often makes a great case, please remember that anyone mentioned in a negative light is innocent until proven guilty.