Hometown heroes

On a day when quality took precedence over quantity and diversity was an objective, it was a tad surprising to learn that Saturday’s pregame hounding of my hometown Buffalo Sabres produced another 42 autographs for the collection. Wanna know something funny, too? Of that total, only two came on pucks.

For the record, here was our haul:

~ Sabres Street sign: 18 players, including Maxim Afinogenov, Brian Campbell, Tim Connolly, Ryan Miller, Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford;
~ Cards: 15, including four from Ales Kotalik;
~ Pucks: 2, one each for Jochen Hecht and Adam Mair;
~ Team Canada goalie mask: Jocelyn Thibault;
~ 1999 NHL All Star Game helmet: Lindy Ruff;
~ American-born goalies stick: Ryan Miller; and
~ Young Guns stick: Ales Kotalik, Drew Stafford and Thomas Vanek.

Would have I liked to knock out more pucks and cards? You bet. And, yes, it would have been nice to see Rip Simonick. But, it’s hard to argue with the caliber and variety of items signed before Sabres’ 4-3 overtime victory.

Cards, shown above, are:
Top row, from left: Maxim Afinogenov, Jochen Hecht and Ales Kotalik;
Bottom row, from left: Adam Mair, Ryan Miller and Andrew Peters.

Here’s Thomas Vanek, left, and Ales Kotalik on the Young Guns stick.