My new project: NJ Devils Goalie Puck Collection

[SterioDesign]

Did you get rollie the goalie? He lives 15 minutes away from here and coached me when i was younger

Edited July 30, 2021 by SterioDesign

[mfitz804]

10 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Did you get rollie the goalie? He lives 15 minutes away from here

Yes, but on a North Stars puck. Had to settle. I have come to terms with some pucks being non-Devils, but I’ll replace them if I ever see Devils ones. 

Not aware of anyone from New Brunswick I’m missing, but there’s one Quebecois I cannot seem to find any current info on, Sam St. Laurent. Only played 4 games for the Devils but was on the AHL affiliate (Maine Mariners) for several seasons. 

Asking for autographs from people in Canada is tough because there isn’t really a way to pre-print labels and customs forms for someone. I sent to two people in Canada and had to engage an intermediary to help me. Hopefully he follows through and doesn’t abscond with my pucks. I am resolved that the players may not sign them and I may never see them again, but I would like to get them into their hands at least. 

[SterioDesign]

2 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Yes, but on a North Stars puck. Had to settle. I have come to terms with some pucks being non-Devils, but I’ll replace them if I ever see Devils ones. 

Not aware of anyone from New Brunswick I’m missing, but there’s one Quebecois I cannot seem to find any current info on, Sam St. Laurent. Only played 4 games for the Devils but was on the AHL affiliate (Maine Mariners) for several seasons. 

Asking for autographs from people in Canada is tough because there isn’t really a way to pre-print labels and customs forms for someone. I sent to two people in Canada and had to engage an intermediary to help me. Hopefully he follows through and doesn’t abscond with my pucks. I am resolved that the players may not sign them and I may never see them again, but I would like to get them into their hands at least. 

Ah yeah. the last goalie to wear a fiberglass mask. That'd be a cool one to get

[mfitz804]

3 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Ah yeah. the last goalie to wear a fiberglass mask. That'd be a cool one to get

That is correct. I saw references to him doing private goalie coaching through a website, but have not found that website. It dawned on me today that it may not be in English, so I might have to figure out how to search for it in French. 

I haven’t lined everyone up yet, but I have at least some info on everyone on my list, except for Sam.

[SterioDesign]

12 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

That is correct. I saw references to him doing private goalie coaching through a website, but have not found that website. It dawned on me today that it may not be in English, so I might have to figure out how to search for it in French. 

I haven’t lined everyone up yet, but I have at least some info on everyone on my list, except for Sam.

Well my french ass was able to find some stuff for ya on this french website https://pucktavie.blogspot.com/2009/11/sam-st-laurent.html ... his website was http://www.acomba.net/gardiensdebutprise1 but it's offline now so the trail ends there. But then i found this as there seem to be other people looking for him lol https://www.hockeydb.com/vb/showthread.php?35141-Sam-St-Laurent

I believe this is his daughter. so maybe try to track her. I do believe that..... Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time.

 

 

Edited July 30, 2021 by SterioDesign

[mfitz804]

3 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Well my french ass was able to find some stuff for ya on this french website https://pucktavie.blogspot.com/2009/11/sam-st-laurent.html ... his website was http://www.acomba.net/gardiensdebutprise1 but it's offline now so the trail ends there. But then i found this as there seem to be other people looking for him lol https://www.hockeydb.com/vb/showthread.php?35141-Sam-St-Laurent

Wow, I appreciate the help! That message board thread is 10 years old but provides some leads. I will work from there, thanks!

[Crisis]

7 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

Well my french ass was able to find some stuff for ya on this french website https://pucktavie.blogspot.com/2009/11/sam-st-laurent.html ... his website was http://www.acomba.net/gardiensdebutprise1 but it's offline now so the trail ends there. But then i found this as there seem to be other people looking for him lol https://www.hockeydb.com/vb/showthread.php?35141-Sam-St-Laurent

I believe this is his daughter. so maybe try to track her. I do believe that..... Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time.

 

 

What a blast from the past.  Every time I hear this song now I'm going to be proud to know that she is the daughter of a former Devils goalie.

[mfitz804]

11 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

Well my french ass was able to find some stuff for ya on this french website 

@SterioDesign, if your French ass is available, I need an assist with sending/receiving a puck to/from former Devil Shawn MacKenzie. I would send you the stuff, you would send it to Shawn in Nova Scotia with a return envelope to you, and then ship it back to me. I cover all costs, obviously. 

Willing to lend a helping hand?

[SterioDesign]

2 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

@SterioDesign, if your French ass is available, I need an assist with sending/receiving a puck to/from former Devil Shawn MacKenzie. I would send you the stuff, you would send it to Shawn in Nova Scotia with a return envelope to you, and then ship it back to me. I cover all costs, obviously. 

Willing to lend a helping hand?

Oui oui oui

4 hours ago, Crisis said:

What a blast from the past.  Every time I hear this song now I'm going to be proud to know that she is the daughter of a former Devils goalie.

Not sure if its confirmed that this is his daughter though, i've been digging but couldn't confirm.

@mfitz804 IF this girl is indeed Samuel's daughter, i found a woman on fb who knew her and had a group to help in for the canadian idol run and did 2 musicals with her and appear to know her mom. So that'd be a connection to maybe finding the dad.

[mfitz804]

4 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Oui oui oui

Not sure if its confirmed that this is his daughter though, i've been digging but couldn't confirm.

@mfitz804 IF this girl is indeed Samuel's daughter, i found a woman on fb who knew her and had a group to help in for the canadian idol run and did 2 musicals with her and appear to know her mom. So that'd be a connection to maybe finding the dad.

I have not yet taken my search onto Facebook, but I will sign up for that sole purpose if I have to! Thanks for the info.

PM'ed about the other part! And obviously lmk if you need (now or later) anything similar done down here. 

Edited July 30, 2021 by mfitz804

[Brewskies]

Best wishes with your hobby. 

My you enjoy the task of completing this project. Are there many Devils fans doing the same? How about fans of other clubs do you come in contact with any of them? I was never involved with a hobby like this so just curious. 

[mfitz804]

28 minutes ago, Brewskies said:

Best wishes with your hobby. 

My you enjoy the task of completing this project. Are there many Devils fans doing the same? How about fans of other clubs do you come in contact with any of them? I was never involved with a hobby like this so just curious. 

I m getting a lot of enjoyment out of the quest, more than I expected actually. 

 I’m not aware of anyone else doing exactly this. But I did run into (online) a guy looking to collect an autograph of every NHL player in history. And his collection is way closer to complete than you may think. 
 

http://hockeyinkinthemail.blogspot.com/?m=1

Edited July 31, 2021 by mfitz804

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

On 7/31/2021 at 10:25 PM, mfitz804 said:

I m getting a lot of enjoyment out of the quest, more than I expected actually. 

 I’m not aware of anyone else doing exactly this. But I did run into (online) a guy looking to collect an autograph of every NHL player in history. And his collection is way closer to complete than you may think. 
 

http://hockeyinkinthemail.blogspot.com/?m=1

Everyone in history? Bloody hell. Does that include people coming into the NHL now? 

[mfitz804]

24 minutes ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Everyone in history? Bloody hell. Does that include people coming into the NHL now? 

Yeah, it looks like he goes after every player that debuts every year. Makes me feel slightly less crazy for my pursuit. 

Talking with him also made me realize that if he can do that, 39 goalies (40 once Bernier hits the ice) isn’t that hard. 

I received #29 in today’s mail. 

[NJDfan1711]

8 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

Yeah, it looks like he goes after every player that debuts every year. Makes me feel slightly less crazy for my pursuit. 

Talking with him also made me realize that if he can do that, 39 goalies (40 once Bernier hits the ice) isn’t that hard. 

I received #29 in today’s mail. 

Holy fvcking sh!t... every single player, ever?  What is that number?  10,000?  I'm just doing some ridiculously generic math here... starting in present day, there are 7 NHL draft rounds (I think, right?), and 32 teams, which means roughly 214 players potentially entering the league (I'm not going to bother trying to account for undrafted players or guys that are signed from overseas, figuring that, hopefully, that number is way less significant).  Of those 214, let's say maybe 100 actually make their NHL debuts during the year.  If that trend continued all the way back about 100 years or so, or roughly the age of the NHL itself, that would be 10,000 players.  Obviously the league grew immensely in the last 30-40 years so the pool was a lot less, but still, I'd rather overestimate than underestimate, and there were those other one-off type scenarios that I can't really quantify in any meaningful way, so I feel like 10,000 is probably somewhat in the ballpark.  Any idea if it is? 

Also, with #29, are you saying you got 29 out of 39 pucks signed already, or that you just got Blackwood's?  If you got that many already, that's awesome and impressive.

[SterioDesign]

8 hours ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Everyone in history? Bloody hell. Does that include people coming into the NHL now? 

Yeah that's ridiculously overwhelming. That'd be like trying to own like... EVERY Rolling Stones albums or something  

[NJDfan1711]

I have so many questions about that guy's quest.  How would you get autographs of guys who have passed away?  Or the hundreds of guys who played 1 game?  Also, where the hell would you put that many pucks? lol

[SterioDesign]

18 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

I have so many questions about that guy's quest.  How would you get autographs of guys who have passed away?  Or the hundreds of guys who played 1 game?  Also, where the hell would you put that many pucks? lol

i dont think it's necessarily all signed pucks. i think it's just autographs. 

That being said it doesnt make it less crazy 

[mfitz804]

19 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

Holy fvcking sh!t... every single player, ever?  What is that number?  10,000?  

He has it at 7,800+, but I’m not sure when that number was calculated. 

20 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

Also, with #29, are you saying you got 29 out of 39 pucks signed already, or that you just got Blackwood's?  If you got that many already, that's awesome and impressive.

I have 29 out of 39. 

3 minutes ago, NJDfan1711 said:

I have so many questions about that guy's quest.  How would you get autographs of guys who have passed away?  Or the hundreds of guys who played 1 game?  Also, where the hell would you put that many pucks? lol

He buys them, he trades for them, he writes to guys, etc. 

He doesn’t collect his autographs on pucks. If you go through his website, most of it is postcards and trading cards. He has a bookshelf filled with binder after binder after binder. 

Even if you aren’t interested in autographs, the site is worth looking at. 

[mfitz804]

2 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

That being said it doesnt make it less crazy 

I mean, my question started because I bought one of those 30-puck cases they sell on Fanatics, because I thought it would look cool on my wall. I had other pucks in it and I had a few goalies, so I decided to do this collection. 

So, if successful I’ll have over 30, so I added a second case. They still look cool on my office wall, maybe a little excessive, but just a little. 

That guy has autographs of over SEVEN THOUSAND players. Makes me feel like my little collection is way less crazy. 

[SterioDesign]

4 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I mean, my question started because I bought one of those 30-puck cases they sell on Fanatics, because I thought it would look cool on my wall. I had other pucks in it and I had a few goalies, so I decided to do this collection. 

So, if successful I’ll have over 30, so I added a second case. They still look cool on my office wall, maybe a little excessive, but just a little. 

That guy has autographs of over SEVEN THOUSAND players. Makes me feel like my little collection is way less crazy. 

Oh well i know the feeling. At times i'm like "well i have a pretty cool collection".

But then i see something like this. And im like... I am a tear in the rain.

https://www.cnet.com/pictures/this-is-the-26-5-million-star-wars-themed-mansion-youre-looking-for/13/

[mfitz804]

2 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Oh well i know the feeling. At times i'm like "well i have a pretty cool collection".

But then i see something like this. And im like... I am a tear in the rain.

https://www.cnet.com/pictures/this-is-the-26-5-million-star-wars-themed-mansion-youre-looking-for/13/

It actually made me feel like my project could be accomplished where I didn’t necessarily think that was so when I started. The guys on my list are all alive, most of them are within the US or Canada. 

It can be done, it’ll be some work but it’s not an unenjoyable process. I’m definitely having fun. 

[SterioDesign]

1 hour ago, mfitz804 said:

It actually made me feel like my project could be accomplished where I didn’t necessarily think that was so when I started. The guys on my list are all alive, most of them are within the US or Canada. 

It can be done, it’ll be some work but it’s not an unenjoyable process. I’m definitely having fun. 

For sure and whenever you get them all. Well the Devils will always get new goalies so they will be easier to track going forward

[mfitz804]

12 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

For sure and whenever you get them all. Well the Devils will always get new goalies so they will be easier to track going forward

Yup, I think the future ones will be a piece of cake. 

[Crisis]

I'm friends with two guys that were at Devils games as EBUGs.  Not roster players and I don't think they ever got on the ice, so I doubt that fits your bill.  But I think they had jerseys in the locker room ready to go.  And one of them was at the prospect camp as a goalie, I think it was Nico's first camp or the one after.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Crisis