2010 Olympic Gold Medalist: Patrick Marleau

Patrick Marleau is the San Jose Sharks all-time leader in points and has played his entire NHL career with the Sharks since being drafted second overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He has been named one of the Top 50 (#42 on the list) players headed into the 2010-11 season by The Hockey News

Patrick Marleau's junior hockey career took him to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League where he played two seasons. During his second year, Marleau was named team captain and led the Thunderbirds to a Western Conference Championship before the team bowed out in the WHL Finals to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Lethbridge Hurricanes in four games. Marleau finished second in the WHL's Player of the Year voting, losing to Peter Schaefer (REALLY????) of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Following his second year of major junior, he was drafted second overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, behind current teammate Joe Thornton, who was selected by the Boston Bruins. Although he struggled early in his career, Marleau learned to combine his excellent offensive talents with defensive prowess from former Sharks head coach Darryl Sutter.
Marleau won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2003 World Championships in Finland. Later, in the midst of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Marleau joined Team Canada for two international tournaments, the 2004 World Cup, and the 2005 World Championships, capturing a World Cup title by defeating Finland in the final and a silver medal at the World Championships. In the summer following his silver-medal effort with Team Canada, he was invited to the 2006 Winter Olympics, but was omitted from the final roster. On December 30, 2009, Marleau was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver at which he won a gold medal.

Marleau was a really nice guy and a great signer.

Running Count: 9 autographs
Drew Doughty
Corey Perry
Martin Brodeur
Rick Nash
Dan Boyle
Roberto Luongo
Joe Thornton
Dany Heatley
Patrick Marleau

2010 Olympic Gold Medalist: Dany Heatley

Originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers second overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Heatley won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the top NHL rookie in 2002.

However, after being responsible for a car accident in September 2003 that killed teammate and close friend Dan Snyder, he requested a trade and was subsequently dealt to the Ottawa Senators.

As 2005-06 was the first year that the NHL implemented the shootout, Heatley and Alfredsson were the first players to score in an NHL shootout, scoring against Leafs goalie Ed Belfour. Their sticks are now in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

One of the Senators' perennial leading scorers during his tenure with Ottawa, Heatley set franchise records for single-season goals (50) and points (105). He typically played left wing with linemates Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. Nicknamed the "Pizza Line", the line was consistently among the highest scoring in the NHL after its formation in 2005. The number of goals required for pizza was later increaed to 6 due to the number of 5 goal victories.

Heatley represented Team Canada in six World Championships, two Olympics and one World Cup of Hockey, as well as two World Junior Championships. In 2008, he surpassed Marcel Dionne as Canada's all-time leader in goals and Steve Yzerman as the all-time leader in points for the World Championships.
At the end of the 2008-09 season, Heatley demanded a trade from the Senators. A deal was in lace to send him to the Edmonton Oilers on June 30, but Heatley refused to waive his no-trade clause. On September 12, he was dealt to the San Jose Sharks in return for Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second-round draft pick in 2010.

Running Count: 8 autographs
Drew Doughty
Corey Perry
Martin Brodeur
Rick Nash
Dan Boyle
Roberto Luongo
Joe Thornton
Dany Heatley

2010 Olympic Gold Medalist: Joe Thornton

Joe Thornton, also known as Jumbo Joe, is the captain of the San Jose Sharks of the NHL.

Thornton played major junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for two seasons, beginning in 1995-96. He posted a 76-point season as a rookie earning him the Emms Family Award as the OHL's top first-year player, as well as CHL Rookie of the Year honours. The following season, in 1996-97, Thornton improved to 41 goals and 122 points, finishing second overall in league scoring behind Marc Savard of the Oshawa Generals, and was named to the OHL Second All-Star Team.

After his second OHL season, Thornton was drafted first overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. He continued to build as a key player in the Bruins' lineup, culminating in his appointment as team captain in 2002-03. Many people feel that Robbie Ftorek gave Thornton the .C. too early. Regardless, Thornton re-signed with the team on August 11, 2005, to a three-year deal worth US$20 million.

In the midst of another career year, the Bruins were, however struggling in the standing and on November 30, 2005, Thornton was traded to the San Jose Sharks in a blockbuster four-player deal, which sent forwards Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau and defenceman Brad Stuart to Boston. Thornton was the team's leading scorer at the time by a substantial margin.

Upon arriving in San Jose, Thornton improved the Sharks' fortunes and found instant chemistry with winger Jonathan Cheechoo. Tallying 92 points in 58 games with the Sharks since the trade, Thornton helped Cheechoo to a Rocket Richard Trophy-winning season with 56 goals, while he would himself lead the NHL with 96 assists and 125 points total to earn the Art Ross Trophy as the league'S top scorer, the first player to do so the same season he was traded.

In September 2009, before the start of the 2009-10 NHL season, the Sharks acquired Dany Heatley in a blockbuster 3-player trade that sent former line mate Jonathan Cheechoo, left winger Milan Michalek and a 2nd round pick to the Ottawa Senators. Thornton, Heatley, and Marleau had instant chemistry and earned the nickname, the "Team Canada Line," in reference to the three being expected to and playing together on a line in the Olympics that year, winning a gold medal for Team Canada.

I saw Joe a couple of times in Montreal. I hear he used to be a tough signer, but I guess things changed. He signed each time I saw him. I ended up getting all of my things signed by him, including my 16x20.

Running Count: 7 autographs
Drew Doughty
Corey Perry
Martin Brodeur
Rick Nash
Dan Boyle
Roberto Luongo
Joe Thornton

San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are one of the Western Conference powerhouses. Unfortunately for us in Ottawa, we only get to see them here every two years. The meeting in Ottawa had me very excited. It was the return of Dany Heatley to Ottawa.

You see, Dany, to date, has been Ottawa's only 50 goal scorer. He did it in back-to-back seasons. At the end of the 2008-09 season, Heatley demanded a trade from the Sens. Nobody knows the real reason, but he claims it was because he didn't get along with coach Cory Clouston. Ironically, the Sens decided to keep Clouston over Heatley, and now a season and a half later may fire him.

A deal was in place to send Heatley to the Edmonton Oilers, but Heatley refused to waive his no-trade clause. On September 12, 2009, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks in return for Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo (since bought-out), and a second round pick in 2010 (blue chip prospect Robin Lehner).

As you can see, there was a lot of excitement surrounding Heatley's return. I must say, I have never heard the arena that loud before.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that public enemy number one was back in town, the Sharks stayed at the Brookstreet, as many visiting teams to Ottawa do, where there is no access.

Meeting the sharks required a trip to Montreal. The day was beautiful and the team turned out to be really good signers. Obviously I will make a seperate blog for the Team Canada members, but here are the autographs I received from the supporting cast.

Former Ottawa 67 Jamie McGinn

Jamal Mayers

Torrey Mitchell

Former Ottawa 67 and possible rookie of the year Logan Couture

Scott Nichol

Niclas Wallin

Antero Nittymaki

Jason Demers

Ryan Clowe

Antti Niemi

Douglas Murray

Joe Pavelski


I also had some images for Devin Setoguchi and Kent Huskins who were injured and didn't make the trip.

Mike Peca

Mike Peca is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League. He most recently played for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL. He has also played for the Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. He retired on January 19, 2010 after 13 seasons in the NHL.

Peca began his junior career with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League after they selected him in the first round of the 1990 player draft. He was traded to the Ottawa 67's where he blossomed into one of the leagues top offensive players. He was selected to represent Canada at the 1994 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He captained the Canadian team at the 2001 World Championshps in Germany. His nickname was "Captain Crunch" because of his penchant for delivering bone-crushing open ice hits.

Peca was drafted in the second round, 40th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. Peca has twice won the Frank J. Selke Trophy for being the best defensive forward, in 1996-97 and 2001-02. Peca captained the Buffalo Sabres to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Canadian ice hockey team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Peca was part of the Cinderella Edmonton Oiler team that made a run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. (Wikipedia)

Mike was in Ottawa at a 67's game as an alumni. He signed 3 photos for me and took a picture. Although my interaction with him was limited, he seemed like a nice guy.