Saturday afternoon I had the privilege of conducting a private signing with Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller. Ryan has only been in the league for a little over two seasons and has already established himself as an elite goaltender. He has 30 plus wins in both years (40 last season!) and happens to have one of the top selling jerseys on NHL.com. Ryan arrived at about 1:00 for the marathon signing. We spoke a little about the NHL, the Rangers and Miller's idol Martin Brodeur. It was pretty cool to hear Ryan speak so highly of Marty. We are around him so much that we are somewhat desensitized to how much of a legend he really is. Over the course of several hours Ryan signed an awesome mix of unbelievable items. Miller autographed sticks, pucks, mini-sticks, Sabres hats, mini-standees as well as a few exquisite (good Clyde adjective) images in both 8x10 and 16x20.
One thing that I have taken with me from my past few hockey signings is that there is a renewed excitement about the league. Young players like Miller and Ovechkin (not to forget Crosby) have gotten plenty of people pumped up for the future of the sport. I have never been a huge hockey fan but am definitely looking forward to the start of the season as these young talents will be on display nightly.
On the memoriablia end all these guys, especially Miller, are a must have for the serious hockey collector.
Check back later as I am half-way through getting caught up on these blog entrys.