Mike Knuble TTM

Received 3/3/12
Nice to finally get a 4x6 back from him. Mike has been a pretty consistent signer over his carrier. I met him when he came to Buffalo and he's a great guy. Mike signed my 4x6 though the Washington Capitals in about 3 months.

Deadline 2012

Wow, crazy day. 1st off, Goose and a fourth to Nashville for a first; 1-0 BUF. I was hearing all day that Darcy wanted a first rounder for Gaustad, and I thought that was nuts. I thought the best we could get for him was third, maybe a second. But hey, give Darcy credit, he stuck to his guns and just gave up that fourth rounder for the first rounder. This definitely went to Buffalo's advantage. I'll have two first round picks for a 3rd/4th line center any day. Nashville did get a great player though. Goose is great on faceoffs and on the pk. Great physical player who can drop the gloves and score a few goals. If Nashville is looking for depth in their roster to make a playoff push, they made the right move by calling the goose. This deal didn't happen until a little after three so I figured we were done, boy was I wrong. As I'm uploading my Ryan Suter post, I see on Trade Centre: "Zack Kassian traded to Vancouver." My first thought, NOOOOO! I thought Regier considered Kass as an untouchable and that he would be with this franchise for a very long time. It wasn't until I found it who he got traded for was when I got excited. Kassian traded for CENTER Cody Hodgson, 2-0 BUF. And yes, I capitalized center because that's exactly what we need. Even before we got rid of Gaustad, we were in need of a center. We thought we could bring Villie Leino to play center, but that turned out great. As of what I've heard, Cody should be a great assist for us now and in the future and should be great on a line with Vanek and Pomer. We also got rid of Marc-Andre Gragani for Alex Sulzer which I could care less about. Great deadline for Buffalo

Ryan Suter TTM

Received 2/27/12
Nice success on trade deadline day! Quick return from the NHL All Star Defensemen. Took about a week and a half. My first autograph I have in red sharpie, and it actually looks pretty cool on the yellow jersey. I sent the 4x6 to the Nashville Predators.
Also one final salute to the goose, Paul Gaustad. Ironical he got traded to Nashville today... honk honk!

Instagram

Hey, anyone with iPhones or iPod's out there and have an instagram, please follow me @ rbmarko20. I put a bunch of my autographs on there and they turned out sick! Defiantly worth a glance! I'll follow back!

Sabres Autogrpahs

Yesterday I went to morning skate and added two more autographs to my mini helemet.

Defensemen Tyler Myers



Defensemen Jordon Leopold

Conest Winner

Congrats to Andrew R, he won the Brett Hull autograph card. Andrew, I'll get the card out asap so you should get that soon. Thanks to everyone who entered, everyone who emailed me got the answers right. Anyone who wasn't sure, here are the answers:

Henrik Tallinder, Clarke MacArthur, Rob Ray

Jason Pominville

Today my little brother won a contest through Dave and Adam's Card world that Jason Pominville would come to his school and throw a party for his class. He didn't know and when we all walked into his class, he freaked! Each kid, including Sam, got a 8x10 that Pomer signed and Sam also got a jersey he signed that Dave and Adam's are going to frame for him. While we were waiting for the ok to go up to his class, I got him to sign my mini helmet that I'm working to get more sigs on. Oh c'mon, you really think I wasn't going to get his autograph too! Anyway, we totally surprised him and he had a great day.

Also: if you haven't gotten your answers to the contest yet, email them to me ASAP (rbmarko20@yahoo.com). Deadline is this Sunday.

2012 NHL All Stars

This was pretty popular last year so I figured I'd do it again. I'll showcase my autos of some of the players playing in Ottawa during the NHL All Star game this weekend.

Team Chara

Zdeno Chara, Pavel Datsyuk, Tim Thomas, Marian Hossa, Carey Price, Jimmy Howard, Brian Campbell, Patrick Kane, Dion Phaneuf

Team "Alfie"

Jason Spezza, Claude Giroux, Steven Stamkos, Shea Weber, Keith Yandle, Henrik Sedin, Jason Pominville

My prediction is that Team "Alfie" will win. Score wise, I relay don't know. It will probably be something like 31-28. I also think it will be either be Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers or the Sedin twins from the Vancouver Canucks to take home the MVP.
BTW: Nice on the Bills fan getting the car for last player picked (Yay a Honda Crosstour).

Chris Chelios TTM

Received 1/17/12
Cool success! This is my second success from Mr. Chelios, the last one was a card that I sent to him about a year ago. Chris signed my 8x10 in about 3 or 4 months through the Detroit Red Wings.

Luke Schenn TTM

Received 1/11/12
Until today, I completely forget about sending this out. I think I sent this one out around this time so I'll say it took about a year. The young Toronto defensemen signed my Canada card 1/1 through the Maple Leafs. If you remember sending anything to Luke through the Leafs, I'd check your mailbox because he's probably emptying out his mail bin.

Darryl Sitller TTM

Received 1/9/12
First TTM success of 2012! This 8x10 turn out sick! Mr. Sittler signed this beautifully in blue ink and personalized it "To Ryan - All the Best." This is my second success from him when he signed my card about two years ago. Sittler signed my 8x10 in about 2 and 1/2 months through his home.

Sabres Game 1/7/12

My Friend Joe and I went to see the Buffalo Sabres play the Winnipeg Jets and after the 2-1 OT loss, we went out back to get some autos. I get a mini helmet from my brother for Christmas so I decided to get some signatures on that. From left to right: Brad Boyes, Nathan Gerbe, Tyler Ennis and Brayden McNabb. The tickets we got were in the suite level and we happened to be in the same exact suite as former Sabre "Stuuuuuuuuu" Barnes, which was cool. The Sabres have been pretty depressing to watch so far this year, but who knows, maybe they'll make another second half comeback like last season (but I don't see it happening).

2012 Winter Classic Thoughts

This years Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia was one of the most entertaining one's yet, and was certainly better than last years game. I was in attendance at the first WC at the Ralph in 2008 and it was one of the coolest things I have ever been at, even though the Sabres lost. Any city who gets to host the WC should be honored. Thoughts on 2013 Winter Classic: i think it will be in any of these 4 places; "The Big House" in Ann Arbor (Red Wings), Target Field in Minneapolis (Wild), MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford (Devils), or my best bet, Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver (Avalanche). If it did go to the Av's, I wonder if they would wear Nordiques sweaters?

Jermey Roenick TTM

Received 12/30/11
Cool success. This one took a little longer than I hoped, about 6 months, but I'm not complaining. JR signed my 8x10 through his home address and he also put in a thank you letter and a unsigned card.