Mark Recchi Autographed Card

Most think he's a shoe-in for the Hall Of Fame, and the numbers alone indeed lean towards that. However, he's lucky that in hockey, a player doesn't have to enter the Hall representing only one team (like baseball), because he'd have a hard time choosing, having worn 7 different NHL uniforms in his 22 seasons, including two stints with the Philadelphia Flyers and three (!!!) with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He's won 3 Stanley Cups (Pittsburgh in 1991, Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, and Boston Bruins in 2011), each time eliminating the Montréal Canadiens en route - another of his former teams. As a Montrealer, what I remember the most about Recchi's stint here is, firstly, what he cost us to acquire (39-goal wonder-rookie Gilbert Dionne, Team Canada staple defenseman and eventual Flyers captain Éric Desjardins, and giant super-sniper John LeClair) compared with what we got back for him when he requested to get traded 4 years later (Zainius Zubrus and Matt Carkner), as well as the fact that his productivity dipped considerably while manning the first line here...

My problem with the Hall is my definition of it: I think it should only recognize generational talent, players who dominated their era, collected hardware, were recognized as part of the best of their profession, and ideally were the best on their own team at least once. None of that applies to Recchi, but the same can be said for current Hall members Larry Murphy, Mike Gartner and more than a few others. It was pretty easy in the early 1990s to get 100 points with Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Eric Lindros feeding you and creating space, he couldn't get it done with Saku Koivu, Keith Primeau or Jeremy Roenick, though...

Still, he didn't steal his 7 All-Star Game appearances or his three Cups. He was a very consistent player who made his place on any team's top-6 forwards, be they superstar-based superpowers or average teams.

He signed this card for me while with the Bruins, during his final NHL season:

It's from Upper Deck's 2006-07 SP Authentic set (card #22) and shows him wearing the Penguins' white (away) uniform, probably the one team I identify him with the most. He now serves as a consultant with the Dallas Stars; though he's never played for them, he is a close friend of their owner's, Tom Gaglardi.

Keith Ballard Autographed Card

I wrote about Keith Ballard over three years ago, seeing much promise in his play when he was with the Florida Panthers; I thought for sure he'd end up a top defenseman when he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks. Unfortunately, he came to the team on crutches, and has been marred by injuries ever since. He never caught his stride, which may have cost head coach Alain Vigneault his job in the end, along with the goaltending situation, and the Sedin twins' lack of offensive production come playoff time.

Still, Ballard is a fine talent, a good defensive player with a flair for manning special teams. I met him in December 2011, prior to a game against my hometown Montréal Canadiens, and he signed this card for me in blue sharpie:

It shows him wearing the Phoenix Coyotes' red (away) jersey and is from Upper Deck's 2007-08 Mini Jersey set (card #75). He has two seasons remaining on his current deal, and I have a feeling the 6-time Team USA member (U-18, World Juniors, and four World Championships) will be a permanent part of the Canucks' top-4 for both of them.

Brent Sopel Autographed Card

You know you have a good, deep defensive corps when you can afford to have Brent Sopel as your fifth-to-seventh defenseman, like he was when he won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks. Yo might be in trouble if he cracks your top-4, such as his days with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Though he has spent the last two years in the KHL, I wouldn't be surprised to see him wind up with the Montréal Canadiens again next year, possibly in place of Davis Drewiskie as the 7th or 8th d-man, and the reason is simple: the folks in charge of the Habs have had him before - GM Marc Bergevin in Chicago, and assistant-GM Rick Dudley in both Chicago and Atlanta - and know exactly what he can bring to the table.

His longest tenure in the NHL was with the Vancouver Canucks, parts of 7 season in two stints, which is why I chose to bring this card to have him sign it in 2010-11, after a Habs game:

He has played in 659 regular-season NHL games so far, and has scored 44 goals, amassed 174 assists and totals 218 points; he has also played in 71 playoff games, during which he was only penalized for 20 minutes to go with his 4-14-18 stats.

Chris Phillips: 3 Autographed Cards

 

The Ottawa Senators made it a series tonight by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in double-overtime, a series the Pens now lead 2-1. The heroes of the game were undoubtedly both goalies - Craig Anderson for the Sens, and Tomas Vokoun for the Pens - but the most impressive defenseman for Ottawa was the steady presence of Chris Phillips.

As the top pick of the 1996 draft, there was a lot of pressure on Phillips to perform, and his steady play - and the fact that he now wears an 'A' on his jersey - are a sign that he has lived up to the task. He reached the 1000-game milestone this season, and surpassed the 100-playoff game mark last year - all of them with the Senators.

I met him a year ago, as I went to see the Sens play the New York Rangers since my hometown Habs didn't make the playoffs; he signed these three cards for me in blue sharpie - one before the game, and two after. Ottawa won that one - in overtime, too, if I recall correctly.

First, a card showing the Sens' red (then-third, eventual main home) jersey, from In The Game's 2003-04 Action set (card #487):

But I've always preferred the Senators in black, and this jersey was particularly pretty:

The card on the left is from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Series 1 (card #141), while the card on the right is from UD's 2005-06 MVP set (card #270), one that features a fac-simile autograph on-card and feels weird to present to players, since most of them go out of their way to sign it in another direction than usual to not just sign on top of their already-present signature...

Nevertheless, I'm quite happy with these cards.

Kevin Poulin: 2 Autographed Custom Cards

Like the Jeff Glass and Robin Lehner customs I featured recently, I purchased these BG-branded custom cards from a (mostly) Ottawa Senators collector on Ebay. They are labeled as both Future Watch (a sub-set of Upper Deck's SP Authentic series) and Hot Prospects (a Fleer staple), and show Kevin Poulin wearing his draft-day New York Islanders jersey.

They were signed in blue sharpie in the 2010-11 season, one in which he faced the Sens twice. Those with good eyes will notice they contain an error: the team's name is listed as 'Ney York', which brings me back to the first season of Pro Set cards, where nearly a third of the cards had something wrong with them - usually a spelling mistake or the wrong picture on the front of the card.

Isles fans are psyched about their future in net with Poulin. The Montrealer has a career record of 7-9-0 in 21 games in parts of three seasons in the NHL (with the Isles, mind you), to go with a 2.76 GAA and .912 save percentage. In two relief appearances in the playoffs this month, he allowed just one goal in 52 total minutes, for a 1.15 GAA and a .933 save %. His AHL numbers are astounding as well. The Isles should be very excited about the guy they picked 126th overall (5th round) in 2008.

Robin Lehner Autographed Custom Card

Not that any of it was Craig Anderson's fault, but coach Paul MacLean made a goaltending change at 3-1 that almost paid off, putting Robin Lehner in nets against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Lehner's been touted as the Ottawa Senators' goalie of the future ever since he was drafted 46th overall in 2009, but his impatience (and perhaps also ego) has made the papers as often as his play. That was likely one of the reasons why the Sens acquired Ben Bishop at last year's deadline. Still, his talent is undeniable. At 6'4'', 225lbs, with a World Juniors silver medal (on a relatively weak Team Sweden) and an AHL playoffs MVP title, he shares a minor-league resume with some goalies who get drafted in the top-5 - which is probably why the Sens felt comfortable trading Bishop at this year's deadline.

Like the Jeff Glass card from earlier this week, I purchased this piece from a Senators collector on Ebay recently:

With a white background, the design is once again pretty basic, reminiscent of Upper Deck's SP Authentic line of products, using both its Future Watch and Fleer's Hot Prospects sub-set names for BG as the ''pretend'' manufacturer. I date this card from the 2010-11 season because it features Lehner sporting the Elitserien's Frölunda Indians uniform, meaning there weren't available pictures from his days with either Ottawa or the Binghamton Senators. It,s signed in blue sharpie, with his jersey number with the Sens (40) tagged at the end. The abundance of white leaves ample room for the signature, so that's good thinking on BG's part.

Thomas Greiss Autographed Card

Here's what I predicted for the second-round series between the Stanley Cup champions Los Angeles Kings and fellow Californians San Jose Sharks earlier this week:

I don't make the rules, they're just there: The Sharks shall not win a Cup. And who better to knock them out than the reigning Cup champs? L.A. is the better team, with the better goalie, the better defense, the best offense, the best captain... but since emotions are high in this new Battle Of California, I think the Sharks could take a couple of games. Though I wouldn't be surprised to see the Kings sweep. Kings in 6.

Well, after their come-from-behind win tonight, trailing by one with a minute left and still winning in overtime, the Kings might, indeed, sweep. And I know that Antti Niemi was one of the best goalies in the league all season long, but sometimes you need an electroshock to spark your team, so maybe Todd McLellan will have to resort to employing Thomas Greiss at some point...

Greiss has been ok when used, with a career record of 16-12-3 with a 2.52 GAA and .911 save % in the regular season, and no decision in the playoffs, two goals against in two periods, for a 3.00 GAA and a spectacular .929 save percentage. He has represented Germany 8 times so far, including three in 2006 alone (World Juniors, Olympics, and World Championships). He has won his only game against L.A., stopping all 6 six shots he faced in 24 minutes of play in a 3-2 victory.

I got him to sign this 2007-08 Between The Pipes card (#51 in the set, the Future Stars sub-set) from In The Game in thin blue sharpie in December 2010, when the Sharks came to the Bell Centre (the Habs won):

It shows him playing for the Worcester Sharks, San Jose's AHL affiliate.

Nigel Dawes Autographed Card

Lost in the shuffle of hockey news was the announcement that the Connecticut Whale were returning to their original name, the Hartford Wolf Pack. One thing I find odd about it is their parent NHL team, the New York Rangers, letting Global Spectrum run the team, seeing as they're in the same amalgam of corporations owned by Ed Snider and his Philadelphia Flyers, one of the Rangers' fiercest rivals. Strange bedfellows indeed...

I have at least one Wolf Pack card, and this is the first one that popped up when searching, from In The Game's 2005-06 Heroes And Prospects set (card #234), Nigel Dawes.

A fifth-round pick of the Rangers, Dawes was Canada's leading scorer at the World Juniors in 2004 as he helped them win silver; he won gold in 2005 in a lesser role, on a team that boasted the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Getzlaf and Sidney Crosby.

A scoring threat in Juniors, he was also a point-per-game player in the AHL, but failed to impress his coaches at the NHL level, be it for the Rangers (parts of 3 seasons), Phoenix Coyotes (12 games), Calgary Flames (66 games), Atlanta Thrashers (9 games), or Montréal Canadiens (4 games). After the 2010-11 season, he lost patience and bolted to the KHL, where he put up 67 points in 103 games over two seasons and is tearing it up in the playoffs with 7 goals (and 9 points) in 7 games.

I got him to sign this card (in blue sharpie) in 2011 when he was with the Habs, after a game.

Jim Paek Autographed Card

The first Korean-born player drafted in the NHL (9th round, 170th overall, 1985), Jim Paek also became the first to suit up for a team (Pittsburgh Penguins) and to win a Stanley Cup, which he did in two straight seasons with the Pens. However, when it came to international play, he played for Team Canada in 1990-91...

After parts of four seasons with Pittsburgh, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings (for Tomas Sandstrom) in 1993-94, and signed as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators in the off-season, but only played 29 games with them. He then did the rounds in the IHL before plying his trade in England and Alaska.

I got him to sign this card in dark blue sharpie at a card show in Florida in the early 2000s.

It's from Topps' 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee set (card #437, the Top Prospect sub-set) and shows the rookie celebrating his first Cup win.

Phil Goyette Autographed Card

Phil Goyette resides in the same Montréal burrough where he was born almost 80 years ago - Lachine, Québec. He had a glorious NHL career, nearly half spent with his hometown Montréal Canadiens, nearly half with the New York Rangers, a year with the St. Louis Blues and parts of two seasons with the Buffalo Sabres.

He won 4 straight Stanley ups with the Habs (1957 to 1960), a Lady Byng trophy in 1970, some IHL hardware (the MVP and the leading-scorer trophies in 1954-55), and is ranked 59th of all-time in the book 100 Ranger Greats. All said, he scored 207 goals (for 674 points) in 941 regular-season games to go with 17 goals (and 46 points) in 94 playoff games.

I met him at the Habs' Centennial during a team event, and he signed this team issued 2008 Molson Export Montréal Canadiens Alumni card (#20) in black sharpie.

He stood pretty tall (5'11'', maybe) for a guy who retired in 1972.