Monday, February 3, 2014

Rob Ramage Autographed Card

I figure I should get it out of the way as soon as possible: yes, Rob Ramage was found guilty of impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death (doing the same thing, which should be one offense, really) that killed former NHLer Keith Magnusson. In an odd turn of events, the Magnusson family had forgiven him and wanted to have him speak to teens about the dangers of drinking and driving rather than serve prison time (he would get 4 years - the harshest penalty ever in Canada for someone with no previous record of drinking and driving, possibly because he was a celebrity), but were granted over 9 million dollars in a civil case against both Ramage and the car rental company (National Car Rental Of Canada)...

Ramage was granted parole in 2011. In December, he was made assistant coach of the OHL's London Knights as Dale Hunter went on a short coaching stint with the Washington Capitals.

Before all of that, he was considered a terrific team player who got 48 points in 80 WHA games, and 564 points (139 of them goals) in 1044 regular-season NHL games to go with 50 more points in 84 playoff games and two Stanley Cups, one in which he played a large role (1988-89 with the Calgary Flames) and one in which he did very little (1992-93 with the Montréal Canadiens).

He captained two teams: the Colorado Rockies (he was, in fact, their last captain before they became the New Jersey Devils) and the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1989 until 1991. and it's representing the Leafs with the 'C'' on his chest on this 1990-91 Bowman card from Topps (card #162 in the set) that I had him sign in blue sharpie:


It was signed in the late 1990s or early 2000s at a team function with several retired members of the 1993 Habs, and shows him wearing the Leaf's blue (then-away) uniform. Ironically, the Habs are the Leafs' biggest rivals; the feeling is not mutual, though, as Montréal has a much more intense rivalry with the Boston Bruins, which probably explains why the Leafs usually massacre the Habs when they play on national telecasts on Saturdays.

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