Bernie Federko: Two Autographed Cards

Regarding the upcoming Winter Classic, and wanting to say that his adopted city of St. Louis had been unjustly spurned by recent events, Hall of Famer Bernie Federko said:

This is a major league city and unfortunately the NFL has not deemed us worthy, which I think is ridiculous. It’s a soothing moment for sports fans because for our sport, this is the big hurrah.

The St. Louis Blues' former star centerfrom Foam Lake, Saskatchewan loved his adopted city so much he remained there even after his NHL career ended with a final season with the Detroit Red Wings; he once held a management job with the St. Louis Vipers in the roller hockey league and now serves as the Blues' color commentator on Fox Sports Midwest.

I only say him play at the tail end of his Hall of Fame career, when he was a perennial Lady Byng contender but no longer a threat to post 100 points, surpassed by Adam Oates as the best passer in the game not named Wayne Gretzky. His 101 points (including 66 assists, a Blues team record) in 91 career playoff games are also impressive.

Still, as the first player to post ten straight over-50-assist seasons, with 1130 points in 1000 games, he was the team's first true star player; Brett Hull, Chris Pronger, and Al MacInnis have since joined him in that regard, building the team's legend past the fact that their original coach was Scotty Bowman - well, technically Lynn Patrick, but that didn't last long- leading them to the Stanley Cup Final, a destination they have failed to reach since.

Here are two cards he signed in thin blue sharpie when the Blues were in town, first showing him in their classic white (home) uniform, on card #58 from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Parkhurst set:

And in blue, in his last year with the team (as can be attested by the captain's "C"), on card #58 from UD's 2011-12 Champions set:

I miss those blue Blues uniforms, though even as a child I didn't understand why the team's logo couldn't stand on its own without the wordmark on top. But the colours and pattern worked very well together.