Christopher Higgins Autographed Card

It's been an off-kilter year for Christopher Higgins, what with posting just 4 points in 33 games with the Vancouver Canucks, being sent to the AHL to play for the Utica Comets, and getting bought out of the final year of his contract by the team.

But things are looking up, as the Calgary Flames - now coached by former Canucks assistant Glen Gulutzan - have invited him to training camp on a try-out offer.

Flames GM Brad Treliving had this to say about the former first-rounder (14th overall in 2002):

Chris had a tough year in Vancouver. But prior to that, he was a good player, he was a productive player. There’s some versatility in his game, in terms of being able to play either wing. He’s a very good penalty-killer. And he’s an experienced guy. I know we get to the 30 age-mark and everybody starts to quiver a bit, but there’s still some hockey left in him. He’s going to come in and compete for a spot, and it’s always good to have competition in camp.

You look at the year prior to last, he was an important player in Vancouver. I think when you really analyze last year, he suffered an injury early in the pre-season and never got his footing. There are some indicators - you look at his career shooting percentage, where it’s been (9.7%) as opposed to last year (5.9%). Obviously, there was a drop-off.
Now, can he get back to the form he was at a year or two ago? If he can, then good for him and potentially good for us. So we’ll see.

No promises, but at least there's the belief and hope that he can rebound, although no one in the hockey world expects him to hit the 20-goal mark that he reached three times with the Montréal Canadiens on Saku Koivu's left wing.

Speaking of which, here's his rookie card from Upper Deck's 2006-07 McDonald's set (and Rookie Review / Recrues En Revue sub-set), which he signed in fading blue sharpie prior to being a part of the infamous Scott Gomez trade:

It's card #RR14 in the set and shows him wearing the Habs' white (then-home) uniform. There's an error on the back of the card, where his statistics line shows that of Alexander Perezhogin (9 goals, 10 assists and 19 points in 67 games) instead of his own (23 goals and 15 assists for 38 points in 80 games).

He has suited up for Team USA three times - at the 2002 and 2003 World Juniors, and at the 2009 World Championships - losing in the bronze medal game each time.