Josh Gorges Jersey Card

The Montréal Canadiens had a dozen good reasons to trade Josh Gorges this summer, such as his cap hit and contract length, his limited offensive capabilities, wanting to change the leadership group in the dressing room (and take letters away from players who, while dedicated and hard-working, contribute less on the scoreboard than their extreme vocal-ness in the locker room would require), and the lack of room on a defense that already also includes P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin, Mike Weaver (who does Gorges' defensive on-ice job at a third of the price), Tom Gilbert (who will be an improvement on the second powerplay unit), Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi - and possibly Francis Bouillon.

He, however, still doesn't understand, as he told reporters from his off-season home in Kelowna. And that's a bit of an issue, too: he hasn't embraced the city enough to live here full-time, let alone learn the local language. So, after refusing a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was sent to the Buffalo Sabres.

I have no complaints about Gorges' time in Montréal. He got here at the tail end of 2006-07 and barely played because no one was familiar with what he could bring to the table, and he hadn't been factored into the team's system. But from 2007-08 on, he did his very best and improved - and impressed - enough to sport the alternate captain's 'A' for the past few years. He would also be one of the few players to face the media after almost every game.

He was a good soldier, just not sergeant material. He will, however, forever be a Hab in fans' hearts.

And so I bid him farewell for now, with this card from Panini's 2010-11 Zenith set (#JG in the die-cut jersey series), featuring a white swatch but showing him in the Habs' classic red uniform:

I had written him and sent 3 cards in November 2010, but never heard back. I wish him - and his family - the best in Buffalo.

Josh Gorges Jersey Card

And now a short break from all the model cards...

Tonight is Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final, and the Montréal Canadiens have a shot at tying their series against the New York Rangers. One player who might be instrumental in this (after, say, current Conn Smythe contenders P.K. Subban and Brendan Gallagher, Andrei Markov, shut-down center and magical passer Tomas Plekanec, and new idol in nets Dustin Tokarski) is shut-down defender Josh Gorges.

Now an alternate captain with the team, Gorges has been a staple of the Habs' penalty kill since 2009, and is now Subban's regular-shift partner as well. He averaged 21 minutes per game in the regular season and nearly 24 in the playoffs. He even saw some powerplay time, usually alongside Alexei Emelin, on the second pairing, when either Nathan Beaulieu or Francis Bouillon were scratched. It's a testament to his hard work, though, that the coach trusts him to be reliable enough to help the attack and keep the momentum going despite never scoring more than 4 goals and never reaching the 40-point mark; his passing skills have improved dramatically, though, another proof of his dedication to honing his skills.

A veritable rubber man, he takes tough hits every single game, and yet rarely misses one due to injury. He's very outspoken - always talks to the media after games, win or lose, and always talks in the dressing room between periods to help boost morale.

Here's a swatch card from his days as a rookie with the San Jose Sharks, from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Be A Player Portraits (card #FE-JG, part of the First Exposures sub-set) featuring a grey swatch from a jersey he wore in a photo shoot:

Two Josh Gorges Autographed Cards

Unlike Maxim Lapierre, Josh Gorges signed each card by adding the correct jersey number on each, thus he wore #7 for the Kelowna Rockets, and #26 for the Montréal Canadiens.

The junior card, from his WHL days as captain of the Rockets is from In The Game's 2004-05 Heroes And Prospects series (card #82), after a WHL title, a Memorial Cup, a Western Conference First All-Star Team nod and a finalist for the league's top defenseman - as well as a participation at the World Juniors for Team Canada. He had been signed as a free agent (he had never been drafted) by the San Jose Sharks, whose uniforms were close in colours as the Rockets'.

The other card, where he is wearing the Canadiens' red jersey, is from Upper Deck's 2007-08 Series 2 collection (card #410), depicting him making a terrible butterfly pass to an unknown teammate, one of many bad plays resulting from being a part of a shocking mid-season trade to Montréal (alongside a draft pick that ended up being Max Pacioretty) for established whiner and coach-killer Craig Rivet. He has since found his game, and his niche on the team, and can be relied upon to step up and fill in at a higher level when one of the team's top three defensemen gets injured.

Both were signed at the Canadiens' jamboree prior to the 2007-08 season.