Rodney Carney Autograph Card

Here's a card I got in a multi-sport repack years ago:

It's card #142 from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Hardcourt set (part of the Hardcourt Futures subset) and features a blue-sharpied on-card autograph of Rodney Carney, pictured wearing a suit.

He was originally drafted 16th overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2006 but was quickly sent to the Philadelphia 76ers for the player they'd just picked 13th overall (Thabo Sefolosha) and a second-round pick from the following season.

After a decent game in which he scored 25 points and registered 8 rebounds in his rookie season, becoming the first Sixer to accomplish the feat since Allen Iverson, the team decided to trade Iverson and replace him with Carney, which even someone who knows as little about basketball as I do will tell you was the wrong decision.

No offense, but trading a known All-Star-caliber commodity just to make room for an unproven asset rarely makes sense, regardless of the sport, unless money or attitude also factor in.

Nowadays, Carney plays in the Dominican Republic (for the La Vega Reales), after stints in Venezuela (Caracas Cocodrilos), the Philippines (Talk 'N' Text Tropang Texters - no joke), Lebanon (Beirut Sporting Al Riyadi), and Turkey (Antalya Büyükşehir Belediyesi). In the NBA, he has played for the Sixers twice, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Golden State Warriors, the Miami Heat and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Alex Galchenyuk Autograph And Swatch Folding Card

Nice way to start off the NHL season, as the Montréal Canadiens' young winger center Alex Galchenyuk scored the winning goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Playing behind Tomas Plekanec will relieve him of a lot of pressure - including playing against the opposition's top line - and having Alexander Semin as a winger will give him more space to maneuver, as opponents won't be sure if he'll be shooting or passing and will respect him a bit more than they did last year, when he was usually stripped of the puck with two adversaries directly on him as soon as he approached the other team's zone.

And should the Semin experiment fail, I'm fairly certain Michel Therrien will pair him with Max Pacioretty, so as to give him every possible chance at succeeding as a center.

I participated in a raffle last summer in which I won the following card after purchasing five of a possible 20 spots:

Inside/Front

Back/Front

As you can see, it is a fold-up card containing both an autograph on a clear sheet of plastic inserted in the card on one side, and an event-worn swatch on the other, with pictures from both his draft day (he went third overall in 2012) where he's pictured in the Habs' classic red jersey, and an action shot where he's wearing the white (now-away) uniform.

It's card #FR-AG from Panini's 2013-14 Playbook set (part of the Dual Rookie Class and First Round Edition sub-sets); apparently, it's already worth north of $60 on the open market.

Daniel Lacroix Autographed Card

Daniel Lacroix had plans, hopes and dreams for his post-hockey career; he was interested in photography, drawing and sculpting. He liked baseball, particularly the Montréal Expos. His favourite movie was Cyrano De Bergerac, starring Gérard Depardieu, and - like most Montrealers born in the 1960s - his favourite player growing up was Guy Lafleur.

His active NHL career went from 1993 until 1998, during which he played 188 regular-season games with five different teams: 30 with the New York Rangers who had drafted him in the second round (31st overall) in 1987, 23 with the Boston Bruins, 130 with the Philadelphia Flyers, 4 with the Edmonton Oilers and his final game with the New York Islanders. He scored 11 goals and had 7 assists for a total of 18 points, with 379 penalty minutes over that span.

Unfortunately, those weren't great teams, so he only appeared in the postseason twice with the mid-1990s Flyers, suiting up for 12 games in 1996-97 and 4 more the following season (with one assist to show for it).

Instead of following his career with artistic endeavours, however, he became an assistant coach, first with the Moncton Wildcats behind Ted Nolan in the LHJMQ, then following Guy Boucher first with the Hamilton Bulldogs, then with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He joined the Montréal Canadiens in the same capacity for the 2014-15 season, and was given powerplay duties; when that failed, the team traded his tasks with those of Jean-Jacques Daigneault this past summer, and he will handle the penalty kill this year instead.

We'll see how that pans out.

In the meantime, here's a souvenir from his days with the Flyers, sporting their 1980s and 1990s white (then-home) uniform, from Pinnacle's 1996-97 Be A Player set (it's card #135 in the collection), which he signed in fading black sharpie last year, with his jersey number (32) tagged at the end:

I have nothing against the Flyers' current/retro uniforms, but these were also dear to me, having been worn throughout my childhood.

Garth Snow Autograph Card

I featured Garth Snow a couple of years ago as he'd done a fairly decent job of keeping the New York Islanders afloat as their general manager in what can now be qualified as ''despite owner Charles Wang'' who, it turns out, was the main reason why the Isles were caught with ridiculously long-term and expensive contracts.

He first brought trusted veterans to the fold (Bill Guerin, Doug Weight, Ryan Smyth, Mark Streit, Lubomir Vishnovsky, and Evgeni Nabokov), drafted well (John Tavares, Brock Nelson, Griffin Reinhart), stockpiled draft picks, then took advantage of other teams' binds to acquire the core pieces of the back end that he so sorely needed: goalie Jaroslav Halak, and defensemen Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk.

He's been savvy and he's been gutsy, particularly when he traded for Thomas Vanek in the hopes that he would like playing with Tavares enough that he'd sign with the team. But he was like that when he played too, always using his brain to get an edge over the opposition, whether it was through trash-talking or modifying his equipment (as mentioned in my previous post).

He's played for Team USA twice, at the 1994 Olympics and the 1998 World Championships.

Here he is with the Vancouver Canucks, on card #144 from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set (the gold variant of the signed insert sub-set):

On it, he's wearing the team's turn-of-the-millennium white (home) uniform, which I strongly preferred to what they currently wear. The card itself is signed in thin black sharpie.

I'm also a fan of the mullet he's sporting on the back of the card:

And to think, he and Tim Thomas were Québec Nordiques draft picks...

Two Raffi Torres Jersey Cards

Oops, he did it again...

After missing most of the last two seasons with ACL issues, Raffi Torres hit Jakob Silfverberg in the head and has been suspended indefinitely pending a hearing; he declined an in-person hearing, meaning he will probably face upwards of 5 games as a repeat offender. Here's a video of the hit in question:

I, for one, think he absolutely intended to rock Silfverberg and knock him on his ass with a huge hit to impress his coaches and show the team that a year off hasn't deterred him from being able to play a physical game; I don't think he intended on giving the Anaheim Ducks rising star an elbow to the head, but that in the thick of the action and as Silfverberg got rid of the puck and attempted to protect himself by dodging the hit, Torres' reflexes got the best of him. Notice he had to swerve to avoid a Duck on his way to him...

A lot of people no longer give him the benefit of the doubt and are not only calling for a long suspension, but many are also clamoring for a ban from the NHL; I'm not jumping on that bandwagon, but it's getting harder and harder to convince people to give him another chance, especially since he's had four or five ''second chances'' already.

The guy can play hockey; he's had two 20-goal seasons (with a high of 27 post-lockout in 2005-06) and four more of 15 and more; he's had 30 or more points four times. He's coming back from a very severe injury. You hope he can make it work. He just can't seem to put himself in a position where that's possible, and that's too bad.

Here he is in happier days, with the Edmonton Oilers, wearing the team's turn-of-the-millennium white (then-home) uniform, twice:

Both cards are from the eponymous flagship Upper Deck sets, the top card being from the 2005-06 Series 1 collection (card #J-RT) with a matching white game-worn jersey swatch, while the one at the bottom is from the 2005-06 Series 2 set (#J2-RT), with a bright orange swatch.

Notice how his facial hair changed - and the cool Oilers' 25th Anniversary patch on the first one.

Guy Lafleur Autographed Card

It's been a while, but my desktop computer (with over a hundred scans of possibly upcoming features as well as mouse and everything I liked writing on) has failed me, and it took me a while between work (day job as a translator and gigs playing music), sleep and Life to set my laptop up to post. But I think I'm good to go, and I want to start with a bang: Hall Of Famer Guy Lafleur, who lost a civil lawsuit against Montréal police earlier today.

I had previously featured him with the Montréal Canadiens and Québec Nordiques, as well as a book (an autobiography) he's signed and sent me a couple of years ago, but I thought I could go with a card showing the entirety of his NHL career:

It's card #403 from Score's 1991-92 Score (American) set that shows him in the Habs' classic bleu-blanc-rouge uniform (right), the Nordiques' home (white) uniform (left), and the New York Rangers' white (then-home) uniform, the team he came out of retirement to play for in between stints playing for teams from La Belle Province.

As it stands, Lafleur is the Canadiens' all-time points leader with 1246 (from 518 goals and 728 assists) in 961 games, forming the best line of its era with Jacques Lemaire and Steve Shutt on what was perhaps the best team of all time. He won a Conn Smythe Trophy in 1977, three consecutive Art Ross trophies, three consecutive Lester B. Pearson Awards (MVP as voted by the players, now known as the Ted Lindsay), and two consecutive Harts (while finishing top-5 in voting for five straight seasons) to go with five straight Stanley Cups.

Ironically, it was Lemaire's turn to coaching who forced the six-time 50-goal scorer into an early retirement, as the hard-line defensive coach was unhappy with his two-way play (or lack thereof) resulting in him getting relegated to third-line duties and scarce playing time.

Four years after retiring, following his induction into the Hall Of Fame, he managed to put up 18 goals and 45 points in 67 games with the 1988-89 Rangers, followed by 24 goals, 38 assists, 62 points and an All-Star Game appearance in 98 games spread over two seasons with the Nordiques to cap off a legendary career that also saw him suit up for Team Canada at two Canada Cups (winning in 1976 and finishing runner-up to the Soviet Union in 1981), as well as the 1979 Challenge Cup (losing the series 2-1 to the Soviets) and at the 1981 World Championships.

He signed that card for me at the Bell Centre, a year and a half ago, during the 2013 playoffs, around the same time he heavily criticized (current Habs captain) Max Pacioretty's failings at stepping up in the postseason.

These days, Lafleur operates a helicopter and transportation company and acts as a Canadiens ambassador, but always speaks openly and honestly about the team, often criticizing them when he doesn't like where they're headed. He has also operated restaurants once his playing career was actually over.

Nicole Loum Autograph Card

Ealier this summer, I received Benchwarmer's 2015 Fathers' Day set with a few added inserts, and this was one of them:

It's card #60 from BW's 2015 Signature Series set featuring Canadian model Nicole Loum (it also acts as her de facto "Rookie Card" seeing as it's her first presence in a full set, but she'd appeared in special-edition mini-sets prior to this one); she signed it in black sharpie and appears to have made a mistake in doing so, judging by the smudge in her signature.

Loum hails from Sainte Catharines, Ontario (currently actually lives in Toronto) and burst onto the modeling scene in 2014 with a bunch of photo shoots of very proud photographers and onto a few red carpet events with Benchwarmer CEO Brian Wallos, as well as a few card collectors' events in Las Vegas.

I anticipate her popularity to blow up in the coming years, as she's quickly becoming a BW staple and will soon grace magazine ads and covers.

Paul Kariya Jersey Card

Remember when a player scoring 50 goals in a single season happened enough for card companies to have complete sub-sets of them in their card collections? Last season, only Alex Ovechkin reached that milestone, marking the sixth time he's reached it; there are only seven other active NHLers with 50-goal seasons, and they are: Jaromir Jagr (1995-96, 2000-01, and 2005-06), Jarome Iginla (2001-02 and 2007-08), Vincent Lecavalier (2006-07), Sidney Crosby (2009-10), Steven Stamkos (2009-10 and 2011-12), Corey Perry (2010-11), and Evgeni Malkin (2011-12), it in addition to Ovi (2005-06, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2013-14 and 2014-15), as well as Dany Heatley (2005-06 and 2006-07) and Ilya Kovalchuk (2005-06 and 2007-08), who will be playing overseas this year. That doesn't make for a huge set.

The following card comes from Upper Deck's 2002-03 Series 2 collection's Reaching Fifty sub-set, which included the likes of Brett Hull, Peter Bondra, Iginla, Jagr, Wayne Gretzky, John LeClair, Joe Sakic, Keith Tkachuk, Mario Lemieux, Mike Modano, Pavel Bure, Sergei Fedorov, Steve Yzerman, and this one, #50-PK in the set, Paul Kariya:

It shows him wearing the Mighty Ducks Of Anaheim's purple (then-away) uniform, though the consecutive white and grey lines were actually from the white (home) jersey. Unlike the previous time I've featured him, though, he has actually worn this one in an NHL game.

He has never won the Stanley Cup, but does have two Lady Byng trophies at home and made the First All-Star Team three times and Second All-Star Team twice, in addition to being nominated for the Hart a couple of times and playing in seven All-Star Games. He has suited up for Team Canada several times, winning gold medals at the 1993 World Juniors, 1994 World championships and 2002 Olympics, and silver at the 1991 Phoenix Cup (the then-name of the U-18 tournament), 1994 Olympics and 1996 World Championships.

He had to retire after 15 seasons due to concussions, and has since been outspoken about the dangers of players returning from them too soon - though he doesn't do so in hockey-related environments, having even shunned his good friend Teemu Selanne's jersey retirement ceremony.

His 989 points in 989 games are a big achievement, particularly the fact that most of it occurred in the Dead Puck Era. I've very happy I got this card in a trade for a couple of Eric Lindros cards, and a double of a Peter Forsberg jersey card I'll get to here eventually.

Eric Weinrich Autograph Card

It's a hard day for the hockey world with the passing of Todd Ewen, yet another enforcer falling to depression and suicide. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the gentle giant who once held the NHL lead in goals with 4 in the first 7 games of the 1992-93 season (from a 4-goals-in-3-games streak), ahead (or tied with, I'm not sure anymore) Brett Hull; because of Ewen, at the beginning of every season, I look at the scoring leaders to identify that given year's recipient of the "Todd Ewen Award" as the player with the unlikeliest odds of keeping the pace and finishing with a breakthrough/statistical anomaly-type of season.

He will be missed, and he's yet another argument not only against the role of the enforcer in today's NHL but hockey fights in general, and of increasing research into CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy, i.e. the study of how multiple concussions affect how the brain functions and causes depression so bad that suicide is pretty much the most usual outcome).

That being said, there was also a smaller news item making the rounds today, as Eric Weinrich, the New Jersey Devils' second-round pick (32nd overall) at the 1985 draft, will go back to his roots as the team's development coach for defensemen.

I had written about his career as a player last February, but it bears repeating that he knows the game and rigors of the NHL through-and-through, having himself been an elite prospect, a decent offensive defenseman, and then evolved into a defensive specialist over time. He's been traded during the summer and at the trade deadline, and even knows what it's like to get drafted ahead of time, as the Buffalo Sabres had initially selected him in 1984 when he was too young to even be eligible.

He also knows how to deal with adversity, as he was a member of the Devils when they were still a joke (the early 1990s), the Chicago Blackhawks when they were irrelevant (most of the 1990s) and the Montréal Canadiens in their worst three years ever (1998-2001), when people didn't even try to remember the organization's good old days. He knows a thing or two about dark times, so he'll be able to tell the kids more than just "hey, at least you're not playing for the Arizona Coyotes".

I wish him the best, and am confident he'll do a fine job (though having the kind of depth on D that the Devils have, they'll make him look good as much as the opposite, I'm certain).

Here he is rocking the Hawks' classic red (then-away) uniform, about to enter back-checking mode, from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set (the signed insert version of card #30, autographed in thin black sharpie):

It's the more common "Silver Version" of the card.

Brian Elliott Autographed Card

The St. Louis Blues just cannot catch a break in net; this time, their "goalie oft he future" Jake Allen has been taken out of training camp with back spasms, an issue that has a tendency to become chronic with athletes over time.

That means Brian Elliott gets to be top dog again, though with GM Doug Armstrong and head coach Ken Hitchcock, who knows how long that'll last. We are, after all, talking about a team whose goalie made it to the All-Star Game, was confirmed as a starter two weeks ahead of the playoffs, then was stuck to the bench when they came along. The same team that wasn't content with having playoff hero Jaroslav Halak because he'd never played over 60 regular-season games in a single season (and who has since made the New York Islanders into contenders).

Here's the thing with Elliott: is he one of the 10 best goalies in the world? No. But do you need a top-10 goalie to win the Stanley Cup? No. Sure, Jonathan Quick and Corey Crawford do rank highly in my opinion, but Antti Niemi doesn't; neither did Chris Osgood. And Henrik Lundqvist (the best in the world), Pekka Rinne (the runner-up) and Carey Price (the best last year) have all yet to see their names engraved on the famed salad bowl.

Do I think Elliott is good enough to be a starter in today's NHL? Absolutely. Here's a list of teams for which he'd be the clear #1 in my opinion: the Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs, Arizona Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Carolina Hurricanes, and Minnesota Wild. And it'd be a close battle with the Detroit Red Wings and maybe even the Anaheim Ducks. He can stop pucks well, is what I'm saying.

I got this card in the mail at my old place, but I'm not sure who sent it to me (it's not a TTM return, as I've never owned this card in its regular form):

It's card #7 from In The Game's 2008-09 Between The Pipes set (part of the Future Stars sub-set), showing him wearing the Binghamton Senators' red (away) uniform. He signed it on-card in blue sharpie.