Craig Anderson: 4 Autographed Cards (Part 2)

                          (continued from the previous post)

Things looked promising and he became a fixture in hockey card sets, as these two Upper Deck Cards can attest:

The one on the left is from the 2010-11 Black Diamond set (card #2), while the one on the right is from the 2010-11 Victory collection (card #51). I love how the blue ink of his signature matches the blue on his equipment.

Unfortunately, 2010-11 didn't work out as well for him with the Avs, and he was traded to the Ottawa Senators at the deadline. He gave them a look at what he could achieve by going 11-5-1 in 18 games, with a stunning 2.05 GAA and .939 save percentage.

All in all, I feel that putting your trust in this former OHL goalie of the year (with the Guelph Storm) is a worthy gamble. I told him as much in a fan letter I sent him along with these 4 cards on March 25th, two weeks ago. He signed them all in blue sharpie, adding his jersey numbers (30 in Rochester, 31 in Florida and 41 in Colorado) at the end, stylistically. I received them on April 8th, a little more than a week later! The only reason I didn't write this post on Friday was that my scanner was out of commission.

Now, many of you know I'm a jersey nerd and usually try to have players sign different jersey designs on the cards I send. Take a look at the Panthers' and Avs' jerseys: Reebok didn't try very hard with these two, as they are identical. The (ugly) pipings are at the same place, the team's main logo is on the chest and their pseudo-alternate/State logos are on the shoulders, and the colours on both arms go all the way down. If it wasn't that one team's main colour is burgundy while the other's is an orangey-red, they'd be the same. Once again, Reebok shows us how good they are at failing - and recycling.