Ralph Intranuovo Autographed Card

After having seen the Edmonton Oilers give the Montréal Canadiens a lesson in opportunistic defensive hockey on Tuesday, it seemed fitting to feature this card next, as it depicts both those teams' farm clubs in the early 1990s.

Ralph Intranuovo was one of those 50-goal, 100-point juniors that card companies viewed as a blue chip prospect, but having been chosen in the 4th round (96th overall) at the 1992 draft shows there was a bit of doubt in his case.

But the Oilers really liked him, not only drafting him, but the season after losing him to the Toronto Maple Leafs, they traded for his rights again. All in all, he played 22 games in the NHL - 3 with the Leafs, 19 with the Oilers - and has two goals and four assists to show for it. At age 37, he is still playing professionally, in Italy, with HC Asiago.

This card (#186), from Classic's 1993-94 Pro Prospects set, sees him in the away uniform for the Cape Breton Oilers, a team for which he once scored 46 goals and 93 points in a single season (1994-95). He signed it in blue sharpie for a friend of mine, who ended up selling me his collection.