Jason Spezza Jersey Card

Should a team losing its #1, league-leading goalie (Craig Anderson), its top Norris trophy-winning defender (Erik Karlsson) and its top center, the second-best passer in the league (Jason Spezza) trade away its short-term assets (Milan Michalek) and hope for the best the following season - or should it keep at it, build on the success and cement team chemistry and keep the ship steady?

The Ottawa Senators have chosen to see what's behind Door #2 and it's paying off dearly: not only are they still in a good playoff position, they're also still leading the Jennings trophy race thanks to the stellar play of future star goalies Robin Lehner (who isn't winning as much as his 2.07 GAA and .944 save % should allow, going 1-0-4 so far but getting the team points in each start) and giant Ben Bishop (the ''worse'' of the Sens' goalies at 4-4-0, 2.54 and .925, which still makes him a top-10 goalie, stats-wise).

It's unclear whether Spezza will return this season, but one thing is for sure: the longer the Sens play and the deeper they get in the playoffs, the better the chances of a comeback this season. I've been seeing the Senators as contenders for a couple of seasons now, and although I'm liking how they're playing minus any of their stars (save for venerable captain Daniel Alfredsson), a team is still better with its best elements present, particularly when they're just added to an already-working mix.

This awesome swatch card is from Upper Deck's 2000-01 CHL Prospects set (card #JS, the Game Jersey sub-set) and features a white swatch of a game-used Mississauga IceDogs jersey in its center.