Brian Elliott: 5 Autographed Cards

His season may be in jeopardy after the Los Angeles Kings took the series lead last night with an overtime win, but Brian Elliott has had the type of postseason the St. Louis Blues were hoping for. After a dream season in which he shared the William Jennings trophy with Jaroslav Halak, setting the NHL record for save percentage, winning the Crozier Award and playing in the All-Star Game, he had a slower start to the season in 2013 (even got demoted to the AHL at a point), but managed to bounce back when Halak got injured a second time, finishing with a 14-8-1 record, 2.28 GAA and .907%.

So far in 5 playoff games, he may be 2-3, but he's got a 1.88 goals-against average and a .925 save %. But we all knew the Blues would have trouble scoring on the Kings... And yet Elliott's playing as well as the goalie who was once traded for him, Craig Anderson.

I sent Elliott these 5 cards of him in the Ottawa Senators uniform on April 25th, 2013 and got them all back, signed in blue sharpie with his jersey number (30) tagged at the end, on May 9th, 2013. Here they are:

First, two cards from Upper Deck:

The card on the left, showing him in the Sens' red (home) jersey, is from the (always beautiful) 2010-11 Black Diamond set (card #41), while the one on the right is from the 2010-11 Victory set (card #136) and shows him with the Sens' white (away) uniform.

And now two Panini cards:

The card on the left, where he's sporting the red (home) jersey and all-Bauer set of equipment, is from the 2010-11 Crown Royale set (card #66); the one of the right, mixing Bauer gloves and Vaughn pads with the Sens' white (away) uniform, is from the 2010-11 Score collection (card #350).

Those are all fine, beautiful cards, but the next one was really something, because it showcases the Senators' now-gone third jersey from a few years back:

I was a fan of the design and colours, I just would have preferred, say, the Sens' original (sideways) logo on the chest rather than the word SENS, which makes it look more amateur-like. The card is from Upper Deck's 2009-10 O-Pee-Chee set (card #258). I like that UD make it a point to produce the OPC sets like those of my youth: with little gloss on the front, and a plain cardboard design on the back, no fluff, and a high-player count. They're perfect for autograph collectors.

All in all, this was my second great return this week. It had been a slow season thus far, but it's picking up now that the regular season is over.