Friday, May 31, 2013

Ray Bourque & Rob Blake Dual Swatch Card

How good were the Colorado Avalanche in the early 2000s? Two former team captains - future Hall Of Famers - came to complement their defense and win Stanley Cups, hitching their wagons on the train led by Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy. Which two?

Raymond Bourque - Mr. Boston Bruins for all of my life - and Rob Blake - leader of the Los Angeles Kings, the team's two-time captain. Bourque is on most people's top-5 defensemen of all time lists, probably mine too.
Though I usually prefer jersey cards of one player, and when there are multiple, that they be of the same team, I can totally live with this, as they are the best one-two punch of the past 25 years not on a national team. That being said, Blake did win Olympic gold with Team Canada in 2002 (and suffered severe losses in 1998 and 2006); he also won gold (1994 and 1997) and silver (1991) at the World Championships and another silver at the 1996 World Cup. Bourque was also part of the 1998 Team Canada fiasco, and played in three Canada Cups (1981, 1984, 1987) and Rendez-Vous '87.

This card was pulled from a pack of Upper Deck's 2005-06 SPX (it's card #WC-BB in the set, part of the Winning Combos insert sub-set). Though they are both pictured with the Avs, Bourque's swatch comes from a Bruins jersey, which is fitting.

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