Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre Autographed 8X10 Picture

Not exactly an offensive defenseman, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre does have a career stat over the one-per-game mark in the NHL: 311 penalty minutes in 269 games, to go with 7 goals, 13 assists and 20 points. He's also 4-for-4 (PIMs) in the playoffs.

If you don't remember the player from his career with the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals but think you may have seen his name somewhere before, it could be when I was reminiscing about my teenage years in this Alexandre Burrows post...

If you didn't, I'll say this much: I played with Grand-Pierre in high school, for the Collège Notre-Dame Sabres (an omen?), alongside other future NHLers Mathieu Darche and Ben Guité. I was the starting goalie. Ironically, neither of those who ''made it'' to the big time were first-liners back then. Some even entered Grade 7 not even knowing how to skate... a good bunch of us played in Juniors and/or College/University, though, so that could be a testament to the strength of our team, which finished second in the standings - one team totally demolished everyone else, though, but I forget which school they were from; I got crushed for 7 goals in a 15-2 loss to them in one game, and lost 3-2 in overtime in another, but I had a 9-0 record against all other the teams and a GAA below 2.00.

But back to Grand-Pierre, who is still active in Europe, for the Karlskrona HK in Sweden. He moved overseas because he'd only been offered AHL contracts since the first second lock-out (2004-05), while he can play in the first-division leagues there - in Sweden, Norway and Germany.

He's had 23- and 19-point seasons in Germany (in 40-some games), the first while accumulating a staggering 176 penalty minutes, the second with ''only'' 63 PIMs. This year, he had a goal and 14 penalty minutes in 11 games.

He signed this 8 X 10 picture for me at a high school reunion prior to the lock-out, a season he'd spent playing for 3 NHL and one AHL team, although it shows him with the Sabres, the team I identify him the most with despite the fact that he played for Columbus for the longest stretch:

It shows the 00s pre-Buffaslug jersey, though it's halfway there... it's the white (home) version, a nice one even though I preferred their original garbs. He signed it in blue sharpie and added his jersey number (34).