The 11th overall pick of 2005, the lone NHL Slovenian player would probably have been chosen second overall after Sidney Crosby (and perhaps Bobby Ryan) in retrospect... a point-per-game (on a defensive-minded team no less), large center at 6'3'' and 225lbs, already a Stanley Cup champion who has 34 points in 44 career playoff games... the potential cornerstone of pretty much any organization save the Penguins (Evgeni Malkin), Ducks (Ryan Getzlaf) and Flyers (Claude Giroux and Vincent Lecavalier)...
I know I've been dreaming of him since the 2005 draft! He's also the main reason why I like to stay up late at night and watch Los Angeles Kings' games on TV. I hadn't liked a King so much since Wayne Gretzky left town in 1996.
So when I picked this card up at the tail end of a pack of Panini's 2010-11 Limited (card #46, numbered 6/199), I was ecstatic:
The foil looks better in real life, obviously, and it's a nice black swatch, likely from the dark home jersey, pictured in front of the card. I like that the swatch doesn't hide the Kings' (part-time) logo, nor the assistant-captain's 'A'; the Kings change uniforms so often, I'm kind of always happy to get a collectible card of any variation in any given season.
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