Chris Higgins Autographed Card

I went to see the Montréal Canadiens beat the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre yesterday and had a good time, though I couldn't find anyone to accompany me after my friend bailed on me at the last minute. I had brought about a dozen cards along with me but at the end didn't feel like hanging around so much and bothering the Canucks after a tough loss, except I ran into Chris Higgins (who scored a goal in the loss) and he remembered me from his days in town and signed this card for me before running to the team bus:

It's from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Series 1 (card #103), signed in blue sharpie. Ironically, I have another one exactly like it and also signed in blue, if my memory serves me right, I'll have to find it and compare (and post).

Though he is now in Vancouver, he was a Habs first-round pick, originally seen as a future checking-line center and captain of the team. He moved up the depth chart enough to become Saku Koivu's left winger on the first line for a couple of years, before his statistics took a dive and he was sent to the New York Rangers along with Ryan McDonagh, Pavel Valentenko and Doug Janik in the infamous Scott Gomez trade, before short stints with the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers.

He has found himself a niche on the Canucks' checking line, where he is also counted on for secondary scoring - he has 16 goals so far this year, on pace for 22 goals and 44 points by season's end - without having the pressure to score 25 to 30 and get 60 points all the time.