Alex Tanguay: 6 Autographed Cards (Part 1)

One of the reasons which can explain why the Colorado Avalanche lost to the Minnesota Wild is injuries, and none was more important than Alex Tanguay's, as the nearly point-per-game winger played in only 16 games this season because of hip and knee injuries, though he still managed to collect 11 points.

A first-round pick of the Avalanche in 1998 (12th overall), he is one of the stand-outs of his draft class, along with Vincent Lecavalier (1st), Nikolai Antropov (10th), Robyn Regehr (19th), Simon Gagné (22nd), Scott Gomez (27th), Mike Ribeiro (45th), Brad Richards (64th), François Beauchemin (75th), Brian Gionta (82nd), Shawn Horcoff (99th), Andrei Markov (162nd), Pavel Datsyuk (171st), and Michael Ryder (216th).

Between 1999-2000 and 2005-06, he had three seasons with 77 points or more, and four with 25 or more goals despite only twice missing less than 10 games. In 2003-04, he was even third in the NHL for assists (54) despite only suiting up for 69 games. He also won the Stanley Cup, was a runner-up for the Calder trophy and was an All-Star in his first stint in Colorado. I have this card to show from that era, from Upper Deck's 2005-06 SP Authentic set (card #25), showing him with the team's white (then-home) uniform:

He was traded to the Calgary Flames on draft day 2006, and responded with an 81-point season in 2006-07, followed by a 58-point outing the next year, before requesting a trade out of town because coach Mike Keenan wouldn't let him have an offensive role. While this card is from later on, it still shows him with the Flames, so here it is:

It's from Upper Deck's always beautiful 2011-12 Artifacts set (card #64), and shows him with the Flames' classic red (now their third) jersey.

       (continued in the following post)