Mike Ribeiro Jersey Card

What does Mike Ribeiro usually do when facing his old teams? He steals the show. And he was at it again last night, as the Nashville Predators were facing the Arizona Coyotes, who had bought him out then made a public spectacle of it last summer. Have a look:

Ribeiro is by no means a ''complete'' player like Jonathan Toews or Tomas Plekanec; perhaps he isn't even ''elite'' anymore. What he is, however, is one of the best 5 passing centers in the league, perhaps top-15 all positions considered; he is also clutch, and extremely cocky - a mix which enables him to always elevate his level of play when it counts, in this case when playing against a former team.

He's also the type that, when slotted as a second center, will out-perform the first-liner. It has led him to two All-Star Games (one YoungStars), a Team Canada bronze medal, and the scoring lead with the Montréal Canadiens and the Dallas Stars (as well as the whole CHL in Juniors).

Here's another blast from the past, from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Series 2 set (card #J2-MR of the Game Jersey sub-set), showing him wearing the Habs' white (then-home) uniform, accompanied by a red swatch;