William Carrier Jersey Card

William Carrier played his first professional game on Friday, one in which his team won 6-1. But folks will remember it because Trevor Gillies - the former New York Islanders goon, now playing with the AHL's Adirondack Flames - slammed his head on the ice after he refused to fight him. Gillies got 27 penalty minutes on the play, and an automatic one-game suspension.

Gillies once was suspended for 9 games in the NHL for an elbow to the head of Eric Tangradi. In his first game back, he tried to break Cal Clutterbuck in half by cross-checking him head-first into the boards, which resulted in another 10-game suspension. He obviously hasn't learned his lesson.

Ironically, the Flames are, obviously, linked to the NHL's Calgary Flames, whose President is Brian Burke. While a fan of rough, tough hockey and ''truculence'', Burke is also the man who once said: ''I think it's a marginal player going after a superstar with a headhunting hit.'' He was then referring to Steve Moore's hit on Markus Naslund, which later prompted the Todd Bertuzzi hit on Steve Moore. And Moore was less ''marginal'' than Gillies, no matter how you slice and dice it.

I'm happy Carrier seems fine at first glance, protected by his helmet and visor. He's a fine prospect, which the Buffalo Sabres acquired in the trade that sent Steve Ott and Ryan Miller to the St. Louis Blues at last year's trade deadline. At 6'1'' and 200 pounds, the point-per-game producer in Juniors could end up being a 60-point, 35-goal power forward in the NHL. He likes playing in the slot, and is good at getting the puck in the corners, not afraid to take a few bad hits in the process; this has caused him a few injuries so far, and is the main reason why the Blues picked him 57th overall when he was slated to be a first-round pick.

I wrote to him last March (with 4 custom cards I made) care of his new Juniors team Drummondville Voltigeurs, but haven't heard back. I was hoping to start collecting him more seriously, around this card, from In The Game's 2012-13 Heroes And Prospects set (card #SSM-27 of the Subway Super Series Game-Used Jersey sub-set):

It shows him wearing the CHL Stars' white uniform, with the LHJMQ logo in front, as each regional league faced a group of junior-aged Russian players.