Jeff Carter Dual Jersey Card

It's odd to think I have yet to post about Jeff Carter, considering I have many jersey cards of his. Perhaps because he is so closely associated with Mike Richards, having been teammates with the Philadelphia Phantoms, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and Team Canada - and the fact that I wrote about Richards often enough, I may have tricked my brain into thinking I'd also written about Carter.

Both players were drafted by the Flyers in the first round (in perhaps the best draft of all time) in 2003 - Carter 11th overall, and Richards 24th. Both came in as strong physically (Richards with more of a mean streak, Carter harder to separate from the puck), reliable defensively from a young age yet able to produce points, and cocky but hard-working; both also had years in Philly where they might have partied a bit too hard, but they've learned from their mistakes and matured, and learned to be professional.

Richards may have been the better playmaker, possibly regarded as more of a leader (having been captain in Philadelphia) and was selected on more championship-winning teams (particularly when representing Canada), but Carter was always the better shooter, able to score from a variety of shots and locations. His 5 points in 6 games at the 2014 Sochi Olympics to lead Canada's crop of forwards sent a clear message that he was for real.

It's no wonder, really, that on a team with Anze Kopitar playing the same position, he still found a way to be second in both points and goals on the Kings this season, behind linemate Tyler Toffoli. His other winger, Tanner Pearson, ranks fourth behind Drew Doughty; the whole trio also lead the team in +/-.

Here he is wearing the Kings' black (home) uniform, on a card which features two black swatches from probably the same jersey:

It's from Upper Deck's beautiful 2013-14 SPx set, card #WM-JC of the Winning Materials sub-set.