There have been many good story lines this week in the NHL, and I'll get to a lot of them soon, but first, in keeping up with John Tortorella putting his stamp on the Columbus Blue Jackets, Scott Hartnell was a healthy scratch last night, possibly for a costly mistake against the Montréal Canadiens earlier in the week... or just because.
I think it was to light a fire under his ass before tonight's game against his former team, the Philadelphia Flyers, against whom he ended up having a goal and an assist. So, that race for the Jack Adams Trophy, it's between Torts, Paul Maurice and Michel Therrien, right?
The sixth-overall pick of the 2000 draft behind (in order) Rick DiPietro (New York Islanders), Dany Heatley (Atlanta Thrashers), Marian Gaborik (Minnesota Wild), Rostislav Klesla (Jackets), and Raffi Torres (Islanders), the 6'3'', 215-pound power forward would, in retrospect, probably be a top-3 pick of his draft class, along with late selection Henrik Lundqvist (205th, New York Rangers).
More than just a bruiser, Hartnell has reached the 30-goal mark twice and the 20-goal mark eight times, with a high of 37 goals in 2011-12, the year he also reached his highest points total (67). He reached the 60-point mark three times, in 2008-09, 2011-12 and 2014-15.
He reached the 100-penalty minute mark ten times, with a high of 159 in 2007-08.
So, yeah, he was a perfect Flyer, but GM Ron Hextall traded him to the Jackets for R.J. Umberger and a fourth-round pick in an effort to shed contract years off his salary cap-challenged team.
Here is is wearing Philadelphia's current/retro orange uniform, from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Series 1 set (card #GJ-HS of the UD Game Jersey sub-set):
Included is a matching orange game-worn jersey swatch which is much flashier to the naked eye, similar what can be seen in the picture.
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