Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Jay Bouwmeester Swatch Card

St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester dressed for his 1000th NHL game tonight, most of which he was an impactful player in. Unfortunately, the Blues lost 5-0 against the New York Rangers, and Henrik Lundqvist was phenomenal in netting the shutout.

J-Bo made the news late this summer when he replaced Duncan Keith on Team Canada's World Cup roster, ahead of the likes of Mark Giordano, P.K. Subban and Kristopher Letang; however, the former third-overall draft pick (2002, Florida Panthers) and usual defensive partner of Alex Pietrangelo did fine, winning a fifth title with his national team, which now reads like a Hall Of Famer's checklist: World Championship gold (2003 and 2004), Olympic gold (2014) and World Cup (2004 and 2016). Oh, and World Championship silver (2008), and three World Juniors medals (silver in 2000 and 2001, bronze in 2002).

Sure, he could have been a more physical player and reached elite status and won a Norris trophy like Chris Pronger, but he may not have played in 737 consecutive games had he done so - and may even be permanently concussed like Pronger is instead of playing in his 1000th game.

The only thing he needs now is playoff success; he hadn't played a single postseason game until 2013, and has barely suited up for 38 in total. The main reason for that is he played on disappointing, low-level teams such as the early-00s Panthers and the post-Cup run Calgary Flames.

Speaking of which, here he is wearing the Flames' white (away) uniform, on card #96 from Panini's 2011-12 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set:
It features a beautiful black game-worn swatch.

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