Ales Hemsky Dual Jersey Card

The Montréal Canadiens' big free agent acquisition this summer, Ales Hemsky, was the recipient of two big hits in the last game against the Anaheim Ducks, a booming one by Josh Manson and a dirty check from behind by Corey Perry, the latter of which left him with concussion-like symptoms.

Hemsky's already had multiple shoulder injuries throughout his NHL career, and missed most of last season after a hip operation. Now, at 34 years old, we'll have to add "head injury" to his long list of ailments.

His injury history is the biggest reason why I disproved of Habs GM Marc Bergevin offering Hemsky this deal, but there was also the fact that I was afraid people would expect him to replace first-line winger Alex Radulov, who had signed with the Dallas Stars the day before.

There was a time when Hemsky's production was close to elite-level, in his early days with the Edmonton Oilers;

from Hockey-Reference

Even then, however, as you can see in regards to games played, he was already having trouble suiting up in every game. The 2012-13 season was limited to 48 games due to a lock-out, and he still managed to miss 10 of them...

Scoring in general has gone down, league-wide, since 2010, in part due to refereeing becoming increasingly lackadaisical, and in part due to the sophistication of defensive systems, but Hemsky's decline is even more steep than the league average; point-per-game players have regressed to the 60-point mark on average, but in two seasons in Dallas, he's been producing around 40 points per 82 games.

With the disappointing Habs, he flat-lined like the rest of the team, with no goals, no assists, no points and 10 penalty minutes in 7 games so far. Surprisingly, at -1, defensively, he's the best on the team, tied with Jordie Benn. His Corsi For stands at an even 50%.

Here he is wearing the Oilers' classic white (now-away) uniform, on card #TS-AH from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Artifacts set and Treasured Swatches sub-set:

It features two game-worn orange jersey swatches made from different materials, therefore from different parts of the jersey. Here's wishing him a full recovery.