Guillaume Latendresse Autograph Card

In keeping with yesterday's theme of concussions via Keith Primeau and Sidney Crosby, I chose to feature this card of Guillaume Latendresse's today:

That's the signed insert version (on-sticker, in blue sharpie) of card #128 from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Team Canada set and Signatures sub-set, showing him wearing his country's (bland, "home") uniform from either the 2005 U-18 Championships (silver medalist) or the 2006 World Juniors (gold). Of note, there's a "73" tagged at the ebnd of his signature, meaning he signed the sticker while he was with the Minnesota Wild.

It ties into Team Canada's win over the Czechs earlier today at the World Championships, but also of Tender's own history of concussions, which forced him to retire at the age of 26. Among revelations Latendresse has made in the last few days:

1. Doctors even recommend he stop playing shinny hockey with his friends (I used to play in a summer league with him and other then-current NHLers and prospects, that may prove to be his most difficult task yet).
2. When he hit his head playing Wii with his son last year, for an entire month, when a fellow RDS game analyst would go on for too long, Tender would lose track of the conversation and forget what he was supposed to be speaking about, on air.
3. He barely hit his head when putting his daughter in the car a few days ago; he has been sleeping 12 hours a day since, in addition to napping for four hours at a time, with headaches, eye pain and motion sickness, just from a very minor bump.
4. Stress, anxiety, pain, headaches and fatigue are regular occurrences, even three years into retirement.
5. If he doesn't get at least 8 hours of sleep in a given night, he simply cannot operate the next day. I remember his social life extending past his bedtime and his being fresh as roses early the next morning. And he's still just 29, so it's not all just age doing the damage.
6. He's less patient than he used to be, and gets angry at times as well.
7. After six concussions in his last three seasons, doctors suggested he take a year or two away from the game; it's been nearly four years, and he still isn't feeling well.
8. He spent a full year on antidepressants.
9. He couldn't play without painkillers in his last few seasons. Tylenol was a minimum requirement; Advil, Motrin and Aleve were a regular part of his game-day diet.
10. He couldn't talk to trainers, coaches or general managers, because it would be the end of his career; all were interconnected, working for the team, and he didn't want to build a reputation as a fragile player. Things were worse in Europe, where contracts are not guaranteed for "foreigners" who get injured.
11. He has thought "If I get hit in center ice, that's probably it, I'll be a vegetable-state father of two" prior to and during games.

He also talks about how he now has to deal with his situation, cope and make the best of it, because his condition will never improve; this is as good as it gets for him going forward, the new normal.

Looking back now, he wishes he'd stopped a year or two earlier; however, he knew he was an NHL-level top-six forward and wanted to get back to that level, prove his doubters wrong and do what he had set out to do his entire life. This is, after all, the same player who scored 25 goals in 55 games with the Wild in 2009-10.

When you're in the action - or right outside of it, in his case - it's hard to gauge the repercussions in your old age. You hear of the extreme cases but figure you're an athlete, you're in better shape, you're tough, you'll be fine, as long as you avoid "the next one". Then the one after that. Then you find out we're all soft inside, and that the stories about failing health and difficulties living in the day-to-day were actually selling it short. That "pain" doesn't feel painful unless you're actually dealing with it in the moment. That head trauma isn't just an aching tooth you can pull out, or back pain that will resolve itself in weeks or months with pills and physiotherapy - it's in the area that controls your entire body, it ruins your day, and possibly even your life. It's fucking hell.

That's what Latendresse is living with right now. And Primeau. And Marc Savard. Years removed from whence those injuries occurred.

Tiffany Selby Autograph Card

So many NHL teams have trouble with their goaltending that a few should perhaps be looking at their options with an open mind; if the traditional route doesn't work, perhaps thinking outside the box will. For instance, the Carolina Hurricanes had their equipment manager Jorge Alves suit up and actually play for 8 seconds in their 3-1 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this season, leaving him with the franchise's best career goals-against average (0.00)...

And we all know Manon Rhéaume played for the Bolts in a preseason game 25 years ago...

So perhaps a team like the Calgary Flames or St. Louis Blues could have a look at Tiffany Selby and see what she can do...

That's a Preview card from Benchwarmer, ahead of their 2013 National convention, which sees her sporting a Koho stick - the brand that Patrick Roy used with the Montréal Canadiens from 1993-95 and with the Colorado Avalanche for the remainder of his career, i.e. three of his four Stanley Cups, two of his three Conn Smythes and a Hart nomination.

The last time we checked in on her, she was a model and aspiring actress. A lot has happened since, including regular appearances on Deal Or No Deal, being the official spokesmodel for Budweiser and Suzuki, the birth of her daughter, and a move back to Jacksonville, Florida instead of remaining in California.

Nowadays, she's a realtor for the Watson Group.

Mark Messier Jersey Card

I've debunked the Mark Messier myth on this blog a few times; it's not that I don't respect the man - he was, after all, the centerpiece of the New York Rangers' historic 1994 Stanley Cup run; he also captained the Edmonton Oilers to their only post-Wayne Gretzky championship in 1990, making him the only player in NHL history to captain two teams to the Cup.

But there's no way he gets to second in all-time scoring ahead of Gordie Howe if he doesn't play on the 1980s Oilers. He wasn't even the second-best Oiler on his team - that was Jari Kurri. In that regard, I was doubly happy when Jaromir Jagr surpassed his mark earlier this week.

And that compliment that Gretzky bestowed upon him, "the greatest leader in all sports"? Come on! If he was that great a leader, how do you explain his disastrous run with the Vancouver Canucks, where he was handed the captaincy right off of Trevor Linden's chest and insisted on wearing his usual #11 despite the fact that the team had retired it for deceased player Wayne Maki? The Canucks rightfully failed to make the playoffs in all three seasons he was there, resulting in two head coaches (Tom Renney and Mike Keenan) and one general manager (Hall Of Famer Pat Quinn) losing their jobs in that short span.

He also had a tendency to be mean and dirty, his elbows high and his stick always ready to disappear in someone's rib cage. Not unlike Howe, come to think of it.

But man, the longevity. 25 seasons spread over four decades; 1992 overall games, 1767 of them in the regular season, 11 less than Howe (who played longer in the WHA, hence the discrepancy). Messier was also the last player from the WHA - and last to have played in the 1970s - to retire.

Though he never won a scoring title, he has two Hart trophies and Lester B. Pearson Awards (1990 and 1992) to go with his 1984 Conn Smythe, and was a 15-time All-Star Game participant. He's the only active player to have played in an official Winter Classic/Heritage Classic alumni game (2004).

He almost hit round-number milestones for career goals (694) and assists (1193). Cementing his reputation as a big-game player are his postseason statistics, with 109 goals and 186 assists for 295 points in 236 games, although his teams failed to make the playoffs in his final seven seasons in the NHL, where his least productive years thus did not affect his career totals.

Here's a very special card which first appeared in In The Game's 2012-13 Decades - The 1990s set, as part of the Game-Used Jersey sub-set, which features a fairly large white game-worn jersey swatch

If you look in the top-right corner, however, you will see that mine is a 1/1 Fall Expo 2013 edition. On it, he is pictured as the Rangers' captain.

Nikki Leigh Autograph (Redemption) Card

Back to the model redemption cards, this time with California native Nikki Leigh as a reminder that the Los Angeles Kings just took a 3-1 series lead over the Chicago Blackhawks, with a card from one of Benchwarmer's 2013 Hobby (75% likely) or 2013 Bubblegum (25% chance) sets - it's unclear because both shared a lot of the same designs - signed in black sharpie and un-numbered:

If they're going to release tons of sets each year and have them share designs, perhaps Benchwarmer should take a cue from Upper Deck (as Panini had this year) and identify the sets on the backs of cards, near the publishing information. Notice how the publishing info is distorted - I don't know if that's by design or a printing fault, but it works pretty well with the rest of what's going on there.

Nikki Leigh was Playboy's Playmate Of The Month for May 2012, fulfilling a dream she'd had since her early teens. She has since appeared in many videos for the brand, as well as hosting web specials (such as the Espys' red carpet event) and a radio show on Playboy Radio and LA's KDOC.

She has a B.A. in Sociology (I worked in that field for a decade myself), and graduated Cum Laude from California State University in Fullerton. The 5'3'', 112-pound dynamo - who was born 10 years after me pretty much to the day - has now set her sights on acting, with parts in the horror flick Unlucky Charms, as well as the 2013 racing film Snake And Mongoose (with Tim Blake Nelson, Noah Wyle, possible comeback kid and former 90210 star Ian Ziering, John Heard, Jesse Williams, and another Playmate, Jaclyn Swedberg), as well as the upcoming bikini musical Fearless with Hayley Hasselhoff (''plus-size'' model at size 14, and the daughter of David Hasselhoff's that didn't film him eating a cheeseburger off the floor in a drunken stupor).

We wish her the best.

Stacy Fuson Autograph (Redemption) Card

Here's a cool card I got as a redemption: a Stacy Fuson 2013 Thanksgiving autograph card (#35 in the set) from Benchwarmer, which wasn't released as a stand-alone set but instead was randomly inserted into mailings of people and dealers who purchased boxes around that time last Fall:

Granted, wicker baskets aren't the greatest design idea ever, and probably would have worked better as an Easter giveaway, but I'll gladly take it.

I like Stacy Fuson: she's two weeks older than I am (go Virgos - or Horses if you're into the Chinese horoscope!), and is as comfortable doing comedy (Shallow Hal, Entourage, Modern Family, that piece of garbage The Independent) as she is flaunting her assets (Playboy cover girl in 1997, Playmate Of The Month in February 1999, appearances on Baywatch, The Man Show, and in Iron Man 2), and can even have some fine, straight, serious moments hosting TV shows such as Wild On E! and The Real World, or with small parts on Party Of Five.

She also has her own line of... vitamins.

She's been on the Benchwarmer roster since 2003.

Audrey Allen Autograph (Redemption) Card

Not bad for someone who hasn't purchased a single pack of Benchwarmer's 2013 Bugglegum set - yet: I still got the lone redemption card from it (on Wednesday), after mailing in over a hundred empty wrappers of previous editions, featuring first-time Benchwarmer (and the June 2013 Playboy Playmate) Audrey Allen:

Not to be confused with the actress of the same name from the 1950s, this model - who works in L.A. but considers Denver her hometown and natural habitat - is a psychology student and humanitarian who loves to read (though her favourites are the Harry Potter series...).

Her ideal vacation is one where she never leaves the hotel... and she has a thing for guys who play the guitar.  *clears throat*

She also goes by the names Audrey Aleen Allen, and Audrey Andalise.

2 Jessica Landon Autograph (Redemption) Cards

I got some sweet mail today, and I didn't know whether to feature all 8 of the cards that came in that envelope at once, or separate them by person featured... I opted for #2. But I'm starting with a two-card lot, from Benchwarmer's 2013 Vegas Baby set (not in the original release, but numbered #59, as a redemption card):

That's the beautiful and very funny Jessica Landon, obviously a model, but also a TV and web personality with credits that include Robot Chicken and MadTV, as well as a few B-series horror flicks.

She also has these funny bits with the Casting Couch webseries:

She also participated in a lot of skateboard-related stuff, such as AKA: Girl Skater and Dr. Steve-O.

Her first appearance in Benchwarmer sets dates back to 2003. She likes playing cards, and participated in an ad for a Canadian poker website back when I was a pro (ranked in the top-50 in Québec's LTPQ) a couple of years back. I only joined the circuit to accompany my uncle, but had surpassed his ranking within 4 months...

Reversing Falls Autographed CD

I went to my friend's band's album launch on Friday - Reversing Falls, at Casa del Popolo in Montréal. You can read my review here. You can download most of their stuff here.

My friend - and former survey call center employee! - Tyler Crawford, signed my CD insert for me:

It reads:

To Seb, my old boss (colleague), stop telling me what to do!

I met a lot of my friends in call centers, which at least in Montréal seems like the type of go-to place for creative types - musicians, artists, designers, actors, directors, writers. The job itself isn't the best - who wants to get insulted over the phone for 8 straight hours at barely more than minimum wage? - but the people in it were mostly incredible.