Hawks Preview: Andrew Shaw Autographed Card

This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: 2020 is a different beast and requires adaptability; in my case, it means the joint posts with my "main/personal" blog will not be in the "player here/analysis there" format but rather the entire scope of the analysis will take place here and the player will have some sort of direct connection to what's written. Caveats: at this point, despite the season being set to start in Mid-January, several impact players haven't found a team yet and quite a few teams are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith may not have been told in those words, but Chicago Blackhawks GM (and now President of Hockey Operations) Stan Bowman's moves for the past couple seasons have at least strongly hinted at the fact that he's in the rebuilding process, and trading away one #1 goalie (Robin Lehner) and not re-signing another (Corey Crawford) as well as parting with a defenseman as good as Erik Gustafsson could not have made it clearer. And one reason why is because its top stars (and former star defenseman Brent Seabrook) account for too much of the salary cap to be able to fix problems on the fly - it's the cost of building a team that wins three Stanley Cups and rewards loyalty with too much bargaining power.

What makes their odds look good:
Toews remains a very good two-way center, although no longer a Selke Trophy finalist per se due to the rise of Sean Couturier (Philadelphia Flyers) and Phillip Danault (Montréal Canadiens); Kane remains one of the five or ten best forwards in the world; Alex DeBrincat's shooting percentage should be back at 10-12% this year, which will result in another very good offensive season; Pius Suter dominated in Switzerland - perhaps a strong middle-six showing in the NHL is in the books for him; 18-year-old Lukas Reichel was the second-best German player outside the NHL last year, we just aren't familiar enough with the DEL's rise yet to be able to place that accurately on the world/NHL spectrum, but going by Leon Draisaitl and the word on Tim Stützle, the country's made tremendous progress and may compare to the Swiss and Slovaks; Keith is slower but still relatively efficient; Dominik Kubalik looks solid; Ian Mitchell is ready to play against adults full-time, but may be a couple of years away from the NHL.

Question marks:
Are either of Malcolm Subban or Colin Delia ready for a #1 job in net? How long will Toews be out with his mysterious ailment? Is Dylan Strome more of a 0.6 or 0.75 point-per-game player? The answer is the difference between a #2 and #3 center and could force the Hawks to either need to make a trade or fast-track a rookie (say, Kirby Dach) to a spot they may not be ready for.

Outlook:
If the next coupe of years will be hard on Kane, Toews, and Keith, they'll help the organization rebuild relatively quickly so they can contend again in 2024-25; the hardest part (losing with a core that's being churned over) is nearly over, and the next step (losing via learning through mistakes) is just around the corner.

Prediction:
Seventh in the Central Division.

One feel-good story with the Hawks this year is Andrew Shaw's return from a concussion after 14 months. The two-time Cup winner who was diagnosed with ADD in 2016 can definitely still fill a leadership role on a middle-six and contribute offensively once in a while; after all, he had his best offensive season in 2018-19, posting 47 points (19 goals, 28 assists, +17, 71 penalty minutes) with the Canadiens, before getting traded back to Chicago.

Here he is wearing the Rockford IceHogs' red (away) uniform on card #212 from In The Game's 2012-13 Heroes And Prospects set and AHL Rookie sub-set:

He signed it in blue sharpie in 2018-19.

Cale Fleury Autographed Card

There's a battle for power that's been going on for the past four years within the Montréal Canadiens, but I'm not sure GM Marc Bergevin actually realizes it; he probably just thinks it's best for head coach Claude Julien to get the type of veteran-laden lineup with grit than the young, skilled team he's assembled to rebuild on the fly, and the end result is a reflection of how out of touch Julien is with today's game: the Habs are about to miss the playoffs for the third straight season and fourth time in five years.

Heck, Julien even managed to make the Boston Bruins - the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions and 2013 and 2019 finalists - miss the postseason in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and was about to miss them again when he was let go 55 games into the 2016-17 season.

Bergevin's main problem is this: Montréal is a special market, one that requires its head coach and general manager to speak French, the language spoken by 0% of its province and market and comprising anywhere between 15-20% of NHL players, and with the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins all bursting at the seams with francophone coaches and trainers and the Ottawa Senators taking a small bite out of that pie as well, the remaining piece of the pie's getting pretty small. And two of the candidates for the head coaching position - Patrick Roy and Jacques Martin - also have GM experience that trumps his own, especially in terms of success when speaking of Roy. And perhaps none would want to be stuck with the veterans currently signed to the team long-term and those who will require hefty raises that will choke the remaining space on the salary cap in a couple of years.

And so the Habs' Next Generation of stars - save for Nick Suzuki, who seems to have taken Max Domi's spot as the #2 centre on the team - looks destined to finish the season in the AHL. On one hand, it's best not to have the young guns get comfortable wit hthe constant losing and the Laval Rocket may very well make the playoffs and contend for the Calder Cup, which would continue creating chemistry among the likes of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Ryan Poehling, Cayden Primeau, Noah Juulsen, Otto Leskinen, and Michael Pezzetta.

You can now add Cale Fleury's name to that list, as the Habs have sent the young hard-hitting defenseman down to play in the suburbs after being a healthy scratch for four straight games; some think the team did so to showcase the likes of Marco Scandella and Brett Kulak for a possible trade deadline sale and subsequent tank job, but those are the guys Julien would prefer to keep anyhow; the same can be said for veteran grinders like Nate Thompson, Nick Cousins, Dale Weise, Paul Byron and defensemen Shea Weber and Jeff Petry. Those are "his" guys.

So, for the time being, this is what Fleury will look like:

That's the Rocket's white uniform, on card #59 from Upper Deck's 2018-19 AHL collection, which he signed in blue sharpie during a home stretch in November or December.

Maxime Fortunus Autographed Card

Does racism exist in hockey? Of course it does, because it still exists in the world.

I was in a special bubble growing up, playing hockey in the NDG district of Montréal where there was at least one girl and four people of colour on every team in every category in our neighbourhood until - and including - Midget. It wasn't by design or by some sort special program - we all grew up loving and playing hockey, and there were enough of all of us to fill two A-level and two B-level "elite" teams and usually a handful to eight C-level "house league" teams per category (from Novice to Atom to Pee-wee to Bantam to Midget) and, statistically, the proportions were often relatively the same at all levels on all teams. It represented our neighbourhood, as did the fact that half the teams were French-speaking and the other half had English as a common language.

As a matter of fact, as most things Montréal, language was a larger factor of discontent, fighting and favouritism than skin colour or gender.

Were insulting words ever said? Absolutely. Until Pee-Wee at least, when folks on both sides start realizing the meaning - both from the person saying it and the person receiving it. A person of Indian descent getting called "Paki" finds it ridiculous until the "all you Brown people are the same category of not welcome" starts kicking in, and the playfulness of an insult stops being funny when the other side gets hurt more than intended. And almost everyone was a target of slurs at some point, from the Francophones ("Frog", "Pepper", "Pepsi") to Blacks to Indians to girls to guys who look more "effeminate" to Indigenous peoples... even straight, "regular" white Anglo-Saxon Canadian males ("Squareheads", "Blokes").

Starting at the Pee-Wee level, ages 12-13-14 (depending on date of birth), people learn to not say hurtful things to people they care about, and eventually we'd just start hearing it more from kids from poorer neighbourhoods, and we'd use it as a rallying point. One of our teams would usually finish in the top-5 of any province-wide end-of-season ranking, and would usually medal in tournaments, even when icing just half a team because said tournament was played in the daytime on a school day, or all day during the Sabbath:

After Midget came the LHJMQ. Girls were no longer part of the equation, but I'm of that generation that produced elite goaltending (Jean-Sébastien Giguère, José Theodore, Roberto Luongo) and tough guys, a lot of them being people of colour (Jason Doig, Peter Worrell, Donald Brashear, Georges Laraque, Craig Martin, Francis Bouillon, Jason Downey). Laraque spoke eloquently (as usual) about the pains he endured as a child climbing up the ranks.

All of this is to say that I'm just a little bit stunned by Akim Aliu's recollection of events that happened in the AHL. Not that it happened at all, but that it happened in the third-best hockey league in the world. You'd think the kind of language used would have been weeded out by encountering other human beings as Bill Peters would have climbed the ranks from Amateur to Juniors to the pros. You'd think someone would have told him it's wrong, would have stood up to him, would have been in a position to threaten his job at some point.

But more than the language, you'd think the Omertà would not have been strong enough to allow for Aliu's demotion to the ECHL simply for standing up to him. And that's one of the major problems with the way the AHL management teams are set up: usually, the AHL team's GM is either the parent team's GM or their assistant-GM, meaning they oversee player personnel and decisions, but from the main offices in the parent team's building, 90% of the time, when what would be required is a continuous presence with the team, to feel its pulse, to not rely on one person's opinion regarding not just the makeup of the team and asset management, but also possibly the player's ability to deliver and become the best he can be - either for the team or for someone else via asset exchange.

Since players are the "product", they should be cherished and nourished to become the best they can be by being put in the best situation for them. Minor-league coaches are only there for their development. Sure, they may eventually earn a promotion... if they succeed at developing impactful players. There should be no other criteria, or goal.

Which brings me to Maxime Fortunus. He's five years younger than me, so I never got to play with him, and I've had all of two minutes of interactions with him in my life. I don't know if there is a reason beyond size and perhaps defensive zone lapses that made him go undrafted or limited him to 9 NHL games, but I know he makes a really good pass and has a booming shot, and I know he wore an "A" on his chest with the Manitoba Moose and the captain's "C" with the Texas Stars, so he at least was a respected presence in an AHL locker room. And I've seen Aliu play, and there is no on-ice reason why the former first-rounder could not have at least been the type of guy who is an AHL star like Fortunus. For God's sake, he's still practising full-time in Toronto in the hopes that an NHL team will call, he knows he's skilled enough.

And, hey, Fortunus left a spot open, as he's now playing in Germany, for the Fischtown Pinguins. Here's a card from his first season with the Texas Stars on card #11 from the 2010-11 Choice team set by Choice Sports Cards:

It shows him wearing the team's white (home) uniform; he signed it in blue sharpie in 2015 or 2016, adding his uniform number (18) to his signature.

Alex Stalock: Three Autographed Cards

Alex Stalock's biggest issue at the NHL level has been consistency; he's had full 24-game seasons as a backup where he's posted a .932 save percentage, but followed them with consecutive seasons well below that at .902 (22 games) and .884 (13 games), with the San Jose Sharks finally losing patience with him and sending him packing to the Toronto Maple Leafs before he signed on with the Minnesota Wild, where he's been since 2016-17.

And it's not like he's an AHL-level goalie, because he can dominate at times when he's down there, too.

He's just one of maybe 45 NHL goalies that you have to roll the dice on and hope the team in front of him gives him a fighting chance and the opposition isn't in a state of grace, and you let it play out.

He's been on the ball in two outings this year, surrendering a single goal on 11 shots in just under 25 minutes in relief of Devan Dubnyk in a 7-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and shutting out the Ottawa Senators for the Wild's first win of the season last night.

My high school teammate Ben Guité - now an associate coach at the University of Maine - played with him on the 2011-12 Worcester Sharks.

Stalock signed these three cards for me in black sharpie in 2012-13 when I went to see the Hamilton Bulldogs play a lot. First, here are two Future Stars cards from In The Game:

The one on the left is #2 from the 2009-10 Between The Pipes set, while the one on the right is #47 from the 2010-11 Between The Pipes collection.

The is also card #119 from In The Game's 2010-11 Heroes And Prospects set:

All three show him wearing the (Worcester) Sharks' black (away) uniform, with a different patch chest patch (none, Hyundai, and Be A Leader); they also have his uniform number (32) tagged at the end of the signature.

Jason LaBarbera Autographed Card

Former journeyman goaltender Jason LaBarbera is currently in his third season as the WHL Calgary Hitmen's goaltending coach. My first reflex would be to say that that's the type of consistency that has eluded him in his professional career, considering he played for 13 teams in three leagues in 16 seasons (plus three teams in four WHL seasons in Juniors), but the truth of the matter is he had two relatively solid residencies, the first with the New York Rangers organization (though mostly with their AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack), which was a five-year relationship from 2001 until 2005, and the second with the Phoenix Coyotes where he was the main NHL backup for four straight seasons under the tutelage of Sean Burke, yielding three fairly good seasons:

from HockeyDB

That's twice with save percentages above .920, three times with a GAA under 3.00, with 2009-10 being particularly spectacular at 2.13 and .928.

As a matter of fact, his AHL statistics are pretty impressive overall, with a 162-121 record, a 2.33 GAA and .922 save percentage. These two seasons are impressive regardless of caliber:

That is dominance right there, which is why I mostly have memories of him playing for the Wolf Pack, like on this card, which he signed in blue sharpie in 2013-14:

That's card #33 from Pacific's 2003-04 Pacific Prospects - AHL Edition set, showing him wearing Hartford's beautiful blue (away) uniform, based on the Rangers' "Liberty" jersey.

He won the AHL awards for best goalie twice (2004 and 2007) - earning First Team All-Star nods both times - as well as the league MVP award in 2004, and the trophy for lowest goals-against average in 2004 and 2007.

Time will tell if he'll be successful following in Burke's footsteps - so far, eight goalies have crossed his path with only one signing with an NHL team - but these young men will have a wealth of experience to learn from, including how to handle the long bus rides and earning your way to the NHL.

Josh Hennessy Autographed Card

Josh Hennessy finished his Juniors career with three straight 80-point seasons (84, 82 and 85, actually) with the LHJMQ's Québec Remparts, then went on to produce 63 points (24 goals and 39 assists) in 80 games with the AHL's Cleveland Barons, leading the team in every offensive category.

He then was part of a three-team trade that saw him transit by the Chicago Blackhawks (with Tom Preissing, for Mark Bell) before landing with the Ottawa Senators (with Preissing, Michal Barinka, and a second-round pick, for Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski).

While he failed to secure a spot in the Sens' NHL lineup, he continued to do well for their AHL affiliate Binghamton Senators, putting points on the board nearly every game. What probably interested the Sens as much as his dazzling speed and ability to set up teammates was the fact that while playing in the "Q", the American had learned French, and as his grasp of the language increased, he took on a bigger leadership role on the team, first as alternate captain, then as captain. He was fluent by his last season in Québec.

After four seasons during which he wasn't truly given a shot at the NHL level, having been surpassed on the Sens' depth chart by the likes of Ilya Zubov, Martin Saint-Pierre, Zack Smith and Peter Regin, he opted to sign with Switzerland's famed HC Lugano for the 2010-11 season, then returning to North America in the Boston Bruins organization the following year.

Having played in only three games for the Bs, Hennessy opted for Europe as his long-term plan, with the NHL lockout looming, first in the KHL for three years with a stint in Switzerland thrown in for good measure, then four seasons with Sweden's Vaxjö Lakers, including a championship win in 2014-15.

This year, he's back playing for the Providence Bruins, and he has 5 points (two goals and 3 assists) so far in 12 games.

Here he is wearing the Barons' beautiful white (home) uniform, on card #388 from In The Game's 2005-06 Heroes And Prospects set, which he signed in blue sharpie when the Sens played against the Montréal Canadiens in 2008:

What a great design. Who would have thought the Sharks' theme and colours could work so well on a jersey? I'm a huge fan of the history of the Barons, by the way.

The original Barons played in the AHL from 1937 until 1973, winning ten divisional titles and nine Calder Cups, which was a league record until the Hershey Bears won their tenth in 2009. The team moved to become the Jacksonville Barons in 1973-74, only to fold unceremoniously after season's end. I am related to Roger Bessette who played on that team (goalie, 1946-1949).

Meanwhile, in the NHL, the California Seals were founded in 1967, bearing the same name as a team from the Western Hockey League, quickly becoming the Oakland Seals (1967-70), then the California Golden Seals (1970-76). The NHL wasn't ready, however, for a team with painted skates and white gloves, and California wasn't ready for NHL hockey either, so to give it a final chance of succeeding, the franchise was moved to Cleveland in 1976, taking on the Barons mantle. Despite some level of success, the team folded in 1978 - the year I was born - and some of its players were assigned to the Minnesota North Stars when that team was purchased by George and Gordon Gund, former minority owners of the Seals and future founding owners of the Sharks.

The final professional iteration of the Barons was the one Hennessy played for, which was in Cleveland from 2001-06. That franchise started out as the Kentucky Thoroughblades (1996-2001), then went on to become the Worcester Sharks (2006-15) and are now known as the San Jose Barracuda (2015-present).

Denis Metlyuk Autograph Card

Denis Metlyuk was a Russian hockey player who was active from the early 1990s until the mid-oughts. He was drafted in the second round (31st overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1992 and thus came to North America to try his luck, suiting up for 81 games over two seasons with the AHL's Hershey Bears.

Which is where this signed insert card from Classic's 1993-94 4 Sport set, showing him wearing the Bears' classic burgundy uniform, albeit with the team's logo airbrushed out and a HERSHEY wordmark taking its place:

It's signed in blue sharpie and numbered 2087/2960, an incredibly specific run.

Metlyuk spent most of his career in the Russian Superliga playing for Tolyatti Lada HC, a team so poor the KHL expelled it because its arena wasn't up to league standards.

Chris Longo Autographed Card

Chris Longo won Rookie Of The Year honors in the OHL in 1989-90, leading to his selection in the NHL draft by the Washington Capitals (third round 51st overall in 1990).

He would never play in the NHL but spent 11 seasons in pro hockey, with stints in the AHL (Baltimore Skipjacks, Portland Pirates, Springfield Falcons, Cleveland Barons), ECHL (Jackson Bandits and Toledo Storm), IHL (Cleveland Lumberjacks) and in Italy (Asiago HC, a common destination for former NHLers, as players such as Stéphane Quintal, Ken Linseman, Blaine Stoughton, Mario Brunetta, Greg Hawgood, Doug Wickenheiser, John Tucker, Frank Pietrangelo, Mike Torchia, Christian Proulx, Michel Mongeau, Martin Gendron, Éric Houde, Matthieu Descoteaux, Mathieu Dandenault, Rico Fata, David Cooper, Fernando Pisani, Ralph Intranuovo, Adam Henrich, Drew Fata, Chris DiDomenico, Tyler Plante, and Alexander Galchenyuk - Alex's father - have also suited up for the team).

Nowadays, he is a Development Coach with the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs, a position he previously also held with his alma mater, the Peterborough Petes. He also works for a hockey school in the summer.

Here he is sporting the Pirates' white (home) 1990s uniform on card #89 from Classic's 1993-94 Pro Hockey Prospects set:

He signed it in blue sharpie for me a couple of summers ago, when I was still teaching goaltending in the Ottawa region and could trek down to other schools on Sundays.

Steffon Walby Autographed Card

Steffon Walby was a minor-league player for 11 seasons, which included decent AHL seasons with the St. John's Maple Leafs (1993-96), Hershey Bears (1996-97, 1999-2001), Rochester Americans (1998-99) and Kentucky Thoroughblades (1998-99), a fine, quick turn with the IHL's Fort Wayne Komets (1997-98) and a dominating turn in the ECHL with the Mississippi Sea Wolves (2001-04), earning First Team All-Star honors each year:

Courtesy of Hockeydb.com

Following his retirement, he turned to coaching, becoming the first head coach of the Mississippi Surge of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), winning the 2009-10 Coach of the Year trophy in his inaugural season and the 2010-11 SPHL championship before losing his job over internal politics related to new ownership.

After serving as interim head coach for his son's prep school's team for the 2013-14 season, he was named full-time head coach in April 2014 when he righted the ship at the end of the year.

He had also served as an amateur scout for the Calgary Flames and Tampa Bay Lightning.

He never played an NHL game but had initially been signed as a free agent by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Here he is on card #97 from Classic's 1993-94 Pro Hockey Prospects set, showing him in AHL's St. John's Maple Leafs' blue (away) uniform:

He signed it in large blue sharpie, which leads me to think he signed it around the 2004-05, where he was an associate coach with the Sea Wolves.

Corey Locke Autographed Card

Corey Locke was once named the CHL's 200-03 Player Of The Year and was the OHL's top points leader in 2003-04, justifying to his being drafted in the fourth round (113th overall) by the Montréal Canadiens in 2003 as an undersized center (5'8" and 165 pounds).

He never could make his mark with the Habs because they already had another such skilled, small center in David Desharnais, who happened to get along and play extremely well with captain-to-be Max Pacioretty.

He was traded to the Minnesota Wild organization in 2008, for Shawn Belle, but was unable to make the team; instead, he posted 79 points in 77 games with their AHL affiliate Houston Aeros and another 23 points in 20 post-season games, leading the team to the Calder Cup Final (he had won it with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2006-07).

He then signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers and later the Ottawa Senators, surpassing the point-per-game mark in the AHL for three straight seasons (two of which were at 85 points or better) but unable to crack the NHL line-up. He did win the Calder Cup for the second time with the Binghamton Senators in 2010-11, the same year he was deemed the AHL's Most Valuable Player. As a matter of fact, he shares the league record for most All-Star Game appearances, with six.

He then plied his trade in Finland and Germany, then briefly again in the AHL (Chicago Wolves and Abbotsford Heat in 2013-14), before going back to Europe in Germany, Switzerland, and now Austria. He's still a point-per-game player at 32 years of age, meaning he technically still has enough skill to perhaps crack an NHL line-up. He's definitely good enough to be on the Arizona Coyotes' second line, and the Colorado Avalanche or Carolina Hurricanes' third.

Here he is sporting the Bulldogs' white (home) uniform, on card #71 from In The Game's 2006-07 Heroes And Prospects set and Prospect sub-set:

He signed it in blue sharpie during a Sens training camp (2010 or 2011).

Dan Kesa Autographed Card

In keeping with my month of tough guys or tough teams, I thought I'd go with the local player the Vancouver Canucks chose 95th overall in 1991, Dragan "Dan" Kesa.

Though his NHL stats line doesn't read like an enforcer's at 66 PIMs in 139 games with four teams over four seasons in a seven-year span, his statistics in Juniors tell another story:

From Hockeydb.com

Yes, those are Milan Lucic-like numbers, which is fitting considering he's Lucic's uncle.

After mostly toiling in the minor leagues for over a decade - including a 77-point season with the IHL's Detroit Vipers in 1997-98 - he took his talents to Russia (Avantgard Omsk, one assist in 9 games in2001-02) and Austria (Vienna Capitals, 20 points in 27 games in 2002-03).

Here's a card he signed in blue sharpie:

That's card #116 from Classic's 1993-94 Pro Hockey Prospects set, showing him wearing the Hamilton Canucks' black (away) uniform.

Mike Dunham Autograph Card

Mike Dunham was a winner for pretty much his entire life.

Sharing goaltending duties with Garth Snow for the University of Maine Black Bears, Dunham went 6-0-0 in his second season in 1991-92, and an incredible 21-1-1 the next as the team won the NCAA championship, justifying the New Jersey Devils selecting him 53rd overall at the 1990 draft, the same year they chose Martin Brodeur with the 20th pick; the pair would share the William Jennings Trophy as the tandem with the league's lowest goals-against average in 1996-97.

As the 1993-94 came to a close, he suited up for the Devils' AHL farm team, the Albany River Rats, following a Team USA eighth-place finish at the 1994 Winter Games in which he shared the net with Snow again.

He won the 1995 Calder Cup with the River Rats and sharing the Playoff MVP award (the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy) with Corey Schwabb, forcing the parent team to give him a legitimate shot at making the NHL. He was left unprotected at the 1998 Expansion Draft, however, and the Nashville Predators made him one of the five (!!!) goalies they selected, along with Frédéric Chabot (Los Angeles Kings), Mike Richter (New York Rangers, although he was on the verge of becoming a free agent and chose to re-sign with NY), Tomas Vokoun (Montréal Canadiens) and Mikhail Shtalenkov (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).

He would share the net with All-Star Vokoun for four solid seasons before an injury to Richter forced the Rangers to acquire his services in exchange for third-line forward Rem Murray.

Snow, who had just been named the New York Islanders' GM, signed Dunham to his final NHL contract, a one-year pact with the Isles for the 2006-07 season, to help guide (and in case of injuries to) Rick DiPietro.

Internationally, Dunham won silver with the American team at the 2002 Olympics and bronze at the 1992 World Juniors and the 2004 World Championships.

Here he is with the River Rats, on a card from Classic's 1993-94 4 Sport set, signed in thin blue sharpie, that is numbered #1449/2960:

Yes, he should have used Brian's gear instead of the brand's second-tier Heaton equipment, but he enjoyed a decent career regardless.

He has been the Isles' goaltending coach since 2008-09, adding the same duties to their AHL counterpart Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the past two seasons as well.

Nigel Dawes Autograph Card

There are countless examples of players who had an average shot at making the NHL but, when put in a position to succeed on a first or second line, delivered results that were better than expected: Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Christopher Higgins and Brendan Gallagher rank among them.

There are others who showed promise later on but were forced by circumstances to apply to another role than they'd originally been groomed for, scoring forwards who were asked to become grinders or shut-down players, for example, such as Guillaume Latendresse, or Nigel Dawes.

Eventually, those players retire or move to Europe, where their skill set is better recognized; Dawes has not only been playing with the KHL's Astana Barys, based in Kazakhstan, for the past five years and for the next two, but has enjoyed his experience so much that he actually applied for citizenship there. And as soon as it was granted, the diminutive winger from Winnipeg who played in two World Juniors Championships for Team Canada (silver in 2004, gold in 2005 alongside Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron) started representing his new country at the World Championships, along with fellow former Canadians and Astana teammates Dustin Boyd and Brandon Bochenski.

Despite Kazakhstan being relegated to Group 1A with a 1-6 record, Dawes had 3 goals, 4 assists and 7 points in 7 games at the 2016 Worlds, plus a shootout goal against Switzerland's Reto Berra in a 3-2 win in the only game where he didn't register an official point.

He is quickly establishing himself as one of the most dependable professional hockey players outside the NHL.

Here's a card from when he was a New York Rangers prospect, as an alternate captain for the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, wearing their white (home) uniform:

That's the signed insert version of card #78 (herein called #A-ND, featuring a black-sharpied on-sticker autograph) from In The Game's 2006-07 Heroes And Prospects set (and Prospect sub-set).

Joe Colborne Autographed Card

I mentioned earlier this month that Joe Colborne had signed with the Colorado Avalanche for the next two years after the Calgary Flames elected not to tender him a qualifying offer that they felt may have been a tad high for a player who hadn't shown his worth over a full season yet.

Some analysts aren't convinced he can sustain his late season production in the long term, but in the Avs' defense, it's just a two-year gamble at only $2.5M per, on a 6'5", 215-pound (i.e. skinny but heavy) forward who has played on all four of the Flames' lines last year and, thus, can be slotted anywhere depending on whether he fulfills expectations or not.

Colorado has pretty much every type of skill set up front to complement whatever it is he brings to the table, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Provided they get out of their own zone, because as was the case last season, the Avs' problem is that they're still missing at least two quality defensemen who can get the puck out from their defensive zone and push the play forward.

I remember being impressed with how tall he was (I'm 6'2") when I met him and had him sign card #145 from In The Game's 2010-11 Heroes And Prospects in blue sharpie:

It shows him wearing the Providence Bruins' white (home) uniform.

Yannick Weber: Two Autographed Cards

 

The problem with Yannick Weber isn't what he can do - a booming shot from he point, decent first and offensive zone passes, perfect to quarterback a powerplay - it's that when a team has him, they want to use his qualities so much that they put him in a position where his shortcomings - lack of size, defensive-zone mistakes stemming from opponents' physical play - were exposed.

Having him in the lineup is akin to testing one's patience and restraint; the coach knows he has a weapon capable of scoring goals on the powerplay and who can hold his own against bottom-sixers, but may lead to trouble against top-six forwards if the play isn't taking place in the other team's zone.

He'll get a chance to shine with the Nashville Predators, joining fellow former Montréal Canadiens star P.K. Subban on a new-look Preds defense that still includes Weber's childhood friend Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm. Perhaps the best defense in the league for the moment, at least until the kids mature with the Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars.

He signed the two cards above in blue sharpie, probably during the 2011-12 season. Here they are in greater detail, first with the Hamilton Bulldogs' white (home) uniform, from In The Game's 2009-10 Heroes And Prospects set (on card #26 in the series):

And wearing the Habs' Centennial patch-clad classic red (now-home) uniform, on card #501 from Upper Deck's 2009-10 O-Pee-Chee set:

I wish him the best in Nashville, a team that will be a lot of fun to watch next season.

Yann Danis Autographed Card

I wrote about Michael Leighton recently, who made AHL history by surpassing Johnny Bower for the most career shutouts; Yann Danis, however, made Albany Devils history this season, and fittingly represented the Capital District in the 2016 AHL All-Star Game.

He was also called up by the New Jersey Devils recently, after an injury to starter Cory Schneider. The former Brown University Bears standout had a 25-9-5 record with a 2.25 GAA and 6 shutouts with the A-Devils and may very well see some action for the offensively-challenged team.

Since turning professional in 2003-04, he has only had two sub-par seasons that combined a GAA over 3.00 and a save percentage under .900: in 2007-08, his final season in the Montréal Canadiens organization, where he went 11-19-4, 3.28 and .893 on a team where the three players with over 40 points were Corey Locke, Matt D'Agostini and Jonathan Ferland, and in 2013-14 with the Adirondack Phantoms where he went 9-11-4, 3.82 and .881 on a team where Jason Akeson was the lone player with over 40 points.

He's also part of the "first shutout in his first NHL game" club, a feat he accomplished with the Habs against the Atlanta Thrashers in October 2005.

I had featured him wearing the Hamilton Bulldogs' red (away) uniform back in 2009, after a trade with Calgary collector KC; here he is wearing their white (home) uniform, on card #36 from In The Game's 2006-07 Heroes And Prospects set, which he signed in blue sharpie roughly seven years ago:

You can check out his current Devils mask here.

Nathan Marsters Autograph Card

Posting about Jean-Sébastien Giguère last night got me thinking about this former prospect, Nathan Marsters, seen here wearing the AHL's Portland Pirates' beautiful red (away) uniform, from In The Game's 2005-06 Heroes And Prospects Series 2 set:

It's card #A-NM in the series, with a black-sharpied on-sticker autograph affixed to it.

Masters was picked 165th in the 2000 draft by the Los Angeles Kings but they let him go a few years later and he signed on as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks. He never got to play in an NHL game, but he did suit up for one when Giguère fell to injury in practice in 2005-06.

His 23-9-2 record (with a 3.10 GAA and .900 save percentage in 37 games) with the Pirates that year would prove to be his best professional record, save for a .917 and 2.61 performance in an 8-game stint with the CHL's Laredo Bucks the following year.

After a couple of seasons with a GAA near 4.00 in the ECHL, he tried his luck in Germany in 2007-08, playing 9 games for the Krefeld Penguins.

We'll never know if he would have pulled an Andrew Hammond on the hockey world, because he died in the summer of 2009, his truck being the second that hit a deer, which crushed his windshield and hit him directly.

He is survived by his wife, Olivia.

Chad Johnson Autographed Card

In the seven seasons from 2009-10 until 2015-16, Chad Johnson has played in at least one NHL game in six of them. For five different teams - the New York Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders and now the Buffalo Sabres. He's also played in the AHL for the Hartford Wolf Pack/Connecticut Whale and Portland Pirates, so I'm guessing it was goal of his to play everywhere in New England at some point...

He is also an Adirondacks and a Rochester team away from playing all over New York State, and with one appearance with the New Jersey Devils could also include all of the NYC's hockey-represented burroughs. I mean, while we're at it...

He doesn't always look like a Vezina winner out there, but his .915 career save percentage and 2.42 GAA are decent for a backup goalie - and that's counting his sub-par season with the Isles last year where he went 8-8-1 with a 3.08 GAA and .889 save percentage in 19 games, which accounts for roughly a quarter of his career NHL games so far.

He won against the Montréal Canadiens tonight, in an entertaining 6-4 game that saw all kinds of goals (from one-timers to penalty shots to the puck hitting a linesman for a bad bounce), with three four players (Sven Andrighetto, Alex Galchenyuk, Marcus Foligno and Evander Kane) having two-goal nights.

It wasn't a stellar night for goaltending, and I had a bit of fun with my friends (one of whom quoted me on Twitter), joking that we were lucky to have two of the 500 best goalies in the world in nets - and that was before Ben Scrivens was replaced with Mike Condon:

"On est vraiment chanceux d'avoir un duel entre deux des 500 meilleurs gardiens au monde ce soir."
- @sebastianhell

— Martin Sasseville (@PuckTaVie) February 13, 2016

In any event, Johnson won, which brings me to card #54, from In The Game's 2010-11 Between The Pipes set (and Future Stars sub-set), which he signed in blue sharpie:

It shows him wearing the now-defunct Whale's green uniform; the team's since gone back to their former moniker, the Wolf Pack. That uniform was just... too green for hockey.

Adam Hauser Autograph Card

I wanted to get back to a few of my passions tonight, namely goalies (particularly non-stars and journeymen), and defunct teams. Today, I get to do that with this card of Adam Hauser's with the Manchester Monarchs from In The Game's 2005-06 Heroes And Prospects set (it's the signed insert version of his card, #A-AH instead of the usual #47 card, featuring an on-sticker black sharpie autograph):

Hauser was originally an Edmonton Oilers draft pick, 81st overall in 1999, ahead of other goalies Sébastien Caron (86th), Cory Campbell (92nd), Rob Zepp (99th), Evan Lindsay (109th), Jean-François Nogue (133rd), Ryan Miller (138th), Matthew Kinch (146th), Seamus Kotyk (147th), Martin Prusek (164th), Michael Leighton (165th), Matt Underhill (170th), Don Choulakos (179th), Kevin Swanson (189th), Vadim Tarasov (196th), Phil Osaer (203rd), Kyle Kettles (205th), Vladimir Kulkov (211th), Jonathan Charron (227th), and Antti Jokela (237th).

Oh, and regular NHLers Niclas Havelid (83rd), Mike Comrie (91st), Chris Kelly (94th), Brian McGrattan (104th), Ryan Malone (115th), Fedor Fedorov (182nd), Ivan Rachunek (187th), Martin Erat (191st), Tom Kostopoulos (204th), Henrik Zetterberg (210th), and Radim Vrbata (212th).

And it was pretty much his rightful position, considering he was viewed as the best Minnesota Golden Gophers goalie of all time. Yet he didn't stick with the Oilers, instead signing with the Los Angeles Kings prior to the 2004-05 season. In the Kings' system, he set Monarchs' season records for best GAA (1.93), best save percentage (.933), and most shutouts (7). He also holds the team's career shutouts mark, with 15. Martin Jones now owns the career wins total, with 84.

He just played one game with the Kings in 2005-06, letting in 6 goals on 24 shots in 51 minutes, for a .750 save percentage and 7.08 GAA.

He then plied his trade in Europe from 2006 until 2012, until he retired to join the Gophers' alumni and coaching teams. He also spent time as the Iowa Wild's goaltending coach in 2014-15.

The Monarchs' story is a whole other beast. They were the Kings' AHL affiliate from 2001 until last season (2015), but were part of the re-alignment/folding/restructuring that went down in the minor leagues where the Pacific Division teams relocated their AHL teams to California and (for the most part) kept their past AHL cities as their ECHL teams, meaning the name Manchester Monarchs is now that of the Kings' ECHL affiliate, while the Ontario Reign now serves as their AHL affiliate. In their final season as L.A.'s main affiliate, the Monarchs won their only Calder Cup.

In an even odder twist, the California division of the AHL plays fewer games than their counterparts from the other divisions this year, so not only do they travel less for games, but they also have a less strenuous schedule.

Jacob Markstrom Autographed Card

About a year and a half ago, I wrote that I believed Jacob Markstrom would become a very good #1 goalie in the NHL; this season, he is by far the best to have manned the Vancouver Canucks' crease, 13 goals-against average points and 8 save percentage points better than former Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller:

from HockeyDB.com

He has had 38- and 42-save nights against the Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively, and looked very solid in most games, save for one outing against the Boston Bruins on December 5th, a 4-0 loss where the whole team looked flat.

The Canucks therefore seem set in nets for when Miller's contract comes to an end, following next season. In the meantime, they'll probably have to resort to a timeshare situation, because he's just too good to leave on the bench.

I had mentioned back in April that I'd sent him four cards and he had returned the three featuring him with the Florida Panthers but not the one showing him with the Rochester Americans; that was rectified earlier last summer when I gathered extra mail from my old apartment, which had this card from In The Game's 2011-12 Heroes And Prospects set (it's card #168 in the collection, with the mention that he is a ''Rookie''):

It's signed in blue sharpie and looks really nice. I really like the fact that his mask sticks out of the frame - it's simple but effective, design-wise.

Ironically, Miller's also an Americans alumnus, as they have a long-standing relationship with the Buffalo Sabres, with whom he spent twelve years.