Mike McKenna Autographed Card

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the New Jersey Devils would finish tied for fourth/fifth in the Metropolitan Division in 2019-20).

Granted, I do not have many Devils-themed collectibles, and I didn't want to feature a retired player who just spent a single season with them (well... a retired star player, anyway), but I did manage to find one player worth talking about, the journeyman of journeymen goaltenders, Mike McKenna.

You might recall McKenna if the 15 NHL organizations he passed through was the one you cheered for, of if you followed the ECHL after the season-long 2004-05 lockout, or if you read his wife's tweets explaining the hardships that come with being traded and/or claimed on waivers many times per season, or his bittersweet - mostly sweet - retirement announcement this summer.

He's played in Springfield (IL), Las Vegas, Norfolk, (Vegas again), Milwaukee, Omaha, Portland (ME), (Norfolk again), Tampa Bay, Lowell, Albany, New Jersey, Binghamton, Peoria, Springfield (MA), Columbus, (Portland again), Arizona (Portland again), (Springfield MA again), Syracuse, Texas (Austin), Dallas, Belleville, Ottawa, sat on the bench in Vancouver, was assigned to but didn't play in Utica, played in Philadelphia, and Lehigh Valley.

That last stretch was pretty insane: three different organizations in four days, six teams in the same week, when the Ottawa Senators re-assigned him to the Belleville Baby Sens, traded him to the Vancouver Canucks, who assigned him after two games backing up Jacob Markstrom to the Utica Comets, only to have the Philadelphia Flyers snatch him on waivers, have him play a game, then send him down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

It was during his time in Ottawa that he signed card #51 from Panini's 2010-11 All Goalies set in blue sharpie, tagging his jersey number with the Devils (40) at the end:

That was one of his finest masks; in Philly, not taking any chances, he ust had an all-black one. In case.

I respect McKenna a lot. I believe had I continued playing after getting traded from Laval to Halifax in Juniors, I would have had the same kind of trajectory, probably without the ECHL and AHL All-Star titles he has, though.

Ben Bishop Autographed Card

How much faith did I have in the Tampa Bay Lightning facing off against the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final? Obviously, way too much. I was keeping this card up my sleeve for a Ben Bishop return, which I expected to be a Game 7 shutout for some reason:

It's card #78 from Panini's 2010-11 All Goalies set, showing Bishop back when he was playing for his hometown Blues. It's signed in blue sharpie, and I got it in the mail last winter.

Trade rumours are currently clouding his future in Tampa Bay what with up-and-comer Andrei Vasilevskiy successfully taking over for the Bolts when Bishop pulled something in his leg in the first game of the Conference Finals, but I wouldn't trade him unless you got equal value for him, which, with Marc-André Fleury also rumoured to be available soon, might not be possible.

We are, after all, talking about a two-time Vezina nominee and Team USA representative, here. You would need a first-liner (of which the Lightning has plenty already), a first pairing defenseman or a top-20 first round draft pick to come out even in such a trade.

Although losing a Steven Stamkos to free agency wouldn't hurt so much if a Sam Bennett came along... but if I were GM Steve Yzerman, I'd aim for a T.J. Brodie for my back end or a Carey Price to give myself an extra year to ponder Vasilevskiy's future..

Carter Hutton Autographed Card

I often say that goalies nowadays are not like in the past; there aren't a half-dozen on which you can rely to never have a bad season, save for Henrik Lundqvist (except for his Octobers) and Pekka Rinne. Well, Rinne's not having the best season of his career, which means Carter Hutton's outplayed him, though he's appeared in some 35 less games, so the sample size is to be considered.

Hutton's statistics are superb this year, with a 2.17 GAA and .922 save percentage and 2 shutouts in 10 games, and a stellar 0.33 and .967 in his three starts prior to last night's game versus the best offense in the league, the Dallas Stars, which he forced into overtime, stopping 29 of 32 shots after a 22-save shutout performance against the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

Now, I am by no means comparing Rinne and Hutton's careers, nor do I think that Hutton has reached his prime at 30 years old and will dominate the NHL for years to come; but the Nashville Predators are legitimate contenders this year, and head coach Peter Laviolette may have to make a hard decision come springtime.

The undrafted Hutton signed on with two different teams (the Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks) before getting his first taste of NHL action with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012-13, suiting up for a single loss before the Hawks let him go and the Preds came calling.

I have a Score card of his that he signed showing him with the Flyers while listing him as a Shark, but I can't find it at the moment, so I'll instead feature him via this card he signed last season, showing him in the Sharks' best white (away) uniform (though I would have taken the number on the front of the jersey off), from Panini's 2010-11 All Goalies set (card #75), signed in blue sharpie:

I like that his equipment is a rag-tag mix of different manufacturers, with a Sher-Wood (originally a stick-making company from Sherbrooke, Québec) glove, Bauer (originally an equipment manufacturer specializing in helmets and skates) stick, and Vaughn blocker (a taste I used to share in my playing days).

Pekka Rinne Jersey Card

There's a lot of talk about goaltending in the current NHL playoffs, some narratives truer than others. Henrik Lundqvist has played well enough to warrant still being The King (and the best goalie in the world), but Braden Holtby has been up to the challenge in facing him after not being quite as good as Jaroslav Halak in the first round.

Carey Price has been outplayed by both Craig Anderson and Ben Bishop so far, and his save percentage for the second round just barely made it back above the .900 mark after Game 5, so Playoff Price is back, but there's no question he was on the ball in the regular season with Vezina and Hart nods, and sharing the Jennings.

In the West, Frederik Andersen has put any doubts about his lack of experience to rest for the Anaheim Ducks, as have Karri Ramo (Calgary Flames), Eddie Lack (Vancouver Canucks), and Scott Darling (Chicago Blackhawks), while Devan Dubnyk, like Price, may have been shown the postseason is a while different animal, as can be seconded by Corey Crawford, who while spectacular at times and arguably one of his team's MVPs with Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane when he was on, was replaced by Darling as the starter in at least a couple of games.

Which brings me to the Nashville Predators' Pekka Rinne, who had okay numbers against the Hawks in the opening round, going 2-4 with a 2.68 GAA and .909 save percentage (as well as an assist) against the powerhouse team from Chicago, but he really finished his (also-Vezina-nominated) season with a bang by accepting Team Finland's invitation to play overseas.

Taking inspiration from his incredible performance at last year's edition (where he posted a 170-minute shutout streak, nearly three games long), he actually did better this year, posting an IIHF World Championships record 237-minute shutout streak, including three full shutouts (versus Denmark, Norway and Slovenia), then finally letting a goal in against Belarus.

With performances like these, he's really making King Henrik's stay at the top of the goalie food chain one in which he can't get too comfortable or complacent in - and that's all the better for us hockey fans.

And so I close the run of cards I started last summer with this one showing him with the Preds' former blue (home) uniform, making a spectacular glove save, featuring a white game-worn jersey swatch, from Panini's 2010-11 All Goalies set (card #8 of the Stopper Sweaters sub-set):

These inserts came at one per boxed set, which contained the entire 100-card collection as well; these sets cost $10-15 apiece on Ebay nowadays, but multipacks are available, such as 4 boxes for $30 or 20-box cases for $120-150.