Roman Wick Autograph Card

Roman Wick was the 156th overall selection of the 2004 draft and played a grand total of 7 games for the Ottawa Senators, but he's been nearly a point-per-game player for the last four seasons with Zurich's ZSC (Zürcher Schlittschuh Club) Lions, even winning the Swiss League's MVP award in 2014.

At 30 years of age, he may yet get another chance to represent Switzerland at the Olympics, as he did in 2010 (5 points in 5 games) and 2014 (blanked in 4 games), but he is less likely to attempt a return to the NHL at some point.

Still, he is #43 in my Sens Numbers Project, because of card #96-RW from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro set (part of the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics throwback design sub-set):

It features a blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph that is a tad unclear - his last name could be Ward or Wid and his first initial could be a P or a D...

Brayden Schenn Autograph Card

It looks like the Philadelphia Flyers and Brayden Schenn won't go to arbitration after all; indeed, the 24-year-old former fifth-overall pick (by the Los Angeles Kings, 2009) signed a four-year deal that will earn him an average of $5.125M each year.

Of note, current Flyers GM Ron Hextall was the Kings' assistant-GM when Schenn was drafted, so you'd think he figures in his team's long-term plans.

Schenn reached the 50-point mark for the first time in 2015-16, finishing with career highs in goals (26), assists (33) and, of course, points (59). His best point-per-game average came in the 2011-12 playoffs, when he had 9 points in 11 games, which is good news for other Flyers forwards such as Jakob Voracek, Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Wayne Simmonds and, to a lesser extent, Matt Read and Scott Laughton, who seem to have stalled a bit in their development.

Here he is wearing Philly's classic/retro orange (now-home) uniform, on card #96-SC from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro set (part of the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics throwback design sub-set):

He looks a little stoned (or very tired) in the picture, which might have been funnier if he was shown with the Kings instead of the Flyers...

Patrick Wiercioch Autograph Card

Patrick Wiercioch was the Ottawa Senators' second-round pick (42nd overall) in 2008. The 25-year-old defenseman had looked terrific at times, playing a huge part in last season's run to the playoffs (the Hamburglar saga) on the team's second pairing. He was mobile, huge (6'6", 190 pounds), with a very good defensive hockey sense and decent hands. With a few years' seasoning, it was safe to assume he would eventually replace Marc Methot as the team's top two-way defender.

But he's seemingly still working on his consistency, because his post-Christmas play has declined a bit, so much so that newly-re-signed Chris Wideman has been taking his spot alongside Mark Borowiecki... on the third pair.

Beat reporter Bruce Garrioch sure seemed to think he was on the outside looking in, for one, and GM Bryan Murray didn't sound like Wiercioch's biggest fan when he explained why he hadn't traded him at the deadline.

The thing with a defenseman like Wiercioch is that he played University hockey and therefore wasn't eligible to play in the NHL until he had turned 21; give or take a few years in the AHL, he has to be treated like an American defenseman even though he was raised in B.C. and, thus, has to be given until age 27 to see if he'll ever get that consistency at the NHL level or if he's more of a limbo player; the problem is, he's signed - and will have to be qualified - at $2.7M, which is both expensive for a poor (and cheap) Sens team to not have play and a decent amount of pressure on a kid who is in the midst of his development.

But the current NHL contractual rules make it so that teams rush their young players in the league and lose their rights to them just as they reach their peak, where they hit a big payday. Very few GMs have the long-term vision to let them develop in the minors and keep them "up" for more of their top years than their developing years - and that leaves a whole bunch of guys falling out of favour with a whole bunch of teams, just like Jarred Tinordi had for the Montréal Canadiens this season.

I believe last year was a good indication of how he'll play from ages 27-35.

What better time to check #46 off my Sens Numbers Project, with card #99-PW from the 1999 Skybox insert sub-set of Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro collection:

It shows him wearing Ottawa's white (away) uniform.

Pascal Leclaire Autograph Card

For the life of me, I can't understand why people even think there's a doubt that Craig Anderson will be the #1 goalie for the Ottawa Senators this year, ahead of Andrew "The Hamburglar" Hammond. I see it in every pre-season preview magazine, it's all over the sports blogs, people have no respect for a #1 goalie who has proven time and time again to be among the league's top-10, and who two years ago was leading the Vezina race by a landslide before getting injured.

And it's not the first time a Sens goalie doesn't get his dues; Ron Tugnutt led the league with a GAA under 2.00 (1.79 in 1998-99) and has similar stats in the playoffs (1.98 and .917 save percentage in 1996-97) and he's still considered a career backup; Patrick Lalime, as previously mentioned, was top-10 in Vezina voting twice, and had amazing playoff statistics as well:

2001-02: 1.39 GAA, .946 save %, 4 shutouts in 12 games
2002-03: 1.82 GAA, .924 save % in 18 games
2003-04: 1.96 GAA in 7 games

One goalie who doesn't factor in this conversation is Pascal Leclaire, a very talented netminder who just fell into some injury trouble with the Sens and never got to show he could do the job as well as the others. Upon retiring at age 29 because of recurring hip problems, he became a player agent, a position he still holds to this day.

Here he is looking good and natural in the Sens' white (away) uniform, from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro set (card #96-PL of the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics throwback design sub-set):

He has suited up for Team Canada twice and won silver both times, starting as the #1 guy at the 2002 World Juniors where he posted a 1.80 GAA with two shutouts in 5 games, as well as at the 2008 World Championships where he had a 2.00 GAA, one shutout and a .925 save percentage in 4 games.

Maxim Lapierre Autograph Card

Maxim Lapierre has finally signed a professional contract... except he's headed for famed hockey team Ornskoldsvik Modo of the Swedish league, with an out clause releasing him to the NHL should he sign another deal prior to training camp.

I always thought he'd find a team that would pay him around $1.5M for the year, seeing as he's a decent face-off man, a right-shot center who can play on the penalty kill, and one of the league's biggest pests... although that, and the fact that he's a repeat offender when it comes to embellishment and diving probably played a part in that as well.

He collected 105 hits in 35 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins post-trade last year, which is consistent with the types of statistics he had in his last couple of seasons with the Montréal Canadiens before he was shipped to the Anaheim Ducks. Apart from taking stupid penalties at times, he's the type of player who'll do anything his coaches ask, whether it's shadowing the other team's top centers or chirp at them, or throw his (relatively diminutive) weight around. He can even fill in on the second line for a spell if a coach wants to punish certain players and reward effort.

Here he is wearing the Vancouver Canucks' current/retro blue (home) uniform, from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro set:

It uses the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design and is card #96-ML in the sub-set, featuring a sticker autograph signed in blue sharpie, with his jersey number (40) tagged at the end, which qualifies him for my Canucks Numbers Project.

Patrick O'Sullivan Autograph Card

Patrick O'Sullivan is widely considered one of the biggest draft ''busts'' in recent NHL history, but most of the other cases aren't as documented as his, and we can easily pinpoint its origins to an abusive father, career minor-leaguer John O'Sullivan, who even went as far as banging on the rink's glass and shouting (swearing) at his son during an OHL game, making the family problems public. Patrick filed for a restraining order on John.

Projected as a first-rounder, Patrick was instead chosen in the second round, 56th overall, in 2003, the strongest crop of the last generation.

After averaging almost a goal per game and two points per in Juniors, Patrick entered the AHL on a similar high note, re-writing the Houston Aeros' history books with 47 goals and 93 points as a rookie. Still, his rights were passed around ten times as he suited up for a total of 5 NHL teams so far, twice belonging to the Phoenix Coyotes and going through both Alberta teams.

He now plays in Europe.

With 161 points in 334 NHL games (he's never played in the post-season), his statistics aren't awful, but they're far removed from what most blue chip prospects manage. His Team USA totals are more impressive, though, what with 29 points in 28 games with Junior teams (and gold at the 2004 World Juniors as well as the 2002 U-18 tournaments) to go with 14 points in 19 men's games. At 28 years old, though, chances are his peak years are past him, if not most productive.

I got this card in a trade for a Bryan Allen autographed card and a few minor league singles because I had another autograph card of his that I figured I'd put in a binder together, and because I was already deep into Panini's 2012-13 Fleer Retro inserts:

Like most of my own pulls, it uses the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design; they do, after all, come in every ten packs... This one is #96-PO in the set and shows him wearing the Coyotes' white (away) jersey, a simple-yet-effective hockey design, though to make it more classic, the purple could be changed for maroon...

Teemu Hartikainen Autograph Card

My show-and-tell is nearing its end. A reminder: I was lucky enough to get my hands on a box of Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro cards for $160 (I've seen them go up to $250); they consist of 100 cards per box, including 6 autographs, which revisit classic Fleer and Skybox designs.

This was my sixth ''hit'' - the first one which wasn't a defenseman. It was of Edmonton Oilers prospect Teemu Hartikainen, who unfortunately left North America for the KHL's Ufa Salavat Yulayev:

Over the past three years that he was in North America, Hartikainen had several auditions with the Oilers, with boxcars of 52 GP, 6-7-13, -10, 16 PiM. He also played extensively in Oklahoma City, where he posted regular season numbers of 164 GP, 45-66-111, +6, 69 PiM, with an additional 11 goals and 13 assists in 37 career playoff games. His season to season numbers have persistently translated to an NHL equivalent of about 25 points (plus or minus 10%) per 82 games, whereas his actual production in the bigs was similarly on about a 20-point pace for a full season. Anticipated development in his offensive game was slow in coming, although Teemu’s strong performance (17 GP, 7-8-15) in the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs had provided some cause for optimism. He seemed well-positioned to make a strong bid for a full time job in the NHL come the fall. Suddenly he’s gone from RFA to UFA in one swell foop.

His 2012-13 in the AHL led me to believe he was going to turn into a potent second-or-third line winger - 14 goals and 37 points in 47 regular season games, and 7-8-15 in 17 playoff games, but it'S true that the KHL overpays for players aged 18-25 in their first few NHL contracts (the first of which is capped).

And I'm always happy to add an Oilers card to my collection:

It's a sticker autograph, signed in blue sharpie. It's from the 1999 Skybox insert sub-set (card #99-TH), found approximately in every 20 packs. It shows him wearing the Oilers' white (away) uniform.

Hartikainen was originally a 6th-round pick, 163rd overall. Chosen after him were Justin DiBenedetto (175th), Zac Rinaldo (178th), Jason Demers (186th), and Anders Lindback (207th).

Nicklas Grossmann Autograph Card

Now that I've digressed with an awesome Henrik Zetterberg return and a tribute to Scott Niedermayer, let's get back to that 2012-13 Fleer Retro box break...

My fifth hit was also the fifth defenseman and fourth with the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design; they do, after all, come in every ten packs...

It's card #96-NG in the set, and though it's a bit over the top in the multitudes of inserts, it's a great idea from Upper Deck. Also, Nicklas Grossman looks right at home wearing the Philadelphia Flyers' uniform.

Grossman was originally a second-round (56th overall) pick of the Dallas Stars in 2004, and toiled around with their AHL affiliate Iowa Stars for a few seasons before making the jump to the NHL. He was even voted the AHL team's Most Improved Player after his first season, during which he was converted into a defenseman rather than a right winger. The Flyers acquired him in exchange for a second- and a third-round pick.

While I can see him notching one or two 15-to-20-point seasons in the near future, he is not exactly of the point-per-game variety; he plays a complete game and even managed to post a -1 season last year with a Flyers team that didn't even make the playoffs and was thought to have problems defensively. He'll seldom put his team into trouble and will accumulate less than a penalty minute per game.

In March 2012, it was revealed that his last name had been misspelled for years in North America, and he was just ''too shy'' to have it corrected, though it is now a done deal. Ironically, this card is from the 2012-13 season and still sports his 'old' last name... Also, I particularly like this quote, especially in regards to this card:

Grossman said he'd sign autographs with the double "N" and his parents back in Sweden were aware of (the situation).

But looking at the blue-sharpied signature on the sticker of this card, I'm hard-pressed to find even one 'N'...

Victor Hedman Autograph Card

And now, part 4 of my 2012-13 Fleer Retro (by Upper Deck) box break, featuring Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman:

It is card #96-VH in the set, and uses the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design; this particular card, like those of Jonathan Blum and Ryan Ellis, is from Group 'E' - which can be found in every ten packs. On this card, he is sporting the Lightning's alternate (third) jersey, worn for the first time in the 2008-09 season; it is usually worn at weekend home games. Notice the shoulders, though: it is of the old logo, discontinued two seasons ago, meaning it's an old picture. The current, ''simplified'' version looks like this:

Rumours have it that Tampa tried to lure the Colorado Avalanche into trading the first-overall pick for their third by including Hedman in the deal, and that's one I would have made, especially since, in retrospect, the Florida Panthers chose Alexander Barkov with the second pick. Hedman would have solidified the Avs' D instantly, and the team would still have had a shot at choosing among the remaining two out of Nathan MacKinnon (their actual pick), Jonathan Drouin (the play-making wonder Tampa chose third) and Seth Jones, the best defenseman available and Denver hometown kid that the Lightning wouldn't have picked. Just having Hedman as a safety net (because the draft isn't an exact science and accidents are known to happen) would have made sense.

Tampa looked to shake up their roster this off-season, buying out long-time captain Vincent Lecavalier (with 7 years remaining on his contract!) and hiring long-time Detroit Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula among other moves.

Hedman is merely 22 years old, far from a defenseman's prime (25-30) and already has 4 NHL seasons under his belt. In 2012-13, he went 4-16-20 with a very respectable +1 in 44 games in Tampa to go with his 1-20-21 and a stunning +18 in just 26 games for Barys Astana in the KHL. He will be very good for a very long time.

Ryan Ellis Autograph Card

And now for the third part in my 2012-13 Fleer Retro (by Upper Deck) box break, a card featuring none other than a Nashville Predators prospect I briefly mentioned yesterday, Ryan Ellis:

He's seen sporting the Preds' ugly yellow (home) uniform, one I find is way too similar to opponents' whites when they're confronted at Bridgestone Arena; they should have remained with some sort of combination using a dark shade of blue and grey. Just like yesterday's Jonathan Blum card, this card uses the design of the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design  and is #96-RE in the set; this particular card, like the Blum one is from Group 'E' - found in every ten packs. Luckily there are 22 of them, so despite their large numbers, one would still be unlikely to stumble upon multiple copies of the same card. It was signed in blue sharpie, on a sticker.

Ryan Ellis was a first-round pick, chosen 11th overall in 2009, behind (in order) John Tavares, Victor Hedman, Matt Duchene, Evander Kane, Brayden Schenn, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Nazem Kadri, Scott Glennie, Jared Cowen and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, and ahead of Dmitri Kulikov (14th), Nick Leddy (16th), Louis Leblanc (18th), Chris Kreider (19th), Jordan Caron (25th), Simon Després (30th), Jakob Silfverberg (39th), Robin Lehner (46th), Brandon Pirri (59th), Tomas Tatar (60th), Ryan Bourque (80th), David Savard (94th), Gabriel Bourque (132nd), and Gabriel Dumont (139th). All in all, it was a pretty good year.

Ellis is a stud defenseman who will be on the team's top pairing for years, perhaps even decades. He has won two Memorial Cups, and holds defenseman scoring records both for the OHL's Windsor Spitfires (ahead of a certain Joel Quenneville) and Team Canada at the World Juniors, where he also holds the country's assists mark. And while he lost the 2009 CHL defenseman of the year to Blum, he won it in 2011, along with the Player Of The Year award - a feat unheard of since Bryan Fogarty did it 22 years prior.

He has won gold at the U-17, and both versions of the U-18 (the regular IIHF one and the Ivan Hlinka Memorial), to go with one gold (2009) and two silver medals (2010, 2011) at the World Juniors.

An injury sustained at his first training camp with the Predators prevented him from dominating offensively for the 2009-10 season, but he honed his defensive skills the whole year to end up being ''the complete package'': sound defensively, great passer, speedy, and with a hard, accurate shot. Not all that physical (he is relatively small at 5'9''), he is more Kristopher Letang than P.K. Subban. He's got the right stuff, that's for sure.

Jonathon Blum Autograph Card

My second ''hit'' (yes, I'm pseudo-live-blogging in order!) from my box of Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro is of Nashville Predators' prospect Jonathon Blum, a former first-round draft pick, chosen 23rd overall in 2007, ahead of T.J. Brennan (31st), P.K. Subban (43rd), T.J. Galiardi (55th), Wayne Simmonds (61st), Yannick Weber (73rd), Jamie Benn (129th), and Paul Postma (205th).

He was named CHL defenseman of the year in 2008-09, ahead of fellow Pred prospect Ryan Ellis and Florida Panthers wünderkind Dmitry Kulikov. and represented Team USA three times so far (once at the World U-18 and twice at the World Juniors), captaining it once (WJC, 2009); he won silver at the 2006 U-18, and failed to medal twice at the World Juniors.

I have full confidence he will become a top-3 defender in this league, but with Shea Weber, Ellis and new draftee Seth Jones doing it for Nashville, it could, ultimately, be for another team.

This is a beautiful card, almost making me forget how much I despise the Predators' uniforms:

Ugh, the piping and the sub-piping... looks like a bad teen-league football uniform. But the colours are great. The card uses the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design (it's #96-BL in the set), and this particular card (a Group 'E') is found in every ten packs. Which explains why I've seen this card for a buck or two all over Ebay. It contains an on-sticker autograph in blue sharpie.

Noteworthy is Upper Deck's claim that 99% of autographs were obtained in person rather than by mail, reducing the chances of a fake signature.

Andrei Markov Autograph Card

With Panini resuscitating past 1990s brands Score, Donruss and the like and re-using some of the early sets' designs, Upper Deck - already manufacturers of the Fleer and O-Pee-Chee formerly-standalone brands - one-upped the retro market with their 2012-13 Fleer Retro set: the main set consists of merely 100 base cards, but there are tons of inserts, all of which use classic Fleer and Skybox designs.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a box for $160 (I've seen them go up to $250), and as I made the count in my head (100 cards per box, including 6 autographs), I figured I may as well go for it. If worse came to worse (say, all ''hits'' being of the Phoenix Coyotes and/or Columbus Blue Jackets) or if it went too well (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and/or Alex Ovechkin), Ebay could become my friend. Almost any other dream situation (finally getting a Joe Sakic or Wayne Gretzky autograph! - didn't happen - or a few Montréal Canadiens players) or regular situation (decent prospects, players I like and respect), I'd keep the cards.

My very first hit was of the Habs player I respect the most, Andrei Markov. While I've seen the card on Ebay since, going anywhere from $1 to $10, in my heart, having pulled it myself, it's pretty much priceless:

It's a sticker autograph, signed in blue sharpie. It's from the 1999 Skybox insert sub-set (card #99-AM), found approximately in every 20 packs. It shows Markov wearing the Habs' white (away) uniform, sporting the 'A' as he has been for three years.

Coach Michel Therrien has taken to calling him The General because his play was so dominating at the beginning of the season, though he seemed to slow down by the end of the season, especially in comparison to young stud P.K. Subban, Norris trophy winner. I, for one, think Subban wouldn't have gotten the trophy without Markov by his side, for one, and also, considering he'll turn 35 in December and his lack of playing time these past couple of years, think his 25 minutes of ice time per game may have been a tad too much in a shortened season where teams played four times a week. Of the old-school Russian mentality, Markov didn't stay at home for optional practices, and never takes a day off unless forced to. Like Charlie Sheen, he only has one gear: ''GO!'' 

With a full season under his belt (he played in the KHL during the lock-out) and now aware of his new limitations (particularly in regards to top-speed and pivoting), he should be back in the shape that made him one of the league's 5 best defenders for a decade, and may be worth putting on the ice for 22 or 23 minutes per game without trouble.

I just wish the once-savvy and knowledgeable Montréal crowd realized how important he and Tomas Plekanec are to the club and stopped talking about trading them. Sure, as their age rises and as their roles diminish, their salaries should do the same, but these home-grown, faithful veterans deserve to retire wearing the CH crest.

Tshimanga 'Tim' Biakabutuka Autograph Card

With another Montréal-area player in the NFL this year (Samuel Giguère), and one who is close to retiring (Jean-Philippe Darche), I thought it'd be nice to remember the guy who made it all possible: Tshimanga 'Tim' Biakabutuka.

Biakabutuka was born in Kinshasa, Zaïre, in 1974 but moved to Montréal in 1978 - incidentally, the year I was born. His family still lives in the area. He didn't take up playing football until late in high school, but was impressive enough to catch the eye of the Vanier College coaching staff, where his play was so spectacular he was given the nickname 'Touchdown Tim', despite playing running back, a position more about winning yards than scoring.

In fact, he was so good that the University Of Michigan gave him a full scholarship to play football there. And he didn't just show up and phone it in: to this day, he still holds the school's second highest single-game rushing performance, with 313 yards. That performance helped him get drafted in the first round by the Carolina Panthers in 1996, with the 8th overall pick. He left Michigan with 1818 yards in his final season - a record that still stands to this day.

Unfortunately, injuries got the better of him in the NFL and he was forced out of the line-up in 2001, despite being convinced he could still pull it off. His per-carry numbers are pretty good, but he never played more than 12 games, never carried the ball more than 173 times, and never rushed for more than 718 yards in a single season; Wikipedia calls him a ''first round bust'', but I call him an inspiration for my generation.

This card is from Fleer's 2000 NFL set, the Autographic/Fresh Ink sub-set, showing him in his Panthers' white uniform, ready for a carry.