Brian Elliott Swatch Card

This is a weird post-season for me, forcing me to cheer for teams I usually very much dislike (the Boston Bruins) or just don't care about (the St. Louis Blues) to win against teams I hate (the Carolina Hurricanes and San Jose Sharks).

The Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and lost in the Final in 2013, so they've already cemented their place as a top team in the decade, and the Blues made the Final in their first three seasons in the league yet had to see fellow 1967 expansion brothers the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins savor multiple wins - and the Minnesota North Stars reach a couple of Finals themselves before winning the Cup in 1999 as the relocated Dallas Stars. And nothing guarantees St. Louis would win against Boston, the third-best team in the league in the regular season.

The Blues seems to have finally found a goalie who can thrive in their system after many years of regular-season success but year after year of post-season failures in the person of Jordan Binnington. Now, goalies are hard to predict, and it remains to be seen if he can keep it up in the long run, but so far he's posted the third-best playoff performance this year (after still-standing Tuukka Rask and the now-eliminated Ben Bishop), and it doesn't seem like he'll wear down as long as he keeps playing.

These days, I have a thought for Brian Elliott, who manned the net admirably and honestly for six seasons in the Gateway City, posting some of the best goals-against averages of the millennium in the process:

from HockeyDB

Granted, he was Jaroslav Halak's backup and was sheltered by playing fewer games and against lesser opponents, but those are fine NHL numbers regardless of how you look at them.

However, his play hasn't been as effective for the past three seasons and he was surpassed by this year's other star rookie goalie with the Flyers, Carter Hart. Then again, at $2.75M per season, Elliott was pretty much playing on a backup's salary anyway.

His contract is due this summer, and I think he still has another two-year deal in him, likely with a team that needs to play their top goalie less and doesn't have a young gun ready to challenge for the position. I can think of three such teams in the Atlantic: the Montréal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings, as well as the Edmonton Oilers out West.

Here he is wearing the Blues' white (away) uniform, on card #GG-ET from Panini's 2012-13 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear subset:

The jersey swatch, however, is burgundy - from his 12 games with the Colorado Avalanche at the tail end of the 2010-11 season.

Brian Elliott: 2 Autographed Cards

What better time than after a shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks to feature St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott, finally getting his chance as a playoff starter - he's been waiting for it for four years, after all.

In my Round One Predictions, I stated that I was pulling for the Hawks (in 7) but made it clear that I could also see the Blues winning in 6, or even in four straight if all the games go to overtime. Well, Game 1 went to overtime, with Elliott besting Corey Crawford by just one shot that went through.

It's so hard to root against Elliott, though, who's a real feel-good story onto himself, always the underdog despite a couple of All-Star Game participations, a Jennings Trophy, and being an all-around nice guy, as can be attested by the fact that I got these cards in the mail from him just a few weeks ago, signed in blue sharpie with the correct uniform number tagged at the end.

Let's start with the oldest one, from Panini's 2010-11 Score Rookies And Traded (#576 in the set), showing him wearing the Colorado Avalanche's white (away) uniform, playing the puck behind his net:

Ironically, his 12-game stint with the Avs is the only one in which he had a GAA over 3.00 (3.83 to be exact) and a save percentage below .900 (.891) with an NHL team. He's at 2.01 and .925 over five seasons with the Blues, four of which ended in Masterton Trophy nominations, including this year.

Speaking of St. Louis, here he is jumping on the puck with cat-like reflexes, from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Series 2 set:

He'd been featured with the Avs in Series 1, so this was a means to update his status; it's card #289 in the set and shows him in the Rbk Edge blue (home) uniform.

I'll always wish Elliott the best; as a matte of fact, when Carey Price was injured, I was hoping Montréal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin would go and acquire his services to save the season; Mike Condon didn't do badly, but Elliott's a safer bet, and a much better stop-gap solution than Ben Scrivens.

Brian Elliott Autographed Card

The St. Louis Blues just cannot catch a break in net; this time, their "goalie oft he future" Jake Allen has been taken out of training camp with back spasms, an issue that has a tendency to become chronic with athletes over time.

That means Brian Elliott gets to be top dog again, though with GM Doug Armstrong and head coach Ken Hitchcock, who knows how long that'll last. We are, after all, talking about a team whose goalie made it to the All-Star Game, was confirmed as a starter two weeks ahead of the playoffs, then was stuck to the bench when they came along. The same team that wasn't content with having playoff hero Jaroslav Halak because he'd never played over 60 regular-season games in a single season (and who has since made the New York Islanders into contenders).

Here's the thing with Elliott: is he one of the 10 best goalies in the world? No. But do you need a top-10 goalie to win the Stanley Cup? No. Sure, Jonathan Quick and Corey Crawford do rank highly in my opinion, but Antti Niemi doesn't; neither did Chris Osgood. And Henrik Lundqvist (the best in the world), Pekka Rinne (the runner-up) and Carey Price (the best last year) have all yet to see their names engraved on the famed salad bowl.

Do I think Elliott is good enough to be a starter in today's NHL? Absolutely. Here's a list of teams for which he'd be the clear #1 in my opinion: the Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs, Arizona Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Carolina Hurricanes, and Minnesota Wild. And it'd be a close battle with the Detroit Red Wings and maybe even the Anaheim Ducks. He can stop pucks well, is what I'm saying.

I got this card in the mail at my old place, but I'm not sure who sent it to me (it's not a TTM return, as I've never owned this card in its regular form):

It's card #7 from In The Game's 2008-09 Between The Pipes set (part of the Future Stars sub-set), showing him wearing the Binghamton Senators' red (away) uniform. He signed it on-card in blue sharpie.

Brian Elliott Swatch Card

Despite having featured him last September, I feel Brian Elliott deserved an extra spot this weekend for showing up for duty at the All-Star Game despite getting the call when he was already on vacation, first as a news item, then his wife's Twitter post to see just where it was they were leaving from:

Brian Elliott left Turks and Caicos to play in the NHL All-Star Game because that's how much it means to him to be added. Stick tap, sir.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) January 23, 2015

The whole week, we were hearing left and right about players bowing out to take the week off, exaggerating their injuries to avoid the hassle of interacting with fans and sponsors all weekend, in Columbus of all places (not exactly the hot spot for partying with the boys or the wife to go shopping in, if we're going to stick with the hockey clichés), so it was great to see a feel-good vibe coming from some of these guys, particularly Elliott, in his second appearance, and also Carey Price, who despite being a fixture at the event, took it to heart as well, wearing full suits to speak with the press when his peers were in exercise garbs.

Alexander Ovechkin was also having a blast, as were the representatives of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks (even Captain Serious, Jonathan Toews). I won't pretend to have watched the event, but I read enough about it to have a pretty good idea what went on the whole weekend.

I remember I used to love the All-Star Games in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as a kid, with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Brett Hull and the rest. Apparently, some of these current guys too, and their sharing their enthusiasm is a key component in making these events successful. Mind you, the seasons are longer than ever, and with Olympics and World Cups thrown in here and there, we just keep asking more and more of the elite among them, so it's nice to see those who are happy to be there having a blast.

So, once again, kudos, Mr. Elliott, for putting work before leisure time - and to your wife for coming along and leaving the gorgeous beach and weather to come back to winter time in North America with you.

In tribute, here is a bonus post this weekend, from Panini's 2013-14 Totally Certified collection, card #TC-BE of the Red ''regular'' Jersey sub-set, featuring a game-worn dark blue swatch from a St. Louis Blues uniform:

It probably doesn't come from the white (away) uniform he's pictured in, though; it's more likely to be from the blue (home) uniform.

Brian Elliott Jersey Card

Yesterday, I touched briefly on the fact that the St. Louis Blues added Bob Gainey as a consultant, and considering the puzzling moves made by general manager Doug Armstrong, they actually probably could use his help - particularly when it comes to handling goalies.

It was bad enough that they traded Jaroslav Halak for former top-notch goalie Ryan Miller at last year's trade deadline, leading to a predictable playoff collapse, but they didn't even try to re-sign Miller, therefore pretty much admitting they'd made a huge mistake.

And how did they fix that mistake? By deciding to give the net to prospect Jake Allen, but not without inking good-guy Brian Elliott (who signed 5 cards for me 18 months ago) to a three-year extension. There's nothing wrong with signing a guy who twice posted a GAA below 2.00 in the past three seasons and holds the NHL record for best save percentage in a full season (.940), but it's iffy - to say the least - when the same guy had a 1.90 GAA and .919 save percentage in 6 playoff games in 2012-13 and yet wasn't allowed to play a single minute against the Chicago Blackhawks last year when Miller imploded.

Either you trust him to man the net or you don't - there are no two ways about it.

Not only does it reek of bad improvisation, it stinks of not having an actual plan. For all his faults as general manager with the Montréal Canadiens (over-paying for Carey Price and trading three #1 goalies to make room for him is one, having 13 players turn UFA at the end of the same season is another, a knack for always betting on the wrong free agents can also be one), Gainey always had a plan. It may not have been the right one, but it was a plan nonetheless.

And so the Blues enter 2014-15 with a new uniform that is reminiscent of their old ones, a new consultant who's from the old school, and the same backup goalie they've had for the past three seasons, ready to split time with the latest flavour of the month. With an actual top-line center like Paul Stastny, however, they now have their best forward in over a decade, and therefore have a shot at staying in the conversation with the top teams in the West - your Blackhawks, your Los Angeles Kings, your Anaheim Ducks and your Dallas Stars. And the Minnesota Wild, should they solve their own goaltending issues.

But a lot of the Blues' hopes will be riding on Elliott, who reminds me a lot of another goalie from my childhood, Ron Tugnutt; both were able to play the best game of the decade, had relatively consistent amazing statistics (Elliott even beats Tugnutt on that front), both were ''default'' additions to All-Star Games, and neither was ever considered in the top-20 of their time.

Of course, the Blues will have to protect Elliott better than they have in the preseason thus far. Here he is, wearing the team's white (away) uniform with matching game-worn jersey swatch, from Upper Deck's 2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition (card #AF-BE of the Authentic Fabrics sub-set):

Brian Elliott: 5 Autographed Cards

His season may be in jeopardy after the Los Angeles Kings took the series lead last night with an overtime win, but Brian Elliott has had the type of postseason the St. Louis Blues were hoping for. After a dream season in which he shared the William Jennings trophy with Jaroslav Halak, setting the NHL record for save percentage, winning the Crozier Award and playing in the All-Star Game, he had a slower start to the season in 2013 (even got demoted to the AHL at a point), but managed to bounce back when Halak got injured a second time, finishing with a 14-8-1 record, 2.28 GAA and .907%.

So far in 5 playoff games, he may be 2-3, but he's got a 1.88 goals-against average and a .925 save %. But we all knew the Blues would have trouble scoring on the Kings... And yet Elliott's playing as well as the goalie who was once traded for him, Craig Anderson.

I sent Elliott these 5 cards of him in the Ottawa Senators uniform on April 25th, 2013 and got them all back, signed in blue sharpie with his jersey number (30) tagged at the end, on May 9th, 2013. Here they are:

First, two cards from Upper Deck:

The card on the left, showing him in the Sens' red (home) jersey, is from the (always beautiful) 2010-11 Black Diamond set (card #41), while the one on the right is from the 2010-11 Victory set (card #136) and shows him with the Sens' white (away) uniform.

And now two Panini cards:

The card on the left, where he's sporting the red (home) jersey and all-Bauer set of equipment, is from the 2010-11 Crown Royale set (card #66); the one of the right, mixing Bauer gloves and Vaughn pads with the Sens' white (away) uniform, is from the 2010-11 Score collection (card #350).

Those are all fine, beautiful cards, but the next one was really something, because it showcases the Senators' now-gone third jersey from a few years back:

I was a fan of the design and colours, I just would have preferred, say, the Sens' original (sideways) logo on the chest rather than the word SENS, which makes it look more amateur-like. The card is from Upper Deck's 2009-10 O-Pee-Chee set (card #258). I like that UD make it a point to produce the OPC sets like those of my youth: with little gloss on the front, and a plain cardboard design on the back, no fluff, and a high-player count. They're perfect for autograph collectors.

All in all, this was my second great return this week. It had been a slow season thus far, but it's picking up now that the regular season is over.