Flames Preview: Mikael Backlund Autographed Card

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: Unlike in the distant past where I would post different texts on this collectibles blog and my personal one, I've been using a new format for the past couple of years, where I'll copy the same text on each one. As a father of two young kids, I just do not have enough time to write two separate posts per day on each blog. This year again, the entire scope of the analysis will take place first and the featured player will have a direct or perhaps indirect connection to what's written, below.

Caveats: At this point, despite training camp being set to start in a week, several players haven't found a team yet and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

Key exits: Tyler Toffoli (RW), Milan Lucic (LW), Troy Stetcher (D), Michael Stone (D), Nick Ritchie (LW), Trevor Lewis (C), Dryden Hunt (RW), and Matthew Phillips (C).

Key Arrivals: Yegor Sherangovich (C), Jordan Oesterle (D), xxx (C/LW), xxx (C), xxx (LW), xxx (D), xxx (G)

Top prospects: Jakob Pelletier (LW, 22 years old, point-per-game player in the AHL, 26th-overall pick in 2019), Dustin Wolf (G, 22 years old, .932 save percentage in the AHL), Matt Coronato (RW, 20 years old, 13th-overall pick in 2021, point-per-game player in the NCAA), and Connor Zary (C, 22 years old, 24th pick in the 2020 draft).

The Calgary Flames are a riddle in a question in quicksand in a parallel universe in a different timeline trying to prentend they were of this worls all along. They are everything you ever thought and its exact opposite. They are a two-year-old having hissy fits in need of a new downtown arena.

What makes their odds look good:
Three-quarters of this team won its division two seasons ago, and although two 100-point players left that team, they were replaced by another division winner in Jonathan Huberdeau and Stanley Cup winner Nazem Kadri. This is a much better team than what transpired last season.

Question marks: Previous GM Brad Treliving left because the Darryl Sutter problem was getting too big - both men were eventually replaced by their direct underling. Will that really be enough to change the team's culture? Will that really get Huberdeau back to his All-Star level, or incite Elias Lindholm to re-sign?

Outlook:
This team is too good and too deep to not make the playoffs two years in a row regardless of circumstance, and with a goalie like Jacob Markstrom, once in there, they could make a serious dent into many experts' prognoses.

Prediction:
Fourth in the Pacific Division.

With news that he had been signed to a two-year contract extension, Flames utility forward Mikael Backlund was named the team's 21st captain - and first since Mark Giordano's exit at the Seattle Kraken expansion draft.

Backlund is a cerebral two-way centre who can chip in offensively, able to replace on the first two lines at a whim but at this point in his career ideally situated in the 3C role where he can shut down opposing teams' top lines and pad his stats up when playing againt middle-of-the-lineup players.

After missing the playoffs by two points last season, his end-of-season presser was steeped in disappointment, and he let float the idea that he might leave as a free agent next summer or perhaps even ask for a trade, as it seemed the drama surrounding the team had put too much weight on him, but he seems to view the new admninistration in a positive light, enough to warrant sticking around for a couple of extra seasons at least and give it an honest chance. His staying means the Flames don't have to go through a rebuild regardless of Lindholm's status and that the team can contend for a playoff spot (and likely get in).

Here he is wearing the Flames' white Reebok-designed uniform on card #178 from the 2016-17 O-Pee-Chee set, manufactured under license by Upper Deck, always a favoutite of mine to get signed:

He signed it in thick black sharpie after a game against the Montréal Canadiens, probably that same year.

Robyn Regehr Autograph Card

(team links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

My first reflex upon seeing that the Calgary Flames' "Reverse Retro" uniform was, in fact, the return of the "Flaming Horse" black jersey, was "Cool! A return to the Darryl Sutter and Jarome Iginla era!" I always appreciated that uniform as an alternate; it's really beautiful, even though I have a soft spot for the classic/current red-and-yellow as the "main" team identity.

Of course, at this point, Sutter is actually back behind the team's bench, riding a three-game win streak after defeating Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the rival Edmonton Oilers last night.

Another staple of Sutter's success is Robyn Regehr, who not only was a member of the 2004 Flames team that made it to Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Final, but he was also on the 2013-14 Los Angeles Kings team that won its second Cup in three years with a Conference Final sandwiched in the middle. A mostly defensive defenseman, Regehr hit the 20-point mark three times (with a high of 26 in 2005-06) and, while he was rugged, generally remained below the 75-penalty minute threshold and never reached the century mark.

He is remembered fondly, with many seeing him as one of the best Flames players of all time (14th via Flames Nation, and 'best #28" for Matchsticks And Gasoline), which says a lot considering he was traded for the much-beloved Theoren Fleury; my own quick estimate has him ranked around the 20th spot, probably behind Jarome Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff, Al MacInnis, Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Vernon, Mark Giordano, Gary Suter, Fleury, Johnny Gaudreau, Joel Otto, Joe Mullen, Hakan Loob, Kent Nilsson, Lanny McDonald (who in terms of career achievements would likely land top-three or top-five but as a Flame is within reach of the top-10) and perhaps Sean Monahan and Guy Chouinard. In his prime, there was no one in Canada you wanted to avoid meeting in a corner than him.

Of course, he fits perfectly as #28 in my Flames Numbers Project with the signed insert version (gold variant) of card #154 from In The Game's 2000-01 Signature Series collection:

It features a thin black-sharpied, on-card autograph with his jersey number tagged at the end. What a beautiful card!

My Flames Numbers Project: An Introduction

I have hinted at it before, but after my Montréal Expos Numbers Project and all my hockey ones (my Habs Numbers Project, my Oilers Numbers Project my Sens Numbers Project, my Canucks Numbers Project, and my Nordiques Numbers Project), now's the time to do the same for the Calgary Flames.

The Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989, the only visiting team to ever win it on Montréal Canadiens home ice. They have been in Calgary since 1980, but the franchise started out as the Atlanta Flames in 1972. For my project, I think I'll focus on the Calgary era only. It may evolve over time but for now, that'll be my goal.

Speaking of goals, the point of this project is to feature memorabilia from players who represent each uniform number ever worn in team history; ideally, for the purposes of displaying it upon completion, it'd be nice to have those all be signed cards; however, because I'm far from rich, sometimes these may be other types of signed items, or even jersey cards.

So far, I have featured the following 46* players for 39 numbers:

1: Tyler Moss: check!
3: Ladislav Smid: check!
5: Mark Giordano: check!
6: Bob Boughner: check!
7:  T.J. Brodie (also wore #66) and Steve Bégin (also wore 26): check!
8: Joël Bouchard: check!
9: Lanny McDonald: check!
10: Roman Cervenka: check!
11: Gary Leeman and Mikael Backlund: check!
12: Jarome Iginla (twice): check!
13: Michael Cammalleri: jersey card check!
16: Cory Stillman, Shean Donovan and Dustin Boyd (also wore #41): check!
18: Matt Stajan: check!
20: Gary Suter: check!
22: Ron Stern and Craig Conroy: check!
23: Sean Monahan: check!
25: Willie Plett and Joe Nieuwendyk: check!
26: Steve Bégin: check!
27: Ed Beers: check!
28: Robyn Regehr and Émile Poirier: check!
29: Joel Otto and Akim Aliu: check!
31: Réjean Lemelin, Rick Wamsley, Ken Wregget and Curtis McElhinney: check!
34: Miikka Kiprusoff: check!
35: Henrik Karlsson: check!
37: Trevor Kidd and Leland Irving: check!
38: Ben Street: check!
40: Fred Brathwaite and Alex Tanguay: check!
41: Dustin Boyd (also wore #16): check!
42: Mark Cundari: check!
44: Chris Butler: check!
47: Sven Baertschi: check!
48: Greg Nemisz: check!
53: Derek Morris: check!
57: Émile Poirier: check!
59: Maxwell Reinhart: check!
60: Markus Granlund: check!
61: Oleg Saprykin (also wore #19): check!
66: T.J. Brodie (also wore #7): check!
67: Michael Frolik: check!
93: Sam Bennett: check!

captains: McDonald, Nieuwendyk, Conroy, Iginla and Giordano.
*some players appear twice, and therefore count as two.

Flames Preview: Akim Aliu Autograph 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. Two more caveats: at this point, the NHL has not even confirmed the division make-ups yet despite the season being set to start a month from now, and several impact players such as 25-to-30-goal scorer Mike Hoffman and 20-goal journeyman forward Anthony Duclair, among others, 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.

That being said, let's start with the one division we're pretty sure is going to happen if only because of the border situation, the Canadian/North Division, and the Calgary Flames.

Calgary has been trending downwards since looking overmatched in the 2019 playoffs against a much better and faster Colorado Avalanche team, with the entire first line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm appearing to be in the midst of mid-life crises.

What makes their odds look good:
GM Brad Treliving was faced with a huge dilemme: which team is the real Flames, the one which finished with the second-best offense and ninth-best defense in the league in 2018-19, or the 20th-best offense and 18th defense in 2019-20? Instead of betting on one and hoping for the best, he retooled his defense and added the best goalie on either the free agent or trade market - legitimate Vezina contender Jacob Markstrom - so that even if Gaudreau and Monahan have dropped from 90-point producers to 65-point players, the back end will be able to compensate by shutting the door more effectively in the defensive zone, at least.

Also, it's now clear that Mark Giordano no longer has to both anchor the blue line and be the team's heart and soul - that latter task now rests on the younger shoulders of Matthew Tkachuk, and he relishes it.

Speaking of the back end, T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic may have left as free agents duing the offseason, but Rasmus Andersson and Juuso Valimaki are ready to take their place, with Noah Hanifin completing what remains one of the best top-fours in the league, definitely in the top-10.

Question marks:
Is Geoff Ward an NHL-level head coach and if not, how does a team make a change in a Covid-19, two-week quarantine world?

Can Gaudreau bounce back?

Outlook:
Markstrom is an improvement over Cam Talbot between the pipes, the defense got five years younger but remains as good, and there is some depth - Tkachuk, Andrew Mangiapane, Mikael Backlund, playoff Sam Bennett showcasing his stuff for a Seattle expansion draft, Dillon Dubé - up front. I just always expect the Flames to fire their coach and hire a Sutter to take them to a Stanely Cup Final.

In a Canadian division, Calgary is not as good as the Vancouver Canucks, not as deep as the Montréal Canadiens and lack the star power of the Edmonton Oilers; I see them fighting with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final playoff spot and I believe the team that takes the season series wins the berth, and I believe the Flames can etch out one more win than the Leafs.

Prediction:
Fourth in the Canadian Division.

Akim Aliu may have left the Flames organization in 2013, but he has had an impact on the team as recently as last season, one which is still felt today, as his outing of the abuse head coach Bill Peters in November, following the dismissal of Mike Babcock from the Leafs; Peters was replaced by Ward, who may or may not be in over his head at the NHL level.

If you don't know Aliu's story, I urge you to read his side of it first, so that if you do form an initial opinion, it is at least based on your perception of his side of it. From the language barrier as a kid to growing up poor in two countries to the Steve Downie incident in Juniors to the Peters incident in the AHL, it is a testament that, yes, hockey is tough on many, but more so on people of colour, who still have to struggle with oftentimes worse socio-economical situations and the weight of slurs often having the meaning of "less than human" attached to them.

He's 31 years old at this point, for all intents and purposes removed from an NHL job for having spent most of his development and prime years just trying to keep a job in the lower echelons of the sport - and I recall instances where the Toronto media would try to help him by interviewing him in October, as he was still searching for a job, practising with local Juniors or University teams hoping for an NHL GM to call, instead answering the bell to play abroad. His skill-set still has him dominate in the ECHL, but he's more of a middle-of-the-linup AHLer or Tier II European star at this point, whereas he would have (probably) been a dependable middle-six NHLer if given a proper chance.

Regardless of the angle you take it on, hockey has to be an inclusive sport. If only for the economics, you want as many people as possible to purchase gear, apparel, and memorabilia, but the marketing of the sport also needs every kid to be able to dream they have a spot in it if they want it; on an HR level, why would you go out of your way to reduce the pool of candidates for any given job, especially since hiring someone that doesn't fit in the traditional mold might be what's needed to provide a new train of thought that gives you the outside edge. It's gotten better and easier for Russians and Eastern Bloc hockey folks to make it in North America, but it's also time kids from decrepit rinks in poor parts of Toronto and Winnipeg, people from the Far North and other Indeginous peoples to also get the access to a fair shake.

Jay Feaster was on the right side of many a one-sided move as GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Flames, including a deal to loan Aliu from the Winnipeg Jets to try him out and then send John Negrin for his actual rights, and with 3 points and 12 penalty minutes in two games in 2011-12 and another 14 PIMs in 5 games in 2012-13, he knew he had a guy who would stand his ground to keep his spot, but he lost his footing - a contending team going into a sudden rebuild due to inuries to starting goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, a tight salary cap that cost depth inn the middle of the lineup and young guys like Giordano, Brodie and Backlund taking just a tad too long to develop - and had to trade away Hall Of Fame captain Jarome Iginla before losing his job. I personally would have loved to see Iginla and Steve Bégin take Aliu under their wings and mesh his natural talent and determination with an irreproachable work ethic that would have made this sight one that lasts 8 years instead of 8 games:

That's the signed insert version of card #109 from Upper Deck's 2012-13 SP Game-Used Edition set and Authentic Rookies sub-set. It features an on-sticker blue-sharpied autograph and shows hi wearin gthe team's classic red uniform.

Kris Chucko Jersey Card

Not every first-rounder from the 2004 draft class played in the NHL; A.J. Thelen (12th overall, Minnesota Wild) and Andy Rogers (30th overall, Tampa Bay Lightning), for instance, haven't. Kris Chucko, chosen 24th overall with the Calgary Flames, played 2 games with the team in 2008-09, as he was being groomed for a bottom-six grinding winger role with middle-six upside due to his speed, hockey sense and 6'2", 198-pound physique.

His defensive play kept him from being relegated to the ECHL during his five-season AHL career, but his lack of consistent offensive production save for the '08-09 season didn't warrant any call-ups, either.

He also may have lacked discipline on the ice, as his penalty minute count usually surpassed his number of games played.

It wasn't any of that that put an end to his career, however: he suffered a serious concussion in December 2009 limiting him to 41 games that year and another one in October 2010 that ended his season after just two contests.

He didn't have a contract for the following season and had to consider his future quality of life.

Here he is wearing the Flames' red (home) uniform, on card #FT-KC from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Ice set and Fresh Threads sub-set:

It features a black jersey swatch from a rookie photo shoot.

After retiring, the Burnaby, BC native moved to Minnesota - where he had played NCAA hockey with the Golden Gophers at university - and turned to banking; he is currently a manager and VP for at U.S. Bank.

Craig Conroy: Two Autographed Cards

Originally a Montréal Canadiens draft pick (sixth round, 123rd overall, 1990), Craig Conroy remained at Clarkson University until 1993-94, at which time the Habs had a bit of a logjam at centre, with Vincent Damphousse, Pierre Turgeon, Kirk Muller and Saku Koivu there during his first two seasons trying to make the team.

Ironically, the Réjean Houle regime would solve that problem by sending both Conroy and Turgeon to the St. Louis Blues, along with Rory Fitzpatrick, for middle-six forward and bad influence Shayne Corson, defensive defenseman Murray Baron and a fifth-round pick. Turgeon would be a better-than-point-per-game player with the Blues (355 points in 327 regular-season games - with an 85-point output to begin his five-year run in St. Louis and an 82-point season to end it with in 2000-01, as well as 45 points in 50 playoff games in the heart of the Dead Puck Era) and continued his run of Selke and Lady Byng Trophy-level play while Conroy also had Selke-worthy seasons (he was actually a finalist in 1997-98 and fifth in votes the following season), but produced a little less offensively, with 151 points in 359 games.

Where Conroy became an offensive force was in his first three seasons with the Calgary Flames, playing alongside Jarome Iginla, where he posted 75-, 59- and 47-point seasons - the latter in just 63 games in 2003-04, where he also collected17 points in 26 games as the team made its way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

He then spent parts of two seasons with the Los Angeles Kings before this happened:

He was thus once again a member of the Flames, with whom he retired in the middle of the 2010-11 season, after being a healthy scratch for many games and going unclaimed on the waiver wire and opting to not report to the AHL. He did play his 1000th game that year, however.

Upon retiring, he was named Special Assistant to the General Manager and has officially had his title changed to Assistant-GM under Brad Treliving in 2014. Many believe he's next in line for the actual position unless a "huge name" comes along to take over.

Here he is wearing Calgary's white (the-home) uniform right after he was acquired from the Blues, on card #41 from Upper Deck's 2001-02 Vintage collection, one that strongly resembles old Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets:

He was named co-captain in his second year with the team and held the title by himself the following year, as can be attested by card #47 from Pacific's 2003-04 Pacific set, showing him wearing the team's then-away "Flaming Horse" black jersey:

He stepped down from the position himself so that Iginla could lead the team, which he did, straight to the Final, that very first year.

Conroy signed both cards while scouting the Habs on behalf of the Flames in 2016 or 2017.

Max Reinhart Autograph And Swatch Card

Former NHL Paul Reinhart's three sons played in the NHL: Sam was a Buffalo Sabres first-round pick and still plays centre for the team; Griffin was a New York Islanders first-round pick who now patrols the blue line with the KHL's Chinese team, the Kunlun Red Star, after passing through the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights organizations; and Maxwell retired at age 25 after spending the 2017-18 season with the AHL's Belleville Senators, essentially used as their fourth-line centre.

I was under the impression that he would make a fine 'tweener, playing shut-down AHL minutes and the occasional fourth-line call-up in the NHL, but a coach told me he didn't feel like his defensive play was good enough to trust at that position.

From what I remember, though, Max had good two-way instincts and was above-average speed-wise - two of the most in-demand traits in the NHL these days; he also had a decent vision and passing skills in Juniors and at the AHL level, but maybe he lacked that split-second to keep at it in the NHL.

He holds the AHL's Abbotsford Heat record for points in a single season on the strength of 63 in 66 games.

Here he is wearing the Calgary Flames' red (now-home) uniform, on the "all-dressed" insert version of card #164 from Panini's 2013-14 Totally Certified set and Dual Rookie Class sub-set:

It features a white "event-worn" jersey swatch and blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph.

Bob Boughner: Two Autographed Cards

Yesterday's shock wave resonates again today, as I feature the San Jose Sharks' new interim head coach, former NHL bruising defenseman Bob Boughner. Boughner was already behind the San Jose bench as an assistant-coach for the second time when he was chosen for the impossible task of righting the Sharks' ship.

In my preseason predictions, I had them a point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers as the third and last representative of the weak Pacific Division to make the playoffs only because of the depth of the line-up up-front and the two-headed monster of Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns on defense.

But the goaltending has been an even bigger back-breaker than last year, posting the same pedestrian statistics while the middle of the offensive line-up hasn't been able to generate the scoring they had last year.

Judging from his time coaching the Florida Panthers, I'm not certain Boughner will add more goals for to his team's bottom line, but if he can make them harder to play against in their own end and perhaps give away fewer prime scoring chances, and maybe a few of those 4-3 games can swing the other way.

He's also probably a good coach for the younger guys, as can be attested by his resume in Juniors: twice the OHL's Coach Of The Year, once the entire CHL's Coach Of The year, two consecutive Memorial Cups with the Windsor Spitfires and total domination as Team Canada's head coach at the 2009 U-18 (Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament).

Whether he got that by using old-school tactics to guide his players or he got them there through positive reinforcement remains to be seen, as a few examples of mind games and physical and verbal abuse have come to light of late, but that's also something we have to keep an eye out for nowadays.

What we do have, however, undeniably, is his career as a player. The statistic that stands out the most are his 1382 penalty minutes in 630 games, of course, and only two seasons with more than 10 points. What old-school heads will enjoy is that he was a career +27 despite playing on poor teams, such as the Buffalo Sabres, the expansion Nashville Predators, the turn-of-the-millennium Pittsburgh Penguins, the pre-Miikka Kiprusoff Calgary Flames, the always-disappointing Carolina Hurricanes and the post-Patrick Roy/late-30s Joe Sakic-era Colorado Avalanche.

He also wore the alternate captain's "A" in Pittsburgh and the captain's "C" in Calgary (with Craig Conroy) before Jarome Iginla took the mantle.

He clearly thinks the game well and is respected for his leadership.

I wrote to him nearly a decade ago via the Spitfires - which he still owns in part - and he signed cards (in blue sharpie) that represent him in his better seasons, starting with card #160 from Upper Deck's 1999-2000 Victory set, after a 13-point season with the Preds, wearing the team's white (then-home) uniform:

And here he is during his 17-point seasons, the "A" prominent on the Flames' white (home) uniform, on card #9 from In The Game's 2003-04 In The Game Action set:

H added his uniform number (6) at the end of each signature, which means he's a perfect addition to  my Flames Numbers Project.

Markus Granlund Autograph Card

When the NHL season got underway, I traded for this card of Markus Granlund so I could check off #60 from my Flames Numbers Project:

It's card #YM-18 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Contours set and Youth Movement sub-set - numbered 154/399 - showing him wearing the Calgary Flames' white (away) uniform and featuring a blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph.

The Nashville Predators' Mikael Granlund's younger brother, Markus started his career like many second-rounders do (45th overall, 2011), remaining in Europe to develop for a couple of extra seasons, then coming to North America and signing a three-year entry-level deal, alternating between the AHL and NHL in his first season, at some point leading AHL rookies in points, earning his first point in his third NHL game, scoring his first NHL goal in his fifth game. He finished the 2013-14 with 25 goals and 21 assists (46 points) in 52 AHL games, and 3 points in 7 NHL games.

2014-15 was spread out a little more evenly, and he collected 17 points in 21 games with the AHL's Adirondack Flames, and 18 points (8 goals) in 48 games with teh Flames; 2015-16 confirmed he was among the AHL elite (9 points in 12 games with the Stockton Heat) but after collecting just 7 poiits in 31 games at the NHL level, the Flames traded him to the Vancouver Canucks for Hunter Shinkaruk, a former firs-round pick (24th overall in 2013), where his 3 points in 16 games to close out the eyar were nothing to write home about.

He had his best season in 2016-17, scoring 19 goals and amassing 13 assists for 32 points in 69 games, displaying the sort of skills and understanding of the game that had him looking like an eventual solid second-liner, but he slipped to 12 points in 53 games in 2017-18 and 22 points in 77 games last year, falling out of favour in Vancouver.

He signed a one-year deal near the league minimum with the Edmonton Oilers last summer, and his points totals have all but dried up, playing part-time minutes on the fourth line, but he seems aware that he's there to help the penalty-kill first and foremost while the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and James Neal take care of the offence.

Who knows where his career will lead him from here, but he's almost half-way in playing for every Canadian team from West to East, so a good bet would be the Winnipeg Jets next, followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Montréal Canadiens.

Johnny Gaudreau Jersey Card

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Calgary Flames would finish second in the Pacific Division in 2019-20).

Back when he was nicknamed "Johnny Hockey", Johnny Gaudreau was already a force among players in his age range, winning the USHL championship with the Dubuque Fighting Saints and being named the league's Rookie of the Year, which led to his bring drafted 104th overall by the Calgary Flames.

He then did even better with the Boston College Eagles, leading all rookie with 44 points in 44 games and helping his team win the National Championship, scoring a highlight-reel goal in the final game and earning MVP honours while he was at it, a title he also won when BC won the Beantown Tournament (for the third year in a row).

He improved on those totals by posting 51 points in 35 games in his sophomore season, but his team failed to win NCAA titles, although it did win another Beantown Tournament. Gaudreau himself got a Player Of The Year award and added a World Juniors gold medal to his resume over the Holiday period, however, as Team USA beat Team Sweden in Ufa, Russia.

His third season at BC came with another Player Of The Year award, with 80 points in 40 games, earning the coveted Hobey Baker Award.

Upon making the move to the NHL,m he scored in his first game on his first shot, and played in the All-Star Game while he was at it, recording two assists. He finished third in Calder Trophy voting, behind Aaron Ekblad and Mark Stone.

His career trajectory has been upwards almost without fault, with seasons of 64, 78, 61, 84, and 99 points; that 61-point outlier includes 10 games missed dur to finger surgery and four months of playing through pain resulting from one too many slashes to the hands, a situation decried by Calgary brass at the time, who felt - with reason - like too many adversaries were given too many liberties in hindering their star player's talent.

The only thing missing in his case is to keep on producing in the playoffs, as his Flames were too easily in 2016-17 (4 games) and 2018-19 (5 games), during which he only totalled 3 points.

Here he is sporting the Flames' red (home) uniform, on card #GJ-JG from Upper Deck's 2018-19 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a yellow game-worn jersey swatch, a colour that is not dominant in any of Calgary's three uniforms, so it's a tad rare. I got it in a trade earlier this summer, giving away five jersey cards for it.

Michael Frolik Autographed Card

Despite a summer full of rumours, the Calgary Flames have yet to trade T.J. Brodie and Michael Frolik, even though their names came up in hockey news circles almost daily, mostly due to salary cap concerns.

Frolik is a middle-six forward who drives the play forward and can be accounted for 35-45 points (usually 42-44) per season. He's 31 years old and only had a down year in 2017-18 (10 goals, 15 assists, 25 points and -19 in 70 games) but reverted back to his norm in 2018-19 with 16 goals (his career average), 18 assists, 34 points and a +26 rating in just 65 games.

And that's where his age might be catching up with him; his point production and two-way play have remained mostly steady, so if he did lose a step from his early 20s, he's made up for it with experience and Hockey IQ, but he's only played three full 82-game seasons in his 11-year career, and his last four seasons read more like the ages of a golf foursome in Florida than a list of games played: 64, 82, 70 and 65. I'd count on him to miss ten games per season if I were running a team.

He has mostly played in red uniforms throughout his career (Flames, Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks) save for a two-season stint with the Winnipeg Jets, won the Stanley Cup with the Hawks in 2013 and has a handful of bronze medals with the Czech Team on his resume, from the U-18 Championships (2004 and 2006), World Juniors (2005) and World Championships (2011 and 2012). A team that is aspiring to a Cup, like the Flames, would do well to keep his experience within its ranks, in my opinion. He has a pretty clear idea as to what they are missing to win it all.

And he looks pretty good wearing their uniform, too, as can be attested by card #273 from Upper Deck's 2018-19 O-Pee-Chee set:

He signed it in blue sharpie in February (adding his uniform number, 67, below the signature), after a game versus the Ottawa Senators. He is perfect for inclusion in my Flames Numbers Project.

Craig Berube Autographed Card

I wasn't Craig Berube's biggest fan growing up, because he played on teams I didn't like back then (Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals), but there's something to be said about a player with 61 goals and 159 points in 1051 NHL games that makes you respect his body of work.

Then again, it could be the 3360 career penalty minutes (3149 in the regular season, plus 2511 in 89 playoff games) on a 6'1" frame for 205 pounds of angry beef.

Nowadays, I look at his playing resume and see an undrafted player who spent 17 seasons in the NHL on five different teams, including two stints each with the Flyers, Calgary Flames and Caps. I see determination and certainly respect and dedication to his teams and teammates.

He stands 7th on the all-time penalty minutes list and is short-listed for two other impressive feats, including being only the second interim head coach (after Larry Robinson) to win a Stanley Cup. He also made history with Ted Nolan on November 21, 2013 when they became the first pair of coaches to face off to be of First Nations descent, Berube being part Cree and Nolan being of Ojibwe descent.

Here he is wearing the Leafs' best-looking uniform, the 1980s white (home) uniform, on card #495 from Pro Set's 1991-92 Series 2 set, which also lists him as a member of the Flames:

 He signed it in blue sharpie in the early 00s, when he was coaching the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms.

Curtis McElhinney Autographed Card

Curtis McElhinney is the epitome of a journeyman goaltender; when he signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 1st, the Bolts became his eighth NHL team since first suiting up in 2007-08 with the Calgary Flames.

He's also played for (in order of most recent) the Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes, and Anaheim Ducks.

And yet, my first thought when he signed wasn't about potential McElhinney fans and family having to shell out money for yet another jersey with his name on the back but more about how many teams missed their opportunity to improve themselves by adding him this summer.

The Coyotes and Ducks are set in nets, but the Canes could have used him again, as could the Leafs and Flames - he'd be better options than those currently slotted in the #2 spot on all three teams; he'd be a known quantity that's safer than the unknowns for both the Jackets and Sens; he'd be a better option for teams like the Montréal Canadiens, and a team like the Florida Panthers, having just moved on from both Roberto Luongo and James Reimer and signed Sergei Bobrovsky, could have left youngster Samuel Montembeault acquire some reps in the AHL instead of sitting on a NHL bench until the team's 2019 first-round draft pick Spencer Knight is himself ready to surpass him.

Why him, you might ask if you aren't of the hockey nerd brethren? Well, he just finished the playoffs with a .930 save percentage and 2.30 GAA on a Canes team that surprisingly reached the semi-final; before that, he'd posted an 11-5-1 record, .934 save percentage and 2.14 GAA in 18 games in Toronto, and save for a poor 2015-16 in Columbus, had some of the best backup stats in the entire NHL since the 2011-12 season (granted he only played two games that year).

Here he is with the Flames, on card #31 from Upper Deck's 2007-08 Rookie Boxed Set / Rookie Class set:

He was already 24 when he posed for that picture in Calgary's red (now-home) uniform. He signed the card in blue sharpie while playing for the Leafs, so between 2016 and 2018.

Sam Bennett: Four Autographed Cards

Done deal: Sam Bennett has signed a two-year bridge deal with the Calgary Flames that comes with a $2.55M cap hit - enough to show him the respect of his first-round pedigree, and enough of a message that he has yet to develop into the consistent producer the team would prefer him to be.

After all, he just played his age 22 season - his fourth full-time NHL season - and had his second-highest points-per-game average at 0.38; it was during his rookie season that he posted his best statistics, however, with his highest goals (18), assists (18) and points (36) totals in 77 games, for a points-per-game rate of 0.47.

Both the team and player were happy to avoid an arbitration hearing, as both sides know what the other expects of them, and both are still willing to put forth the effort to get there. Neither side needed to hear the other's gripes.

It's not all dire, however, as he's found a comfortable niche playing alongside Mikael Backlund and Mark Jankowski as an efficient checking line, but the fact that Backlund has remained a 20-goal, 45-55-point player means his wingers should be able to come close to those numbers as well.

The Flames seem to be in a cap crunch, however, and a mid-level salary may have to leave town before the season starts, and the usual suspects are top-six forward Michael Frolik and top-four defenseman T.J. Brodie. Both disappointed in Calgary's five-game elimination to the Colorado Avalanche a couple of months ago, but Brodie was a 24/25-minute defender from 2013-16 and a 23-minute man from 2016-18 and fell to 21:28 last year, which was still the second-highest on a deep dfensive team, but there is reason to believe he either no longer has his coaches' confidence, or may be past his peak (a conclusion I'm not yet ready to get to in his case, considering he just played in his age 28 season).

All that is to say that Bennett may be given a look on the second line a few times next season, and his statistics may improve just from getting ice time with the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau or Sean Monahan.

I got him to sign four cards for me in black sharpie when he was in town with the Flames last October. Let's take a closer look at them, starting with the two where he's sporting the team's red (home) uniform:

On the left is card #7 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 National Card Day (Canadian Edition) set and Canada's Rookies sub-set, while the one on the right is from UD's 2016-17 Series 1 collection (and is #31 in the set).

There are also two where he's sporting the white (away) uniform, as seen below:

On the left is card #34 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 Artifacts set, while the one on the right is #132 from UD's 2017-18 MVP collection.

He tagged all of them with his current jersey number (93), which makes him an easy addition to my Flames Numbers Project.

Jamie Macoun: Two Autographed Cards

It feels good to finally see the Calgary Flames near the top the NHL standings, 30 years after their last Presidents Trophy (and Stanley Cup) in my youth.

One of the important members of those strong 1980s Flames was Jamie Macoun, who could have had a stellar career as a point-collecting defenseman due to his size, speed and strength, but instead forged himself a reputation as one of the best shut-down defensemen in the league on the team's second pairing, with Ric Nattress. Between 1986-87 and 1990-91, his plus-minus read as follows: +33, +40, +34, and +29.

He missed the entire 1987-88 season after a car accident that first responders initially thought had been fatal, as he lost control of his vehicle, swerved into oncoming traffic on the other side of the highway, initiated a head-on collision, turned upside-down and skidded the length of a hockey rink (some 200 feet) on its roof; it took 45 minutes to get Macoun out of the vehicle because his arm was pinned underneath it, and the nerve damage was so bad that doctors gave him a 50-50 chance of ever being able to use it again - playing hockey was pretty much out of the question at that point, yet he returned. He pleaded guilty to charges of reckless driving and was fined.

The 1989-90 Flames team was probably the best team the franchise ever iced, although it finished second overall, a year after finishing first and winning the Cup. Its top two centers each passed the 90-point mark (Joe Nieuwendyk had 95, Doug Gilmour was a close second with 91); one of the greatest Russian forwards of all time (Sergei Makarov) won the Calder Trophy as Rookie Of The Year with 86 points after crossing the Atlantic Ocean; Gary Roberts (39), Joe Mullen (36) and Theoren Fleury (31) each passed the 30-goal mark; Paul Ranheim (26) and Brian MacLennan (20) each reached the 20-goal plateau; Joel Otto and Jan Hrdina's two-way play were both Selke-worthy; Al MacInnis (90) and Gary Suter (76) both posted point-per-game performances from the blue line; Macoun (+34), Dana Murzyn (+19) and Brad McCrimmon (+18) were all tremendous on the penalty kill; and Mike Vernon and Rick Wamsley were both dependable between the pipes, with Vernon coming off a Conn Smythe-worthy performance in the previous playoffs.

His career took a turn when he was part of one of the biggest (and lopsided) trades of my lifetime, as he was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs with Gilmour, Nattress, Wamsley and prospect Kent Manderville for Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk, Gary Leeman, Michel Petit and backup goalie Jeff Reese. He helped the Leafs (along with Gilmour and a young Félix Potvin) reach the 1993 Conference Finals, falling to Wayne Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings, who themselves ultimately lost to the Montréal Canadiens.

He ended his career by playing just over a season for the Detroit Red Wings, who won the Cup in his first quarter-season with the team and finished first overall for his final season.

He returned to Calgary after retiring, running and co-owning a real estate firm; he also owned a stuffed toy store with his wife early in his career, and a Ford dealership in Ontario in his Leaf days. He is smart and business-savvy, but also affable, a quality that comes in handy as the head of the Flames' Alumni Association.

He was also an unquestioned leader, and was part of a rotation of team captains in 1990-91, as can be attested by the two cards below, starting with #38 from Pro Set's 1991-92 Series 1 set:

And there is also card #504 from Score's 1991-92 Score (Canadian Edition) set:

Both show him wearing the team's classic red (then-away) uniform and sporting the captain's "C". He signed them in blue sharpie at an NHL Alumni game.

He also suited up for Team Canada four times, winning silver medals at the 1985 and 1991 World Championships.

Mark Giordano: Three Autographed Cards

It had been a few quiet years on the "Mark Giordano deserves a Norris Trophy" front - since 2014-15, actually - and it has been given to players who didn't actually deserve it in their winning year of late: Drew Doughty wasn't the best defenseman by a long shot in 2015-16 (Erik Karlsson was, and Kris Letang was second), but he hadn't won one yet, which went against his reputation as one of the best defensemen in the game, so he got the nod; Brent Burns was handed the award in 2016-17 on the strength of his 29 goals and 76 points, but in terms of best defenseman, Karlsson, Victor Hedman and two-time winner Duncan Keith had better all-around numbers and metrics; so Hedman was given the award in 2017-18 despite posting 9 fewer points than the previous year, to make up for losing it then, when a case could have easily been made for P.K. Subban, a now-defensively-capable John Carlson, an MVP-like season for Seth Jones, "fancy stats" winners John Klingberg and Roman Josi, or even Doughty, who may have had his best season ever.

That's Oscars-level legacy recognition, or even worse, Martin Brodeur-level belated and overblown history revising.

If Giordano wins it this year, however, it will be out of merit, not just because he missed out on the final quarter-season of play in 2014-15 when he was away ahead of everyone else in the field. He and Letang are the only two defenders who rank in the top-six in the league in each of the following categories (among defensemen who have logged more than 500 minutes): goals, points, shots, shot attempt share, goal differential, and scoring chance share.

Both post those impressive numbers while consistently playing against the opposition's best five players, which is something Karlsson/Burns and Subban/Josi don't have to do, as they rarely play together and, thus, one is often playing against second-liners.

Both Giordano and Letang play on what is essentially a two-horse show this season, Giordano sharing the spotlight with possible MVP candidate Johnny Gaudreau while Letang is playing with a rejuvenated Sidney Crosby who is playing his most "complete" game ever, which excludes him from MVP and scoring leaders talk but has him in consideration for the Selke Trophy; what separates the two is that the Calgary Flames were supposed to be a bubble playoff team relying on a rookie goalie yet stand atop the Pacific Division, while the Pittsburgh Penguins are perennial Stanley Cup contenders who are stuck middling around the Wild Card race.

Giordano's impact on his team is simply much greater than Letang's, this year. The only thing that stands in their way of being the 1-2 picks is the Toronto-centric hockey media - which votes on these awards - and their craving to have a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs finally get his hands on an individual award, and their voting en masse for Morgan Rielly, who in my view comes far behind (in order) at least Giordano, Letang, Karlsson, Burns, Carlson, Hedman, and Jones, maybe even Thomas Chabot, Josi and Mattias Ekholm.

Time will tell, but the Flames' captain has put himself in position to contend, which is pretty much all he could do.

He was in town with the Flames facing the Montréal Canadiens in October, and signed these three cards in blue sharpie for the occasion, first wearing Calgary's classic uniform on the "Gold" variant of card #64 from Panini's 2013-14 Score set, getting in a shooting lane:

Another classic red picture with the prominent alternate captain's "A", this time carrying the puck up the ice on card #474 from Upper Deck's 2013-14 O-Pee-Chee set:

And finally, the captain's "C" clearly visible, looking for someone to pass the puck to, on the "Canvas" card #C132 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Series 2 collection:

Although undrafted from Juniors, he's definitely making a dent in NHL history as a two-time All-Star, a six-year captain, two-time World Championship silver medalist (2007 and 2010), Spengler Cup winner (2008), and 2015-16 NHL Foundation Award winner. Add a Norris or two, some playoff success, and maybe you're looking at a Hall of Famers; he'd be the second-most prominent undrafted player in my lifetime (after Adam Oates) to make it.

These signed cards will replace his jersey cards as the entry for #5 in my Flames Numbers Project.

Two Shean Donovan Autographed Cards

Shean Donovan spent more or less his entire NHL career a victim of his physique. Drafted 28th overall (second round) by the San Jose Sharks in 1993 after a 53-poiint season, he exploded for 84 points in his final OHL season with the Ottawa 67s, not unlike their current star player Tye Felhaber.

Of course, at 6'3" and 225 pounds with terrific speed, Donovan qualified as a power forward and would have needed at least five to seven years to develop, but the Sharks lost patience after four seasons and sent him to the Colorado Avalanche, where he had trouble getting ice time on a team that also included such All-Stars as Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Milan Hejduk, Alex Tanguay, Chris Drury, Adam Deadmarsh, Brian Rolston, and Claude Lemieux, so he was eventually dealt to the Atlanta Thrashers, claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and traded to the Calgary Flames.

It was the Flames who took a long look at his skating ability ahead of his size and made him into a second-liner instead of a checking winger, and it paid off with a terrific 2003-04 season where he scored 18 goals (second on the team), collected 24 assists (third) and posted 42 points (third).

The season-long 2004-05 lockout got the best of him, however, as he only played 12 games overseas with the Genève-Servette HC, collecting 8 points but also 30 penalty minutes. Playing on a checking line for ten seasons in the NHL had instilled bad habits in his game, and the rule application in Europe and when he made his way back to North America in 2005-06 was such that he essentially had to be relegated to a checking line once again as he played one year for the Boston Bruins and three more with the Ottawa Senators.

He retired after the 2009-10 season and began coaching in 2013-14, first as an assistant and development coach with the 67s, then adding the Sens starting the following season. He is still in that position for the Senators, splitting his time between Ottawa and their AHL affiliate in Belleville.

He signed the above cards for me in blue sharpie during his penultimate season, in 2008-09. Card #60 from Upper Deck's 2005-06 MVP set sees him wearing the Flames' red (then-away) uniform:

And here he is sporting Calgary's white (then-home) uniform, on card #29 from UD's 2005-06 Series 1 set, celebrating after a goal:

He tagged both cards with #10, his number on the Sens, rather than #16, his number with the Flames.

He has won gold medals twice playing for Team Canada, at the 1995 World Juniors and 1997 World Championships.

Greg Nemisz Autographed Card

The last time we checked up on Greg Nemisz, he had been traded by the Calgary Flames to the Carolina Hurricanes, then sustained a season-ending knee injury after posting 14 points in 21 games for the AHL Charlotte Checkers.

While rehabbing his knee at the beginning of the 2015-16 season, he accepted an offer from the Oshawa Generals to be their video coach; after realizing he would never fully recover from his third major injury in three seasons, he put an end to his playing career and became a full-time assistant coach with the Generals, a position he still holds today.

I met him in 2016-17 when I was scouting Generals goalie Jeremy Brodeur, son of Martin Brodeur, and he was kind enough to sign this 2012-13 Score card (#99 in the set) by Panini for me, in blue sharpie:

It shows him wearing the Flames' classic red (now-alternate) uniform.

So far, the undrafted Brodeur looks like he'll be a career minor-leaguer; his older brother Anthony, a former throwaway pick of the New Jersey Devils, is having a heck of a revival playing for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.