Devils Preview: 2 Stéphane Richer Autographed Cards

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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 underway, several players haven't found a team yet, (at least) three star players have active trade requests, and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much left to do.

Key Exits: Simon Nemec (D), Jacob Markstrom (G), Maxim Tsyplakov (RW), Angus Crookshank (C), Zack McEwen (RW), Paul Cotter (LW), Dennis Cholowski (D), Evgenii Dadonov (LW), Colton White (D), Juho Lammikko (C), Brian Halonen (LW)

Key Arrivals: Evan Rodrigues (C), Jesper Boqvist (C), Anthony Mantha (RW), David Rittich (G), Étienne Morin (D), Declan Chisholm (C), Ben Steeves (LW), Vladislav Kolyachonok (D), Riley Tufte (LW)

Top prospects: Alexander Command (C, 18), Anton Silayev (D, 20), Mikhail Yegorov (G, 20), Seamus Casey (D, 22), Lenni Hameenaho (RW, 21), Shane Lachance (LW, 22), Daniil Orlov (D, 22)

The New Jersey Devils are always so hard to pinpoint... They went from a sports-redefining defensive machine in the 1990s until the mid-00s to a high-scoring team with Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk in the late 00s and early 2010s to an up-and-coming juggernaut on paper that seemed to dampen in water in the 2020s; hopefully analytics-driven new GM Sonny Mehta can keep what works, improve weaknesses and get rid of the optical illusions to help his team reach the heights it was always supposed to when they drafted the likes of Jack and Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Dawson Mercer.

What makes their odds look good:
That offense, for sure. Hughes and Dougie Hamilton on defense, with four other serviceable NHLers. Jake Allen is a good 1B solution in net, likely to provide top-15 or top-20 goalie stats when playing 30 to 35 games a year.

Question marks:
What's Sheldon Keefe's shelf life under this new management, after coaching through the season that cost the previous GM his job and five very disappointing finishes with the Toronto Maple Leafs before that? What does it take for the Devils to be at least as good as the sum of their parts?

Outlook:
When I think they will take a step forward, they take a huge step back - usually because of injuries. When I have them missing the playoffs, they overachieve. Things seem to be looking up from where I stand, so make of that what you will.

Prediction:
3rd in the Metropolitan Division.

Only seven players in Montréal Canadiens history have scored at least 50 goals in a single season: Maurice Richard (the first in NHL history), Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, Guy Lafleur (six times), Steve Shutt, Pierre Larouche, Stéphane Richer (twice) and Cole Caufield last year.

People were wondering if Richer, as the team's last 50-goal scorer, had gotten in contact with Caufield to encourage him during his own race to 50, but Richer, remembering how difficult he found it as pressure mounted when he was chasing the mark, didn't want to break Caufield's concentration and add even more pressure. In 1987-88, Richer missed three games early in the season to an illness, and went into game #68 (of 80) with 40 goals, and scored four in that game before going goal-less for three straight, scoring one against the Winnipeg Jets, not scoring against the Chicago Blackhawks, and then missing two weeks with an injury, leaving him with 45 goals and just two games left, both against the Buffalo Sabres. A hat trick and a two-goal game got him to 50, but it wasn't easy.

That's why he waited until Caufield actually scored his 50th before reaching out in a phone call from Florida, where he currently resides.

After a 31-goal season in 1990-91 and perhaps a bit of a falling out with head coach Pat Burns, Richer was traded to the Devils with Tom Chorske for backup goalie Roland Melanson and All-Star centre Kirk Muller prior to the 1991-92 season. He would have seasons of 29, 38, 36, 23 and 20 goals in New Jersey at the dawn of the Dead Puck Era before the Canadiens brought him back in exchange for stay-at-home defenseman Lyle Odelein. The Réjean Houle years being tumultuous in Montréal, Richer was only back for a year and a half before being moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He would also suit up for the Detroit Vipers, and St. Louis Blues (25 points in 36 games to finish out the 1999-2000 season), took the 2000-01 season off, then came back with the Pittsburgh Penguins and a return to the Devils to finish his NHL career in 2001-02. He also suited up in the LNAH with the Sorel-Tracy Mission in 2004-05, putting up 8 points in 8 games.

He is a reserved man who has dealt with intense bouts of depression throughout his NHL career, which came at odds with knowing he had high-end skills (one of the hardest slap and snap shots of his era, to go with a power forward's size and speed, though perhaps not a willingness to battle the mid-1990s bears that populated NHL defenses in the day), wanting to be a difference-maker, and enjoying getting fans out of their seats. He knew what it meant to score 50-plus goals in a mad hockey market and wanted to be the guy who did it - not unlike the Seattle Gods of music from the late 1980s and early 1990s who made anthems for generations of fans and mostly loved playing live to them, but struggled with everything else in their daily lives. Here he is repping both of the Devils' uniforms, starting with the white (home) one on card #581 from Score's 1991-92 Score (Canadian Edition) set:

And here he is in the red (away) uniform, on card #152 from Fleer's 1993-94 Fleer Ultra set:

He signed them in flashy silver sharpie.

He won the Stanley Cup in 1986 (Canadiens) and 1995 (Devils), and reached the Final in 1989 with the Habs as well.

Kirk Muller: Two Autographed Cards

Montréal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien was admitted to the hospital for chest pains last night and will miss the remainder of the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers; associate coach Kirk Muller will officially take over in the interim, but in reality he and assistant-coaches Domninic Ducharme and Luke Richardson will each take on some of Julien's duties.

Muller has won the Stanley Cup as a player with the Canadiens, in 1993. In those playoffs, head coach Jacques Demers also missed time after going to the hospital with chest pains (he actually suffered a heart attack); Demers' replacement was Jacques Lemaire, also a former Cup winner with Montréal.

The player who scored the 1993 Cup-winning goal on the Los Angeles Kings' Kelly Hrudey was... Muller.

Having served as the New Jersey Devils' captain before getting traded to Montréal, Captain Kirk also served in that capacity with the Habs during the 1994-95 season, despite that role usually falling to a French-speaker; he'll now assume a role - interim head coach - that also usually goes to members of the clan who invented poutine. If the team wins the Cup this season, he'll forever be in contention for the sought-after position that gets more media coverage than both the Canadian and Québec Premiers, despite his linguistic limitations.

Here he is wearing the team,s white (then-home) uniform, on card #614 from Score's 1991-92 Bilingual Canadian Edition High Numbers (Series 2) set, featuring rookies and players who were traded between when the first series was printed and late January, right before the trade deadline:

And here he is wearing the Habs' retro uniform with the team's logo on the right arm where modern jersey numbers can be found, for the NHL's 75 anniversary (the commemorative patch is visible on his chest):

That's card #3 from Score's 1991-92 Pinnacle set, a crudely designed collection with the advantage of featuring many pictures: two on the front (a headshot and an action pic), but also a different one on the back, in the team's current red (then-away) uniform, with Muller's #11 clearly visible on the arm:

That's a perk a card nerd like myself can get behind that makes it worth the extra costs of a "premium" set like Pinnacle was... when "premium" meant $4 a pack instead of 79 cents, way off from the $100 for 3-6 cards we have nowadays.

I had tried to write Muller a couple of times without replies when I bumped into him after a Habs game and he signed these for me in blue sharpie, with his #11 tagged at the end.

Brian Bellows Autographed Card

It required a bit of digging, but I will be able to continue my narrative of the past week - after posts on Patrik Laine and Jimmy Carson - about the four youngest players in NHL history to hit the 100-career-goal mark; of course, Wayne Gretzky is first, Carson is second and Laine is now fourth, which makes Brian Bellows third.

He had a solid Juniors career with the Kitchener Rangers, prompting Sports Illustrated to name him "the hottest prospect since Gretzky" - and yet he was selected second-overall behind Gord Kluzak at the 1980 draft; it would be more honest in retrospect to place him fourth in his draft year, behind Doug Gilmour (134th overall, 450 goals and 1414 points), Kitchener teammate Scott Stevens (three Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy, 13 All-Star Game appearances in three separate decades), and Phil Housley (6th overall, 1232 career points and one of the best American defensemen of all time), ahead of the likes of Pat Verbeek (43rd, 1063 points and 2905 penalty minutes), Kevin Dineen (56th), Ron Sutter 94th), Murray Craven (17th), Ray Ferraro (88th), Dave Ellett (75th) and Dave Andreychuk (16th).

He was a power forward in the sense that he hit the 30-goal mark often and the 40-goal mark four times - with a high of 55 in 1989-90 - and didn't shy away from a physical style of play, but he didn't collect penalty minutes like many of his contemporaries, never hitting the 100-PIM mark, and only hitting 81 once, in 1987-88.

His 29 points in 23 games led the Minnesota North Stars as the team went to the Stanley Cup Final in 1990-91, alongside the greatest player in team history, Neal Broten, who had 22 points. While I've got these words in mind, I might as well say that I do not feel it's out of line to speak of Bellows in the same breath as Dino Ciccarelli, Jean-Paul Parisé, and Dave Gagner as the second line of the franchise's best forwards of all time, behind the front-line of Broten, Bobby Smith and Mike Modano.

For some reason, however, Minnesota sent him to the Montréal Canadiens for Russ Courtnall ahead of the 1992-93 season, where he posted 88 regular-season points and 15 more in the playoffs - tied for third in team scoring with Mike Keane, behind Vincent Damphousse's 23 and Kirk Muller's 17 - helping the Habs win the Stanley Cup.

His production dipped afterwards, to 33 goals and 71 points in 1993-94, then 16 points altogether in 1994-95, 49 points in 79 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1995-96, 31 points in 69 games with the Bolts and Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 1996-97 to 36 points in 76 games with the Washington Capitals in 1998-99.

Even though he won the Cup with my hometown team, I usually think of Bellows more as the dominant North Stars right winger from the 1980s, like on card #160 from Score's 1991-92 Score (Bilingual Canadian Edition) set:

He's wearing the team's classic green (away) uniform, and it's actually a tad darker and much more vivid to the naked eye than via this scan. He signed it during the Habs' Centennial celebrations nearly a decade ago already.

Stan Smyl: Two Autographed Cards

Last month, the Vancouver Canucks introduced their new captain, Bo Horvat, and while I do not currently have any of his memorabilia, I did have a couple of signed Stan Smyl cards I could feature, so here we are.

By the time I got really interested and invested in following hockey - and I dove right in, learning the current and career statistics of every player in that era as well as those of a select few Hall Of Famers by reading the daily stats before going to school from 1987 until 1995 - Smyl was past is 60-, 70- and 80-point seasons and settling into the role of a checking elder statesman who ran into injury trouble, prompting three consecutive nominations for the Masterton Trophy, but also bringing his points-per-game average from the 0.85-0.90 range to a still-respectable 0.75.

He's the one from whom Trevor Linden learned to supplement his talent with the will and ability to also take on a leadership role, a skill set that enabled him to be the team's President of Hockey Operations for a little over four years.

"Steamer" also embodies the "classic Canucks" look, in my opinion, with the black "skate" logo uniform, pretty much with this pose and picture, on card #283 from O-Pee-Chee's 1989-90 O-Pee-Chee set:

And what about this picture, taken 20 years ago (notice the team's 20th Anniversary patch on the left shoulder), still playing close to the net in the danger zone at age 32, a year before retiring, on card #374 from Score's 1990-91 Score Canadian (Bilingual Edition) collection:

That's a young Mark Fitzpatrick he's about to come into contact with.

He sent me these two cards at an old address I forwarded my mail from about a year ago, and I just fell upon them last weekend.

Doug Wilson: Two Autographed Cards

Doug Wilson was one of the better defensemen of the 1980s, winning the Norris Trophy for the 1981-82 season in the era of Denis Potvin, Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Larry Robinson, Rod Langway, Borje Salming and Mark Howe, and earning top-five votes until 1989-90 in the era of Bourque, Al MacInnis, Coffey, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios and Al Iafrate.

And yet, no Hall of Fame nod on his resume so far, and no Stanley Cup.

Both may change eventually, as he's a better HoF candidate than many recent additions (Eric Lindros in general, Larry Murphy in particular at the same position), and he has been one of the NHL's best General Managers for the past 10-15 years, keeping the San Jose Sharks into contention year in and year out, rotating veterans out and bringing new blood in, usually all on affordable contracts that fit well under the cap.

And yet, this season seems like he's suddenly realizing Peter DeBoer doesn't have what it takes o coach this team over the hump and all of his moves seem panic-based, from re-signing Erik Karlsson to a maximum-term deal near the maximum salary (on a team that was already dangerously close to the cap if it wanted to keep everyone) to specifically saying he wouldn't sign former captain/current free agent and career leader in most offensive categories Patrick Marleau on September 4th to, well, signing him on October 8th when the team was 0-4 to start the season.

He could have easily saved face and said nothing in September, or even just take a "let's wait and see" approach. As someone who really doesn't like the team in teal, I was glad this blew up in their face, I'm just sad that it comes at the expense of a player I respected in his time - and the team's very first captain, to boot, which is ironic considering the Sharks' captain history since Wilson's been in the GM chair:

2003-04: Mike Ricci
2005-09: Marleau
2009-10: Rob Blake, playing on a one-year deal (Marleau still on the team)
2010-14: Joe Thornton (Marleau still on the team)
2015-19: Joe Pavelski (Thornton still on the team, Marleau leaves as UFA in 2017-18)
2019-20: Logan Couture (Thornton still on the team, Marleau back) 

It's like he gives his coaches too much leeway - or doesn't give the title the decorum it deserves.

Here he is the way most fans my age will always remember him, wearing the Chicago Blackhawks' classic red (then-away) uniform, on card #52 from Pro Set's 1991-92 Series 1 set:

And here he is wearing the Sharks' best white (then-home) uniform, their first, on card #551 from Score's 1991-92 Series 2 (High Numbers) collection:

He signed both in blue sharpie last year.

Paul MacDermid Autographed Card

Paul MacDermid was a tough customer, a seven-time member of the 100-PIM club (with a high of 202 in 1986-87) who seemingly could have had a "better" career offensively, having scored a total of 116 goals in 690 regular-season games on just 755 shots - an elite sniper's shooting percentage of 15.4%; of course, that number has to be taken with a bit more than a grain of salt, because as a fourth-liner, he didn't actually get that many chances to shoot, and most of his shot attempts would be of the "easy goal" variety for an upper echelon player.

And this is by no means a slight on his talent, but at just 43 playoff games in 14 NHL seasons, he didn't actually make any of his teammates better nor carry them to the promised land.

What he was was a Don Cherry favourite, a "Mac", an Ontarian honest worker who always gave his all and provided leadership and protection.

Here he is on card #219 from Score's 1991-92 Score (Bilingual Canadian Edition) set:

It shows him wearing the Winnipeg Jets' #23 jersey, which slots him perfectly in my Jets Numbers Project. He signed it in black sharpie by mail; I had written him in 2009 or 2010 via the Owen Sound Attack, the OHL team he co-owns, and got the card back maybe two or three years later.

Mark Hunter Two Autographed Cards

Mark Hunter was mostly known during his playing days as a journeyman checking line winger, save for the three season she spent with the St. Louis Blues (1985-88), where he made the most of his accrued playing time on the first line with Bernie Federko to post career highs in points (74, 69 and 63 points, respectively, good for second, this and fourth on the team).

He also had a more famous older brother, Dale Hunter, who captained the Washington Capitals. The pair purchased the OHL's London Knights in 2001 and instantly turned the team into one of Canada's best hockey programs, producing an unparalleled number of NHL first-rounders - among them Patrick Kane, Sam Gagner, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Evan Bouchard, Max Domi, Bo Horvat, Michael McCarron, Jarred Tinordi, Matthew Tkachuk, Nazem Kadri, and Nikita Zadorov.

Mark's been in the Toronto-centric news more often of late as the Toronto Maple Leafs' co-interim GM then assistant-GM, until he left the team when his partner Kyle Dubas was chosen to replace Lou Lamoriello.

He's since been named as Team Canada's GM for 2019-20, which includes the World Juniors and National Junior programs. He hired Dale to join him, which will surprisingly be the first time he's gotten the nod despite two Memorial Cup championships as head coach.

Despite Mark's career not having the individual highs of Dale's, he was drafted and spent his first few seasons in the Mecca of hockey, playing for the Montréal Canadiens for four seasons. Then came the St. Louis stint, followed by two and a half seasons with the Calgary Flames (including the 1989 Stanley Cup win against the Habs), a year and a half with the Hartford Whalers, and a short seven-game trial with the Washington Capitals in 1992-93.

The Whalers weren't a very good team, usually contending for the last position in the Adams Division, but they were a staple of my youth, and their uniforms are classic.

Here is Mark wearing their white (home) uniform, on card #156 from Score's 1991-92 Score (Canadian Edition) set:

And here he is wearing the green (away) uniform, which is still one of the NHL's five best-selling jerseys today, on card #253 from Score's 1991-92 Pinnacle (French Canadian Edition) set, complete with head shot:

He signed both in blue sharpie as a member of the Leafs organization, likely in 2016 or 2017 after a game in Montréal.

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.

Brent Ashton: Two Autographed Cards

Three weeks ago, the NHL trade deadline saw nearly 50 trades happen with a total of 83 actual players switching teams (one of them, Derick Brassard, moving twice) with just about the same number of draft picks switching owners.

No stranger to moving, Brent Ashton was the NHL's record-holder in that category for more than a decade, having been traded eight times in his 14-season career, a feat that was tied by Mike Sillinger in 2004 and surpassed two years later.

Fun fact: both Ashton and Sillinger hail from Saskatchewan, and both returned to their respective hometowns of Saskatoon and Regina upon retiring from the NHL. Fittingly, Ashton owns a sportswear business and is a licensed... real estate agent. He does know a thing or two about purchasing and moving into and out of homes, after all.

His wife Susan, however, may have had the most experience in that matter according to a 2009 interview with the NHL's website:

"There was no help," she says.

Susan was the one who said goodbye to her friends, sold the home, found a moving company, had the mail redirected, found a new place to live, got the phone hooked up and set up shop in a new city, where she started all over again. She didn't have a dressing room to offer shelter from the storm.

"It wasn't easy," says Brent about what his wife had to juggle.  "As players, we have the dressing room. What do the wives have? They were left on their own."

Of all the moves she's been through, Susan says the one time she was close to the edge emotionally was in 1991. She recalls being at the Winnipeg airport on her way to Boston with a lot on her plate.

"I had a 6-month-old, a 2 1/2-year-old and I had a dog, which was running around the airport, and I had our luggage," she says. "It was left up to me to move. But what could I do? What was the alternative? But I didn't cry. We were fortunate because our kids were not in school."

Their son, Carter Ashton, was a Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick (29th overall, first round, 2009) who now plays in the KHL after a few years in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

Brent's prime took place between the 1984-85 and 1989-90 seasons, where he had six consecutive 50-plus-point seasons (all of them with more than 20 goals), with a high of 40 goals and 75 points in 1986-87, which was split almost evenly between the Québec Nordiques and Detroit Red Wings.

He finished his career two games shy of the 1000 mark, with 284 goals and 345 assists for 629 points. He also had three solid postseason runs (one in Québec and two in Detroit) in which he amassed 35 of his career 49 playoff points (in 85 games).

His time in Québec occurring just before I started really paying attention to the sport, I mostly remember him with the Winnipeg Jets, which is why that's the team I had him sign cards from.

First, here he is wearing the team's initial purple (away) uniform on card #130 from Topps' 1990-91 Bowman collection:

Those long white sleeves are a look then-GM John Ferguson had previously tried to impose when with the New York Rangers (to vitriolic reviews) and brought over to the Jets when they made the switch from the WHA to the NHL.

They then modernized their look for the 1990s, as can be attested from card #78 from Score's 1991-92 Score (Canadian Edition) set:

He signed both in black sharpie. These cards allow me to induct him beside Keith Tkachuk as wearers of #7 in my Jets 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.

Laurie Boschman Autographed Card

Laurie Boschman was a tough player. He was a regular member of the 200 PIM club, and his career fights list officially has 89 entries, yet the player he's faced most often was Dean Kennedy - just four times; he fought against different members of the Los Angeles Kings a total of 13 times.

And yet, he fought only once in his final NHL season, in 1992-93 - his lone year with the Ottawa Senators, serving as the team's very first captain after having been selected in the 1992 Expansion Draft. The Sens bought his contract out that following summer.

That being said, he wasn't just some talent-less goon. He surpassed the 70-point mark in two consecutive years (19893-84 and 1984-85) with the Winnipeg Jets and actually had a run between 1983 and 1988 where he scored over 25 goals four times in five years, with a high of 32 in 1984-85.

And a year after being bought out by the Senators, he played in 7 games with the British Hockey League's Fife Flyers and scored 9 goals with 9 assists for a whopping 18 points and just 6 penalty minutes.

Nowadays, he still resides in Ottawa with his three sons and is part of Promise Keepers Canada, a ministry that combines hockey and religion (Christianity).

He still attends Sens games at times and participates in alumni and "Hockey Legends" events, which he where he signed this card for me in black sharpie:

That black uniform was beautiful. And the captain's "C" displays so well on it. It's card #289 from Score's 1993-94 Score (Bilingual Canadian Edition) collection.

Boschman was the seventh player ever to reach the double-milestone of 500 career points and 2000 penalty minutes (there are currently sixteen now, with most of the power forwards from the mid-1990s having retired). It's an honor to have him as one of the wearers of #16 in my Sens Numbers Project.

Phil Housley: Two Autographed Cards

Phil Housley is going home, in a way.

Indeed, the former Buffalo Sabres star defenseman was named the team's new head coach, just hours after the Nashville Predators fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the Stanley Cup Final, going back to the franchise that initially drafted him 6th overall in 1982, behind Gord Kluzak (1st, Boston Bruins), Brian Bellows (2nd, Minnesota North Stars), Gary Nylund (3rd, Toronto Maple Leafs), Ron Sutter (4th, Philadelphia Flyers), and Scott Stevens (5th, Washington Capitals), and ahead of the likes of Rich Sutter (10th, Pittsburgh Penguins), David Shaw (13th, Québec Nordiques), Chris Kontos (15th, New York Rangers), Dave Andreychuk (16th, Sabres), Murray Craven (17th, Detroit Red Wings), Ken Daneyko (18th, New Jersey Devils), Patrick Flatley (21st, New York Islanders), Gary Leeman (24th, Leafs), Paul Gillis (34th, Nordiques), Tomas Sandstrom (36th, Rangers), Pat Verbeek (43rd, Devils), Ken Wregget (45th, Leafs), Troy Loney (52nd, Pens), Mario Gosselin (55th, Nordiques), Kevin Dineen (56th, Hartford Whalers), Corey Millen (57th, Rangers), Dave Reid (60th, Bruins), Ulf Samuelsson (67th, Whalers), Mark Lamb (72nd, Calgary Flames), Vladimir Ruzicka (73rd, Leafs), Dave Ellett (75th, Winnipeg Jets), Bob Rouse (80th, North Stars), Alan Kerr (84th, Isles), Brad Shaw (86th, Wings), Ray Ferraro (88th, Whalers), Dean Evason (89th, Caps), Claude Vilgrain (107th, Wings), Randy Gilhen (109th, Whalers), Ron Hextall (199th, Flyers), Tony Granato (120th, Rangers), Bob Sweeney (123rd, Bruins), Doug Gilmour (134th, St. Louis Blues), Dave Brown (140th, Flyers), Mike Hough (181st, Nordiques), and Kelly Miller (183rd, Rangers).

Out of that draft year, you could say the biggest home run was Gilmour, and a few teams drafted particularly well (Flyers, Rangers, Wings, Nordiques and Whalers). If we could go back in time, my top-10 would likely be:

10. Tony Granato
9. Dave Andreychuk
8. Ron Hextall
7. Ulf Samuelsson
6. Murray Craven
5. Kevin Dineen
4. Brian Bellows
3. Doug Gilmour
2. Scott Stevens
1. Phil Housley

Going back to Housley himself, the American defender has a stellar career, posting career totals of 338 goals, 894 assists and 1232 points in 1495 regular-season games, and an additional 13 goals, 43 assists and 56 points in 85 playoff games, the first half against strong Adams Division rivals (the Bruins and Montréal Canadiens each reached the Final twice in the 1980s) and the middle part against the Edmonton Oilers dynasty...

Late in his career, he became a regular on the waiver wire, but during his prime, he was fairly traded for the likes of Hall of Famers Dale Hawerchuk and Al MacInnis, just to give you an idea.

Upon retiring, he turned to coaching - obviously - starting out with nine seasons coaching the Stillwater Area High School in Minnesota, then won a gold medal coaching Team USA at the 2013 World Juniors before spending the last four seasons as an assistant-coach in Nashville, a role he has also held with the American National Team four different times, at the 2011, 2013 (bronze medal) and 2014 World Championships, as well as the 2016 World Cup.

As a player, he has a silver medal from the 2002 Olympics, and was a member of the 1996 World Cup team that beat Canada in the Final in Montréal. He played in seven All-Star Games.

Despite also suiting up for the Sabres, Flames, Devils, Caps, Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, I usually picture him as the blue-line leader for the Jets, sporting the alternate captain's "A", as seen in these two cards he signed in blue sharpie during his Hall of Fame induction weekend in 2015; let's start with the home (white) uniform, on card #440 from Score's 1992-93 Score set and Franchise sub-set, a card that defines him in my opinion, with the Jofa helmet and a Sabres player in the background:

And here he is wearing the blue (away) uniform, on card #276 from Upper Deck's 1992-93 Series 1 set:

Yes, this "A" seems cheaper, like it was made out of tape or a roughly-cut piece of plastic that was ironed on the jersey, typical of the "old" rinky-dink NHL. I love it!

Tony Hrkac: Two Autographed Cards

Tony Hrkac was a superstar in College, the 1986-87 Hobey Baker Award recipient after collecting a record 116 points (on the strength of 46 goals and 70 assists) in 48 games, leading the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks to a national championship. At the time, the team was even known as the Hrkac Circus (both words rhyme).

Before enrolling in college, he had actually been drafted in the second round (32nd overall) by the St. Louis Blues in 1984 after a 106-point season (52 goals and 54 assists in 42 games) in the OJHL (Junior A) with the Orillia Travelways.

His success didn't exactly continue in the NHL, but he did score a team-record 4 goals in a single playoff game in St. Louis before being traded to the Québec Nordiques with shutout leader Greg Millen in exchange for blue liner and powerplay quarterback Jeff Brown.

He didn't stay long in Québec, a season and a half, before they sent him to the San Jose Sharks for Greg Paslawski, and the Sharks themselves sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks just six months later.

All told, he suited up for nine NHL teams, including the Blues and Dallas Stars twice apiece; he also belonged to the Nashville Predators twice, although the first time was for just over a week in the summer, as they had selected him in the expansion draft and sent him to the Stars before he even played a single game with them.

After retiring, he was called upon to start and develop the hockey program at the Concordia University Wisconsin, and his record with the Falcons isn't so great: 10-109-10 over five seasons, leading to his dismissal in 2012.

As a player, I'll always remember him as a member of the Blues and my beloved Nordiques first and foremost, but it is while in his second stint in Dallas that he finally laid his hands on the Stanley Cup - a feat neither of the teams I remember him most by have achieved.

Today, I have decided to feature him with two cards from pretty much the same set, the 1991-92 Score (Canadian Edition) set by Score, first wearing the Nordiques' white (home) uniform which will slot him nicely as #40 in my Nordiques Numbers Project, on card #122 from Series 1, which had cards #1-330:

The same year, as part of Series 2 (home of cards #331-660 in the set, also known as Rookies And Traded or Update), he was featured wearing the Sharks' teal (away) uniform on card #555:

He signed both in (fading) black sharpie, I would say either in February 1994 when the Blues came to Québec to face the Nordiques, or in 1996-97 when he was with the IHL's Milwaukee Admirals facing the Québec Rafales. The latter seems like the best bet.

Fun fact: Series 1 was a bilingual set, while Series 2 was an all-English extension:

Oh, Canada, eh? Where we only care about French (the country's "other official language") and First Nations when tourists are around but are otherwise content to impose the Anglo-Saxon colonists' views and lifestyles the rest of the time.

Curtis Lazar Autographed Card

To say this has been a trying year for Curtis Lazar would be selling it way short...

First, he battled mononucleosis in the summer, then he struggled to find his game, posting just a single assist in 33 games with the Ottawa Senators before they sent him packing to the Calgary Flames at the deadline.

Though he only stands at 6'0" and 210 pounds, he seems larger and plays bigger, which is why the Sens made him a first-round pick (17th overall in 2013) to begin with. That, and leadership skills that saw him lead the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Memorial Cup in 2014 and captain Team Canada to World Juniors gold in 2015.

I know, a single point in half a season is awful, pretty much a waste of a roster spot, I get it. But when a guy is unanimously called a cross between Milan Lucic and Mike Fisher, perhaps he's worth more than a defenseman who'd been on waivers the day prior (Jyrki Jokipakka) and a second-rounder, especially if AHLer Michael Kostka is following him to the Flames organization.

I usually tend to give power forwards until ages 24-26 to prove their worth, but in the age of UFAs and RFAs, I get that teams don't want to overpay for future potential nor use a roster spot to not lose someone on a technicality. Essentially, however, the current rules favor smallish, quick forwards, not the big boys (defensemen or forwards) or goalies, who usually tend to require further seasoning in the minors.

Here is Lazar sporting the Sens' red (home) uniform, on card #NHCD-10 from Upper Deck's 2015 National Hockey Card Day (Canadian Edition) set:

He signed it in blue sharpie in the 2014-15 playoffs, in which the Sens faced my hometown Montréal Canadiens.

Steve Larmer Two Autographed Cards

The Winter Classic has just ended in a 4-1 St. Louis Blues win against the Chicago Blackhawks, with the final minute indeed looking like many outdoor games in the park, with Brent Seabrook acting as the pad-less goalie to keep the puck out of his team's net for as long as he could; Vladimir Tarasenko had a two-goal outing and led the way for his team against perhaps their fiercest rivals.

Yesterday, the Alumni game was filled with stars, including a relatively unexpected Wayne Gretzky suiting up for the Blues:

Notice anything weird beyond the fact that St. Louis had six more players and two more coaches dressed? Where were the 1980s Hawks stars, particularly Denis Savard and Steve Larmer? And what about hometown hero Chris Chelios?

To right that wrong, today, Larmer will be my featured player.

We're talking about a Calder Trophy winner, five-time 40-goal scorer, someone who had an 884-consecutive game streak halted by a contract dispute, perhaps the only player who actually had a legitimate shot at Doug Jarvis' record of 964 straight games in my lifetime.

A guy who won the Stanley Cup with the New York Oilers Rangers in 1994 and retired after achieving two important milestones (1000 points, 1000 games played) after the following season.

We're also talking about the guy who led the 1991 Canada Cup in goals (6), including the game-winner that gave Team Canada its fourth title against Team USA in the Final; he was also second only to Gretzky in points during the tournament. This, mere months after helping the Canadians win silver at the 1991 World Championships.

He also held the Hawks' team record for most points by a right winger (101) until Patrick Kane surpassed it last season (106).

All told, the hard-working leader from Peterborough was extremely consistent over his 13-year NHL career. And so, I will show him wearing two slightly different iterations of the Hawks' classic red (then-away) uniform, first on card #53 from Pro Set's inaugural 1990-91 Series 1 set:

Then there's card #266 from Score's 1992-93 Canadian Edition set, which has the added bonus of featuring the NHL's 75th Anniversary patch:

If you notice the crest on the shoulders (which the Hawks were seriously lacking in today's game, as it was located closer to the elbows), there was a slight variation of colours in the tomahawk; the shaft is easier to see when it's green (1992-93) than when it's red (1990-91), which means the hatchet went from green to white for differentiation purposes.

Cool, eh?

Larmer signed both cards using a black sharpie.

Moe Mantha Autographed Card

It's December 24th, and I thought I could feature someone whose name rhymes with "Santa", Moe Mantha.

Moe Mantha Jr. had hockey bloodlines, though not from George and Hall Of Famer sibling Sylvio Mantha of Montréal Canadiens fame, but from Moe Mantha Sr., a career minor-leaguer who played in Québec leagues (the Québec Citadelles of the OHA and the Montréal Royals of the QHL), as well as the IHL (Cincinnati Mohawks and Columbus Checkers), AHL (Cleveland Barons, Québec Aces, and Providence Reds) and WHL (San Francisco Seals, Seattle Totems, and Vancouver Canucks).

The son, however, was an Olympian, suiting up for Team USA in 1992, and played defense for the Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia Flyers twice apiece, as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, and Minnesota North Stars - and also some of their AHL and CHL affiliates - accumulating a total of 81 goals, 289 assists and 370 points in 656 regular-season games, and a very good 5 goals and 10 assists (15 points) in 17 playoff games, all with the Jets.

His best season was in 1985-86 with the Pens, as he used his sharp passing skills, fluid skating ability, fine stickhandling skills and hard slap shot to put up 67 points in 78 games.

Like many of his contemporaries, he was known to sport a dashing mustache, as can be attested from card # 506 from Score's 1991-92 Canadian Edition set, which he signed in blue sharpie:

It shows him wearing the Jets' early-1990s purplish-blue (away) uniform.

You may recall his name from having replaced Greg Gilbert as the Saginaw Spirit's head coach last season. It was the second time he was named interim head coach of the OHL franchise, the previous time occurring in 2003-04. His record as a coach isn't stellar:

Courtesy of HockeyDB.com

That's barely three times with a record over .500, and just once advancing past the first round when making the playoffs at all.

Mario Marois Autographed Card

It's been over two months since the last entry in my Nordiques Numbers Project, so I thought I could check off #44 with this card of journeyman defenseman Mario Marois, who hails from the Québec suburb of L'Ancienne-Lorette and had two stints with the team:

That's card #229 from Score's 1990-91 French Canadian Edition set, which shows him wearing the Québec Nordiques ' blue (away) jersey during a game at Madison Square Garden; he signed it in black sharpie in the early 1990s, either during his second stint with the Winnipeg Jets or during his final professional season in 1992-93, when he suited up for the AHL's Hamilton Canucks.

Like many others, Marois played his Junior hockey in his hometown, for the Québec Remparts ofthe LHJMQ, already displaying a taste for playing a physical brand of hockey. He accumulated 522 penalty minutes (and 139 points) in 153 games in the Q, though he was blanked in a losing bid at the 1975-76 Memorial Cup.

He was drafted 62nd overall by the New York Rangers at the 1977 draft and finished in the top-10 for Norris Trophy votes twice. He topped the 40-point mark six times (with a high of 51 in 1987-88) and the 100-PIM mark eleven times (with a high of 181 in 1980-81). He scored 11 goals in 1981-82 and 13 in 1983-84, the year he also finished at an incredible +51.

He had a good, hard shot from the point, and his all-around game could be compared, in modern terms, to a slightly less-talented Shea Weber, or perhaps a Scott Stevens. He was captain of the Nordiques from 1983 until 1985, when Peter Stastny took over the team's leadership.

He also helped Team Canada capture a silver medal at the 1989 World Championships.