Christopher Higgins Autographed Card

It's been an off-kilter year for Christopher Higgins, what with posting just 4 points in 33 games with the Vancouver Canucks, being sent to the AHL to play for the Utica Comets, and getting bought out of the final year of his contract by the team.

But things are looking up, as the Calgary Flames - now coached by former Canucks assistant Glen Gulutzan - have invited him to training camp on a try-out offer.

Flames GM Brad Treliving had this to say about the former first-rounder (14th overall in 2002):

Chris had a tough year in Vancouver. But prior to that, he was a good player, he was a productive player. There’s some versatility in his game, in terms of being able to play either wing. He’s a very good penalty-killer. And he’s an experienced guy. I know we get to the 30 age-mark and everybody starts to quiver a bit, but there’s still some hockey left in him. He’s going to come in and compete for a spot, and it’s always good to have competition in camp.

You look at the year prior to last, he was an important player in Vancouver. I think when you really analyze last year, he suffered an injury early in the pre-season and never got his footing. There are some indicators - you look at his career shooting percentage, where it’s been (9.7%) as opposed to last year (5.9%). Obviously, there was a drop-off.
Now, can he get back to the form he was at a year or two ago? If he can, then good for him and potentially good for us. So we’ll see.

No promises, but at least there's the belief and hope that he can rebound, although no one in the hockey world expects him to hit the 20-goal mark that he reached three times with the Montréal Canadiens on Saku Koivu's left wing.

Speaking of which, here's his rookie card from Upper Deck's 2006-07 McDonald's set (and Rookie Review / Recrues En Revue sub-set), which he signed in fading blue sharpie prior to being a part of the infamous Scott Gomez trade:

It's card #RR14 in the set and shows him wearing the Habs' white (then-home) uniform. There's an error on the back of the card, where his statistics line shows that of Alexander Perezhogin (9 goals, 10 assists and 19 points in 67 games) instead of his own (23 goals and 15 assists for 38 points in 80 games).

He has suited up for Team USA three times - at the 2002 and 2003 World Juniors, and at the 2009 World Championships - losing in the bronze medal game each time.

Saku Koivu And Chris Higgins Jersey Card (2)

Remember my trade with Dave? Well, here's the last of the memorabilia cards I got in it, from Upper Deck's 2008-09 SPX set (card #WC-KH of the Winning Combos sub-set):

It features former Montréal Canadiens' captain Saku Koivu and his then-heir apparent (you can sort of see the 'A' on his chest at the far-right of his picture) Chris Higgins. Long-time readers might recognize it, because I already had one:

Not that I mind, though, because the swatch colours are different - Higgins' new card has a red one, where the old one was white. More than four years have gone by between acquisitions and, though I'm (relatively) open to trades, I'm happy to have two of these because I can put one in each player's binder.

Both of them now play out West, Koivu an associate captain with the league-leading Anaheim Ducks, Higgins a grinder on the ever-dropping Vancouver Canucks.

Chris Higgins Autographed Card

I went to see the Montréal Canadiens beat the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre yesterday and had a good time, though I couldn't find anyone to accompany me after my friend bailed on me at the last minute. I had brought about a dozen cards along with me but at the end didn't feel like hanging around so much and bothering the Canucks after a tough loss, except I ran into Chris Higgins (who scored a goal in the loss) and he remembered me from his days in town and signed this card for me before running to the team bus:

It's from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Series 1 (card #103), signed in blue sharpie. Ironically, I have another one exactly like it and also signed in blue, if my memory serves me right, I'll have to find it and compare (and post).

Though he is now in Vancouver, he was a Habs first-round pick, originally seen as a future checking-line center and captain of the team. He moved up the depth chart enough to become Saku Koivu's left winger on the first line for a couple of years, before his statistics took a dive and he was sent to the New York Rangers along with Ryan McDonagh, Pavel Valentenko and Doug Janik in the infamous Scott Gomez trade, before short stints with the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers.

He has found himself a niche on the Canucks' checking line, where he is also counted on for secondary scoring - he has 16 goals so far this year, on pace for 22 goals and 44 points by season's end - without having the pressure to score 25 to 30 and get 60 points all the time.

Saku Koivu And Chris Higgins Jersey Card

My, my how thing change rapidly in sports!

First, let's put this card in context: it's card #WC-KH from Upper Deck's 2008-09 SPX Hockey series; 2008-09 was the beginning of the 15-month span the NHL called ''The Canadiens' Centennial Year'', and to commemorate the 'event', Upper Deck also released a special 'Habs Centennial' set - so they're aware of the team's history, and have a few 'ins' in the team's present.

This card features, on the left, the team's longest-serving captain ever, Saku Koivu, and a red piece of his home jersey. It was widely known that the 2008-09 season was Koivu's final contract year; whether he'd come back or not was a mystery. On the right of the card, with a white patch from the team's away jersey, is Chris Higgins, sporting his alternate captain's A - he'd worn it before, but the summer before the 2008-09 campaign was when he was given the A permanently; from the day he was drafted, he was viewed by the team as the potential next captain. This card, basically, cemented that idea; it was a ''passing of the torch'' thing, full of symbolism.

A year later, Koivu went to the Anaheim Ducks over the summer, and Higgins was traded to the New York Rangers for, essentially, Scott Gomez. The other two drafted-to-be-captains, Mike Komisarek (free agent, to Toronto) and Kyle Chipchura (traded for a sixth-rounder) are also gone; local hero Guillaume Latendresse was traded to Minnesota a few weeks ago and last year's Player With Heart Maxim Lapierre, another local boy, is but a shadow of himself; the team actually has no captain this season.

History was made for the Centennial Season, just not the history that had been planned upon.

''Passing of the torch'', indeed.