Craig Anderson Jersey Card

It's been a hell of a season for Craig Anderson, what with staying home to help his wife in her battle against cancer, yet coming back for shutout wins against the Edmonton Oilers and now the surging New York Islanders.

I've been a fan of Anderson's since he came to the Ottawa Senators in 2011 and just took possession of the net, never relinquishing his starter status even when the team had such viable and younger backups as Ben Bishop, Brian Elliott and Robin Lehner. He just wouldn't budge and kept offering strong performances, which is why I'm not surprised he's currently in the top-5 in the NHL with a 2.34 GAA, .927 save percentage, and 4 shutouts in 20 games, for an average of 1 every 5 games.

I've said it before, but I'll display the staggering statistics, just for fun: he's also bested Carey Price in both playoff series where they've faced each other, which happened to be in a three-year span, starting with 2013:

Oh yeah, Price has a tendency to get injured when things don't go his way, and let the other goalie face elimination

But even when the Sens lose, Anderson's still on top, as can be attested by when they faced each other in 2015 (keep in mind Anderson came into game 3 without having played in months due to injury, the Sens losing the series 2-0, as they'd played Andrew Hammond first, who was in better game shape and had just been in a Cinderella run):

Both did well in 2015 (it was Price's dream season, after all), but Anderson was better. He just has that ability to shut the door when it matters, under pressure.

And this is why I'm giving him another nod today, as he's making a strong case for the Bill Masterton Trophy, which recognized perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game, with card #GJ-CA from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It shows him wearing the Sens' red (home) uniform, wearing his Colorado Avalanche blocker and glove; it features a white (presumably from his days with the Avs, perhaps going as far back as his days with the Chicago Blackhawks or Florida Panthers) game-worn jersey swatch.

Craig Anderson: 2 Autographed Cards

At this point, many of you realize Craig Anderson is one of my favourite active goalies, because he gets the job done with little fanfare, steadily rocking along on underdog teams and quietly pulling back-to-back shutouts just to bring his stats line back to normal (.921 save percentage, 2.61 GAA, a fifth-in-the-league 508 total saves despite ranking 18th with ''just'' 15 games played) after a sub-par couple of games (and that 7-goal outing against the Nashville Predators especially) had scared off those who just look at the standings but never watch the games.

Anderson's not a nobody: he finished fourth in Vezina voting twice; he outplayed Carey Price both times they faced each other in postseason play (last year, and two years prior to that), and he suited up for Team USA at the World Championships twice (2006 and 2008). But the fact that he plays for a small-town Ottawa Senators team often leaves the goalies playing in the bigger markets (Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, Steve Mason) getting more air time than he does.

Speaking of Team USA, here's one of two cards he signed for me in blue sharpie after one (dominating) game versus the Montréal Canadiens during the last playoffs:

It's card #155 from In The Game's 2011-12 Between The Pipes set (part of the Stars And Stripes sub-set), showing a close-up of him and his mask - though it's a picture of him with the Sens, not actually the American team.

Which brings us to card #348 from Panini's 2013-14 Score set, where he's displaying his full mastery of the butterfly move with a save with his left pad, wearing the Senators' red (home) uniform:

This one will be my first entry of Anderson's in my Sens Numbers Project, rocking #41.

He has terrific leg-rebound control; that was a move I used to love doing myself, either sending the puck away to the corners where my defensemen would recuperate it, or if there wasn't any traffic in front of the net and I wanted to show off a bit, I'd kick-pass it the other way to a defenseman who was back-checking so he could send the play back into the offensive zone right away.

As I've mentioned before, I also (mostly) wore Brian's equipment, and I liked to keep my glove hand lower than most goalies do nowadays, because moving it upwards quickly is more natural than sending it down, so I'd keep it just above parallel to the ice, say at 30-35 degrees, which means that on plays where it was shot low, that picture is pretty much what I looked like - except with a Vaughn blocker and Victoriaville stick. And a full-cage Jofa helmet instead of a mask.

Anderson has two more years past this season as the Sens' #1 goalie; currently standing at 34 years old, he should be exiting his prime by then and might be ready, mentally, to mentor the Sens' next budding star in nets, which looks right now to possibly be Matt O'Connor.

Craig Anderson Autographed Card

By trading away Robin Lehner along with David Legwand to the Buffalo Sabres, the Ottawa Senators kept their most proven goaltender - and legitimate #1 goalie - within the organization. Craig Anderson's contract runs for three more years, thus securing the position for the mid-term.

The San Jose Sharks reportedly had interest in the American netminder, and with good reason: although he was injured and then had to sit while Andrew Hammond enjoyed a career run, when Hammond faltered against the Montréal Canadiens in the playoffs, Anderson stepped right in, winning two of four games and outplaying Hart, Pearson, Jennings and Vezina winner Carey Price in three of them, the other game being an equal battle.

Since the Sens are the second team I follow most, and because I probably rank Anderson among the top-10 most dependable goalies in the league, I was glad they kept their association going; I'm also a fan of the Sharks losing, a trend he might have helped buck.

I met him twice during the last playoffs after games in which he'd been nothing short of spectacular. On one occasion, I had him sign a Sens card and a Team USA card, but today I decided to feature him with the Colorado Avalanche, another team for which he was solid, so that I could store all my Avs cards of his together on the same row in my binder:

It's card #27 from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Champ's set and shows him with the Avs' traditional burgundy uniform. My previous two of his in the Avalanche uniform were of the white variety, when he signed for me through the mail in 2011.

Craig Anderson: 4 Autographed Cards (Part 1)

Some are wondering if the Ottawa Senators were wise to sign Craig Anderson to a 4-year contract extension a few weeks ago but I, for one, think it could work out.

Sure, he and Michael Leighton spent years in the Chicago Blackhawks' system without being given a proper chance and both were pretty much thrown away like hole-filled socks, Leighton spending years on waivers and Anderson being dealt to the Florida Panthers, who already had an All Star #1 goalie in Tomas Vokoun.

Of those years in the minors, I kept this card as a memento:

It's from In the Game's 2006-07 Between The Pipes set, the Future Stars sub-set (card #10), where he's wearing the Rochester Americans' red jersey.

And as a Panther, I have this one:

It's card #126 in Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play Boxed Set and shows him with the same mask he wore on the AHL card. In his first season with the Panthers, he went 8-6-1 (2.24 GAA; .935 save %) in 17 games, the most impressive of which was a 1-0 win against the New York Islanders on March 2nd in which he set an NHL record for most saves in a shutout, with 53. In 2008-09, he went 15-7-5 with a 2.71 GAA and .924 save percentage, cementing his position as a goalie who could, perhaps, get the job done.

And that's what the Colorado Avalanche were banking on when they signed him to a 2-year deal, and they gave him every opportunity to shine, giving him the net for 15 straight starts to begin the season - a team record. He got a shutout in his second game and was the league's second star for two out of four weeks in October. He became only the fourth goalie in franchise history to record 30 wins in a season, and by season's end, he held team marks for games played, minutes played and saves made - beating the best goalie of all time, Patrick Roy, for all three. And as interesting as a 38-25-7 record, a 2.63 GAA and a .917 save % are in the regular season, his 2.62 GAA and .933 save % in the playoffs were even better.

                                       (to be continued in the next post)

Craig Anderson: 4 Autographed Cards (Part 2)

                          (continued from the previous post)

Things looked promising and he became a fixture in hockey card sets, as these two Upper Deck Cards can attest:

The one on the left is from the 2010-11 Black Diamond set (card #2), while the one on the right is from the 2010-11 Victory collection (card #51). I love how the blue ink of his signature matches the blue on his equipment.

Unfortunately, 2010-11 didn't work out as well for him with the Avs, and he was traded to the Ottawa Senators at the deadline. He gave them a look at what he could achieve by going 11-5-1 in 18 games, with a stunning 2.05 GAA and .939 save percentage.

All in all, I feel that putting your trust in this former OHL goalie of the year (with the Guelph Storm) is a worthy gamble. I told him as much in a fan letter I sent him along with these 4 cards on March 25th, two weeks ago. He signed them all in blue sharpie, adding his jersey numbers (30 in Rochester, 31 in Florida and 41 in Colorado) at the end, stylistically. I received them on April 8th, a little more than a week later! The only reason I didn't write this post on Friday was that my scanner was out of commission.

Now, many of you know I'm a jersey nerd and usually try to have players sign different jersey designs on the cards I send. Take a look at the Panthers' and Avs' jerseys: Reebok didn't try very hard with these two, as they are identical. The (ugly) pipings are at the same place, the team's main logo is on the chest and their pseudo-alternate/State logos are on the shoulders, and the colours on both arms go all the way down. If it wasn't that one team's main colour is burgundy while the other's is an orangey-red, they'd be the same. Once again, Reebok shows us how good they are at failing - and recycling.