Craig Billington Autograph Card

After featuring Craig Billington with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche, perhaps it's time I revisited his first NHL trade, one that sent him from the New Jersey Devils to the Ottawa Senators, with card #A-CB from In The Game's 2012-13 Decades - The 1990s set:

Notice the Devil's horns helmet but black jersey, which is the original Sens away uniform.

At first, Billington was highly regarded as a potential #1 goalie, which is why the Devils drafted him in the second round (23rd overall) in 1984, but by the time he finished his career in Juniors (two more seasons in the OHL) and finished developing with the AHL's Utica Devils, making it to the NHL in 1991-92 after spending all of the previous season with the Canadian National Team, the Devils were  had already drafted Martin Brodeur, so they no longer had a need for Billington or Chris Terreri - although it should be noted that the latter eventually turned into Brodeur's backup and retired to become his goaltending coach.

Yet, because every team needs to be represented at All-Star Games and the 1992-93 Devils were so awful, Billington was the representative that was sent to Montréal for the mid-season classic, where he joined the Senators' own rubber magnet, Peter Sidorkiewicz.

That first-year Sens teams were god-awful, finishing with a 10-70-4 record, and its leading scorer was a defenseman, and not a household name either: Norm Maciver, a guy who had been toiling between the AHL and NHL in the Edmonton Oilers organization the previous three years, the Hartford Whalers before that, and the New York Rangers the three seasons before that, so of course their only representative would be their goalie, although considering Sidorkiewicz finished with a 8-46-3 record, 4.43 GAA (which was extremely high even in the high-scoring 90s), and a .856 save percentage.

And so, on Draft Day 1993, just four months removed from both appearing in their lone, semi-controversial All-Star Game, both goalies were traded for one another, with former Rangers prospect Troy Mallette and the fourth-round pick that became Cosmo Dupaul also making their way to the Sens.

With all the shuffling on the Colorado Avalanche staff these past few years, Billington has graduated from player development coach to Director of Player Personnel to VP of Player Personnel to his current position as assistant-GM to Joe Sakic, as well as the general manager of their AHL affiliate San Antonio Rampage, although I hear rumblings they may move their players closer to home in Colorado in the near future.

Craig Billington Autograph Card

Still sifting though my stuff after my summer move, slowly but surely finding what I need and classifying them in binders, alphabetically...

Almost a month to the day after my last Craig Billington post comes this one, this time with the Colorado Avalanche, coming off a 11-8-2 season (2.65 GAA, .909 save %).

You'll notice he's pretty much in the same position as the last card, too, next to his right post - although last time seemed more like an action shot, whereas this looks like a warm-up situation. This time, it's Pinnacle Brands manufacturing the 1997-98 Be A Player set (the previous Billington was by Upper Deck and didn't own the rights to showcase NHL jerseys, this time, for card #138, Pinnacle does but chooses not to!), showing him in the Avs' white (home) jersey.

Craig Billington Autograph Card

Craig Billington had a decent career as a backup goalie in the NHL, mostly with the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche, but also with the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators. Well, it wasn't so great in Ottawa as he went 11-41-4 (not a typo...) with a 4.59 GAA and .859 save % in 1993-94 and 0-6-2 with a 4.07 GAA and .867 save % to start off the 1994-95 season, but he had his best seasons with the Avs after that, backing Patrick Roy, with GAAs in the 2s and save percentages above .900.

Unfortunately for Billington, he missed out on many Stanley Cups, joining the Avs between their two, and having left the Devils before theirs.

As a junior, however, he was quite successful, winning two World Junior medals (gold in 1985, silver in 1986) and being named top goalie in 1985, as well as OHL All Star Game MVP in 1984-85.

After his playing career, he joined the Avs' front office staff; he is currently their VP of Player Development.

This card (#S151), signed in thin black sharpie, was found as an insert in a pack of Upper Deck's 1995-96 Be A Player set, where they would airbrush team logos from jerseys because they didn't have the rights to display them. If you look closely, he's wearing a Bruins black (away) jersey, but not only is the logo absent from his chest, they identify him as playing for ''Boston'', without naming the team.