David Desharnais Autographed Card

So I was lucky enough to witness a rare feat last night: a Montréal Canadiens win in the 2015-16 season:

There were moments when it was boring (the shots were still 1-1 seven minutes in), but all told, there was enough action to make the evening worthwhile. The Habs were up 2-0 after one, the Detroit Red Wings had made it 3-2 in their favour by the second intermission, Montréal had a goal disallowed for a phantom goalie interference call after a coach's challenge, and yet still rallied to win 4-3 in regulation, preventing the Wings from obtaining a single point as they battle the Philadelphia Flyers for the last wild card spot with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

The three stars were Max Pacioretty, Sven Andrighetto and Pavel Datsyuk, but if I had had a say, Paul Byron would have gotten the first star, as he was everywhere on the ice, finishing with a goal and an assist while Pacioretty may have scored two, but he was softer than a pillow for the first half of the game, often hovering at the red line instead of helping his teammates out in the defensive one, as he has been prone to do since December.

Goaltender Mike Condon also had a pretty good game, stopping 39 of 42 shots with a few impressive glove saves thrown in for good measure. Andrei Markov (an assist, +2 and nearly 30 minutes of play), Tomas Plekanec (an assist while keeping Henrik Zetterberg pointless), and Alex Galchenyuk (two assists, +3 rating) also had a fine game.

David Desharnais didn't factor in so much, but he was the home team's only center who won more faceoffs than he lost, with a success rate of 80%. That was enough for me to decide to feature him today, with card #45 from Panini's 2013-14 Prizm set (the Silver variant), which he signed in black sharpie with his jersey number (51) tagged at the end:

DD has a year left on his 4-year deal, which carries a reasonable cap hit of $3.5M. Unfortunately, with Galchenyuk seemingly ready to take on the #1 center role, Plekanec solidly in place at #2 and a wealth of others who can play the position in the organization (Michael McCarron, Charles Hudon, Michaël Bournival and Gabriel Dumont in the prospect pool, Lars Eller, Torrey Mitchell, Bryan Flynn, Phillip Danault, Byron and Jacob De La Rose on the current squad), he could be on the outside looking in at this point and might have to move to Europe to close out his career afterwards.

David Desharnais: 2 Autographed Cards

David Desharnais got a lucky goal tonight and almost got an empty-netter as well, as he now has 7 points in his first 9 games - all of them Montréal Canadiens wins.

How good are the Habs so far this year? Goalie Carey Price (the league's reigning Hart, Lindsay and Vezina winner) cannot be accused of stealing a single game so far, the team has 5 players over the point-per-game range (Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov and Brendan Gallagher), and Desharnais has been playing and producing on the third line with Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise.

The only two Montréal skaters who have yet to register a single point are defensemen Tom Gilbert (+3, 2 penalty minutes) and Alexei Emelin (+5, 10 penalty minutes). Both Price (7-0) and rookie Mike Condon (2-0) are undefeated, have GAAs under 2.00, and save percentages over .940.

Yes, there is a caveat: they have faced the expected-to-tank Toronto Maple Leafs twice and the Buffalo Sabres once, as well as frequent Habs victims the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, so one could argue those were ''gimmies'', but that's still a hell of a way to gain some momentum and get the ball rolling. Tonight's game against the Leafs may have been their hardest-fought game.

I crossed paths with Desharnais after the game as he was going to meet with media types for interviews, and he signed two cards for me in black sharpie, with (what he probably thought was the) corresponding jersey number on each.

First, from In The Game's 2005-06 Heroes And Prospects set comes card #309, showing him wearing the Chicoutimi Saguenéens' beautiful white (home) uniform, where he correctly identified his number as 15:

Next is card #43 from In The Game's 2009-10 Heroes And Prospects collection showing him wearing the Hamilton Bulldogs' white (home) uniform (of which I already had a signed copy), where he ended his signature with 51 despite wearing #36 on the card:

I strongly believe that the fact that he was able to find some chemistry with Fleischmann enabled coach Michel Therrien to keep Plekanec on the top line with Pacioretty, which in turn convinced GM Marc Bergevin to keep his best two-way center for two more years.

I really like the make-up of this team, where everyone is slotted in the right spot thanks to the addition of Jeff Petry on defense and switching Alex Galchenyuk from wing to center and Lars Eller from center to wing.

David Desharnais: 4 Autographed Cards

I think I'll score this one a home run, as it fits both in my Habs Numbers Project as well as makes for another fine return from my 2013-14 mailings.

Today's hero is David Desharnais. The diminutive center (5'7'', 170 pounds) hasn't exactly had an easy time since I last featured him two and a half years ago; back then, he was in the midst of a 60-point season in the middle of Erik Cole and a surging Max Pacioretty.

Desharnais and Pacioretty had already been inseparable with the Hamilton Bulldogs, and both even went to play in Switzerland during the 2012-13 lockout, albeit on separate teams. When NHL play resumed, Pacioretty went back to his usual ways (39 points in 44 games, some streaky production followed by periods of not much happening), but Desharnais had trouble adapting the first-line opposition, though coach Michel Therrien tried his best to shelter him by giving him very few defensive-zone face-offs and starts, almost all-offense minutes, and first-unit powerplay time. Still, he managed only 28 points in 48 games.

Worst still, the duo combined for just one point in 9 playoff games - a Desharnais assist - as the Montréal Canadiens were eliminated in just 5 games by the surprisingly physical Ottawa Senators.

2013-14 started off on the same foot, with both players under-performing just about until the Holidays, the pair even getting separated for a while; even newly-elected Montréal mayor and mascot-shaped food enthusiast Denis Coderre tweeted his discontent. However, Patch-man publicly defended his friend, instilled confidence in him, and the pair were off and running again, with Desharnais finishing with 52 points (on 36 assists), and Pacioretty 60 (on 39 goals, most of them coming off multi-goal games in the last month of play).

Desharnais also amassed 8 points in 17 playoff games this season, after having only had two assists in his first 10 post-season games spread over two seasons. His size will always be an issue whenever he hits a cold streak - particularly in the era of the ultra-quick-yet-huge Los Angeles Kings - but his will and skill can never be questioned. He has been an MVP and All-Star at every level before the NHL, and has proven to be creative and great at controlling the puck in the offensive zone - even in high-traffic areas - in 4 seasons so far.

At still just 27 (28 when next season begins, as he was born on September 14th, same as me), he will have no trouble reaching the 60-point mark for the duration of his contract (the next three years), particularly if always paired with Pacioretty; they seem to share a brain, and each's skill set complements the other exactly, like Batman and Robin, or Laurel and Hardy.

I had written him and sent in 4 cards on February 4th, 2014, and he returned all of them, signed in black sharpie with his jersey number (51) tagged at the end, on June 12th (2014), good for a 128-day return. Here's what they look like:

On the left is a 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee card with a retro look; it's #475 in the set by Upper Deck. On the right is a sleek UD 2013-14 Series 1 card (#10 in the collection), which you might remember from my box break last December. Both show him wearing the Habs' white (away) uniform.

Also in white is this custom card I made, from my own Hell's Kitchen 2013-14 Series 1 set (card #18 in the collection), where he is battling for position in front of/with the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist (an omen?):

And finally, a card showing him in the Habs' red (home) uniform, celebrating a goal (with Alexei Emelin right behind him), from Panini's 2013-14 Score (#262 in the set, the Gold variant):

I can't decipher his signature, but it's been consistent for years. As long as he, his agent, his bank manager and the team's GM do, though, I guess it's all good.

David Desharnais: 2 Autographed Cards

This season, David Desharnais has arguably been the Montréal Canadiens' top center. A star playmaker since his days in juniors, where he captained the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, he went undrafted because of his diminutive stature (5'7'', 177 pounds) but was signed as a free agent after a tryout with the Habs, then promptly shipped to the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones, where he dominated, gathering 106 points in 68 games (plus 33 more in 22 playoff games) to win league MVP, Rookie OF The Year, First All-Star Team and All-Rookie Team awards and leading his team to the championship.

He then spent the next two seasons with the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, scoring 24 goals and 58 points in his rookie year in 2008-09, then 78 points in 60 games to lead the team in 2009-10. Last year, he had collected 45 points in 35 games with the Bulldogs before getting called up with the Habs, where he's been ever since.

The card on top, showing him in the Bulldogs' white uniform is from In The Game's 2009-10 Heroes And Prospects set (card #43), while the one on the bottom, in the Habs' white jersey, is from Panini's 2011-12 Score (card #252). Both are signed in blue sharpie, with his jersey number from the card tagged at the end, 36 and 58 respectively, both rare feats considering he generally wore #51 at all professional levels. The cards were signed in person at a pre-season game in Québec City (one before, one after); a fellow collector traded these to me in exchange for some basketball (2) and football (1) autographed insert cards.

I'm a big fan of this little man, and I hope to send him some TTM cards soon as well.