Patric Hornqvist Jersey Card

Patric Hornqvist tied his goals totals (22) from last season two night ago, scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 Pittsburgh Penguins shutout win against the Los Angeles Kings in 24 less games than he required a year ago; he might not tie his career-high of 30 from 2009-10 (then again, playing with Sidney Crosby can work wonders on someone's statistics), but could very well reach his second-best mark of 27, from 2011-12.

Prior to being traded for James Neal last summer, Hornqvist had played his entire NHL career with the Nashville Predators, who had chosen him with the 230th and final pick of the 2005 draft - the one where Crosby went first overall.

In his younger days, he was seen as a bit of a long shot to make it to the NHL because of his lack of speed, but he's worked on it enough that it doesn't look like much of a problem anymore. Like many other players from Sweden, his positioning and defensive play is elite-level, as is his work ethic and team spirit. He rounds those attributes with decent stick-handling and a quick and deceptive wrist shot.

I got this card of his in a re-pack I bought at a Giant Tiger last summer - it was my ''guaranteed hit''; it's originally from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Ultimate Collection (card #DT-PH of the Ultimate Debut Threads sub-set, numbered #123/200), featuring a huge white swatch from a jersey worn in a photo shoot:

It shows him wearing the Preds' blue (home) uniform from last decade.

Guillaume Latendresse (Dual) Jersey Card

Guillaume Latendresse concurred with Rick Nash in today's La Presse, in an article that essentially talked about the fear of getting back into the thick of things after a concussion when it seems opponents are deliberately trying to re-injure you - or worse.

It's rare that an active star player will be as candid as Nash was in an interview earlier this week. As a retiree, Latendresse went even further, accusing the Minnesota Wild's doctors of sending him back in a game despite his head hurting so much he would cry between periods.

Now seemed like as good a time as any to feature this 2006-07 Ultimate Collection card from Upper Deck, #DJ-GL of the Ultimate Debut Threads (numbered #99/150) sub-set that I got in a trade earlier this summer:

I like the encyclopedia feel the left side of the card has, and the fact that both swatches  - although white, i.e. ''bland'' - match the uniform he's wearing on the card. I also like the foil team logo and classy design. It's probably not worth much to the ''average collector'' anymore, but I liked Tender, and feel his statistics were fine for his playing time. I put him above the ''bust'' category, for sure.