Georges Laraque Autograph Card

I agreed on a trade with fellow blogger and collector Kyle lately that made me part ways with a number of cards I held dear and that, monetary value-wise, may have been lop-sided, but it enabled me to continue two de facto projects: player collections (which I don't really have per se, at least not in the way others do where they collect every possible card, I just try to get mine signed), as well as my Habs Numbers Project (where I want a collectible item - ideally an  autographed card - of players wearing every Montréal Canadiens jersey number possible), which is actually something I'm getting serious about.

Today, I get to knock #17 off that list with this card of Georges Laraque, from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Be A Player collection (card #S-GL of the Signatures sub-set), where he is seen wearing the team's white (away) uniform with the Centennial shoulder patch:

Other notable wearers of jersey #17s include John LeClair, Craig Ludwig, Rene Bourque (who hasn't returned my TTM request), Rod Langway and Benoît Brunet.

Laraque only played parts of two seasons with the Habs to close off an otherwise distinguished career that saw him win the Memorial Cup, and post an astounding winning fights record (from Hockey Fights, I gathered that from 2002-2010, he posted a 51-10-13 fight record, and I didn't have the patience to sort through the other 67 fights to keep counting).

He recently went through a CAT scan to test how his brain may have been affected by all those fights and was the only enforcer to not have a deteriorated brain. Then again, unlike his many opponents, he didn't get hit in the face all that often.

Throughout his career, despite being perhaps the most-feared enforcer of his generation, Laraque was always honest about his job: he didn't particularly enjoy fighting but was aware it was the only way he'd get a job in the NHL - and a job that he believes is essential to the game nonetheless; he also admitted to experiencing fear before each fight and most games, knowing full well that any punch could be potentially dangerous, but his reasoning was ''if I fear them, then I know they fear me''.

He still managed to score 53 goals in 695 NHL games. Fun fact: despite being one of the toughest guys of his era, he never reached 200 PIMs in a single season and ''only'' has 1126 for his career. Well, plus his 72 in the playoffs - in 57 games.

Since retiring from hockey after the Habs sent him home mid-season then bought out his contract, he has become a politician (candidate for the Green Party on the federal level), done a lot of charity work (including taking many trips to and raising money for Haiti) and continued to be an advocate against animal cruelty, for human rights, and a devout vegan. He's also a commentator and contributor for TVA Sports, which will show up to 22 Habs games per year starting next season.

He may get in trouble at times because he speaks a lot faster than he thinks, but he's always honest and genuine, and seems like a really cool guy.

Jan Bulis Autographed Team Postcard

I'm finally ready to knock off another card on my Habs Numbers Project, with #38, Jan Bulis:

A star player in Juniors for the Barrie Colts, Bulis was chosen 43th overall (in the late second round) by the Washington Capitals in 1996, ahead of Pierre Dagenais (46th), Colin White (49th), Zdeno Chara (56th), Oleg Kvasha (65th), Jon Sim (70th), Arron Asham (71th), Mark Parrish (79th), Toni Lydman (89th), Éric Bélanger (96th), Michal Rozsival (105th), Andreas Dackell (136th), Robert Esche (139th), Dan Hinote (167th), Pavel Kubina (179th), Willie Mitchell (199th), Tomas Kaberle (204th) and Sami Salo (239th).

In all honesty and quite objectively, he's had as good a career as anyone on that list not playing defense, though he never became the point-per-game player the Caps had hoped for when they drafted him. The Montréal Canadiens, however, after having acquired him along with Richard Zednik for Dainius Zubrus and Trevor Linden, taught him the finer points of playing well in his own zone and winning important defensive face-offs, and he became a decent two-way, third-line center for years, first for the Habs, then with the Vancouver Canucks, before making the move to Russia, where he's a 0.75 point/game forward who usually scores more than he gets assists.

I met him during the 2002-03 season, at a team event, during which he signed my team postcard in blue sharpie. He was a nice fellow, though a bit on the reserved side. He is seen here wearing the Habs' white (then-home) uniform, awaiting a pass from a a teammate.

He has represented the Czech Republic twice, both times in 2006, winning bronze at the Torino Olympics and silver at the Riga World Championships, though he has recorded no points in 17 senior team games (on teams stacked with talent such as Tomas Plekanec, Patrik Elias, Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang, Martin Straka, Martin Erat, Milan Hejduk, Ales Hemsky and Vaclav Prospal, mind you).

Andrei Kostitsyn Autographed 8 X 10

One of the biggest mysteries of recent Montréal Canadiens history, Andrei Kostitsyn is an enigma wrapped in a riddle surrounded by questions... about his desire.

Drafted 10th overall in 2003, many considered him the most talented forward available, ahead of Stanley Cup champions Eric Staal, Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Patrice Bergeron and Mike Richards, 30-goal scorers Thomas Vanek, Zach Parise and Milan Michalek, but a number of teams were worried about AK-46's history of epilepsy, which made him available when the Habs were up.

With a 6'1'' frame carrying 215lbs of pure power, a slap shot clocked around 100mph, dazzling speed, soft hands, a killer wrist shot that is both swift and accurate and a bit of a mean streak, you'd think he would have produced more than three 20-goal seasons playing alongside the likes of Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec.

Perhaps the problems were of the off-ice variety: during the Habs' centennial, he was tied to local drug lord Pasquale Mangiola, the police having phone recordings of him ordering ''radios'', ''large screen TVs'', code for quantities of cocaine. Since being a customer isn't a crime, though, Brother Andrei was never charged, but his connection will be behind bars for a long time.

When the Habs sent him to the Nashville Predators, it took him about a month to influence young star Alexander Radulov into a late night out, resulting in the both of them being suspended by the team for two playoff games, then leaving for the KHL.

In any event, he was a world-class talent, and he signed this for me in 2010:

The picture shows the elder Kostitsyn diving while fighting for a puck in front of Curtis Joseph, in his return season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I got him to sign it in blue sharpie at a team function. I had sent him 2 cards and a fan letter on September 13th, 2010 but never heard back, so this 8 X 10 kind of makes up for it.

If you're counting, that's one more down for my Habs Numbers Project; there are 30 to 40 left.