Jamie Storr Autograph Card

I was sorting through my cards while reading in the paper about Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick's recovery from a pre-season operation when I came across one from their previous saviour in nets, Jamie Storr.

I talked about Storr extensively in a past post, so I won't repeat the same thing here about the only goalie in history to win 5 gold medals for Canada before playing a single NHL game - U-17 (1991), under-18 (1992), World Juniors (1994 and 1995) and World Championships (1994) - but I will say this: no goalie was ever among the best of his profession while wearing Heaton equipment; true stars went with the brand's higher-grade product, Brian's, not that it explains why Storr was bigger in Europe than in North America, but it's a bizarre coincidence.

I like that he signed this 1999-00 Be A Player Millenium Signature Series card (#123 in the set) by In The Game on the pad; the black sharpie contrasts well with the pad's white leather, whereas it would have been invisible anywhere else on the card because of its dark foil background (reminiscent of Upper Deck's Black Diamond sets) and the Kings' black uniform.

Other fun fact about this card: it says on the back it's Storr's ''First Signature Card'':

I guess it's BAP/ITG's way of making up for not having been there early enough to have him get a rookie card. I really like the action shots, too, especially the one on the back.

Jamie Storr Autograph Card

Let me tell you about a prodigy goalie... 6'2'', 200 pounds of manhood covering most of the net, and, despite a tendency to not cover his five-hole with his stick, was drafted first overall in the OHL draft in 1991. Things were looking great.

In 1992, he was named to the OHL All Rookie team; he also won a gold medal at the world U-17 championship. In 1993, he again won gold as well as Top Goaltender award at the U-18 Phoenix Cup.

He was drafted 7th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 1994 who were proud to have chosen him when he decided to turn pro after the 1994-95 season, coming off not one but two World Junior Championships gold medals, going undefeated in two years' tournament play.

The kind of player you build a franchise around, perhaps? The Kings must have thought so when Storr was named to the NHL All Rookie team not once but twice, in 1997-98 and 1998-99 - he hadn't played 25 games the first go-around so he was still eligible the second time.

With credentials like that, you'd have to believe he would have been maybe even a step ahead of Carey Price in every statistical category for a goalie his age.

So just who is this wunderkind, this record-breaking goalie who must surely still be active today? None other than Jamie Storr, seen here on his Autograph card from In The Game's 2002-03 Be A Player Signature Series (card #033 - perfect for a goalie meant for big things). He retired last May after 3 seasons of German League play, exiled to Europe as he was unable to move ahead of Cam Ward on the Carolina Hurricanes' team's depth chart, behind Martin Gerber.

Interesting fact: Storr was half-Japanese and would have his name spelled in takatana at the base of his helmet (on his chin, where, for example, Price has his own name written...), the easiest and simplest to read of all Japanese scripts.