Kings Preview: Alex Turcotte Autograph Card

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This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: Unlike in the distant past where I would post different texts on this collectibles blog and my personal one, I've been using a new format for the past couple of years, where I'll copy the same text on each one. As a father of two young kids, I just do not have enough time to write two separate posts per day on each blog. This year again, the entire scope of the analysis will take place first and the featured player will have a direct or perhaps indirect connection to what's written, below.

Caveats: At this point, despite training camp being set to start in a little over a week, several players haven't found a team yet, (at least) three star players have active trade requests, and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much left to do.

Key exits: Andrei Kuzmenko (LW), Phoenix Copley (G), Mathieu Joseph (RW), Jeff Malot (LW), Jacob Moverare (D)

Key Arrivals: Mats Zuccarello (RW), Corey Perry (RW), Erik Haula (LW),Erik Gustafsson (D), Lane Pederson (C/RW), Scott Perunovich (D), Jan Jenik (D)

Top prospects: Elton Hermansson (LW/RW, 18), Liam Lefebvre (C, 19), Adam Goljer (D, 19),Carter George (G, 20), Hampton Slukynsky (G, 21), Henry Brzustewicz (D, 19), Franceso Pinelli (C, 23), Vojtech Cihar (RW, 19), Erik Portillo (G, 25)

I'm surprised there are so many prospects on this list, considering GM Ken Holland's propensity of trading them (and high draft picks) for aging veterans.

What makes their odds look good:
New head coach Peter Laviolette has a (long) history of over-delivering results in his first year behind a team's bench. Artemi Panarin is still a good first-line player.

Question marks:
What does life after Anze Kopitar look like? How much gas does Drew Doughty have left in the tank? How will goalies Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg split starts?

Outlook:
There are a lot more question marks on this team than there are sure-fire positives, and that's before factoring in the fact that the Los Angeles Kings have been ousted in the first round of the last five playoffs. Their so-called blue-chip prospects take longer than expected to become difference-makers, and there is a real possibility that Alex Laferrière (third-round pick, 83rd overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, generally considered a middle-six winger) might outscore Quinton Byfield (second-overall pick in the same draft, thought to be the team's #1 centre for the last couple of years) atop the team's standings this year.

Prediction:
5th in the Pacific Division.

Which brings us to Alex Turcotte. A former first-round draft pick himself (5th overall, 2019), he is about to begin his third full-time NHL season, having never posted a point-per-game average in (parts of) four different seasons in the AHL. Even with the Wisconsin Badgers of the NCAA, he had 9 goals, 17 assists and 26 points in 29 games in 2019-20, after five very productive seasons with the U.S. National Under-18 Team, playing behind the likes of Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield, Matthew Boldy, Trevor Zegras and Matty Beniers.

Here is Alfie Turcotte's son wearing the Kings' white (away) colours on card #SS-AT from Upper Deck's 2024-25 SPx set and Super Scripts sub-set:

It features a blue-sharpied sticker autograph affixed to the card.

Jonathan Quick Jersey Card

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Tonight, Jonathan Quick will suit up as the starter for the New York Rangers for their final game of the season... and of his (likely) Hall of Fame career.

A two-time Vezina Trophy nominee, 2012 Conn Smythe winner and 2014 and 2018 Jennings Trophy winner, Quick is the winningest American goalie to date (he will likely be surpassed by Connor Hellebuyck at some point) with 410 regular-season and 49 playoff wins; his name is engraved three times on the Stanley Cup - in 2012 and 2014 with the Los Angeles Kings, and as part of the backup options for the 2023 Vegas Golden Knights. He was also on the Team USA squad that won the 2010 silver Olympic medal.

For the better part of the 2010s, he had the fastest legs and reflexes in the game, eventually surpassed by the Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy. Here is Quick in his prime, wearing the Kings' black (home) uniform, with a matching game-worn jersey swatch on card #GJ-JQ from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Series One set and Game Jersey sub-set:

Here's wishing him the best in retirement!

Tanner Pearson Autograph Card

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Maybe there's a lesson to be learned from Tyler Toffoli's climb atop the goal-scoring charts after signing as a free agent with the Montréal Canadiens, and perhaps the Vancouver Canucks should think twice about the option of trading the former member of the Stanley Cup-winning That 70s Line (Los Angeles Kings, 2014) right away and instead sign him to a reasonable, mid-term deal.

Further complicating things is the fact that he's set to miss four weeks of play due to a lower-body injury and that he's at nearly half the best of last season's career best goals-per-game (0.30) and points-per-game (0.63) averages as the Canucks have struggled mightily against the Habs putting them in danger of missing the playoffs.

I believe he has three more years of second-line hockey in him and at least the same number of quality third-line time before he has to think about exiting the game, which would lead him to age 35.

Here he is wearing the King's black (home) uniform on the signed insert version of card #TR-TP from Panini's 2013-14 Totally Certified set:

It features a blue-sharpied, on-sticker autograph and serves as his rookie card (from the Rookie Class sub-set) in the set's.

Kings Preview: Anze Kopitar Jersey Card

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: 2020 is a different beast and requires adaptability; in my case, it means the joint posts with my "main/personal" blog will not be in the "player here/analysis there" format but rather the entire scope of the analysis will take place here and the player will have some sort of direct connection to what's written. Caveats: at this point, despite the season being set to start in Mid-January, several impact players haven't found a team yet and quite a few teams are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

The present and recent past have been bleak, but the Los Angeles Kings (team links are ads for which I may eventually get paid) have positives they can build on: they were the only team in the NHL that didn't surrender a single goal while on the powerplay last season and they finished 13th in the league in goals against, as Calvin Petersen looks poised to steal more starts away from future Hall Of Famer Jonathan Quick. They also seem to have drafted well, they just need to ride out bad (or in the case of Jeff Carter, merely "too long") contracts to veterans to make room for that talent before it gets overpriced, too.

What makes their odds look good:
The Kings have more blue-chip prospects than dependable NHLers right now: Quinton Byfield, Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Turcotte, Samuel Fagemo... unfortunately, they're all huge power forwards who will take years to reach their prime, so instead of being two or three years away from dominance, think four or five. That's a long time with no offense and rookie mistakes, but it will be exciting. They also have a ton of players who have won Stanley Cups, and although they're are generally trending downwards, they can at least dispense experience and are not adverse to each having a miracle rejuvenation in a shortened season. If "anything is possible", then of all the teams I've excluded in the playoffs, my "long-shot" betting money would be on the Kings to make a surprise deep run.

Question marks:
Is Drew Doughty already in a steep decline? How long will Dustin Brown be kept around? These physical players don't typically have a long shelf life. How long will L.A. keep putting Quick between the pipes?

Outlook:
Some teams will be out of their rebuilding phases soon, your Ottawa Senators in a year, your Detroit Red Wings in two or three. The Kings took a longer route, that of waiting out long contracts, which means they will actually hit cap connundrums right before turning into contenders, as this current wave of youngsters age out of their rookie and bridge deals and into lucrative prime years, while they fight for pretty much the same spots, and the team will have to choose between top-five picks from a five-year gap to fit into the lineup. So the playoffs are a ways away, and contention a little further still. But I see the Kings ahead of the other two California teams.

Prediction:
Sixth in the West.

One player who's had his ups and downs since the Cup-winning days of 2011-12 and 2013-14 is current captain Anze Kopitar, the first Slovene to play in the NHL, a towering two-way center who almost always gets his 60 points per year but whose plus/minus stats oscillate greatly from year to year:

Take a look starting in 2013-14: +34 (Selke Trophy win), -2, +34 (Selke), -10, +21, -20, +6, -1... lesser players have had their contracts bought out for that kind of inconsistency, but Kopitar hasn't even been the most at-risk of that happening on his own line. He is due to hit a few milestones this season, notably the 100th-best rank on the career points list, surpassing defenseman Larry Robinson's 958; Kopitar stands at 950, meaning he likely won't hit the 1000 mark this year in a 56-game season, but definitely early in the 2021-22 campaign. Should he play in at least 40 contests this year, he will surpass both Luc Robitaille and Dave Taylor and stand second of all-time for games played by a King. Here he is wearing Los Angeles' white (away) uniform from 2007-11 (the team also used a version of it as its home version with a more elaborate bottom than just the "Los Angeles" wordmark from 1998 until 2002):

That's card #GJ-KO from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Series 1 collection and UD Game Jersey sub-set, featuring a matching white game-worn jersey swatch. Although, for obvious reasons, he has never medaled with Team Slovenia at the U18s (three times), World Juniors (three times), World Championships (six times), and Olympics (twice), he was a member of the Team Europe squad that finished as runner-up to champion Team Canada at the 2016 World Cup and had an assist in the first game of two in the Final.

Habs Preview: Tyler Toffoli Jersey Card

This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: 2020 is a different beast and requires adaptability; in my case, it means the joint posts with my "main/personal" blog will not be in the "player here/analysis there" format but rather the entire scope of the analysis will take place here and the player will have some sort of direct connection to what's written. Two more caveats: at this point, the NHL has not even confirmed the division make-ups yet despite the season being set to start a month from now, and several impact players such as 25-to-30-goal scorer Mike Hoffman and 20-goal journeyman forward Anthony Duclair, among others, haven't found a team yet. And quite a few teams are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

That being said, let's start with the one division we're pretty sure is going to happen if only because of the border situation, the Canadian Division, and the Montréal Canadiens.

The Habs surprised many by ousting the Pittsburgh Penguins in last August's Return To Play and fared decently against a much stronger Philadelphia Flyers team in the first round, after finishing 12th in the Eastern Conference during the interrupted regular season - with the very real possibility of falling even lower had the season been completed with the dozen missing games. They had missed the playoffs for the previous three seasons.

They are also the most-improved team this off-season, with the additions of #1B goaltender Jake Allen, 30-goal scorer Tyler Toffoli, 27-goal scorer Josh Anderson, and shut-down defender Joel Edmundson joining the fold, and rookie Alexander Romanov expected to become the next star on the team's blue line. However, whenever a team adds that many new faces (essentially a quarter of a line-up), there are usually growing pains and chemistry issues that take until the Holidays to sort out - or roughly half the year. There will not be the luxury of time this year, as the season will actually start after the Holidays have taken place and will have to end before mid-July because of the Summer Olympics.

What makes their odds look good:
The middle: Phillip Danault is now rightfully seen as one of the best two-way centers in the NHL, Nick Suzuki is looking like an eventual first-line pivot and Jesperi Kotkaniemi has shown enough promise to justify the gamble of using a third-overall pick to select him.

The right side is also now comprised of three 25-to-30-goal scorers in Brendan Gallagher, Toffoli and Anderson.

The defense now boasts eight credible and healthy NHL-level names, in addition to Noah Juulsen who may yet recover from concussion issues and is still a top-level prospect in his early 20s.

The team also had a 10-3-2 record against Canadian teams last season; they had the Calgary Flames' and Toronto Maple Leafs' number, they did well against the Ottawa Senators (a historical anomaly), and split the season series with the Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks. The Edmonton Oilers did a number on them. I figure things will be a little harder in 2020-21 because of the lack of fans in attendance - the Canadiens usually draw huge crowds out West that makes away games feel like home games - but they are built to withstand this exact type of adversary.

Question marks:
Shea Weber has made way for Jeff Petry as the most-used defenseman on the right side for a couple of years now; he has looked slow at times, but his monster shot remains a threat on the powerplay. There will come a day when he is best bought out, which will impact the Nashville Predators' cap because they're the ones who signed the cap-circumventing contract.

Outlook:
Remember when the saying went "as Carey Price goes, so do the Canadiens"? That didn't turn out all that well, as the team has missed the playoffs more than they've been in them since he was appointed as the unquestioned #1, a situation that has been made worse by his current contract. Luckily for him and the team, Montréal has a shot at winning the division if he can simply be the 15th-best goalie in the league and Allen can perform around 20th-best for some 20-to-25 games. There will be a shit-ton of back-to-back games and teams who do not have a good tandem in net will be penalized, either by missing the postseason or by not faring well in them.

My reservations are with the shortened schedule, the lack of preparation time ahead of facilitating the integration of four new important pieces of the regular lineup and one team possibly gaining improbable momentum. I would normally also worry about message fatigue from long-time head coach Claude Julien, but his health issues from the playoffs buys him sympathy and time.

Prediction:
Second in the Canadian/North Division.

Which brings me to Toffoli, seen here wearing the Los Angeles Kings' white (away) uniform on card #GJ-TT from Upper Deck's 2017-18 Series 1 collection and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a superb silver game-worn jersey swatch. Toffoli is not only a former 30-goal scorer but also a Stanley Cup champion (L.A., 2014), co-starring with Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson on the team's top unit, dubbed "That 70s Line". He has also won gold with Team Canada at the 2015 World Championships.

At 6'1", 195 pounds, and 28 years of age, he should remain fairly productive for three of the next four seasons. He is a great addition to this team.

Luc Robitaille: Two Autographed Cards

There was a reason why Luc Robitaille was selected in the ninth round, 171st overall, in 1984: scouts from all NHL teams considered him too slow to keep up with the 1980s pro game, despite having posted more than a point-per-game average in his rookie year in Juniors with the LHJMQ's Hull Olympiques; he followed that with a 55-goal, 148-point season in 64 games in 1984-85 and with 68 goals and 191 points in 63 games the following season, convincing the Los Angeles Kings to provide him with a real shot at making the team, which he did.

His 84-point rookie season earned him the Calder Trophy in 1986-87 - the first year I followed hockey full-time - and his 63-goal season in 1992-93 was the NHL record for a very long time, until Alex Ovechkin obliterated it in 2007.

Robitaille retired after the 2005-06 season, in his third stint with the Kings, as the highest-scoring left winger of all time (beaten earlier this season by Ovechkin), Los Angeles' franchise record holder for goals (577), fourth behind Marcel Dionne, Wayne Gretzky and Dave Taylor on the team's all0time assists leaders list( 726), and second to Taylor in career points with the franchise (1154).

He's the quintessential King, which is why he's currently the team's President.

He was interviewed by NBC Sports recently and had an interesting take on Ovechkin's path to beating Gretzky's all-time goals record:

It’s hard to figure out someone that would do it. I’m going to enjoy this ride because it’s special. It’s very special and this is something that’s really good for our game. I’m rooting for him that he does it because it’s going to be absolutely incredible.

Whether he truly wants him to break Gretzky's record "for the good of the game" or because he doesn't want to be alone among former 1990s Kings captains to get surpassed by Alexander The Great remains to be seen; one thing's for certain: it truly is entertaining to keep track of.

Here he is wearing the Kings' 1990s white (home) uniform on card #90 from Topps' 1992-93 Premier set and First Team All-Star sub-set:

And here he is wearing the counterpart black (away) uniform, on card #98 from Upper Deck's 1998-99 UD Choice set:

Those were, in my opinion, the very best Kings uniforms ever. I miss them dearly.

In-between stints in L.A., Robitaille also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and Detroit Red Wings - with whom he won the 2001-02 Stanley Cup - as well as Team Canada at the 1986 World Juniors (silver), 1991 Canada Cup (won), and 1994 World Championships (gold medal).

Ken Belanger Autograph Card

248 regular-season NHL games spent with four different teams over 12 hockey seasons, including two full years outside the NHL altogether suiting up for a single game in the UHL in that period, mostly due to concussion issues. 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points, with a peak of 5 points in 45 games with the Boston Bruins in 1998-99. 695 penalty minutes.

12 career postseason games, all with the Bruins, all in '98-99. One goal. 16 PIMs.

Yes, Ken Belanger earned his card in In The Game's 2013-14 Enforcers II set and Autograph sub-set:

He signed the Band-Aid-like sticker in black sharpie tagging it with #33 - the number he wore with the New York Islanders, his longest-tenured organization in terms of years spent, probably unaware that ITG were going to show him as a member of the Los Angeles Kings, the team with which he spent his final three seasons in the NHL, 2001-02 (43 games), 2002-03 (4 games) and 2005-06 (5 games).

He had originally been a Hartford Whalers draft pick (153rd overall, 7th round, 1992) but was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs before his Juniors career was even over, so he never got to play for them.

Nowadays, he's a full-time entrepreneur, notably with KBX, a hockey school/training facility he runs with his wife as well as partnerships and stakes in Puckcooler (a drink holder that maintains temperatures made from used hockey pucks endorsed by Grant Fuhr), Northern Digital Media (a digital advertising brand based in Sault Ste-Marie) and Shot Blockers, the skate protectors for defensemen. He also dabbles in motivational speaking.

Jonny Brodzinski Jersey Card

You may recall this Jonny Brodzinski jersey card from a box break last year:

It's #RM-JB from Upper Deck's 2017-18 Series 2 collection and Rookie Materials sub-set, showing him wearing the Los Angeles Kings' black (home) uniform, with a matching "player-worn memorabilia", without specification if it's at the draft, during practice, a game or a photo shoot. Or just in the press box while watching other Kings players practice.

Upon signing him to a one-year deal with the San Jose Sharks on July 2nd, GM Doug Wilson had this to say:

Brodzinski has an excellent combination of power and scoring skill-set. He had a great collegiate career at St. Cloud State and has continued that success at the professional level. We feel there’s a good opportunity for him to earn playing time and help us offensively this upcoming season.

His father Mike and uncle Steve as well as second-youngest brother Easton are all products of St. Cloud State, while his two middle brothers Michael (a Sharks draft pick) and youngest brother Bryce opted for the University of Minnesota.

I want to disagree with Wilson's rose-coloured glasses assessment of Brodzinski, however, as he was barely a point-per-game forward in College, never actually got there at the AHL level but did get close once with the Ontario Reign and has yet to translate any of that to the NHL level, although to be fair, he was mostly asked to play a fourth-line role with the Kings.

I see his upside as a third-line winger more than a centre, if he can translate some of that offensive skill by playing with more talented players than your average fourth-liner. But let's keep in mind he's a fifth-round pick who is already 26 years old. He needs to grab the bull by the horns if he doesn't want to remain a 'tweener alternating between the NHL and AHL.

I'd love to see all four brothers on the ice at once, though, so perhaps there's a chance with the San Jose Barracuda.

Rob Blake Swatch Card

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Los Angeles Kings would finish last in the NHL in 2019-20).

Rob Blake is many things: a Hall of Famer, a Stanley Cup winner (Colorado Avalanche, 2001), the 11th member of the Triple Gold Club, a former captain of two NHL teams (Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks), a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman (1998), and a current General Manager, a position he has occupied since April 10, 2017 and has yet to make any significant impact in.

With his Kings finishing in last place in the West last season, he opted to make the following roster moves at the trade deadline and over the summer:

• Traded Carl Hagelin, who had played only 22 games with the team after being acquired for Tanner Pearson, to the Washington Capitals for two mid-round draft picks
• Traded Nate Thompson, who had played only 79 games with the team, to the Montreal Canadiens for a fourth-round draft pick
• Traded Oscar Fantenberg, who had played only 74 games with the team, to the Calgary Flames for a conditional pick in 2020.
• Bought out the final two years of Dion Phaneuf’s contract
• Signed Joakim Ryan to a one-year deal in free agency

What the actual fuck.

He's spending $11M annually until 2025 on Drew Doughty, a defenseman who has been alternating good and bad seasons since 2009-10 - and last year's 8 goals, 44 points and -34 rating in 82 games is the worst among everyone making over $7M a year - and the same can be said for $10M captain (until 2024) Anze Kopitar, who's been on and off since 2013-14.

That's saying nothing of former captain Dustin Brown's annual salary of $5.75M until 2022, who seems to have maxed out at some 20 goals per season after five straight seasons below that threshold.

And, instead of trying to help Russian superstar Ilya Kovalchuk regain his mojo, Blake stayed with head coach Willie Desjardins until the end of the season, despite Slick Willie being unable to get his team to win or even want to play.

So many bad decisions followed by so much inaction - yet so much dead wood to get rid of.

Unless he's tanking for the benefit of his successor, Blake actually seems to be on a mission to waste his boss' money with absolutely nothing to show for it on the ice, performing a reverse-Wayne Gretzky and trying to kill off hockey in California.

It seems like the only logical explanation.

Here he is wearing the King's white (then-home) uniform from the 1998-2008 era, sporting the captain's "C", on card #GG-RBL from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set and Game-Worn Gear sub-set:

It features a black game-worn jersey swatch from the team's black (away/third) uniform of the same era.

Garry Unger: Two Autographed Cards

Before Gary Unger, the NHL Ironman record was 264 straight games. From the time he suited up as a rookie for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1967-68 season through trades to the Detroit Red Wings (same year) to the St. Louis Blues during the 1970-71 season and to the Atlanta Flames in 1979-80, he suited up in 914 consecutive games, until head coach Al MacNeil made him a healthy scratch on December 21st, 1979. It was the only game he'd miss that year, and it was just a message to the team's other players that each and every one of them had to be accountable and deserve their ice time, regardless of the fact that they were a record holder, or what language they spoke.

It wasn't the only time Unger was treated unfairly; he was actually traded by Detroit because he defied head coach Ned Harkness. Harkness didn't like Unger's attitude; he'd scored 44 goals the previous season and was now dating the current Miss America, Pamela Eldred, who had been Miss Michigan prior to that. Unger had everything going for him, and had long, blonde shoulder-length locks. Harkness - an authoritarian disciplinarian - was of the old guard that hated individuality and may have been better at running a boarding school. His career .368 NHL record (12-22-4) as a coach now speaking of itself, Harkness insisted all of his players sport crew cuts, specifically aiming at one player to fall in line. Unger refused and was shipped to St. Louis with another good and dependable player (Wayne Connelly) for fading star "Red" Berenson and fourth-liner Tim Ecclestone.

Unger scored 30 goals or more in each of his eight seasons with the Blues, with a high of 41 in 1972-73; he had three seasons over the 80-point mark, with a high of 83 in 1975-76. After the Flames incident, he spent the 1980-81 season with the Los Angeles Kings, collecting 10 goals and 10 assists (20 points) in 58 games, as can be shown on card #123 from O-Pee-Chee's 1980-81 O-Pee-Chee set:

And, yes, he then spent the next three seasons mentoring Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Kevin Lowe, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Ken Linseman, Charlie Huddy, Grant Fuhr, Andy Moog, Laurie Boschman, Lee Fogolin and the other young members of the Edmonton Oilers into being true professionals, as evidenced on card #120 from OPC's 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee collection:

And, yes, this card has him joining Tom Gilbert as wearers of #77 in my Oilers Numbers Project.

After retiring, Unger set his sights to coaching, winning a championship with the 1992-93 Tulsa Oilers and teaching kids in the Tulsa area for many years after that. However, when he started having grandchildren, he moved back to Alberta (Banff, more specifically) and heads the Banff Hockey Association to this day, into his 70s.

I've had these cards, signed in ballpoint pen since pretty much forever.  I met him a few times in the mid-to-late 1990s while attending and eventually teaching at the Jacques St-Jean Hockey School, and there were times when we organized meet-and-greet/tournaments with other hockey schools in the country. He was a class act each time we made our way there, spending time with every kid who went to see him.

Oh, and yes, Doug Jarvis now holds the NHL Ironman record with 964 consecutive games, from October 1975 until October 1987, and Unger is sitting comfortably in second place; the longest current active streak is Keith Yandle's, at 784, following Andrew Cogliano's suspension, which blocked his streak at 830.

Anze Kopitar Jersey Card

As I wrote in February 2016, "(as) Anze Kopitar goes, so do, pretty much, the Los Angeles Kings."

The Kings' captain now has 6 goals, 5 assists and 11 points in 9 games so far this season, tied for the team lead in points with his predecessor Dustin Brown. Uh huh, yep. Furthermore, with a 7-1-1 record, L.A. is one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for the Pacific Division lead.

That's two things I hadn't predicted (although I was hoping for Vegas to have a good season).

I did, however, think Kopitar would bounce back from his awful season last year, one which was a perfect storm of wrongs for him, seeing as he'd just signed a huge 8-year, $80M extension, was named captain after management revoked the title from Brown, the team failed to make the playoffs leading to the ousting of both GM Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter, all in a year where most of the best two-way forwards in the league struggled - Patrice Bergeron, Jonathan Toews, and Tomas Plekanec being the closest comparables to Kopitar.

Hopefully L.A. doesn't suffer as many serious injuries this season as last year, although Jeff Carter has now been announced as "out indefinitely" after surgery to repair a cut to the leg...

That being said, here's Kopitar wearing the Kings' black uniform, on card #GJ2-AK from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Series 2 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a (small) matching game-worn jersey swatch.

Jeff Tambellini Jersey And Autograph Card

In keeping up with the "matching daily team articles on both blogs" theme, after predicting the Los Angeles Kings would finish 5th in the Pacific in 2017-18, I thought I could focus on the career on one of their former prospects, Jeff Tambellini.

Tambellini was a fine player for the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA and perhaps the best skater in his age category when the Kings made him their first-round pick (27th overall) in 2003; unfortunately, they also viewed him as soft and unreliable defensively, so despite his putting decent numbers up (56 points in 56 games) with the AHL's Manchester Monarchs, they sent him (and Denis Grebeshkov) to the New York Islanders for Brent Sopel and Mark Parrish in March 2006.

While in the Isles' organization, he developed into a fine two-way player, thanks to his speed in coming back in the defensive zone when his team lost possession of the puck. He also further developed his offensive attributes (namely his quick wrists and good, deceptive shot) with their AHL affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers (138 points in 113 games) but just couldn't stick in the NHL, accumulating 46 points in 176 games on Long Island.

In 2010-11, he tried his luck with the Vancouver Canucks, yielding similar results: 17 points in 62 games when he was up, 5 goals and 2 assists for 7 points in 7 games with the Manitoba Moose.

He then tried his hand in Europe, finding some success in the Swiss League with the Zurich Lions (45 points in 50 games in his first season there, 12 in 27 the following year), prompting a downfall that would be consistent save for two fine playoffs and another decent turn in the AHL for good measure:

Courtesy of HockeyDB

As far as I know, he is currently a free agent and would thus be eligible to suit up for Team Canada at the Olympics in February... He does have a silver medal from the 2004 World Juniors...

Here he is dating back to his days with the Kings, wearing their black-and-purple uniform on the "all dressed" version of card #241 from Fleer's 2005-06 Hot Prospects set and Prized Prospects sub-set, manufactured by Upper Deck:

It's got everything a card collector hates, from the blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph to the black swatch (they call this one a "patch" on the back of the card, though I don't see it myself) coming from a jersey used in a rookie photo shoot.

It's numbered 225/349.

Philippe Boucher Autograph Card

Philippe Boucher's career mirrored that of another defenseman of his generation, Patrice Brisebois, in that both were extremely good with the puck, made very good passes, had an accurate shot that was just hard enough to go in on its own but also easy enough for teammates to try to deflect, and whose size had GMs and coaches hoping they'd be more physical and better in their own zone.

In today's NHL, these types of players - exemplified best by the likes of Mark Streit and Kris Letang - are now known as "puck-moving offensive defensemen", and most play top-4 minutes; this was also often the case in the 1990s and early-00s, but physical play was more prevalent (and refereeing was, dare I say, worse) back then, so forwards with lesser talent were usually tasked to hit them - legally or not - to prey the puck loose, and once a cycle was in motion, they had little means to stop it.

Some of these players won Stanley Cups in their heydey - Brisebois with the Montréal Canadiens in 1993, for instance - but others had a harder time at it. Boucher falls into the latter category.

Originally a first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings after failing to make his mark in Buffalo for three seasons. The big knock over his time in L.A. was his inability to remain healthy, only suiting up for 80 games in a season once, in his final of eight seasons in the sun. It was with the Dallas Stars that he would truly find his groove, however, setting the team record for goals by a defenseman with 19, in 2006-07. That year, he made it onto the All-Star Game's starting roster (replacing the injured Scott Niedermayer), finished 12th in Norris voting and even got some Lady Byng votes.

However, as he was nearing the end of his contract and perhaps even his career, at age 35, the Stars sent him to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline of the 2008-09 season, and he provided defensive depth for a team that went on to win the Cup.

He did, in fact, retire after winning the championship, injuries having taken their toll.

In 2011, he was named President and GM of the LHJMQ's Rimouski Océanic, until he stepped down to become GM and head coach of the rival Québec Remparts after their own owner, President, GM and head coach Patrick Roy signed on to be head coach and VP of Player Personnel of the Colorado Avalanche.

In the three seasons the team has been under his watch, the perennial contenders reached the league final once, and were ousted in the first round twice, including a clean sweep this year against the Gatineau Olympiques.

Here he is while with the Kings, wearing their best-looking black (away) uniform, on the signed insert version of card #74 from Pinnacle Brands' 1996-97 Be A Player set:

He signed it in thin black sharpie... pretty much directly on the black jersey. Look for it, though, it's there!

Rob Blake Autograph Card

Depending how you look at it, the Los Angeles Kings either succumbed to public pressure or didn't fall prey to feelings and matters of the heart when they fired GM Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter earlier today, i.e. the two architects of the team's pair of Stanley Cups.

The coach has yet to be named, but stepping into the spotlight as the general manager will be Rob Blake, the team's former two-time captain and Lombardi's assistant since 2013. He was on board for the 2014 Cup, and had also won one as a player with the Colorado Avalanche.

The question on everyone's mind is how the former Team Canada star will fare as a GM, whether he'll be more like Joe Sakic (currently in over his head and hurting the Avs' chances by not improving their defense) or more like Steve Yzerman (building a contender with his Tampa Bay Lightning).

Still, he's already in the Hall Of Fame as a Norris Trophy winner two-team captain (he also wore the "C" with the San Jose Sharks before retiring) and member of the Triple Gold Club (the 2001 Cup, 1994 and 1997 World Championship gold and 2002 Olympic gold); there's no chance he can ruin his playing legacy even if he fails to build a championship team in L.A.

Here he is as captain of the Kings, wearing their old white (with purple, black and silver accents) uniform, on the signed (silver) insert version of card #212 from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set:

It's signed on-card in thin blue sharpie.

Anze Kopitar Jersey Card

I hinted last year at the sheer amount of Anze Kopitar jersey cards I own, and that I had to use pretty much any occasion to feature one so I can store it away in my Kopitar binder, but any news concerning the Los Angeles Kings has been pretty bad this year, and the team's new captain is no exception, missing his second straight game tonight due to what seems like an arm injury.

The Kings are currently down to their third goalie, Peter Budaj, after both Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff have fallen in the crease, pulling their groins. Marian Gaborik is also sidelined, although that is a more natural occurrence, as the star sniper and former Minnesota Wild captain hasn't played a full season since 2011-12.

Here is last year's Selke and Lady Byng winner wearing L.A.'s black uniform, on card #FR-AK from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Ice set and Frozen Fabrics sub-set:

It features a white game-worn jersey swatch.

Jason Allison Jersey Card

I briefly mentioned Jason Allison yesterday and figured I could feature the one-season captain (in 2000-01) of the Boston Bruins today.

Allison was a Washington Capitals draft pick, going 17th overall in 1993, but the Caps grew tired of the power forward's slow development and sent him to the Bruins after three years of alternating between the NHL and AHL and during his fourth season, where he failed to crack their top line.

In his first full season in Boston, in 1997-98, he exploded for 33 goals, 50 assists and 83 points to go along with 60 penalty minutes, resulting in a top-10 finish in Hart voting and top-15 in Selke voting; he kept that pace throughout his time in Beantown, with a high of 36 goals and 95 points in 2000-01.

The Bs then sent him to the Los Angeles Kings (with Mikko Eloranta, for Jozef Stumpel and Glen Murray), where he would enjoy a similar production rate - 74 points in 73 games in 2001-02, and 28 points in 26 games in 2002-03), but injury troubles forced him away from the game for a year and a half.

He made his first comeback with the rough-and-tumble Toronto Maple Leafs in 2005-06, posting 60 points in 66 games with 76 penalty minutes before the speedier game and personal issues forced him out... until 2009-10, when he attempted a second comeback, this time with Brian Burke's truculent Leafs, eventually failing to make the team, but making enough of an impression on Philadelphia Flyers forward Darrell Powe's helmet:

He retired with 485 points and 441 penalty minutes in 552 regular-season NHL games as well as 25 points and just 14 PIMs in 25 playoff games.

Here he is wearing the Kings' black and purple uniform from the turn of the millennium, on card #DM-JA from Upper Deck's 2002-03 Series 1 set and Difference Makers sub-set:

It contains a white game-worn jersey swatch.

He also won two gold medals with Team Canada at the World Juniors, in 1994 and 1995.

Jack Johnson Autograph Card

Much has been said about Team USA's dead-last finish at the World Cup, particularly about John Tortorella's coaching style and the make-up of the team assembled by Dean Lombardi and Brian Burke, notably the absence of proven (and speedy) goal-scorers such as Phil Kessel, Kyle Okposo and Bobby Ryan, as well as the absence of a Justin Faulk or a Kevin Shattenkirk on defense instead of Erik Johnson or Jack Johnson.

You might recall that last name as either the best defenseman on the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets for a while (say, prior to their trade for Seth Jones) or as the punchline to a surprising headline in 2014, when he filed for bankruptcy (his parents took high-interest loans in his name).

All of which doesn't take away from the fact that, at his best, he is a 30-to-40-point producing defenseman in the NHL. It's not quite what is usually expected from a third-overall draft pick (Carolina Hurricanes, 2005), but that's a #2 or #3 defenseman on most teams, and a #1 on a weak one. His seven points in six playoff games against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 213-14 led all Jackets players, after all.

He's also won every type of medal with the American team: gold (2005 U-18s), silver (2004 U-18s and 2010 Olympics), and bronze (2007 World Juniors).

Here he is wearing the Los Angeles Kings' former black-and-gold uniform, on card #GG-JJ from Upper Deck's beautiful 2007-08 Ice set and Glacial Graphs sub-set:

It's a see-through plastic card (the text from the back can be seen at the top-right portion of the scan) that he signed in blue sharpie.

Anze Kopitar Swatch Card

It took me a while to get my hands on another Prime Numbers card from Donruss' 2011-12 Elite set from Panini, but trading a ton of last year's Upper Deck 2015-16 Tim Hortons cards landed me this one of Anze Kopitar, the Los Angeles Kings' new captain:

It shows him wearing L.A.'s black (home) uniform, with a matching game-worn watch.

Though he didn't register a point as Team Europe beat Team USA 3-0 earlier today (on a terrific performance from Jaroslav Halak, who stopped 35 shots - many of them "the difficult kind"), Kopitar led by example as the team's captain, holding off much of the American offense. Patrick Kane, Max Pacioretty and Zach Parise were pretty much invisible throughout the game.

That puts the Americans in the difficult position of pretty much having to beat Team Canada, whereas it gives the Eight Nation Army some breathing room.

Kelly Hrudey Autograph Card

Don't let his career GAA of 3.43 and .893 save percentage fool you, Kelly Hrudey played in the 1980s and early 1990s, which has a tendency to skew with perceptions.

I'm not saying Hrudey was on a Grant Fuhr or Bill Ranford in their prime level, let alone that of a Patrick Roy, but he was a top-10 goalie for a lot of his career. As a matter of fact, he finished top-5 in Vezina Trophy voting three times: fifth in 1985-86 and third in 1987-88 (with the New York Islanders, who had selected him 38th overall at the 1980 draft), as well as fourth in 1990-91 while with the Los Angeles Kings.

He played his final two seasons (1996-98) as the veteran backup to Chris Terreri/Ed Belfour and similarly-on-a-down-slope Mike Vernon with the San Jose Sharks.

Though many recall his bandana-wearing days with the Isles the most - particularly the 72-save, seven-period Easter Epic  - I, as a local to the Montréal Canadiens and Wayne Gretzky super-fan - tend to think of him as a King first and foremost; it was with L.A. that he got his final Vezina-conversation-worthy season(s), and his play leading to the Stanley Cup Final in 1992-93 was stellar... he just got exposed against the Habs, who had Roy to practice on during their off days.

Hrudey liked being an original, and that was reflected on his Kings helmet, which he had painted as others did their masks, despite being a regular Jofa cage, which I also wore at the time:

That's card #A-KH from In The Game's 2012-13 Decades - The 1990s set (and Autograph sub-set, signed in black sharpie), showing him in the Kings' (best) black (away) uniform.

Hrudey has been one of Canada's best hockey analysts since moving onto Hockey Night In Canada following his retirement. For a while, there, he was probably even the best, although the competition has stiffened in the past decade; he remains the best example of a former player who fully understood the game being able to simplify it and explain it to the masses. In that regard, he was indeed a game changer.

Jeff Carter Jersey Card

Jeff Carter was supposed to be a part of Team Canada for the upcoming World Cup, but a lower-body injury will force him out, and Corey Perry will replace him.

While Perry is a Triple Gold Club member (Stanley Cup, Olympic gold, World Championship gold), Carter was looking forward to add a World Cup championship to his international resume, which includes Olympic gold (2014), World Juniors gold (2005) and silver (2004), and U-18 gold (2003) in addition to his two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings.

Speaking of L.A., here he is wearing their white (away) uniform, on card #AF-JC from Upper Deck's 2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition set and Authentic Fabrics sub-set:

It features a black game-worn jersey swatch that may be from one of his Kings uniforms, or perhaps from his days with the Philadelphia Flyers.