Josh Morrissey: Two Autographed Cards

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I didn't post my usual NHL playoff predictions on my regular blog this year, so you'll just have to take me at my word that I'm not looking like Nostradamus right now...

The Winnipeg Jets taking their first game against the Edmonton Oilers didn't really make a dent in my prediction that the Oilers would win in 5, but their taking a 3-0 series lead looking for a sweep tomorrow - particularly when trailing 4-1 with 9 minutes left in the third in Game 3 - reinforces my belief that this team is built with great character (Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers), is a deep offensive juggernaut (Mark Scheifele, Paul Stastny, Kyle Connor, Pierre-Luc Dubois) and has the best goalie in the game today (Connor Hellebuyck).

But the Oilers have the best player in the past 30 years (Connor McDavid) and Leon Draisaitl, who qiualifies as one of the five best forwards in the world right now as well - they supporting cast just hasn't been able to do what it takes to either steal or keep the lead in a game.

In their press conferences, Jets head coach Paul Maurice also looks not only more in control and better able to communicate his messages to his players (and the media), he also constantly adds value to his answers with tactical information or historical tidbits, whereas Edmonton's Dave Tippett looks like someone who once coached the Phoenix Coyotes.

The key play that got the Jets back in the game was Josh Archibald's dangerous and useless "tripping" (actually clipping the kees) penalty on rookie defenseman Logan Stanley, for which he'll get a hearing tomorrow, opening the possibility of a suspension which would facilitate Tippett's removal of his top checker from the next game.

Obviously, with a pair of goals including the goal that sparked the comeback and the overtime game-winner, Ehlers was celebrated as the game's hero, but Josh Morrissey, with an assist on Wheeler's 4-3 goal and the tying one just seconds later, both on similar plays where he took full control of the puck at the blue line to set up and maintain the attack, arguably had just as much impact on Winnipeg's comeback win. The defenseman had been blanked in the first two games of the series after a 21-point regular season (to go with 86 blocked shots, 78 hits and 25 penalty minutes). He had had back-to-back 31-point seasons before that, earning then cementing his place as the team's top defender.

It's odd to think he was a rookie not so long ago, as can be attested from card #282 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 MVP set, showing him wearing #36, meaning the picture was taken dring his lone NHL game in 2015-16:

He has since worn #44, as can be seen on card #NL-21 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 Overtime hockey collection and Next In Line sub-set:

It's a beautiful silver foil card, even though it appears as teal in the scan.

He signed them in thin blue sharpie in 2018.

Isles Preview: Johnny Boychuk: Three Autographed Cards

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 New York Islanders have the best coach in the business in Barry Trotz, and they remain one of the better-balanced teams in the NHL, with one star in the making in Mathew Barzal up front and an ensemble cast of selfless players.

What makes their odds look good:
Trotz has devised a defensive plan that can shut down just about anyone that three full lines of second-liners take pride in adhering to, with an effective defense and pair of goalies that make it work every night. Add Barzal and a few prospects like Oliver Wahlstrom who may or may not end up on his level - but doesn't even need to to succeed with this team.

Question marks:
Are Jordan Eberle's days as a 20-goal, 60-point player behind him? Does anyone realize Josh Ho-Sang is still in the Isles organization?

Outlook:
Most of the team's core is under the age of 30: Barzal is 23, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock are 26, Jean-Gabriel Pageau is 28, Brock Nelson and Nick Leddy are 29, Anthony Beauvillier is still just 23 and Anders Lee and Eberle are 30 on the dot. This team will make the playoffs for five of the next six seasons.

Prediction:
Third in the East/Metro.

One player whose run with the Isles has come to an end is Johnny Boychuk, whose eye injury against the Montréal Canadiens right before the pandemic struck last season has left him with bad peripheral vision, forcing him to retire. The dependable rearguard was a fixture on the Islanders' blue line for six seasons, after six years in the Boston Bruins organization and four in the Colorado Avalanche system. He went on two Stanley Cup runs with the Bruins, winning it in 2011 and losing the Final to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013.

Here is what he looked like wearing the Islanders' classic white (now-away) uniform, on card #657 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 MVP collection:

Here he is shooting from the point in the team's blue (home) uniform with the 2014-15 patch commemorating the move from Nassau Coliseum to Barclay's, sporting the alternate captain's "A", on card #375 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Series 2 collection:

And here he is once again in blue, this time with the NHL's 100th Anniversary patch oddly placed below the jersey number instead of on the shoulder, on card #323 fro UD's 2017-18 O-Pee-Chee set:

He signed them in black sharpie after a game in Montréal during the 2018-19 season.

Canucks Preview: Todd Bertuzzi 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 Vancouver Canucks.

The Canucks are deep and ba;lanced, but furthermore, they also have cornerstone superstars in every aspect of the game, from Elias Pettersson up front to Quinn Hughes on defense and Thatcher Demko between the pipes. There is a possibility that Hughes will hit his sophomore slump and that the Demko from the regular season shows up more often than the Conn Smythe-caliber playoof one, but that's why Nate Schmidt and Braden Holtby were acquired in the off-season: as support staff rather than go-to guys, they can still flourish, particularly Schmidt, who was the Vegas Golden Knights' second-best blueliner.

What makes their odds look good:
The forwards: behind the elite greatness of Pettersson lies an array of well-developed draft picks who have become key contributors, including captain Bo Horvat, oft-injured Brock Boeser, and the ever-improving Adam Gaudette and Jake Virtanen, but also acquisitions Tanner Pearson, Brandon Sutter, Micheal Ferland and Antoine Roussel, though some fans balk at their cap hits.

The blue line is also solid with Alexander Edler in a prominent role, Tyler Myers handling the middle and Jordie Benn in a depth role, allowing the likes of Hughes, Schmidt, and potential rookies Jack Rathbone and Brogan Rafferty to fill in proper roles at their own pace.

Question marks:
From their age alone, Hughes and Demko remain question marks, but they have shown their upside to be high enough to want to prepare for a step back but not bank on it. Instead, it'll be about how many games Holtby can step into and keep his team in the game, how many games Boeser will lose to injury and how much ice time vs cap space ratio Loui Eriksson will take.

Outlook:
Maybe the post-season has me sold on Vancouver higher than they should be, but they were damn impressive and worth a gamble. They have no glaring weaknesses - even their coach (Travis Green) and GM (Jim Benning) look very good at this point, something I did not envision myself writing as early as two years ago.

Prediction:
First in the Canadian/North Division.

There was a time at the turn of the millennium when the Canucks were the best team in the West and boasted the top line in the NHL, whose physical play rivaled the Philadelphia Flyers' Legion Of Doom, but with more speed, with the most-feared man on ice towering above linemated Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison, Todd Bertuzzi.

As for most power forwards, it took a while for Bertuzzi to earn a regular spot in the lineup, not scoring 25 goals until the age of 24, the New York Islanders - who had selected him 23rd overall in 1993 - throwing in the towel the year before. It took until his age 26 season to become a point-per-game player (actually posting 85 in 72 games, 36 of them goals) in 2001-02, which was also his first season in the plusses (+21). For three seasons, Naslund and Bertuzzi would garner end-of-season All-Star Team nods as the pre-eminent wingers of the time with Ilya Kovalchuk and Jarome Iginla... until Bertuzzi snapped and sucker-punched Steve Moore in the incident that now bears its victim's name.

Twenty years later, the details can be hazy, so here's the gist of it: in mid-February, Moore, of the Colorado Avalanche, delivered a dangerous hit to the head of Naslund, then the NHL's leading scorer, which went unpunished by the referees. Tempers flared, and the following members of the Canucks organization had this tosay after the game:

Bertuzzi: "Moore is a pice of shit."

Head coach Marc Crawford: "The referees need to show more respect to one of the league's stars."

General Manager Brian Burke, whose previous job was as the NHL's executive vice president and director of hockey operations, menaing he was in charge of handling suspensions: "It was a marginal player going after a superstar with a headhunting hit".

Resident tough guy Brad May also put a "bounty" on Moore's head.

When the teams met again two weeks later, the Avs dominated the Canucks in a manner where the NHL code usually dictates the losing side will play more physically (usually dirty) and the winning side should start resting its best players to avoid useless injuries; Crawford, in full knowledge of Bertuzzi's comments about the affair and friendship with Naslund, deliberately sent him on the ice to go after Moore, with May's bounty still active, in a losinbg cause, in the third period of a now-meaningless game. Bertuzzi tried to get Moore to agree to a fight, which Morore delclined, having previously answered the bell against Matt Cooke in the first period. I'll let Wikipedia finish this one:

With Colorado leading 8–2 midway through the third period, Bertuzzi began following Moore around the ice, attempting to provoke him into another fight. With Moore ignoring him, Bertuzzi grabbed Moore's jersey from behind and punched him in the jaw, then deliberately slammed Moore's head into the ice as the pair fell. Bertuzzi, as well as several other players from both teams, landed atop Moore after he fell to the ice.

Bertuzzi eventually plead guilty to assault charges.

My take on this is everythig was handled the way it usually is in the NHL and it was one of the rare instances where dumb luck doesn't save the day, everything goes down like it should and a terrible accident/situation occurs. Moore's dirty hit was a "hockey play", the Canucks' overreaction self-escalation was a "hockey habit", Crawford's decision was "hockey code" and Bertuzzi's own headhunting of Moore was also a "hockey play" - all situations that never should have been in the game in the first place but that was brought into the league in the 1970s by the Broad Street Bullies and Big Bad Bruins and rose to prominence again as a means to counter the New Jersey Devils' trap with intimidation in the mid-1990s.

Moore never played pro hockey again. Bertuzzi was never the same player, falling to 15-to-20 goals and 40-some points per season as fans in all arenas booed him, the media labelled him an agressor for doing the same moves he had previously be applauded for and sticking up for his friend and teammate. He later apologized to the media for acting like a steroid-rager with them for years and admitted he broke down mentally. Here he is on card #M-TB from Upper Deck's 2005-06 MVP collection and MVP Materials sub-set:

It shows him wearing the team's white (then-home) uniform with the first orca logo and features a black game-worn jersey swatch.

2020-21 Upper Deck Hockey MVP Blaster Box Break

It's my birthday, and I'm lucky enough that next season's first set of hockey cards are already out despite the fact that the current season is still underway, so Covid-19 may be ruining the economy, but there is no stopping Upper Deck from shoving their 2020-21 MVP collection down our throats - and suckers like me falling for it.

Right off the bat, there seems to be too many colours - and way too many cold colours, too much blue on the packaging, and I'm not only referring to Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs donning the box for some odd reason... didn't they technically miss the playoffs this year, and di he not fail to win hardware again? 

For the record, there were 105 cards in this box: 21 packs (20+1) of 5 cards each. The base cards look like this:

As usual for this set, the back shows the bare minimum: five years' worth of basic statistics (games played, goals, assists, points, +/-, penalty minutes and powerplay goals), plus career totals, birthday, birth place, height, weight and shot side. Oh, and how to pronounce their names, or a decent approximation to someone who isn't paying attention.

Some of the cards have the company information on the front of the card - that's because, as is customary with MVP, there are "pretend-inserts" of "puzzle back" cards, where a combination of 9 cards will make up a larger version of a regular-issue base cards, and these cards of Anze Kopitar, Max Pacioretty and Jacob Markstrom fall into that category:

As usual, there are the Silver Script inserts, represented here by Miro Heiskanen, Anthony Beauvillier and Mitch Marner:

I also pulled one Gold Script card, of Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno:

There were a couple of Gold Script "Anniversary" cards of Sidney Crosby and Brent Burns, though:

One insert set that seemed new to me was the "Teal" (or "Green") variant, like this one of Artemi Panarin:

Even better were the four "Teal"/"Green" rookies, though, Kiefer Bellows, Nikolai Knyzhov, Keegan Kolesar and Jonas Johansson:

There were also your typical sub-sets, like this Net Crashers foil card of Jonathan Toews:

And another Crosby card, Mirror Mirror:

As usual, I like that it's an early set, even though it's less and less affordable as the years pass - I don't know that a kid with pocket change or a paper route can afford the $45 for 105 cards ($35 plus taxes) it costs to get in on roughly a third of a set - but for a teen, for a curious adult or an autograph seeker like myself, they do the trick.

The collation was good this year, fewer doubles than I recall from years past although they're going to start running out of ways to insert Alex Ovechkin, Crosby, Toews and the rest of last decade's stars at some point.

I give this one a decent 7/10.

Nick Paul: Two Autographed Cards

First things first: Nick Paul was a power forward in Juniors who didn't quite live up to that reputation in the AHL afterwards, but with 9 points in 25 games with the Ottawa Senators so far in 2019-20, it feels like the 24-year-old, 6'3", 220-pound winger is getting a feel as how to translate that in the Big Show. However, he'd left Wednesday's game against the Edmonton Oilers in the first period with a neck contusion, so he wasn't playing at 100% against the Philadelphia Flyers this afternoon.

Second: Flyers gonna Flyer. It looks like a bench that has Alain Vigneault to lead it and Michel Therrien, Mike Yeo and Ian Laperriere wants to bring grit back after the Ron Hextall/Dave Hakstol talent-driven years, as the Flyers players took exception to many a hard, legal, quality hit by the Sens to retaliate, cheap-shot and goat Ottawa players into fighting.

Joel Farabee initiated a fight with Jean-Gabriel Pageau of all people for a clean hit Pageau had laid out on his prior - what ever happened to taking note of a guy's number and trying to get him back later? Does Farabee not trust himself enough to put himself in a position to either hit Pageau back or strip him off the puck in a manner that'll make it on a highlights reel? Pageau defended himself ok and threw a decent couple of shots, but someone should clock that rookie to teach him some respect.

Which brings me to Jakub Voracek. I like him a lot and will continue to defend his play and effort (when defensible) even as the 60-point seasons become more common than the 80-point ones, but seriously, it's not his role to pick a fight with Paul after the Sens laid big hits out on Travis Konecky (a masterclass center-ice hit by Mark Borowiecki, the guy who stopped a robbery in Vancouver earlier this week) and Farabee:

It was a case where I had to root for Paul, who dished out a couple of nice uppercuts, not just because the Sens were playing clean and didn't deserve to get called out on their hits, but also because Paul was damn close to having had a concussion just three nights ago and this dickhead chose him as the scapegoat to try to change the momentum of the game.

It did, as the Flyers ended up intimidating their way to a 4-3 win, and now head coach D.J. Smith has to convince his team that the pain they endured in a losing cause wasn't worth it, but perhaps just a tiny bit more pain - 5% more - would have resulted in a win, and that's pain that's worth the effort.

So Nick Paul and Jean-Gabriel Pageau deserve stars in their notebooks today, as does Borowiecki - and the Flyers earned a note in the teacher's binder that they are not mature enough to be patient, not smart enough to be strategic and win clean, not brave enough to fight fire with fire, and not talented enough to keep up with a team that was destined to be a bottom-two this season. They are once again bullies, but probably not tough enough to handle big boys like the Boston Bruins or St. Louis Blues.

Here is Paul wearing the Sens' best-looking jersey of all time, the "Black O", on card #299 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 MVP set:

And here's a close-up of his face, wearing Ottawa's white (away) uniform, on card #P-107 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 Series 2 collections and UD Portraits sub-set:

He signed both "Rookie" cards in blue sharpie last year, when the Sens lost 5-2 against the Montréal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

He suited up for Team Canada at the 2015 World Juniors, and one of his 3 goals (in 7 games) was scored in the final against Team Russia, helping the Canadians win gold on home soil in a 5-4 game.

Oscar Klefbom Autographed Card

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Edmonton Oilers would finish fourth in the Pacific Division in 2019-20, which is likely outside the playoff picture anyway).

Oscar Klefbom is an excellent NHL defenseman by many accounts; ideally, his offensive capabilities are best suited for a #2 or #3 role, but he can hot the 35-40-point mark from the blue line whenever he plays a full 82-game season, which has happened once - and he even finished 5th in Ladty Byng votes that year with his "gentlemanly and sportsmanlike play".

As you can guess, his biggest knock is his inability to remain healthy, usually because of a reckless play. He's a rock in the defensive zone and will make fewer mistakes than most (again, on a #2 or #3-defender level, he's very good), but the reason why he is currently making $4.167M per year and won't get that much of a raise in three years when he's due to re-up is because it's hard to gauge hos many games he'll play.

Actually, no, scratch that, it's not hard at all: so far, he's suited up in 60, 30, 82, 66 and 61 games per year, meaning 60-65 should be your expectation. But in those games, he can spot your top guy and defend the zone, run a penalty kill and quarterback the second powerplay unit.

He's extremely useful. He wasn't a first-rounder (19th overall in 2011) for naught.

And the minute his Edmonton Oilers start learning how to play defensively as a unit, he'll stop being in the minuses and might start earning consideration for Lady Byngs again, as well as other awards, like the Bill Masterton (perseverance), maybe even the Mark Messier (leadership) award, despite not being a captain.

Here he is wearing the Oilers' beautiful blue (then-home) jersey on card #191 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 MVP set, which is his rookie card in that series:

He signed it in blue sharpie after a game in Ottawa last year. It shows him wearing #84 - which he wore for two seasons and makes him the ideal #84 in my Oilers Numbers Project.

Nick Foligno: Two Autographed Cards

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Columbus Blue Jackets would finish eighth - or fourth, but mostly eighth - in the Metropolitan Division in 2019-20).

My thing is, you don't leave a good team to try to find another one. What we're building in Columbus, everyone is excited to be part of it. You want guys fully on board.

That's Nick Foligno. The captain's words couldn't be clearer: the departures of unrestricted free agents Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky over the summer left a sour taste in many players' mouths, and head coach John Tortorella as well:

I'm pissed. Yeah, I'm pissed. I'm pissed for my players. I'm pissed for my organization. And I'm pissed on behalf of my city.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of them. I do. A tremendous amount of respect. But don't talk about goddamn winning, like you want to go somewhere to win. It's right there in front of you. I respect them all. But I don't want to hear 'I want to win' when it's right fucking here. I respect them, but I'm really pissed. It was right there, where we were really progressing.

And that's where I agree wholeheartedly with all of them - when these guys were kids, the Columbus Blue Jackets didn't exist; none of the Jackets' players and staff dreamed of playing for them, and probably not even for a team that hasn't been around for two whole decades, doesn't have much history let alone that of winning (and had never actually won a playoff round before). But they all landed there, and not only did they make the best of it, they were starting to make a habit out of getting on the at-times-champions Pittsburgh Penguins' nerves, particularly Sidney Crosby.

When they landed against one of the best teams of all time - the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning - in the first round, they didn't just lie down waiting for a beating, they took the game to them and did the impossible: they swept the Bolts in four straight games.

Coach Tortorella and GM Jarmo Kekalainen built a system and a roster, respectively, that enabled a small-market team to rival the greats. It's even better when they can rely on superstars to support it and add an extra layer of offense, but it's effective enough to stand on its own. And something Torts is adept at is creating team spirit, team chemistry. Whether he unites the team against himself or instills an "us-against-the-world" mentality, he always knows exactly the right buttons to push to have his teams work as a single unit.

21 of the 23 guys on last year's opening roster had that, from Foligno to goal-scoring machine Cam Atkinson to 21-year-old #1 centre Pierre-Luc Dubois to star defender Seth Jones to his partner Zach Werenski to Team Canada alumnus David Savard to 25-and-under drafted and "home-developed" talents like Ryan Murray, Boone Jenner, Josh Anderson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Alexander Wennberg, Markus Nutivaara and Lukas Sedlak to acquired defensive veteran leaders like Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Harrington and Mark Letestu.

The other two have left for cities with brighter spotlights, leaving the bulk - the core - to deal with the unfinished business at hand: pursuing further playoff success. Foligno, having had separate health scares to his two children last season, is particularly looking forward to a full season of just concentrating on hockey.

I thought it'd be nice to showcase his ascension in the Blue Jackets' ranks with these two cards, first sporting the alternate captain's "A" on card #56 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 Series 1 set:

And here he is sporting his current captain's "C", on card #37 from Upper Deck's 2017-18 MVP set:

He succeeded Rick Nash (2008-12) in the title in 2015 (the position had been vacant for two seasons). The previous wearers of the "C" had been Adam Foote (2005-08), Luke Richardson (2003-05), Ray Whitney (2002-03) and Lyle Odelein (2002-02). There's a strong tradition of the captaincy remaining with strong, blue-collar-type players which, in my opinion, is a good thing. You want guys who set the example for the rest, and effective hard-working guys who are good enough to occupy the middle of the line-up and/or have Stanley Cup-winning experience is a plus.

Foligno, son of hard-working semi-star Mike Foligno, is that kind of guy on this team, no longer the #1 (Dubois is) but still the team's heart and soul; I figure the next in line for the title is Jones. He signed these two cards in fading black sharpie in February, after scoring a goal in a loss to my hometown Montréal Canadiens.

2019-20 Upper Deck Hockey MVP Hobby Box Break

With my birthday coming and my family and friends scattered all around the globe, I was pleasantly surprised to see an early present from my Mom ring my bell a few minutes a go - on a Saturday! It was a "Retail" box of Upper Deck's 2019-20 MVP hockey cards, coming in at 36 packs of 5 cards apiece.

This year's set has a nice, simple design that compares to that of previous years (semi-futuristic lines, a contour that lets the picture reach the border on at least one side) with a greenish grey tint that sets it apart (last year's set had bronze borders, for example), with the backs including statistics of the five preceding seasons:

Now while UD is known for great action photos, in time, those can become a little redundant, as can be attested by the similar position, team, jersey colour, position on the ice in regards to the boards and general feel of the two cards above, featuring the Vegas Golden Knights' Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty. It's just one of many flagrant example of cards that can easily be mistaken for one another in this set.

There are more inserts this season, but the classics remain, such as the "Silver Scripts", with facsimile autographs in silver, of which I landed Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Wilson, Jake Muzzin, David Rittich, Nazen Kadri and Tomas Tatar:

What's cool about them is that this year's version has the silver signature atop a black background, similar to "real" autograph cards like the 2011-12 Parkhurst Champions set that had the picture a little bit whitewashed to underline the signature.

As usual, the MVP set pays tribute to a collection from the past, and this year, it's the 1999-2000 MVP Stanley Cup Edition design, as can be seen on the four "Silver Script" parallels of Phil Kessel, Brayden Point, Mackenzie MacEachern and Sebastian Aho:

Another fun detail with these is the variant zoom of the same picture used in the parallels and the "original" versions of cards, as can be attested from the Brayden Point cards:

Notice how the "retro" card shows the puck, so we're catching Point in the offensive zone, either attempting a pass or winding up for a slap shot; the "regular" version of the card is zoomed in, and it looks more like he's waiting/calling for the puck than about to do something with it.

Of course, there are also Rookie cards, in my case of Alexandre Texier, Max Jones, Teddy Blueger, Quinn Hughes and Erik Brunnstrum:

There are two insert sub-sets I could do without, chief among them the Checklists, particularly when they're of the same two players from the past 15 years, one of the three best shooters of all time in Alex Ovechkin, and a fine player from current-days, Sidney Crosby:

The the Puzzle Backs... I didn't think it was a great idea when Donruss did it for their baseball cards in my youth in the 80s, it's definitely passé now, and poorly done with the copyright text taking up too much of the "real" card:

You can count the Evander Kane, Jack Eichel and Seth Jones cards as doubles (I got their regular-issue cards in the same box), but the Yanni Gourde was the only one of its kind, and possible the first and only card I have of his so far, so it's a bit if a waste that way.

In terms of new sub-sets, Supernovas looks cool on Brock Boeser:

Laser Shots are also nice, though they're a tad reminiscent of UD's McDonalds cards sub-sets:

Connor McDavid always makes for a great foil card, and it was also nice to get the "red" variant for Victor Hedman.

In terms of team breakdowns, it was pretty even; if you forget about the Toronto Maple Leafs and trade them for Vegas, my Canadian team pulls were as follows (including inserts):

Ottawa Senators: 4
Edmonton Oilers: 3
Vancouver Canucks: 7
Winnipeg Jets: 6
Calgary Flames: 5
Montréal Canadiens: 5
Golden Knights: 6

All told, there was a pretty good collation (no actual doubles, but four or five cards that came with regular and variant versions), a nice variety of jerseys (home away, third, outdoor games), new and original inserts that allow for some players to be featured twice and - best of all - the continuation of MVP cards no longer having facimile autographs on all cards, enabling fans to try to get them signed themselves.

Additional points for being a low-price purchase, more points for being the first set of the year and at times the only chance to get a player in a uniform they weren't in for long; points of for tired sub-sets like Checklists and Puzzle Backs, and some choices in photos used.

Still, it's a solid 7.5/10.

Sam Bennett: Four Autographed Cards

Done deal: Sam Bennett has signed a two-year bridge deal with the Calgary Flames that comes with a $2.55M cap hit - enough to show him the respect of his first-round pedigree, and enough of a message that he has yet to develop into the consistent producer the team would prefer him to be.

After all, he just played his age 22 season - his fourth full-time NHL season - and had his second-highest points-per-game average at 0.38; it was during his rookie season that he posted his best statistics, however, with his highest goals (18), assists (18) and points (36) totals in 77 games, for a points-per-game rate of 0.47.

Both the team and player were happy to avoid an arbitration hearing, as both sides know what the other expects of them, and both are still willing to put forth the effort to get there. Neither side needed to hear the other's gripes.

It's not all dire, however, as he's found a comfortable niche playing alongside Mikael Backlund and Mark Jankowski as an efficient checking line, but the fact that Backlund has remained a 20-goal, 45-55-point player means his wingers should be able to come close to those numbers as well.

The Flames seem to be in a cap crunch, however, and a mid-level salary may have to leave town before the season starts, and the usual suspects are top-six forward Michael Frolik and top-four defenseman T.J. Brodie. Both disappointed in Calgary's five-game elimination to the Colorado Avalanche a couple of months ago, but Brodie was a 24/25-minute defender from 2013-16 and a 23-minute man from 2016-18 and fell to 21:28 last year, which was still the second-highest on a deep dfensive team, but there is reason to believe he either no longer has his coaches' confidence, or may be past his peak (a conclusion I'm not yet ready to get to in his case, considering he just played in his age 28 season).

All that is to say that Bennett may be given a look on the second line a few times next season, and his statistics may improve just from getting ice time with the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau or Sean Monahan.

I got him to sign four cards for me in black sharpie when he was in town with the Flames last October. Let's take a closer look at them, starting with the two where he's sporting the team's red (home) uniform:

On the left is card #7 from Upper Deck's 2015-16 National Card Day (Canadian Edition) set and Canada's Rookies sub-set, while the one on the right is from UD's 2016-17 Series 1 collection (and is #31 in the set).

There are also two where he's sporting the white (away) uniform, as seen below:

On the left is card #34 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 Artifacts set, while the one on the right is #132 from UD's 2017-18 MVP collection.

He tagged all of them with his current jersey number (93), which makes him an easy addition to my Flames Numbers Project.

Two Shean Donovan Autographed Cards

Shean Donovan spent more or less his entire NHL career a victim of his physique. Drafted 28th overall (second round) by the San Jose Sharks in 1993 after a 53-poiint season, he exploded for 84 points in his final OHL season with the Ottawa 67s, not unlike their current star player Tye Felhaber.

Of course, at 6'3" and 225 pounds with terrific speed, Donovan qualified as a power forward and would have needed at least five to seven years to develop, but the Sharks lost patience after four seasons and sent him to the Colorado Avalanche, where he had trouble getting ice time on a team that also included such All-Stars as Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Milan Hejduk, Alex Tanguay, Chris Drury, Adam Deadmarsh, Brian Rolston, and Claude Lemieux, so he was eventually dealt to the Atlanta Thrashers, claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and traded to the Calgary Flames.

It was the Flames who took a long look at his skating ability ahead of his size and made him into a second-liner instead of a checking winger, and it paid off with a terrific 2003-04 season where he scored 18 goals (second on the team), collected 24 assists (third) and posted 42 points (third).

The season-long 2004-05 lockout got the best of him, however, as he only played 12 games overseas with the Genève-Servette HC, collecting 8 points but also 30 penalty minutes. Playing on a checking line for ten seasons in the NHL had instilled bad habits in his game, and the rule application in Europe and when he made his way back to North America in 2005-06 was such that he essentially had to be relegated to a checking line once again as he played one year for the Boston Bruins and three more with the Ottawa Senators.

He retired after the 2009-10 season and began coaching in 2013-14, first as an assistant and development coach with the 67s, then adding the Sens starting the following season. He is still in that position for the Senators, splitting his time between Ottawa and their AHL affiliate in Belleville.

He signed the above cards for me in blue sharpie during his penultimate season, in 2008-09. Card #60 from Upper Deck's 2005-06 MVP set sees him wearing the Flames' red (then-away) uniform:

And here he is sporting Calgary's white (then-home) uniform, on card #29 from UD's 2005-06 Series 1 set, celebrating after a goal:

He tagged both cards with #10, his number on the Sens, rather than #16, his number with the Flames.

He has won gold medals twice playing for Team Canada, at the 1995 World Juniors and 1997 World Championships.

2018-19 Upper Deck Hockey MVP Blaster Box Break

I wasn't on the lookout for this, seeing as we're closer to mid-August than the end of the month, but when I came across a blaster box of 21 (20+1) packs of Upper Deck's classic 2018-19 MVP set, I jumped on it.

You'll recall past years had three more packs, for 15 more cards total, but I can live with that. You still get over a hundred cards for $30 (plus taxes, which comes up to just under $35 in Québec, so probably $25 in the U.S. and Canada).

The base cards are pretty cool, as can be seen below, and I didn't get a single double in the entire box:

I got three "Puzzle Back" cards, two of which I believe will form Nathan MacKinnon's card:

The other one probably belongs to Sidney Crosby, meaning both players would hail from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia:

I fell upon three Silver Scripts cards, none of which I will likely keep long-term:

I did get a bunch of rookie cards, one of which was of the "base" variety, of Dylan Sikura:

And (count 'em!) three Copper parallels, of Dominic Turgeon (Pierre's son), Joe Ricketts, and Adam Gaudette:

And there was one that it under the Player Credentials sub-set (i.e. Entry Level Access), of Ryan Donato:

And two players I'd take on my team any day in the "regular" Player Credentials sub-set, Jamie Benn and Brendan Gallagher:

Perhaps the coolest bub-set this year, though, is the 20th Anniversary Parallels, which takes the same picture and stats line as the regular-issue card but puts it in the inaugural 1998-99 MVP template, like these cards from Drew Doughty and Mathew Barzal:

Of note, the 20th Anniversary cards includes a blurb about the player on the back of the card that is absent from the base version.

As usual, this is far from a premium set, but its affordability makes collecting the base cards a perfect starting point for autograph seekers like myself.

I'll rate this one a solid 7/10.