Andrew Brunette: 7 Autographed Cards (Part 1)

As I hinted in yesterday's post about Niklas Backstrom, I got two returns from Minnesota yesterday. Here is the second one:

Never a superstar, Andrew Brunette made the OHL's Owen Sound Platers after having been drafted in the 7th round at the midget draft; he had three relatively successful years with them, improving from 35 to 98 to a whopping 162 points over his three seasons in Juniors, where he played alongside future NHLers Kevin Weekes, Kirk Maltby, Scott Walker, and Jamie Storr, all of which led him to being drafted by the Washington Capitals 174th overall in 1993, in the... seventh round. That pick originally belonged to the Calgary Flames.

This card reflects his time in the OHL, showing him with the Platers' white (home) uniform, from 7th Inning Sketch's 1990-91 7th Inning Sketch set of CHL cards (it's #277):

He would play 62 games with the Caps over parts of three seasons, showing a great deal of promise in the third, with 11 goals and 23 points in just 28 games, leading the Nashville Predators to select him in the expansion draft. He only played one year in Nashville before they traded him to the Atlanta Thrashers for a draft pick, making it the second-straight expansion team he'd play for.

Of his days in Atlanta, I have this keepsake showing him wearing the Thrashers' dark blue (away) uniform, from Pacific's 1999-2000 Omega set (card #9):

He had a pretty good couple of seasons in Atlanta, scoring 23 goals with 50 points in 1999-2000, and reaching 59 points the next year, before making his way to the Minnesota Wild. He played three fine seasons in his first stint in Minnesota, and started making a name for himself in the 2002-03 playoffs, with 13 points in 18 games but, more importantly, all 7 of his goals being of the ''very important'' kind, including a Game-7 overtime series clincher against Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche.

As soon as he became a free agent, the Avs signed him, specifically for his clutch post-season acumen. He did pretty good in the regular season in Colorado as well, with a career year in 2006-07, marking his high point in goals (27), assists (56) and points (83). He would also put up 17 points on 8 goals (including another series clincher) in 19 playoff games with the Avalanche.

I have this memento of his time playing with Joe Sakic, from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Parkhurst collection (card #121 in the set):

It shows him wearing their original burgundy (away) uniform, which I have grown to miss.

    (continued in the following post)

Shane Kenny Autograph Card

It seems Sal's at his last ''NHL Bust'' post for a while, and once again, I too have the exact same Shane Kenny card! That's the sixth post of identical players we've shared recently!

A second-round choice of the Philadelphia Flyers, 48th overall in 1995, concluded his OHL career by playing 59 games with the Sarnia Sting after three-plus seasons with the Owen Sound Platers, in which the 6'3'', 230-lbs defenseman averaged more than half a point per game, and two penalty minutes per.

He never played in the NHL; instead, he bounced from minor league to minor league, playing 24 games in the AHL with the Rochester Americans, a bunch in the UHL, IHL, and ECHL, parts of two years in Holland, and two stints in the Québec Senior League (now the NAHL) with the Laval Chiefs. I strongly recommend the documentary The Chiefs to understand how bad an ordeal that was - sleeping in 'lost' rooms at the arena, sharing bunk beds while rats roam around, with a prison in the backyard. I played there myself, in 1995-96 as a third-string goalie/relief goon with the Laval Titans, but also as a student and later assistant-teacher (for goalies) at the Jacques St-Jean hockey school.

This card, showing Kenny with the Platers' white (home) jersey, is from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set (card #10, numbered #1165/4500 - Sal has #3085 or 3055, it's hard to decipher). Sal complained a tad about Kenny's signature (in thin blue sharpie), which seems just to be his initials; on the other hand, he did have 4500 of these to sign (and maybe others, as he may have been asked to sign or similar sets by the same company like Kevin Bolibruck), so one has to realize he probably didn't want to go all-out.