Jaroslav Halak Autographed 8x10 Photo

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There was sad news this morning as my favourite NHL goalie of the past 15-20 years, Jaroslav Halak, announced his retirement, five wins short of 300.

Halak made his debut with the 2006-07 Montréal Canadiens, a team that started the season with Cristobal Huet and David Aebischer between the pipes, but when Huet went down with an injury, it was the rookie Halak and not the veteran Aebischer who saved the Habs' season and brought them to Game 82 with a playoff berth on the line, with head coach Guy Carbonneau opting to play the rusty veteran Huet instead of the young gun, and the team ending up losing 6-5 to the Toronto Maple Leafs to miss the postseason. His Spring ended with a participation at the World Championships representing Team Slovakia, while the team he suited up the most often for during the season, the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, went on to win the Calder Cup with fellow rookie Carey Price filling in for Halak in net.

The following season saw Price and Huet start the season in Montréal, but the experienced French tender getting traded to the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline and Halak getting called up to finish the year in the NHL; ironically, both Huet and Price got Vezina votes that year, but Huet finished ahead despite getting traded a month and a half before season's end. Price would hold the #1 job by default as the "resident NHLer" that year but struggled mightily in the playoffs, unable to carry the weight of the position: 2008-09 was more of the same, as GM Bob Gainey tried to force Carbonneau to use Price over Halak (52 games, 2.83 goals-against average versus 34 games, 2.86 GAA) despite Halak having a far superior save percentage (.915 to .905) and eye test result. Gainey ended up firing Carbo, who had a 35-24-7 record at the top of the Northeastern division while Gainey finished the year 6-6-4 to have the Habs finish second and get swept in the first round by the Boston Bruins, with Price in net and sporting a .878 save percentage and 4.11 GAA (Halak stopped all five shots he faced).

With Jacques Martin stepping in to coach for the 2009-10 season, Price's numbers (.912, 2.77 GAA) were once again short of Halak's (.924, 2.40 GAA), but the games played were still very similar (45 for Halak, 41 for Price), as the Habs made it to the playoffs by a hair; they faced off against Presidents Trophy winners Washinton (featuring Alexander Ovechkin) in the first round, and Halak stifled them to the tune of 45 (3-2 win), 31 (6-5 loss), 10 (pulled in a 5-1 loss), 37 (in a 2-1 win), 53 (in a 4-1 win) and 41 saves (in a 2-1 nailbiter of a Game 7). This prompted some Montealers to deface the city's stop signs as a tribute:

Then it was the reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins' turn, the team with future Hall Of Famers Sidney Crosby, Marc-André Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. And while the first game scared everyone in town (15 saves, 5 goals against in a 6-3 loss), the others fell in line with the Caps series' boxscores: 38 saves in a 3-1 win, 23 saves on 24 shots in a 2-0 loss, 33 saves in a 3-2 win, 23 saves in a 2-1 loss, 34 saves in a 4-3 win, and 37 saves in a 5-2 Game 7 clinic.

Unfortunately, the entire team had already run out of steam by the time the Philadelphia Flyers rolled around, and at that point so did Halak. Apart from a 25-save 5-1 win, the Habs lost the other four games by a 16-2 margin, getting shut out three times, ending the best postseason run by a Canadiens goalie since Patrick Roy's 1993 and 1986 Cup and Conn Smythe-winning runs.

With three straight regular seasons as the team's best goalie and an incredible playoff run, Habs management (Gainey, new GM Pierre Gauthier, and team president Pierre Boivin) opted to trade Halak over Price during that summer, thinking the former fifth-overall draft pick would eventually be the best suited to bring a Cup back to Montréal; in exchange for the Slovak, the Canadiens received third-line centre Lars Eller and a draft pick from the St. Louis Blues. This trade tree shows how Eller eventually led to the acquisition of Patrik Laine:

Some believe, however, that a trade return for Price may have landed a first-line player or a top-two defenseman instead of a third-rounder while still keeping a goalie who ended up having a similar stat line (.917 and 2.51 in 15 seasons versus .915 and 2.50 in 17 seasons, each with one Cup Final participation), and that such a return may have enabled Montréal to advance further in the playoffs more often, as acquiring offensive talent seems to have been an issue around Price's $10.5M cap hit in his final eight seasons.

In just four seasons with St. Louis, Halak won his first Jennings Trophy (alongside Brian Elliott), got Vezina votes, and managed to put up impressive statistics that show favourably among Blues alumni:

He also ranks third in save percentage, fourth in GAA, and ninth in total saves, on a list that includes Glenn Hall, Grant Fuhr, Curtis Joseph and Jordan Binnington. For a while, it also seemed he would get the first star whenever he was facing the Habs (and especially Price), cementing his reutation of excellence under pressure.

As his five-year contract was coming to an end, the Blues traded him to the Buffalo Sabres with Chris Stewart, William Carrier, a first-round pick in the 2015 draft that became Jack Roslovic and a third-round pick in the 2016 draft that became Linus Nassen, for the other best goalie of 2009-10, Ryan Miller, and Steve Ott. He wouldn't play for the Sabres but by backing up Jhonas Enroth on March 3rd, he became the 10th player in franchise history to suit up but not play a single second in a game for the team. He was quickly shipped off to Washington with a third-round pick in the 2015 draft (Robin Kovacs) for Rostislav Klesla and Michal Neuvirth, and proceeded to have a .930 save percentage and 2.30 GAA and one shutout in 12 games with the Caps, playing behind - and acting as playoff insurance for - Braden Holtby.

Hitting free agency, Halak quickly signed a four-year deal with the New York Islanders, bringing instant stability to the crease and even setting team records, notably beating Hall Of Famer Billy Smith's win records (38 vs 32) in his very first season, including posting a 1.16 GAA with a .948 save percentage during an 11-game win streak. He went 88-65-19, with a 2.69 GAA and a .913 SV% in 177 regular-season appearances for the Isles. he and goaltending partner Thomas Greiss would even remain a pair at the 2016 World Cup, suiting up for a Team Europe squad that finished second in the tournament, with Halak playing both Final games versus Team Canada, facing off against none other than Price. Price had identical 32-save performances playing for the powerhouse team that won 3-1 and 2-1 to sweep the best-of-three series, while Halak stopped 35 of 38 in the first game and 32 of 34 in the second, with Europe spending most of the final bottled in their own zone.

The Isles would pivot to Robin Lehner between the pipes for the 2018-19 season, with Barry Trotz replacing Doug Weight as head coach and with the legendary Mitch Korn taking over goaltending guru duties over Marc Champagne and Fred Brathwaite. All this movement led to Halak signing on as Tuukka Rask's backup with the Boston Bruins for three seasons, the first of which featured 40 games played, a 22-11-4 record, 4 shutouts, a .922 save percentage and 2.34 GAA, as well as a seven-game trip to the Stanley Cup Final. His 2019-20 season was even better, with an 18-6-6 record, .919 save percentage, 2.39 GAA and 3 shutouts in 31 games (and another Jennings Trophy for his mantle), as well as appearances in nine postseason games, including one in the Covid era-specific seeding round, three wins in three games versus the Carolina Hurricanes, and the entire Conference Final series against eventual Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning. His final season in Boston was bizarre, with a three-goalie rotation between Rask, Halak and Jeremy Swayman, and Dan Vladar also suiting up in 5 of the 54 games for good measure; only Swayman looked good, and by the summer Halak signed on as the Vancouver Canucks' backup, which would be followed with one season of doing the same with the New York Rangers.

All told, Halak leaves the NHL with a 295-189-69 record, 53 shutouts, franchise records, the most exciting Conference Final run in recent memory, one Cup Final, a couple of Jennings trophies, and standing up to the Canadian team in international play. Not bad for a perennial underdog who was drafted in the ninth round in 2003.

He signed the picture atop this piece while playing for the Islanders. It shows him wearing the Blues' third jersey from the 2008-16 era. I wish him the best in retirement.

Hannu Toivonen 8X10 Autograph Card

Ah ha! I knew I had my own copy of this Hannu Toivonen signed 8x10 card! I finally got a hold of it while searching for this Jhonas Enroth card I've now traded away... but more on that when I talk about what I'm getting in return!

For now, let's focus on my second #SP-HT 8x10 picture/card from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Be A Player Portraits (the Signature Portraits sub-set:

Since my last post in 2013, Toivonen's been plying his trade in Finland, notably for the Tampere Ilves, the most decorated team in Finnish hockey, Finland's Montréal Canadiens, if you will. And, like the Habs, they haven't won a championship in a long time, in their case, since 1985.

He's had a losing record for the last three years, but his individual statistics are pretty decent:

From HockeyDB

I also found two of Nikolai Zherdev's of the same set, so look for that eventually as well.

Zach Fucale Signed 4x6 Picture

I've seen a lot of Zachary Fucale these past couple of seasons, and I expect to see more of him as he spends his summers improving with Montréal Canadiens goaltending coach Stéphane Waite before GM Marc Bergevin loses patience and sends him packing.

Folks were worried when he was sent to the ECHL earlier in the season, after the Habs hired veteran Yann Danis to back up St. John's IceCaps starter Charlie Lindgren, but Fucale delivered the best performance in net out of the three goalies on the Brampton Beast:

From HockeyDB.com

He also helped Team Canada win the Spengler Cup over the Holidays, with four wins in as many games, including a 40-save performance in the Final. That's going to look gold with his 2015 World Juniors and 2012 U-18 Ivan Hlkina Tournament gold medals.

He's also been his team's only winning goalie in the postseason:

From HockeyDB.com

He's certainly on the right track, including having been recalled to the NHL in March when Al Montoya was injured, although Carey Price did not relinquish the net.

And he is now part of my Habs Numbers Project, entering as #70 with this signed 4x6 picture from training camp a few summers back (2013 or 2014):

He's wearing the team's classic red (now-home) uniform, deflecting a puck away with his glove, wearing his Halifax Mooseheads equipment.

Cédrick Desjardins Two Autographed Pictures

Cédrick Desjardins' NHL statistics look very good as a whole, what with a career 2.42 GAA and .919 save percentage, but the last two times the Tampa Bay Lightning gave him ice time, his numbers took a bit of a hit:

from Hockey Reference

On a team that employed the likes of Vezina nominee Ben Bishop, Latvian Olympic hero Kristers Gudlevskis and super-prospect Andrei Vasilevskiy, there was no way he was going to be given another chance after that.

Following his second stint with the Bolts, which was itself linked with two stints within the Montréal Canadiens organization, he signed two-way contracts with the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings organizations, but marred by injuries was unable to sign with an NHL-affiliated team for the current season, which is why he's now playing with the LNAH's Jonquière Marquis, sharing the net with another former Habs prospect, Loïc Lacasse.

His save percentage might look low with the Marquis at 0.893, but his record stands at 6-1-1 in 8 games; Lacasse is showing an .898 save percentage - good for third in the league - with a 12-3-1 record.

The Marquis have used a ton of current and former NHL prospects this season, including Calgary Flames draft pick Hugo Carpentier, Slovakian star Juraj Kolnik, Washington Capitals pick Benoit Gratton, Jean-Simon Allard (Buffalo Sabres), Stefan Chaput (Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins), Jonathan Paiement (Rangers), Samuel Groulx (San Jose Sharks), Jean-Michel Bolduc (Minnesota Wild), Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau (Sharks, Nashville Predators), and Maxime Sauvé (Bruins). That's a lot of talent for a league considered to be "semi-pro"...

Not many goalies have been able to be relegated down to the LNAH and make their way back to the NHL, but it's not impossible; Sébastien Charpentier comes to mind as one, perhaps Desjardins will be able to as well.

In the meantime, here's a look back at what he looked like in Tampa, first with the regular-issue white (away) uniform, which perhaps would look NHL-worthy if it didn't have the TAMPA BAY typefont:

And here he is wearing the Bolts' blue (home) uniform:

It shows him in his final NHL game, February 6th, 2014, post-fight with the Toronto Maple Leafs' Jonathan Bernier (18:17 of the third period), after teammate J.T. Brown had run into Bernier in the final throes of a 4-1 loss.

Both 4x6 pictures were signed in person in blue sharpie, in April that year, when he faced the Hamilton Bulldogs in a road game (I think the Bulldogs, with Dustin Tokarski in net, lost 3-1 that night). Ironically, the Habs - the Bulldogs' head team - had acquired Tokarski in exchange for Desjardins...

Zachary Fucale Signed 4x6 Picture

When looking purely at his statistics this season, one may be inclined to think Zachary Fucale is having a pretty bad year. Indeed, with the team standing at 9-7-0-3 near last place of its division, Fucale's 3.09 GAA and .887 save percentage don't necessarily scream out "Next Vezina Winner!", although his 6-3-0 record is pretty good.

As a matter of fact, he's the best on the Brampton Beast in every regard, as can be attested by this screen grab from HockeyDb:

Indeed, Andrew D'Agostini and Bryan Pitton seem to be what's bringing the Beast down this year.

It hasn't been easy for Fucale, once seen as Canadian Junior Hockey's best goalie, which forced the Montréal Canadiens to draft him 36th overall in 2013, though the team didn't want to repeat the growing pains of Carey Price, who took seven years to fulfill the promise that made him a top-5 pick in 2005.

Fucale was the youngest ever to reach 100 wins at the Junior level, a Team Canada gold medalist and holder of the country's record for most tournament wins (8) - tied with Stéphane Fiset and Marc-André Fleury - a Memorial Cup winner and tournament All-Star. In short, he's had one of the best Juniors career of all time.

So it was unexpected that he should fall to the ECHL after the Habs signed veteran Yann Danis as an insurance, but it's not like he is the first-ever to do so. Reigning Vezina winner Braden Holtby spent time there, as did Conn Smythe and two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick. Oh, and one Jaroslav Halak.

He spent a lot of the past two summers in Montréal, training with goaltending coach Stéphane Waite. It was here that he signed this photo in thin black sharpie, showing him wearing the Halifax Mooseheads' white (home) uniform:

The kid's 21. I believe most goalies should reach the NHL around the age of 24 or 25. He's still on the right path, he just has Charlie Lindgren - a U.S. College signee from last season - ahead of him on the team's future depth chart to take over after Price's next contract prices him out of the Habs' lineup.

Mike Komisarek Signed 8X10 Picture

In the last decade or so, there have been two universal truths about the Montréal Canadiens:

1. If a defenseman played alongside Andrei Markov, he would look so good that he would eventually leave as an overpaid free agent. Case in point: Sheldon Souray (to the Edmonton Oilers), Mark Streit (to the New York Islanders).

2. If a player was deemed such a powerful leader that he'd be viewed as ''the next captain'', he would be moved before that would happen, as was the case with Christopher Higgins (traded to the New York Rangers), Craig Rivet (shipped to the San Jose Sharks), Kyle Chipchura (sent to the Anaheim Ducks), and Josh Gorges (who refused a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs to later accept one to the Buffalo Sabres).

Enter Mike Komisarek, who fit both bills.

The seventh-overall pick of the 2001 draft - behind Ilya Kovalchuk (1st), Jason Spezza (2nd), Stephen Weiss (4th), and Mikko Koivu (6th), and ahead of Pascal Leclaire (8th), Tuomo Ruutu (9th), Dan Hamhuis (12th), Ales Hemsky (13th), Chuck Kobasew (14th), R.J. Umberger (16th), Alexander Perezhogin (25th), Derek Roy (32nd), Michael Cammalleri (49th), Jason Pominville (55th), Peter Budaj (63rd), Tomas Plekanec (71st), Craig Anderson (73rd), Patrick Sharp (95th), Jordin Tootoo (98th), Christian Ehrhoff (106th), Kevin Bieksa (151st), Mike Smith (161st), Dennis Seidenberg (172nd), Ryan Clowe (175th), Marek Zidlikcy (176th), Andrew Alberts (179th), Cristobal Huet (214th), Johnny Oduya (221st), Marek Svatos (227th), Martin Gerber (232nd), and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau (264th) - played in the 2009 All-Star Game, held in Montréal, where Alex Kovalev stole the show. It was the same year he finished 17th in Norris Trophy voting (Markov finished 6th, while Streit was 13th).

Judging from that list of draft picks above, some are clearly out of place, as Plekanec, Anderson and Sharp should probably have been picked in the first round, possibly in the top-10, but Komisarek's pretty much where he should be, in my opinion.

Sure, Markov had a hand in making him look good, but it was his steady and physical play that complemented his partner's style perfectly, freeing him to concentrate on exiting the zone and creating offense, then coming back to defend with speed and positioning while Komisarek cleared the front of the net and intercepted cross-ice and through-the-paint passes. He even led the league in blocked shots once.

In any other city, it's a thankless and anonymous job, but luckily, having been drafted by the Habs and playing in front of the knowledgeable Montréal crowd, the gentle affable giant became a star defensive defenseman, the Scott Stevens of the post-lockout era.

And over time, the smiling behemoth American took on a more vocal role on the team, became a trusted veteran and a reliable presence. Which meant the Leafs had to have him. And they did, and they ruined him.

That's not entirely fair nor true. He wasn't "ruined", he was just a little slower than he used to be, and wasn't put in a position to succeed in the same way he'd been with the Canadiens. Plus, he never really fully recovered from a fight against the Boston Bruins' Milan Lucic - and was a lesser physical presence for the remainder of his career.

He finished said NHL career with one season playing with the Carolina Hurricanes and a failed try-out bid with the New Jersey Devils. He then returned to finish his degree at the University of Michigan, and currently acts as an assistant coach for the Wolverines.

He has suited up for Team USA five times in total.

Here he is with the Habs, during better and brighter days (though his left eye might disagree), wearing the classic bleu-blanc-rouge uniform prior to a face-off:

He signed it in blue sharpie, mid-picture, on top of the blue line on his jersey. It may have shown more had he signed it on the red part of the jersey of on the ice between his legs. Still, it's a beautiful picture of one of the toughest customers to wear #8 in my lifetime (with Brandon Prust being a close second).

Velvet La Touche Autographed Picture

I attended a very fine spectacle last Saturday, as I made my way to Café Cléopâtre for an evening of burlesque performances - expertly timed with my finishing Season Two of Boardwalk Empire right before - one in which every performance was a crescendo of intensity and showmanship, culminating with the evening's headliner, Velvet La Touche.

The pin-up and glamour model made her best impression of a 1950s oblivious housewife mixed with 1990s opioid-pill addict pretend-happy lady who turned a kitchen scene into a bloodbath, and it was the best five minutes of my year so far.

Prior to that, the record belonged to the moment when I opened an envelope with my name on it that was waiting for me at the door... containing this:

That, folks, is how you turn a curious bystander into a fan.

Ryan Suter 8x10 Autograph Card

I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of an important American hockey player, Bob Suter, a member of the 1980 Miracle On Ice team, brother to Gary Suter, and father of star defenseman Ryan Suter and up-and-comer Garrett Suter.

He had won an NCAA championship with the Wisconsin Badgers, and was one of the rare players on the 1980 Team USA who didn't go to University of Minnesota or Boston University.

He was a scout for the Minnesota Wild at the time of his death, with whom his son Ryan now plays. I didn't have a card of Bob's, nor one of Ryan with the Wild, but I have this 8x10 insert, signed in black sharpie on a sticker, from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Be A Player Portraits set (#SP-RS of the Signature Portraits sub-set):

It is from the same set from whence the jersey card of his I featured in May came; it also shows him in the Nashville Predators' former blue uniform which, all things considered, may have been their best-looking by a fair margin.

Mike Fisher Autographed 5x7 Picture

Mike Fisher is one of my favourite NHL players, and as is the case with most of the ones I have an affection for, that stands for both on and off the ice.

On it, he was regarded as the ideal #2 center backing Jason Spezza with the Ottawa Senators for the better part of a decade, and as he has now moved into his mid-thirties, has continued to put up his 50 points per season despite playing on the less offense-minded Nashville Predators.

Off the ice, Carrie Underwood's husband still spends most of his days supporting countless charities, including still being involved with Roger's House, a residential house/hospice for families of children with life-limiting diseases that has all the amenities of a full-fledged hospital but the comfort of one's home; it was set up by the Sens following the passing of their former coach Roger Nielsen, the first NHL head coach to use modern technology (and video!) as a tool to teach and coach players.

It was during one of the Roger's House fundraisers in the middle of the '00 decade that I met Mr. Fisher while donating; he was signing 5x7 pictures in black sharpie, of his red (home) Sens uniform:

He plays every game - even in the pre-season - like it's a Game 7; it seems he takes his responsibilities as a role model just as seriously. It's really impressive and inspiring.

He suffered a ''freak accident'' while training this summer, and it should keep him off the ice until November. I'm confident he'll make the Preds a much better team upon his return.

Edit: I'd made the mistake of trading it away a few years ago; I corrected that buying it back this Spring; I know it's the same one from the top-right corner being dented from the car ride home from Ottawa to Montréal.

Katie Armiger Autographed 8x10

I don't often dual-post with my regular - more personal - blog, but this seemed like a good opportunity to do so, as I received this beautiful autographed 8x10 picture of Katie Armiger in the mail today:

Katie Armiger definitely classifies as a country singer, with a powerful voice and sexy Southern accent, but her attitude is all rock, which is what you get when you have released 4 professional records in 4 years, played hundreds of shows and met tons of people who were as impressed with your talent as they were your looks - and all that at just 22 years of age.

Don't get me wrong - I will never say a woman's success is only due to her physicality, especially in this day and age (this isn't the 1950s); what I am saying is that when a stunning woman has to deal with saying ''no'' more often than she does ''hello'', it builds character the likes of which men twice her age will never even come close to, and possibly a great deal of self-confidence, too.

And that attitude is reflected in the song I featured as Video Of The Week, Playin' With Fire (which shares a title with my favourite Rolling Stones song, incidentally), where she has that Leelee Sobieski / Jennifer Lawrence look going for her, but mixed with a dirty, ''garage girl'' attire, singing lines like ''I'm already crazy and I feel fine / as I cross this line between wrong and right'', ''I'm already lit and this ain't done yet'' and ''I like the burn''. And there's the look in her eyes in every close-up. And the totally sexual way she cranks up and uses that flame-thrower (in high heels, no less).

She's in control, and not much can stop her. I'd say the sky's the limit, but she can even shatter that if she wants to.

I first came to realize she existed when recording songs at Studio Loco in Montréal, where her Confessions Of A Nice Girl CD laid on a table. I put it on out of sheer curiosity and had expected ballads and cutesy, wholesome songs from the cover, but instead found well-written, beat-driven songs that I instantly connected with. I've been a fan ever since. Here's the cover art in question:

I wrote to her care of her label - Cold River Records - on June 8th, 2014, and received the above 8x10 today, just 10 days later, including shipping, customs and covering the distance between Tennessee and Montréal. It will be framed and hung on my office wall, where people can ask about her and I can turn them on to her music in person, word-of-mouth-style.

Hannu Toivonen 8X10 Autograph Card

A former first-round pick of the Boston Bruins (29th overall in 2002), Hannu Toivonen was chosen ahead of Duncan Keith (53rd), Johnny Boychuk (61st), Matthew Lombardi (90th), Valtteri Filppula (95th), Maxime Talbot (234th), Dennis Wideman (241st) and Jonathan Ericsson (291st).

He played 61 games over the course of 3 seasons in the NHL, with a 18-24-10 record, a 3.37 GAA and a .890 save percentage. After years in the AHL farm teams of the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, Toivonen returned to Europe in 2011, only to come back in North America (in the ECHL) because his team ran into some financial problems.

He can be seen here in the Bruins' white uniform:

It's an 8x10 picture/card from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Be A Player Portraits (the Signature Portraits sub-set, #SP-HT). I had initially found a copy in a pack, but as I was sorting through my things, I seemed to have lost it; to replace it, I purchased this one off Ebay for... $1.25.

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.

Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre Autographed 8X10 Picture

Not exactly an offensive defenseman, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre does have a career stat over the one-per-game mark in the NHL: 311 penalty minutes in 269 games, to go with 7 goals, 13 assists and 20 points. He's also 4-for-4 (PIMs) in the playoffs.

If you don't remember the player from his career with the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals but think you may have seen his name somewhere before, it could be when I was reminiscing about my teenage years in this Alexandre Burrows post...

If you didn't, I'll say this much: I played with Grand-Pierre in high school, for the Collège Notre-Dame Sabres (an omen?), alongside other future NHLers Mathieu Darche and Ben Guité. I was the starting goalie. Ironically, neither of those who ''made it'' to the big time were first-liners back then. Some even entered Grade 7 not even knowing how to skate... a good bunch of us played in Juniors and/or College/University, though, so that could be a testament to the strength of our team, which finished second in the standings - one team totally demolished everyone else, though, but I forget which school they were from; I got crushed for 7 goals in a 15-2 loss to them in one game, and lost 3-2 in overtime in another, but I had a 9-0 record against all other the teams and a GAA below 2.00.

But back to Grand-Pierre, who is still active in Europe, for the Karlskrona HK in Sweden. He moved overseas because he'd only been offered AHL contracts since the first second lock-out (2004-05), while he can play in the first-division leagues there - in Sweden, Norway and Germany.

He's had 23- and 19-point seasons in Germany (in 40-some games), the first while accumulating a staggering 176 penalty minutes, the second with ''only'' 63 PIMs. This year, he had a goal and 14 penalty minutes in 11 games.

He signed this 8 X 10 picture for me at a high school reunion prior to the lock-out, a season he'd spent playing for 3 NHL and one AHL team, although it shows him with the Sabres, the team I identify him the most with despite the fact that he played for Columbus for the longest stretch:

It shows the 00s pre-Buffaslug jersey, though it's halfway there... it's the white (home) version, a nice one even though I preferred their original garbs. He signed it in blue sharpie and added his jersey number (34).

Kjell Magne Bondevik Autographed Picture

Back in the early-to-mid 2000s, as I was a more active musician and even more active, uh, activist for peace, I was often in contact with political leaders, such as Canada's Jean Chrétien (a friend of my friend's dad), and France's Jacques Chirac. Another prominent promoter of peace was Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, who has since gone on to form The Oslo Center (using his contacts to help improve world peace, human rights and inter-religious tolerance world wide).

Though he was officially elected under a religious party's political wing, mainly because he is by trade a Lutheran minister, he would have run as part of the Socialist Party had his Young Christian Democrats not accepted the left-leaning reforms he brought forth, inspired by having been involved in the 1968 worldwide protests movement.

In the lead-up to the Iraq war in 2003, he was one of the voices of reason... that was ignored by the U.S. He sent me countless letters that I have misplaced, but also this autographed 4x8 picture:

You can tell it's not a pre-print because the dot on the ''i'' at the end differs from many others found online. Like Bill Clinton and his Clinton Initiative, he now uses his past experience trying to help improve the world without having to worry about the day-to-day operations inherent to running a country.

Paul Gaustad: 3 Autographed 4X6 Pictures

Now that I have time to start unpacking my things, I came across this neat return I hadn't talked about yet...

Paul Gaustad is nicknamed ''Goose'' because, at 6'5'' and nearly 220 pounds, he towers over most NHL players, and also happens to be stronger than they are. After starting as a fourth-liner/enforcer in 2005, Gaustad climbed his way into becoming the Buffalo Sabres' best (and only decent) face-off man, winning over 60% of them in his past two seasons there.

I sent him these three pictures on December 21st, 2011, care of the Sabres. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked when they traded him to the Nashville Predators two months later (February 27th, 2012), but I did get these back, signed in ball point pen with his jersey number (28) at the end, in April, 2012.

As usual, I did my best to send him pictures featuring different uniforms - all of them with the Associate Captain's 'A' - to get away from redundancy, and to display the many jerseys the Sabres keep throwing at us year in and year out...

Firstly, a design reminiscent of their best look, the 1980s:

Back then, white was for the home uniform; now it serves for away games. The colours work very well together, I just really hate the jersey number appearing (and taking over too much space) in front, football-style; it's already on the shoulders and back (and now also on helmets), what more do you need?

Secondly, a hybrid of their 1980s jersey with the late-2000s slug design:

The team liked the piping, front-numbering and the darker blue, the fans hated the slug and wanted the old logo back. In the name of compromise, this is what came about. Gaustad makes it look good, though.

And lastly, the ''College-style'' lettering crushing the logo on the Sabres' best use of blue-and-yellow/gold:

Seriously, these colours with the original logo would have been a perfect match, for a jersey that looks so modern and yet so classic, that screams 'Sabres' (a lot more than it should 'Buffalo', anyway).

Now I won't say I never thought Gaustad would ever get traded; in today's NHL, most players will play for 5 different teams, or more. But as a Fargo, North Dakota native, I would have seen him with the Minnesota Wild more than the Preds. Heck, with the Philadelphia Flyers, considering his physical style of play.

What I really would have wanted, though, was him with my hometown Montréal Canadiens, centering the third line, with Zenon Konopka centering the fourth - two monsters who intimidate but are also among the league leaders in face-offs won. You can't go wrong with starting most plays in possession of the puck, and physical giants who can actually play the game are also always welcome. Throw in additional minutes on short powerplays posted in front of the net obstructing the goalie's view and you'd have yourself a winner, methinks.

Perhaps another time.

Tomas Vokoun Autograph 8 X 10 Card

Tomas Vokoun went under the radar in the news when, as a free agent, he chose to leave the Washington Capitals where he was #1A to be the backup goalie with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I, for one, would have loved to see him sign with the Montréal Canadiens, in part to see him finish with the team that drafted him, in part to relieve Carey Price who plays way too much, and finally, to put pressure on Price to accept a lower salary than his ridiculous $6.5M per for 6 seasons. I have a feeling GM Marc Bergevin will come to regret listening to the media on this one...

But back to Vokoun, the two-time All-Star, two-time World Championship gold medalist and Olympian (bronze medal in 2006). Chosen by the Nashville Predators in the 1998 Expansion Draft (from the Habs), he went on to star in nets for the Preds for their first 8 NHL seasons.

After consecutive freak injuries, the Predators traded his rights to the Florida Panthers for a first-round pick and two second- rounders, and he manned the nets well enough in Florida to play in the 2008 All-Star game, but suffered another freak injury in 2009 when teammate Keith Ballard hit him in the head with his stick (he was aiming at the crossbar in frustration...) and missed a long time.

The following summer he signed a low-paying contract to play with the powerhouse Capitals, gambling that winning a Cup would result in a better contract this summer, but once again, the Caps failed to reach post-season success.

This autographed 8 X 10 (signature on a sticker) features the Preds' old jersey - before they decided to go with vomit-enducing colours - is from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Be A Player Portraits set (card #SP-VO). Each pack came with an oversized signed card, so for the price ($30 or so), to be assured a hit of such magnitude was pretty good.

Travis Moen: 5 Autographed Items

This is a tremendous success!

I sent Travis Moen these 3 cards, 2 self-made 4X6 pictures and a fan letter on December 21st (2011) and got them all back, signed in black sharpie, with his often-jersey number (32) tagged onto the end (even on the one where he's sporting #59!) on April 29th, 2012.

Moen was a draft pick of the Calgary Flames, and as a grinding semi-sniper who doesn't back away from a fight, should have been a shoe-in to play there his whole career, but they let him go unsigned and he resurfaced with the Chicago Blackhawks, as can be attested here:

Yes, it's his rookie card from Topps' 2003-04 Bowman set (card #141), where the picture is slightly out of focus and his face is a dark pink - that's not the scan! It's a great view of the Hawks' white (then-home) jersey, though!

He only played one season with Chicago before being traded to Anaheim for what was their final season as the Mighty Ducks. As they became the Anaheim Ducks, he won the Stanley Cup playing on the best checking line in the league with Selke candidate Samuel Pahlsson and famous brother Rob Niedermayer, scoring his first multiple-goal game in the regular season, an overtime winner in the first round and two game-winning goals in the Final - including the Cup-clinching goal.

This picture is from the pre-game warm-up of a Cup game:

After a short, trade-deadline stint with the San Jose Sharks, Moen became a free agent and was promptly snagged by the Montréal Canadiens to - unfairly - become their top enforcer. While he never backs away from a good brawl, he is still just a middleweight and doesn't instigate violence, just regulates it; also, it's unfair to use him in only spare minutes when he has a decent hockey sense, plays sound positionally and has a decent shot. As a matter of fact, before falling to injury - a concussion - he was second on the team in goals with 9, in 48 games - a team which produced two 30-goal scorers this season.

This picture shows him wearing the  Habs' Centennial patch on the right shoulder on his red (home) jersey:

And the cards show him wearing the white (away) uniform:

The card on the left, from Upper Deck's 2010-11 Series 2 set (card #355) show him wearing the regular uniform, while the one on the right, from Panini's 2011-12 Score collection (card #250), is from the 2011 Heritage Classic in Calgary (a 4-0 Flames win on an incredible Miikka Kiprusoff performance), as can be attested by both the patch on his chest and the black under his eyes.

Moen got some flack in his first two seasons in Montréal because management sold him as a 15-goal, 30-fight supercop who can either dominate on the third line or be adequate on the second, but then proceeded to have him fill 4th-line duties and minutes wit hthe occasional first-line promotion to punish someone else.

I, for one, would rather he re-sign here for two more years than see him leave. He's a workhorse who'll do as he's told, which is a perfect example for all the kids we've got coming up. And he's dependable. And tough. And, obviously, respects fans enough to sign 5 of their items.

Manny Malhotra Autographed Picture

Where do I start with this one?

I always liked Manny Malhotra. From the time he was a kid, he was compared to Jarome Iginla all the time: consummate leader, a knack for scoring, unstoppable.

In Juniors, he captained the Guelph Storm to the Memorial Cup, was named to the tournament's All Star team and awarded the most sportsmanlike player of the tournament. That year, he was also named the OHL's scholastic player of the year en route to being drafted in the first round by the New York Rangers. He also captained Team Canada twice: once at the 3 Nations Cup (now the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament) with the undefeated (6-0) under-18 team, and once at the World Juniors in 2000, winning the bronze medal.

But it never worked out with the Rangers, who at first had and then were looking for an immediate solution to the retirement of Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky at center and didn't have time to groom a kid into the role. But four years spent with their AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack (including a Calder Cup win) had made him into an amazing defensive forward.

So the Dallas Stars acquired him because they wanted an Iginla-like player. But one goal in 16 games to finish the 2001-02 season, 10 points in 59 games the following year and no points in 9 games to start the 2003-04 campaign saw him put on waivers and subsequently claimed by the Columbus Blue Jackets, with whom he would improve his points totals for four straight years, often in match-ups against the opposing team's best lines.

Then came a successful season with the San Jose Sharks (19 goals, plus-17 rating, ice time on the powerplay, a relatively long playoff run considering, you know, the Sharks), before he was signed to a three-year contract on July 1st, 2010 by the Vancouver Canucks, who are looking for a Cup run themselves.

With the Canucks in first place, Malhotra was second in the NHL in faceoff percentage with an astonishing 61.8% and was a major reason for the team being the second-ranked in the league for penalty-killing when he was struck in the eye by an errant puck on March 16th. He has undergone surgery and will miss the rest of the season; while the team remains mute on the subject, it is widely believed he will require at least one more surgery before it is known whether he will recover his eyesight.

Ironically, a friend of mine who lives in Vancouver sent me this autographed picture, postmarked March 14th, two days before the accident. I got it yesterday. While I welcome the gift, my thoughts are more with Malhotra, hoping he'll make a full recovery.