Michael Frolik Autographed Card

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After signing him to an affordable one-year deal right before Christmas Day, the Montréal Canadiens assigned Michael Frolik to their AHL affiliate Laval Rocket on a conditioning stint earlier today. He and fellow veteran Corey Perry had cleared waivers ahead of opening night; I believe most skaters will clear this year, what with the flat cap, quarantine rules and taxi squads, but GMs may be willing to try to upgrade their third-string goalies on the rebate wire as the playoff races get tighter.

Frolik has had an up-and-down last few years. He was usually good for a half-point per game on average (he was around that mark for nine of his 12 NHL seasons), and he did manage that in two of the past four seasons with the Calgary Flames, but his 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 19 games with the Buffalo Sabres to finish off the 2019-20 season is probably the biggest reason why he only signed a one-year deal near the league minimum, coupled with the warining sign in the form of a 25-point season (10 goals, 15 assists) with a -19 rating in 70 games with Calgary in 2017-18, although he had been +13 the year prior and was +24 the next.

He even earned some Selke Trophy votes with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012-13, the year the Hawks won their second of three recent Stanley Cups. He also has an impressive collection of bronze medals as a member of the Czech Republic Team from the 2004 and 2006 U-18s, the 2005 World Juniors, and the 2011 and 2012 World Championships.

He was originally a first-round pick in 2006, having been selected 10th overall by the Florida Panthers and he currently stands 12th of his draft class in career points with 384, so pretty much in the right spot though a ways away from the top-five of Nicklas Backstrom (4th overall, 954 points), Phil Kessel (5th, 877), Claude Giroux (22nd, 837), Jonathan Toews (3rd, 815) and Brad Marchand (71st, 673), and a case has to be made for defensemen Erik Johnson (1st, 304 points) and Jeff Petry (45th, 275 points), as well as goalie Semyon Varlamov (23rd, one Vezina nomination). Here is what he looked like wearing the Cats' black (home) Reebok-era uniform:

That's card #333 from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play box set, which he signed in blue sharpie during the 2016-17 season.

Pens Preview: Maxime Talbot Autographed 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. 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 Pittsburgh Penguins have done an amazing job of rebuilding on the fly, particularly after the departure of GM Ray Shero; sure, Jim Rutherford inherited Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-André Fleury and Kris Letang in their prime, but Shero had failed to complement them with pieces that would help them remain contenders while strapped by the salary cap, whereas Rutherford was able to add value on the wings in his first two weeks, by trading James Neal for Patric Hornqvist, for instance. And whenever a signing or trade didn't work out, you could count on Rutherford to move the player within a year, usually to everyone's satisfaction. On the surface, this hasn't changed; however, this season is going to be unique, and the Pens are in the same division as Stanley Cup contenders Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins, plus Barry Trotz' New York Islanders, all of whom would normally be locks for the playoffs - and that's not counting the up-and-coming New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres. A very good team is going to miss the cut this year, and I have a feeling it might be Pittsburgh.

What makes their odds look good:
Crosby, Malkin and Letang are still there, while Fleury made way for Matt Murray, who was pushed out himself by Tristan Jarry by the end of the 2019-20 season. Bryan Rust can score 30 goals even in a shortened season, Jake Guentzel and Jason Zucker can score 20 - which, pro-rated to an 82-game schedule, would be 30 - and John Marino is ready for prime time on defense.

Question marks:
The thing with goalies is how unpredictable the position has shown to be in the last 10-15 years; even the best in the world have off years, and they usually take a little longer than before (mid-to-late 20s instead of 23-25 years old) to be ready, so Jarry holding up is a toss-up; I also question the team's depth, but head coach Mike Sullivan has shown to be better than I anticipated at making the most of what he has.

Outlook:
I do not fear for Pittsburgh; whenever Crosby, Malkin and Letang inch out of their primes, there will be someone ready to take their place; one might say Marino is already there to cover for Letang. It's just that this particular season might be a write-off.

Prediction:
Fifth in the Metro/East Division.

Even in the Shero era, the Penguins made great use of depth player, none more so than Maxime Talbot, an 8th-round pick (234th overall) in 2002. Needless to say, if there was a re-do, he would probably be selected between 22nd and 45th overall, as he ranks 24th in point production and 17th in games played, and there were a few notable goalies available that year, such as Cam Ward (25th overall), Kari Lehtonen (2nd), Curtis McElhinney (176th), Josh Harding (38th), Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (31st) and Hannu Toivonen (29th).

Talbot started turning heads right after being drafted, as he was named the LHJMQ's Hull/Gatineau Olympiques's captain thereafter, and led the team to consecutive league chamionships, winning the playoff MVP title both times; it was a sign of things to come, as he would wear the alternate captain's "A" in Pittsburgh, partly on the strength of terrific playoff performaces, including scoring both goals as they won Game 7 of the 2009 Final against the Detroit Red Wings. Talbot was such a clutch playoff performer that he would routinely finish in the minuses in the regular season and yet, in much fewer games, be in the pluses in the playoffs:

He was also known for scoring shorthanded goals, as 8 of his first 30 in the NHL were scored down a man; he even scored four goals against Pittsburgh in the 2012 playoffs while playing with the Philadelphia Flyers, two of which came shorthanded. All told, 16 of his career 91 regular-season goals came down at least a man, and he had 14 game-winners as well; in the playoffs, 4 of his 18 goals were game-winners.

Here is is wearing the Penguins' black (home) uniform from 2002-16, on card #233 from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play boxed set:

He signed it in blue sharpie during his time with the Bruins (2014-16). He then moved on to the KHL, where he played under Bob Hartley for the Avangard Omsk in his final season in 2018-19.

Luca Sbisa Autographed Card

I wasn't sure what team I'd choose to feature this card for - if any - but I'll go with the Vegas Golden Knights, whom I believe will finish 7th in the Pacific Division, ahead of the Vancouver Canucks - and also ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings.

In recent years, Canucks fans and beat journalists had taken a dislike to Luca Sbisa for his seeming inability to help the puck exit his defensive zone, let alone drive play; what he did, however, was deliver hard hits and help Vancouver kill penalties better than any other defenseman on the team. That's right: he led the team in fewest shorthanded goals given per PK minute played.

Now, many of us - even those who see his admittedly limited qualities - were surprised to see the Golden Knight choose Sbisa in addition to the equally-hard-hitting Alexei Emelin, considering Emelin is also better-rounded in every other aspect of the game save for fighting, but Vegas answered these questions by trading Emelin to the Nashville Predators for a third-round draft pick (and retaining $1.2M of his salary).

Although he was born in Italy to Italian parents, the Sbisas moved to Switzerland when he was one, and he has always suited up for Team Switzerland (or Team Europe) internationally. Although he has never medaled, he did meet his wife, Lauren Anaka Sbisa, while participating in the 2010 Olympics.

Here he is wearing the Philadelphia Flyers' white (away) uniform from 2007-2010, on card #362 from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play boxed set:

He signed it in blue sharpie in September 2016 during the World Cup, erroneously adding "42" as his uniform number instead of "47".

Shane Doan Autographed Card

Man, the Arizona Coyotes sure don't know how to handle their business in a classy manner.

A few days ago, they announced very publicly that they wouldn't re-sign long-time captain and sole player remaining from the organization's days as the Winnipeg Jets, Shane Doan, and they have now terminated head coach and VP of hockey operations Dave Tippett with three years remaining on his contract.

Tippett coached the team through two bankruptcies, four years without an owner, and a near decade-long rebuild, but that's nothing compared to Doan's contribution to the Coyotes. They straight-up would not be an NHL team today if he hadn't stuck with them through thick and thin, re-signing below market value three times instead.

I'm by no means trying to make Doan into what he was not; we're not talking Alex Ovechkin goal-scoring here, as he's only reached the 30-goal plateau twice in 21 NHL seasons, and we're not talking about a Keith Tkachuk-like power forward, as he's only reached the 100-PIM level twice (one of those being his rookie season in 1995-96), and we're not talking about a two-way forward either, as he's in the minuses ten times, and we're not talking about a player who will produce regardless of who he plays with or makes his teammates better, as he was never a point-per-game player - as a matter of fact, he only came close once, posting 78 points (28 goals, 50 assists) in 80 games in 2007-08.

Still, the guy who has put the team ahead of his own benefit for over a decade - your captain, the guy who has helped sign and attract free agents who did not want to come to such a dysfunctional team and, uh, non-traditional hockey market - should not be kicked out the door with so little class.

The sub-par PR moves made since Andrew Barroway became the team's sole owner - including getting rid of its CEO and minority shareholder Anthony Leblanc, who happens to be the guy who bought the team from the league and "saved" it from relocation or contraction - leave an awful taste in my mouth, reminiscent of the takeover and subsequent cash-grab from the sale of the Montréal Expos in MLB over a decade ago. The fact that he's NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's brother-in-law AND a hedge fund capitalist just adds to that feeling that some small town in Arizona is being pitched a monorail, which will end up in the team leaving town anyway, new building or not.

There are veterans out there for whom I wish a(nother) Stanley Cup: Jaromir Jagr, Jarome Iginla, Jaroslav Halak, Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec. But after this, I won't be angry if Doan can get one as a balm or payback.

Here he is sporting the team's former white uniform, on card #69 from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Power Play set, seemingly fanning on a shot in front of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' Jean-Sébastien Giguère:

He signed it in 2008-09, just like this card I featured three and a half years ago, but upon which I only fell when searching for a Jhonas Enroth card, as detailed in this Olaf Kolzig post.

Ben Maxwell Autographed Card

Since leaving North America in 2013-14, Ben Maxwell has split his time between the Finnish League's Oulun Kärpät and the KHL's Khanty-Mansyisk Ugra and HC Sochi.

While he helped Oulun to consecutive Finnish championships in 2013-14 and 2014-15, his regular-season production dipped, so he tried his hand at the KHL for more of the same; he posted 32 points in 52 games with Sochi this year and was blanked in three playoff games.

And though he may never become the offensive threat he once was projected to be as a second-round pick (49th overall in 2006), he plays a physical game and still has enough flair to make a decent third-line center, theoretically.

He's still just 27 years old and hasn't had all the opportunities that a guy like Lars Eller had; I think Maxwell could do well in the Swedish or Swiss leagues as well.

He was the first player to wear #80 for the Montréal Canadiens, which means he fits right in on my Habs Numbers Project with card #346 from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play set:

He signed it in blue sharpie in 2012-13, while he was suiting up with the St. John's IceCaps while in the Winnipeg Jets organization.

Torrey Mitchell Autographed Card

The Montréal Canadiens are playing like crap tonight against the San Jose Sharks, but at least GM Marc Bergevin's trade deadline acquisition from last season, Torrey Mitchell, scored against his first NHL team, reducing San Jose's lead to 3-2.

I don't believe it'll be enough, which sucks both because I like rooting for my hometown team (and Mitchell's), but also because it means I'll have to take a day off from insulting the Sharks and comparing their losing ways to those of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

At least I know that even if they make the playoffs, they're still fodder for either the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings or Chicago Blackhawks, as is customary in Choker Central. But hey, the Habs are also making a habit of finishing close to last every three years or so...

So here's Mitchell, wearing the best Sharks white uniform, from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play box set (with card #243 in the series), which he signed in blue sharpie:

Mitchell is almost an ideal fourth-line center, as he's a right-hand shot, wins many face-offs, is sound defensively and can score once in a while; if it wasn't that he takes too many penalties (many in the offensive zone), I'd like him even more.

Kimmo Timonen: 4 Autographed Cards

I think Kimmo Timonen will come back for one more season, to retire at the round-number age of 40. And for one more shot at the Stanley Cup. He was a runner-up in 2010 when his Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, and he has a very impressive collection of precious metals collected with Team Finland (Suomi), consisting of silverware (2006 Olympics, 1998, 1999 and 2001 World Championships, 2004 World Cup) and bronze (1998, 2010 and 2014 Olympics). What he needs deserves is a (shot at a) first-place finish.

He's also been one of the most consistent defensemen in the past decade - 40 points year in and year out (sometimes in the 50s), first unit time on both the powerplay and penalty-kill. Granted, he has played less minutes 5-on-5 the last couple of seasons, and he has lost a step, but he rarely makes mistakes in his own end, and is still a fine offensive defenseman with an accurate pass and a precise and hard shot.

Though he was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings (250th overall, 1993), they traded his rights to the then-player-less Nashville Predators so they, in turn, wouldn't draft Garry Galley. It took him a few years to cross the pond, but from his second full NHL season on, he was the Preds' defense; on their chronically low-scoring team, he surpassed the 10-goal mark five times, plus scored another 8 in 51 games in his sophomore season.

To represent him during that era, I have these two cards of him in their then-home (white) uniform:

On the left is card #197 from Topps' 2000-01 Stadium Club set, which I bought packs of at a dollar store that year just so I wouldn't completely lose touch with hockey; on the right is card #111 from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Series 1 collection, the first card showing him as alternate captain.

He would serve as the Preds' designated captain for the actual 2006-07 season.

After that season, though, the Preds weren't sure they would be able to re-sign the pending free agent, so they traded his rights to the Flyers, who promptly inked him to a six-year deal. He never reached the 10-goal plateau with the Flyers, but he still got his 40-plus points - except in the locked out 2012-13 season when he registered 5 goals and 29 points in 45 games. And he wore the 'A' with them right away, as evidenced by these cards:

On the left, wearing Philadelphia's then-home (white) uniform, is card #210 in Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play set, while the card on the right is from Panini's 2011-12 Score (card #348), with the current home (orange) uniform, a throwback to the Broad Street Bullies' 1970s garbs.

He was a five-time choice for the All-Star game, three times with the Predators and twice with the Flyers.

Internationally, he has represented Finland a whopping 18 times - 13 on the senior team, where his stats are impressive: 14 goals, 36 assists and 50 points in 93 games, good for eight medals, as previously stated.

His current career NHL totals are also pretty impressive, and all are milestone-surpassed: 117 goals and 454 assists - good for 571 points - in 1092 regular-season games, plus 4-31-35 (and 99 penalty minutes) in 87 playoff games.

He holds the same point-producing pace in the Finnish elite league despite having started there at age 17 - much younger than usual.

I had sent Timonen these four cards and a fan letter - at the Flyers' Skate Zone -  on March 17th, 2014; they came back 78 days later, on June 3rd (2014), signed in (fading) black sharpie.

David Booth: 3 Autographed Cards

Continuing with my involuntary theme of consecutive Florida Panthers cards comes these three cards I got in the mail on Friday, March 14th 2014 from David Booth, now with the Vancouver Canucks. I had written Mr. Booth a fan letter with these three cards on January 31st, 2012, care of the Canucks, which makes this a 774-day round trip, perhaps my longest return so far (I only started counting the days between sending and receiving recently):

The Panthers' second-round pick (53rd overall) in the 2004 draft, he would have been eligible for the previous year's draft if he'd abandoned his college hockey career, but since he didn't, was allowed to play for his full 4 seasons for the Michigan State University Spartans, where he accumulated a total of 105 points in 134 games.

As a 6-foot and 212-pound left winger who isn't afraid of playing in traffic, he is considered a power forward, though he might be a tad on the small side for that (the ideal power forward stands between 6'2'' and 6'4'' to crash the net defended by a goalie who now averages 6'3'' and is protected by defensemen who weigh over 220 pounds and who are now allowed to play a rougher game than when play resumed after the 2004-05 lockout). Perhaps because of his size, he was only able to play one full 82-game season thus far, scoring 23 goals and tallying 17 assists for 40 points in 2010-11, finishing third in team scoring, 9 points behind leader Stephen Weiss.

And that's the thing when people talk about his statistics: he has over 100 NHL goals and over 200 points but has played over 400 games to get there. But 300 of those games were with the Panthers, far from an offensive powerhouse. Basement dwellers, actually, more often than not.

Fast, smart, with a decent finishing touch but also a pretty good ability to check the opposition, he is definitely a first-liner on a bad team; he would be an ideal second-liner on a playoff-quality team, and a luxury third-liner with powerplay and penalty-killing time on a stacked Stanley Cup contender like the Chicago Blackhawks or Anaheim Ducks (though possibly a first-liner on the stacked-at-center Pittsburgh Penguins). With the Canucks, he should be Ryan Kesler's shadow/pretend twin, jumping on the ice at exactly the same time; not only are their skills and playing styles compatible and complementary, they've played together on and off since they were 12 years old.

Internationally, he has represented Team USA three times, winning gold at both the 2002 U-18 World Championships and the 2004 World Juniors, and a sixth-place finish at the 2008 World Championships in Québec City (where I saw Ilya Kovalchuk and Team Russia beat Team Canada 5-4 - in overtime no less! - in the Final).

Let's now look at the cards, first featuring the Panthers' white (away) uniform:

The card on the left is from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play set (card #131), the beautiful blue background providing a nice contrast with the uniform; the card on the right is from UD's 2008-09 Victory set (card #114), showing him in a game against my hometown Montréal Canadiens.

And from Panini's 2010-11 Score (card #217 in the set), one where he's wearing their black (home) uniform:

All of them are signed in (fading) black sharpie.

I would have wanted to send him at least one of him wearing the Canucks' uniform, but he had yet to have one published.

Milan Hejduk Autographed Card

I was waiting for an official word on Milan Hejduk's retirement, he was supposed to hold a press conference some time in December, but it never happened.

So I'll take advantage of the Czech Republic's win over Slovakia to honor the Olympic medalist (gold in 1998, bronze in 2006) and former Rocket Richard Trophy winner today, now that his career statistics are likely etched in stone at 1020 games played, 375 goals and 805 points (plus a 34-42-76 career total in 112 playoff games), a Stanley Cup, an All-Rookie Team and three All-Star Games.

He currently stands second in the Colorado Avalanche/Québec Nordiques franchise in games played, fourth in goals and points, fifth in assists and second in game-winning goals.

He only played for the Avs in the NHL, and only played for HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice in the Czech league, with whom he has also won a championship; he's very loyal.

I featured him in 2012 with this card, but knew I had another lying somewhere, because he had signed both on the same pre-season trip. Here is the second card, showing him in the Avs' white (home) uniform, from Upper Deck's beautiful 2005-06 Power Play set (card #24), signed in thin black sharpie:

(I'm saving another signed item, an 8X10, for when he actually does officially announce his retirement.)

Ben Bishop: 3 Autographed Cards (Part 2)

(continued from the previous post)

In that vein, while I'm no fan of the current jersey (I very much prefer all the older versions, from the 70s to the 80s to the 90s - yes, even the red-striped Gretzky-era jerseys), the Rbk Blues jerseys are still much better-looking than their AHL counterparts:

The card on the left is from Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play box set (card #383), which serves as his rookie card; the card on the right is from Panini's 2011-12 Score set (card #410), in which it is clear his shoulders cover the net even when he's on his knees. His 6'7'' frame coupled with cat-like reflexes made him the best goalie ''not in the NHL'' this season, and likely the Sens' goalie of the future - provided he re-signs there after next season.

Craig Anderson: 4 Autographed Cards (Part 1)

Some are wondering if the Ottawa Senators were wise to sign Craig Anderson to a 4-year contract extension a few weeks ago but I, for one, think it could work out.

Sure, he and Michael Leighton spent years in the Chicago Blackhawks' system without being given a proper chance and both were pretty much thrown away like hole-filled socks, Leighton spending years on waivers and Anderson being dealt to the Florida Panthers, who already had an All Star #1 goalie in Tomas Vokoun.

Of those years in the minors, I kept this card as a memento:

It's from In the Game's 2006-07 Between The Pipes set, the Future Stars sub-set (card #10), where he's wearing the Rochester Americans' red jersey.

And as a Panther, I have this one:

It's card #126 in Upper Deck's 2008-09 Power Play Boxed Set and shows him with the same mask he wore on the AHL card. In his first season with the Panthers, he went 8-6-1 (2.24 GAA; .935 save %) in 17 games, the most impressive of which was a 1-0 win against the New York Islanders on March 2nd in which he set an NHL record for most saves in a shutout, with 53. In 2008-09, he went 15-7-5 with a 2.71 GAA and .924 save percentage, cementing his position as a goalie who could, perhaps, get the job done.

And that's what the Colorado Avalanche were banking on when they signed him to a 2-year deal, and they gave him every opportunity to shine, giving him the net for 15 straight starts to begin the season - a team record. He got a shutout in his second game and was the league's second star for two out of four weeks in October. He became only the fourth goalie in franchise history to record 30 wins in a season, and by season's end, he held team marks for games played, minutes played and saves made - beating the best goalie of all time, Patrick Roy, for all three. And as interesting as a 38-25-7 record, a 2.63 GAA and a .917 save % are in the regular season, his 2.62 GAA and .933 save % in the playoffs were even better.

                                       (to be continued in the next post)