Two Raffi Torres Jersey Cards

Oops, he did it again...

After missing most of the last two seasons with ACL issues, Raffi Torres hit Jakob Silfverberg in the head and has been suspended indefinitely pending a hearing; he declined an in-person hearing, meaning he will probably face upwards of 5 games as a repeat offender. Here's a video of the hit in question:

I, for one, think he absolutely intended to rock Silfverberg and knock him on his ass with a huge hit to impress his coaches and show the team that a year off hasn't deterred him from being able to play a physical game; I don't think he intended on giving the Anaheim Ducks rising star an elbow to the head, but that in the thick of the action and as Silfverberg got rid of the puck and attempted to protect himself by dodging the hit, Torres' reflexes got the best of him. Notice he had to swerve to avoid a Duck on his way to him...

A lot of people no longer give him the benefit of the doubt and are not only calling for a long suspension, but many are also clamoring for a ban from the NHL; I'm not jumping on that bandwagon, but it's getting harder and harder to convince people to give him another chance, especially since he's had four or five ''second chances'' already.

The guy can play hockey; he's had two 20-goal seasons (with a high of 27 post-lockout in 2005-06) and four more of 15 and more; he's had 30 or more points four times. He's coming back from a very severe injury. You hope he can make it work. He just can't seem to put himself in a position where that's possible, and that's too bad.

Here he is in happier days, with the Edmonton Oilers, wearing the team's turn-of-the-millennium white (then-home) uniform, twice:

Both cards are from the eponymous flagship Upper Deck sets, the top card being from the 2005-06 Series 1 collection (card #J-RT) with a matching white game-worn jersey swatch, while the one at the bottom is from the 2005-06 Series 2 set (#J2-RT), with a bright orange swatch.

Notice how his facial hair changed - and the cool Oilers' 25th Anniversary patch on the first one.

Raffi Torres: 3 Autographed Cards

This could be the season where we find out whether Raffi Torres is cursed by the Hockey Gods or if he will find - like Marian Hossa before him, last season - solace in hockey's Holy Grail by season's end.

Indeed, championships have eluded Torres so far, from a bronze medal at the World Juniors (2001) to a Calder Cup final in each of his two AHL seasons (but no wins), culminating in the heart-breaking 7-game loss his Edmonton Oilers suffered at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.

After relatively quiet stints with the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets, he is back on a contender with this season's Vancouver Canucks, the odds-on favourite so far. On a personal level, he looks like he'll score at least 15 goals this season, the fifth time he will have reached that number. His best season was in 2005-06, when he collected 27 goals to go along with his 14 assists, good for 41 points in 82 games; he followed that in the afore-mentioned Cup run by going 4-7-11 in 22 playoff games.

I sent Mr. Torres these three cards and a fan letter, care of the Canucks, on December 3rd, 2010 and got them all back, signed in blue sharpie, on April 1st, 2011. He added his jersey number (14) at the end. All three show him in the Oilers' white ''home'' jerseys from the few years right before Reebok came in and ruined the Edmonton team's look.

The card in the middle is from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Victory set (card #82), and the one on the right is from the 2006-07 Upper Deck Series 1 collection (card #81). But the stand-out piece among those three is without question the card on the left, this one:

It's card #121 in Upper Deck's terrific 2006-07 Ovation set, which I also touched upon here in a post on Pascal Leclaire. The ink smudged a bit because of both the card's foil material but also because of the three-dimensional feel they gave it through its unusual texture. When I got these gorgeous cards, I never thought I'd get one autographed, let alone two (so far).

All that being said, I wish Mr. Torres the best of luck in... turning his luck around come June.