Robert Kron: Three Autographed Cards

There was a piece of news that flew a little under the radar last summer, a few days after the Carolina Hurricanes matched the Montréal Canadiens' offer sheet to Sebastian Aho, and it involved the man who was most responsible for drafting Aho, Robert Kron, an amateur scout when the young star was drafted in the second round (35th overall) in 2015, and for the past two years "Head European Scout": he is now Director of European Scouting.

I know a lot about hockey, but the only difference I can see between "Head" and "Director" is that there is also a "Head" of North American Scouting (Mike Dawson) on the Canes' staff, but no "Director", so Kron's probably got the last word in case of a difference of opinion.

Although I mostly think of him as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, he only played 144 games in British Columbia versus 272 with the Hartford Whalers and 237 with the Hurricanes for a total of 509 with the organization; he finished his NHL career by suiting up for 118 games over two injury-filled seasons with the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets, so it's no surprise that when he looked at option after his playing career, he would revert back to Carolina.

Here he is rocking my favourite Canucks uniform, the 1985-97 black (away) one that replaced the "Flying V" of the early 1980s:

These are both considered "Rookie" cards; on the left is #52 from O-Pee-Chee's 1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier collection; while the card on the right is from Upper Deck's 1990-91 Series 2 set and Young Guns sub-set.

And here he is sporting the white (home) version of that uniform on card #239 from Pro Set's 1991-92 Series 2 collection:

It's my second-favourite pale Canucks uniform, after the Markus Naslund-era ones from 1997-2007.

He signed all three cards in blue sharpie at the Bell Centre around the 2009 amateur draft, where John Tavares was selected first-overall. It was his first draft as a scout, and only two of the Canes' six picks taht summer played in the NHL: Brian Dumoulin (51st overall, second round, 81 points in 342 games) and Rasmus Rissanen (sixth round, 178th overall, 6 games). First-rounder Philippe Paradis, a bruising 6'2", 205-pound forward, mostly played in the AHL and is currently in Québec's LNAH - perhaps the most physical league in the world these days - where he has 8 goals, 5 assist, 13 points in 19 penalty minutes in 12 games with the Jonquiere Marquis so far this season.

Robert Kron Autographed Card

Robert Kron was an important member of the Czechoslovakian hockey team at the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, participating in three straight World Junior Championships and winning two consecutive bronze medals at the World Championships in 1989 and 1990 before making the team for the 1991 Canada Cup.

In the NHL, he was a Vancouver Canucks fifth-round draft pick (88th overall) in 1985, and made his way across the pond to post 32 points in 76 games in his rookie season in 1990-91.

He was moved to the Hartford Whalers at the trade deadline during the 1992-93 season, and would post two 20-goal seasons with the franchise (both in 50-point seasons) and remained with the team as they became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997-98, remaining all the way until the summer of 2000, when the Columbus Blue Jackets chose him in the expansion draft. He would play in Columbus for two seasons before playing in Finland for one year.

He is now the European director of amateur scouting on the Canes.

He also fits the bill as #58 in my Canucks Numbers Project, with this card that he probably signed in his final season, a.k.a. the year I got back into following hockey:

It's card #225 from Upper Deck's flagship 1991-92 Series 1 set, signed in blue sharpie (which tells me it probably doesn't go back to my teen years) and shows him wearing the Canucks' quintessential black (away) uniform, with the skate logo that they will bring back for one game this coming season. It's a hundred times better than their current blue-and-green retro monstrosities, and stands as my favourite Canucks uniform (ahead even of the admittedly less-tacky Markus Naslund-era from the turn of the millennium).