Yann Sauvé Jersey Card

Tired of getting loaned left and right to all corners of the AHL and ECHL, Yann Sauvé set his sights towards Europe in 2016-17 and has almost never looked back.

The former Vancouver Canucks draft pick (41st overall in 2008) to be a middle-pairing defenseman, as he was already a hulking shut-down blue-liner in the LHJMQ at 6'3" and 209 pounds, but with players his age or slightly younger, he could also contribute offensively. In the professional ranks however, as is often the case with defensemen - particularly those built rugged - it was a slow process made even slower by a concussion suffered when he was hit by a car in training camp in 2010. It took him two months to recover and he was relegated to the AHL instantly and also playing a bit in the ECHL, which prepared him for the following five seasons, during which he suited up for 13 teams in three different leagues:

from HockeyDB

That's a lot of travel.

When the offer to play for the Croatian KHL team KHL Zagreb Medvescak came (the "KHL" in the team name does not refer to the league they played in but to the Croatian initials for "Ice Hockey Club"), he jumped on it, but when the team failed to make the playoffs in February, he felt it was too early to pack it in until the Fall, so he went back to the ECHL's Manchester Monarchs until German team Munich Red Bulls Ice Hockey Club (or as they're called in he DEL, EHC Red Bull München) requested his services for a playoff run. He had one final regular-season game to play before that, and he decided to make his mark by amassing no fewer than 25 penalty minutes and a game rejection as he got acquainted with his teammates. The team won the league championship.

He spent the 2017-18 season in the U.K., scoring 10 goals with 27 assists for 37 points (sixth in team scoring, first for defensemen) and 96 penalty minutes (second only to fellow Montréaler Mathieu Gagnon's 106) in 54 games with the Nottingham Panthers.

He gave Austria a chance for 2018-19, splitting the season between KHL Zagreb Medveščak (which had jumped leagues for financial reasons that were never resolved) and EC Panaceo VSV after the Zagreb team folded, with similar statistics; he had 6 goals and 8 assists for 14 points with 12 penalty minutes and a -11 rating in 24 games in Zagreb and 2 goals, 10 assists and 12 points with 16 penalty minutes and a -12 rating for for Villach.

He spent the 2019-20 season playing for France's Grenoble Brûleurs de Loups (literally: Wolf Burners), scoring 6 goals with 15 assists for 21 points ion the highly-offensive Ligue Magnus He also had 57 penalty minutes and - more importantly - a +26 defensive rating.

Grenoble seems like a perfect fit for him, and I hope he finds some stability there. As a French Canadian, I believe he's relatively exempt from the "Imported Players" quota when in France, so that's a plus.

This is what he looked like in the Canucks' white (away) uniform, on card #165 from Upper Deck's 2011-12 SPX set and Rookie Jersey sub-set:

It features a karge blue "event.worn" jersey - a rookie photo shoot - and is numbered #318/799. While the foil looks silver in the scan, it's actually gold to the naked eye.

Yannick Weber Jersey Card

I wanted to put the Yannick Weber card I featured last month in a binder, but there was no sense in doing it for just one card. So here's another one, a photo shoot-worn jersey card, from Upper Deck's 2009-10 SPX set, card #152 of the Rookie Jersey sub-set (numbered #256/799, though I find it hard to believe one jersey could be split into 800 pieces each measuring a bit over square inch, so there were likely numerous worn in that photo-op), featuring a nice blue swatch, likely from the Montréal Canadiens' red (home) three-coloured jersey:

I want to reiterate my faith that the two-time Olympian (at barely 25 years of age) for Team Switzerland will become a regular NHLer if only for his powerplay prowess (great first pass, great shot, good foot speed), but also full-time as a #4 or 5 defender.

All he needs is ice time and a coach who will let him play his own style. He's won championships in Juniors and was an All-Star in the AHL. This season or the next will be his breakthrough.

Brandon Bochenski Rookie Jersey Autograph Card

Like a Braydon Coburn card I featured a while back, this particular card, from the 2005-06 SPx series by Upper Deck (Rookie Jersey sub-set, card #179, numbered 203/1499) sports a jersey worn in a photo shoot and an autograph on a sticker that was apposed to the card later - so it's ''all fake'' if you're looking for a game-worn jersey or a card that the player actually touched with his hands. I think it's still pretty cool, though:

It shows Brandon Bochenski wearing the Ottawa Senators' red uniform, with a pretty big red swatch to go along with it. The Senators' 7th-round pick in 2001, Bochenski had a tremendous season in the USHL in 2000-01 scoring nearly a goal per game (47 in 55, for 80 points), after which he was a point-and-a-half player for three seasons with the NCAA's University Of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

He turned pro in 2004-05, and accumulated 70 points in 75 AHL games with the Binghamton Senators before starting a 5-season cycle of temporary NHL recalls and mid-season trades where he would be a point-per-game player in the minors and half that in the NHL, suiting up for 6 NHL teams and 3 AHL teams (two different stints with the Norfolk Admirals who had changed their NHL affiliation). All told, he has 68 points (28 goals) in 156 NHL games, but for some reason - possibly because he was a late-round draft pick - the minute he went pointless in two straight games at the NHL level, he'd be relegated to fourth-line duties with less ice time and playing with linemates who didn't have his offensive flair.

Tired of the situation, he has spent the last 4 seasons with the KHL's Astana Barys, in Kazakhstan, where he is a point-producing machine, scoring 97 goals and accumulating 201 points in 191 games; his team was just eliminated in their playoffs, and he had 9 points in 10 games with 14 penalty minutes of post-season play. He even played in their All-Star Game.

At 32 years of age, he still has a few good seasons in front of him; if I managed a goal-deprived team like the Nashville Predators, I'd definitely give the Minnesota native a second chance on a one- or two-season deal at a million and a half per with the promise of doubling it if the production is worth it, and a few local sponsorship deals to sweeten the pot.

Brandon Marshall Rookie Jersey Card

Unlike baseball and basketball, American football is a sport I watch almost as much as hockey. It's a spectacular and brutal sport, managed by the most serious and credible professional league in North America, perhaps the world - the NFL. If NFL teams would each face each other at least once, and the playoffs were a best-of-something (ideally 7), it could be considered the most grueling team sport around; unfortunately, for my money, NHL hockey still holds the crown, with up to 10 pre-season games, 82 regular-season games spread over the continent, followed by four best-of-seven series, with yearly World Championships and Olympics every four years for the best of them.

The NFL has a few storied franchises, a feat considering the Super Bowl was first appointed the same year the Toronto Maple Leafs last won a Stanley Cup - 1967. One such team is the Denver Broncos, Super Bowl winners in 1997 and 1998. While they've endured hard times in the 00s, they seem to be on the verge of great things again.

A good reason for that is Brandon Marshall. Chosen with the 119th pick (4th round) in the 2006 draft, he's already made a name for himself for his punishing hits - an unusual fact considering he's a wide receiver, bound to get hit more often than dishing it out. Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was even quoted as saying: ''he's the toughest guy to bring down, one-on-one.''

His name is also already in the NFL's record books as the receiver with the most receptions in a game, with an astonishing 21 (achieved December 13th, 2009). He is also one of only five players in NFL history to catch at least 100 passes in three consecutive seasons.

This current card, while not quite ''the whole nine yards'' like a Chris Davis card I've mentioned before, is still a unique collectible - it's both a game-worn jersey card and rookie card. It is card #BS-BM from Topps' 2006 Bowman Sterling series.

Braydon Coburn Rookie Jersey Autograph Card

In the same vein as Chris Davis' all-dressed card, here's another triple-threat rookie-jersey-and-autograph card, this time depicting young defenseman Braydon Coburn when he was with the Atlanta Thrashers (who sent him to the Philadelphia Flyers at the 2006-07 trade deadline for over-the-hill defenseman Alexei Zhitnik in the hopes of going all-in to secure the team's first - and only - ever playoff spot, one of the most lop-sided trades in recent memory).

Coburn is a 24 year-old 6'5'', 225-pound defenseman from Calgary whose upside compared to other stellar Albertans as Dion Phaneuf and Jay Bouwmeester in that they all have grit and size but also spectacular speed and a knack for putting points up on the board. Coburn actually holds (in a six-way tie) the record in the WHL for the most goals in a game by a defenseman (with 4). He also brings leadership to the table: look at the picture closely, you'll see he is sporting the Captain's C. Keep in mind this is his rookie card... a rookie captain in a team loaded with veterans and with two star players (at the time, both Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk were still with the team)? Oh yes. I'd take him on my team any day.

This particular card, from the 2005-06 SPx series by Upper Deck (Rookie Jersey sub-set, card #181, numbered 156/1499) sports a jersey worn in a photo shoot and an autograph on a sticker that was apposed to the card later - therefore, it's ''all fake'' if you're looking for a game-worn jersey or a card that the player actually touched with his hands - but it's still a testament to Coburn's talent that they couldn't wait to have him play an actual game before releasing a card depicting him (as a captain, no less).