Oliver Ekman-Larsson Autographed Card

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Oliver Ekman-Larsson will miss the Arizona Coyotes' final (and very meaningless) games as he will travel back to Sweden to attend his mother's funeral, then take time to grieve.

He'll turn 26 this summer, and the Coyotes are about to waste his prime years by remaining bottom-dwellers for at least two or three more seasons. And with the NHL now saying they won't be sending their players at next year's Olympics, the league may also be robbing him of a chance at another medal, after helping Team Sweden to silver at the 2014 Sochi Games.

He's yet to capture gold at any level, having also won silver at the 2011 World Championship, as well as bronze at the 2010 World Juniors, 2010 Worlds and 2016 World Cup.

He's literally All-World and holds the NHL record for most game-winning goals by a defenseman in a single season, with 8 - again, on the Coyotes, who barely win more than 8 games per season as a team. He's also the franchise's all-time leader in powerplay goals by a defenseman, having tied the Winnipeg Jets' 1980s reliable Fredrik Olausson last month, with two years remaining on his current contract and possibly a decade left playing the sport.

This year, there's pretty much no way the Norris Trophy doesn't go to Brent Burns. Erik Karlsson is probably still the best defenseman in the world, skill-wise, while Duncan Keith is probably the "best package".

The rest of the "current elite" class has to include Victor Hedman, P.K. Subban, Aaron Ekblad, Roman Josi, Mark Giordano, Kris Letang, Ryan McDonagh, Marc-Édouard Vlasic, John Carlson, Alex Pietrangelo and Ekman-Larsson, while the "still pretty great but on their way down" crowd includes the likes of Dustin Byfuglien, Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber, Drew Doughty, Ryan Suter, and Andrei Markov. The likes of Seth Jones and Zach Werenski are on the rise.

That is a mighty clogged list of defensemen deserving of end-of-the-year accolades, a rich crop reminiscent of the 1980s (Ray Bourque, Chris Chelios, Brian Leetch, Éric Desjardins, Larry Robinson, Al MacInnis, Denis Potvin, Mark Howe, Paul Coffey, Phil Housley, Gary Suter, Scott Stevens, Steve Duchesne, Doug Wilson, and so forth), so he may never get his hands on a Norris.

Our thoughts are with Ekman-Larsson in these hard times.

Here he is sporting the Phoenix Coyotes' former alternate uniform, on card #639 from Panini's 2010-11 Score Rookies And Traded set and Hot Rookies sub-set, which he signed in blue sharpie:

At this point, I'm tired of how pathetic the Coyotes franchise has become. I feel sorry for every talented player they have for how inept their management and ownership has been, is, and likely will remain. They are a joke, which isn't funny for players like Shane Doan, Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and a slew of other kids whose dreams are about to get shattered by the incompetence of those tasked with developing them.

Tony Hrkac: Two Autographed Cards

Tony Hrkac was a superstar in College, the 1986-87 Hobey Baker Award recipient after collecting a record 116 points (on the strength of 46 goals and 70 assists) in 48 games, leading the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks to a national championship. At the time, the team was even known as the Hrkac Circus (both words rhyme).

Before enrolling in college, he had actually been drafted in the second round (32nd overall) by the St. Louis Blues in 1984 after a 106-point season (52 goals and 54 assists in 42 games) in the OJHL (Junior A) with the Orillia Travelways.

His success didn't exactly continue in the NHL, but he did score a team-record 4 goals in a single playoff game in St. Louis before being traded to the Québec Nordiques with shutout leader Greg Millen in exchange for blue liner and powerplay quarterback Jeff Brown.

He didn't stay long in Québec, a season and a half, before they sent him to the San Jose Sharks for Greg Paslawski, and the Sharks themselves sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks just six months later.

All told, he suited up for nine NHL teams, including the Blues and Dallas Stars twice apiece; he also belonged to the Nashville Predators twice, although the first time was for just over a week in the summer, as they had selected him in the expansion draft and sent him to the Stars before he even played a single game with them.

After retiring, he was called upon to start and develop the hockey program at the Concordia University Wisconsin, and his record with the Falcons isn't so great: 10-109-10 over five seasons, leading to his dismissal in 2012.

As a player, I'll always remember him as a member of the Blues and my beloved Nordiques first and foremost, but it is while in his second stint in Dallas that he finally laid his hands on the Stanley Cup - a feat neither of the teams I remember him most by have achieved.

Today, I have decided to feature him with two cards from pretty much the same set, the 1991-92 Score (Canadian Edition) set by Score, first wearing the Nordiques' white (home) uniform which will slot him nicely as #40 in my Nordiques Numbers Project, on card #122 from Series 1, which had cards #1-330:

The same year, as part of Series 2 (home of cards #331-660 in the set, also known as Rookies And Traded or Update), he was featured wearing the Sharks' teal (away) uniform on card #555:

He signed both in (fading) black sharpie, I would say either in February 1994 when the Blues came to Québec to face the Nordiques, or in 1996-97 when he was with the IHL's Milwaukee Admirals facing the Québec Rafales. The latter seems like the best bet.

Fun fact: Series 1 was a bilingual set, while Series 2 was an all-English extension:

Oh, Canada, eh? Where we only care about French (the country's "other official language") and First Nations when tourists are around but are otherwise content to impose the Anglo-Saxon colonists' views and lifestyles the rest of the time.

Mark Dekanich Autographed Card

When the Nashville Predators drafted Mark Dekanich in the fifth round (146th overall) in 2006, the idea was that he'd be NHL-ready after he finished university - he played for the Colgate University Raiders for four seasons - and spent a couple of seasons in the AHL; after suiting up for a game in 2010-11, the thought was he may be ready to back up Pekka Rinne.

Unfortunately, 2011-12 was the year where he started switching teams on a yearly basis, save for the two years he spent with the KHL's Croatian team, Zagreb Medvescak, a relationship that did not end well:

After patiently waiting 5 months(!) for 1/3 my salary, I've had enough. Taking action via social media is the last resort. Pay me & I'll go.

— Mark Dekanich (@dexshow) July 24, 2015

Funny that @KHL_MedvescakZG is running camp & has a team even though they didn't pay the players from last season. Actually, it's not funny.

— Mark Dekanich (@dexshow) July 24, 2015

This year, he's suiting up for the ECHL's Reading Royals, part of the Philadelphia Flyers organization. He split last season between the AHL's Hershey Bears and the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays in the Washington Capitals organization.

He signed card #650 from Panini's 2011-12 Score Rookies And Traded set and Hot Rookies sub-set in blue sharpie with his number (31) tagged at the end, when he was with the St. John's IceCaps in 2012-13:

It shows him wearing the Preds' white (away) uniform.

Brian Elliott: 2 Autographed Cards

What better time than after a shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks to feature St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott, finally getting his chance as a playoff starter - he's been waiting for it for four years, after all.

In my Round One Predictions, I stated that I was pulling for the Hawks (in 7) but made it clear that I could also see the Blues winning in 6, or even in four straight if all the games go to overtime. Well, Game 1 went to overtime, with Elliott besting Corey Crawford by just one shot that went through.

It's so hard to root against Elliott, though, who's a real feel-good story onto himself, always the underdog despite a couple of All-Star Game participations, a Jennings Trophy, and being an all-around nice guy, as can be attested by the fact that I got these cards in the mail from him just a few weeks ago, signed in blue sharpie with the correct uniform number tagged at the end.

Let's start with the oldest one, from Panini's 2010-11 Score Rookies And Traded (#576 in the set), showing him wearing the Colorado Avalanche's white (away) uniform, playing the puck behind his net:

Ironically, his 12-game stint with the Avs is the only one in which he had a GAA over 3.00 (3.83 to be exact) and a save percentage below .900 (.891) with an NHL team. He's at 2.01 and .925 over five seasons with the Blues, four of which ended in Masterton Trophy nominations, including this year.

Speaking of St. Louis, here he is jumping on the puck with cat-like reflexes, from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Series 2 set:

He'd been featured with the Avs in Series 1, so this was a means to update his status; it's card #289 in the set and shows him in the Rbk Edge blue (home) uniform.

I'll always wish Elliott the best; as a matte of fact, when Carey Price was injured, I was hoping Montréal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin would go and acquire his services to save the season; Mike Condon didn't do badly, but Elliott's a safer bet, and a much better stop-gap solution than Ben Scrivens.

Jeremy Morin Autographed Card

I try to attend a couple of Hamilton Bulldogs games per year, usually one or two weekend-long treks where I can cram in two home games each time, or one in Hamilton and one in Toronto, or maybe a trek down to Albany - nothing too crazy, no more than 8 hours' drive. I went to see them play the Rockford Ice Hogs last year (or was it the year before that?), hoping to catch Carter Hutton, Brandon Pirri, Kyle Beach or Martin Saint-Pierre (I had three items of each) - and ended up with neither.

But I did catch Jeremy Morin (don't let the name fool you, he's an American, not a Quebecer) who signed this 2010-11 Score Hot Rookies card (#633 in the Rookies And Traded set) by Panini for me in blue sharpie:

Since I'd mentioned how beautiful I found the Chicago Blackhawks' uniform to be on that particular card, he made it a point not to sign on it, but the ad on the boards make it hard to decipher his signature. Still, I count it as a huge win for me.

Morin was originally a second round draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers (45th overall in 2009), but the Hawks acquired him in the trade that sent Brent Sopel, Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager and Akim Aliu to Atlanta and Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb and two other draft picks (Kevin Hayes and Justin Holl) Chicago's way.

Morin's been sharing his time between the NHL and AHL since 2010-11 and has 10 points and 39 penalty minutes so far in 30 NHL games, showing glimpses of steady play in just about 7 minutes of ice time per game on a team whose lineup is pretty hard to crack.

He's on a point-per-game pace in the AHL this season, and registered 30 goals and 58 points in 67 games in Rockford last season. With a bit of polish in his defensive game, he could become a solid second-or-third liner in the NHL.

He has some experience on the world stage, winning gold (2010) and bronze (2011) at the World Juniors as well as the U-18 (gold in 2009, bronze in 2008) with Team USA.

Robin Lehner Autographed Card

He's been around the Ottawa Senators for what seems like so long, it's easy to forget Robin Lehner is barely 22 years old.

I went to see the Sens play in Ottawa against the New Jersey Devils a couple of weeks ago, and was hoping to get a few cards signed while I was there, but the only one I was able to manage was Lehner, because he was the first one out and my ride was getting impatient...

But I did manage to get this sweet 2010-11 Score Rookies And Traded card from Panini signed by Lehner in blue sharpie:

It's card #631 in the set, and bears the Hot Rookies mark on it as well.

Lehner's toughing it out as the Sens' backup and he's been pretty unlucky so far this year, going 0-2 in 3 games, but playing so well he has a 2.41 GAA and a .940 save percentage. The team has enough faith him him that they traded away Ben Bishop last year, but Craig Anderson's still a force to be reckoned with, so it looks like Ottawa's net will at least be a timeshare situation for the next couple of years.

Lehner just has to look at Boston's Tuukka Rask to see what the future may hold in store for him, though, so his patience will likely pay off, even if it's in three years.

Jeff Petry Autographed Card

This is a weird card for me. I think it's my only Jeff Petry card, and I didn't even purchase the set it's from, but I acquired the card in a trade of commons and got it signed in person, on a night that shifted a lot of things in my life.

It's card #658 from Panini's 2010-11 Score Rookies And Traded set, one that came at season's end and has, technically, that current season's statistics on the back, one of my pet peeves. It features Petry in the Edmonton Oilers' pajama-like white (away) uniform, trying to get the puck out of his zone.

The son of former baseball pitcher Dan Petry, the defenseman is known for his hard shots more than his passes and has so far spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Oilers, going 3-9-12 (with 29 PIMs) in the locked-out season's full 48 games last season.

He has already played twice for Team USA at the World Championships, playing a large role (2 goals, 4 assists and 6 points in 9 games) while the U.S. finished seventh in 2012, and going pointless in 10 games while winning the bronze medal this year. That experience will no doubt serve him well in the future, and he may even become an Olympian in 2020.