Anthony DeAngelo Autographed Card

Anthony DeAngelo had a good "first full season" last year, posting 30 points in 61 games with 77 penalty minutes, a points total that had him lead the New York Rangers despite playing in 12 fewer games than his closest pursuer, Kevin Shattenkirk.

This year, he's doing even better from an offensive standpoint, with 7 goals and 20 points in 27 games (and just 17 penalty minutes), and his +1 rating is a nice surprise considering he came with a reputation: that of an aggressive player who needed to keep his anger in check (from his days in Juniors) and a defenseman who refused to play defence (from his AHL days with the Syracuse Crunch as a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect). He was also unable to "stick" with the Arizona Coyotes.

Yet, with Jacob Trouba and Brady Skjei playing like a top pair and the Adam Fox/Ryan Lindgren pair making the argument that they're the best defensemen on the team this year, some are arguing that GM Jeff Gorton should sell high on the talented RFA-to-be, with only UFA Torey Krug being a comparable type of player without a contract for next year, with Dougie Hamilton (20th top scorer in the NHL so far) alone on a similar list of perhaps-available high-producing d-men with a year left on his deal after this one.

Any contender or playoff bubble team looking for an extra spark in their top-four would do well to inquire about his availability, as now would be a good time for the Blueshirts to listen to proposals. I would see him as an upgrade to Justin Schultz and an insurance policy with the oft-injured Kris Letang on the Pittsburgh Penguins, for instance.

Here he is wearing the Sarnia Sting's white (home) uniform on card #82 from In The Game's 2012-13 Heroes And Prospects set:

He signed it in black sharpie during the 2015-16 season, when he played for the Crunch.

Two Alex Galchenyuk Autographed Cards

I just came back from watching the Winter Classic - pitting the Boston Bruins against the Montréal Canadiens - at a bar, for which I had purchased an Alex Galchenyuk jersey as a Christmas present for myself:

I must admit that I don't like the Reebok cut that gets ridiculously tight at the pectoral/underarm junction, making it uncomfortable for built men and generously plump ladies

I was doubtful at first, particularly of the logo, which looks like it was drawn by a child; over time, however, I really came to like it; I may wear it almost as much as my throwback Andrei Markov jersey:

Now, Galchenyuk, while he played well alongside Lars Eller and Daniel Carr, did not factor in to the Habs' 5-1 win statistically (a -1 with one shot and one hit in 16 minutes of ice time); instead, it was the newly-reunited first line of Brendan Gallagher (coming back from a six-week absence due to a pair of broken fingers), Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty, who each had two points, as did Paul Byron.

Still, what a great time on this New Year's Day to feature two signed cards of his with the Sarnia Sting from In The Game's 2010-11 Heroes And Prospects set (which stands as his Rookie Card):

They were both signed in blue sharpie.

Ironically, I never pulled that card from packs of H&P; I never pulled a Galchenyuk in an ITG product at all, actually - I bought them individually on Ebay and got them signed in person.

Andy Delmore Autograph card

Honestly, I have trouble figuring out where defenseman Andy Delmore went wrong. He went undrafted after 4 seasons in Juniors, including a 21-goal, 59-point season in 1995-96 and a 78-point season in 1996-97, both for the Sarnia Sting.

The Philadelphia Flyers then signed him to a free agent contract, and he became the first rookie defenseman to ever score a hat trick in the playoffs. He then became a top-5 scoring threat (for defensemen), and even led the league in goals with 18 in 2002-03, tied with Sergei Gonchar and Nicklas Lidstrom.

He's still the only Flyers defenseman to score a playoff hat trick, and holds the team record for goals in a single playoff season, with 5. He's also won the Eddie Shore Award, the AHL's equivalent of the Norris trophy.

Among his other distinctions, though, lies the fact that he belonged to three straight NHL teams without ever playing for them: the San Jose Sharks got his rights from the Buffalo Sabres in 2004, but traded him the same day to the Boston Bruins, who never got to suit him up. After the 2004-05 lock-out, he then signed with the Detroit Red Wings, but the Columbus Blue Jackets claimed him off waivers before the season even started; he only played 7 games in Columbus before settling in the AHL for a few seasons and moving onto Europe, where he played in Germany in for two years, coming back to the AHL for a season split between two teams, and playing in Italy last year.

He's currently in an Austrian league.

This card is from Signature Rookies' 1995-96 Draft 96 set (card #7, numbered 2858/4500), and was signed in blue sharpie. I'm not sure if it was a lazy signature or if he was just trying to not have it hidden by the Sting's black, Bruins-like uniform, but he didn't waste a lot of ink on the card, that's for sure!

Tomi Karhunen Autograph Card

I went to WalMart today for pants and found none. But it's not situated anywhere near downtown, and I didn't want to leave without actually purchasing anything for my troubles, so I grabbed a box of In The Game's 2007-08 Between The Pipes cards - $15, 12 packs, 60 cards - and pulled out one autograph, this one: Tomi Karhunen.

I'm a big fan of goalies, but I must admit I had absolutely no idea who this kid was, so I did a bit of research, and here's what I came up with: almost nothing.

The only Wikipedia entry he has is in Finnish, his official OHL page has no picture, no text, and only one season's worth of statistics, and his hockeydb card checklist page doesn't even name his being on any In The Game cards...

Luckily, the EuroHockey site can tell me that he went back to Finland after one year in Ontario junior hockey, and that he is still of age to play in the U-20 team, i.e. World Juniors age. And the Puck Agency blog mentions he was named the OHL player of the week for the week ending November 18th, 2007, after winning three road games while posting a 1.33 goals against average and .953 save percentage.

That's it. Sorry!

His card looks good, though, but I would have preferred seeing him in the dark, away Sarnia Sting colours than the white one. But it's a nice signature, in black sharpie, on a sticker that was later apposed o card #A-TK.