Scott Young Autograph Card

The World Cup in underway, and with it endless debates about how Adidas is ruining hockey uniforms worse than Reebok did post-lockout, which is saying something. Do I agree? Mostly, yes, for their designs are a simplistic-yet-sub-par take on classics, their stripes on the side are annoying to the eye, and they lack imagination and creativity as a whole. Oh, and the whole ads on the uniforms thing.

Team Russia, the Czech Republic, Team Sweden and Team Finland are relatively true to their usual garbs, so that's fine, although the blue Finnish uniform feels like it's out of the 1990s ECHL a bit:

Team North America looks pretty decent in person, but it's nothing more than a compilation of the best bits of the New York Islanders' last two alternate uniforms:

Team USA and Team Canada are a mixed bag, and Team Europe, well, I'll give 'em points for originality, but that's pretty much it.

Which brings me to a uniform that the Mighty Ducks Of Anaheim once wore that Adidas would be fond of, what with their broad shoulder designs that go too low and useless stripes in odd places, on the signed insert version of card #143 from Pinnacle's 1997-98 Be A Player set:

That's Scott Young, who signed the card in black sharpie. Young's an international competition veteran who dressed for Team USA roughly a dozen times, including three Olympics (with silver in 2002), three World Junior Championships (with bronze in 1986), a handful of World Championships and was with the American team when they won the inaugural 1996 World Cup, posting 4 points (2 goals and 2 assists) in 7 games.

Scott Young Autograph Card

Well, the St. Louis Blues are certainly keeping busy this off-season, signing a ton of players and shaking up their roster with a couple of trades so far, acquiring Konrad Abeltshauser from the San Jose Sharks, and Troy Brouwer, Phoenix Copley and a draft pick from the Washington Capitals for Team USA Olympic hero and playoff underachiever T.J. Oshie.

It reminds me a bit of the late 1990s - ironically during the era where their uniforms were the same as their current/throwback ones - when they went through an awful lot of player changes, with Al MacInnis coming in, Pierre Turgeon passing by, along with the likes of Scott Young, Craig Conroy, Doug Weight, Marty Reasoner and Geoff Courtnall.

It's been five and a half years since I last featured Young, who returned to his alma mater Boston University Terriers as Director of Hockey Operations last year, after doing the same coaching the St. Mark's hockey team at the high school level for three years.

Young brings a wealth of experience, not just as a good scorer (one 30-goal season with the Québec Nordiques and a 40-goal season with the Blues) with a tremendous slap shot in the NHL, but also some international experience, with gold (1996 World Cup), silver (2002 Olympics) and bronze (1986 World Juniors) medals with the American team at various levels and in different decades. Oh, and Stanley Cups with the 1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins and 1995-96 Colorado Avalanche.

He's been around the block a few times and knows a thing or two about a lot of things, so the kids at BU are in good hands to learn about Life in a sports context.

Here he is wearing the Blues' dark blue (then-away) uniform:

It's the signed insert of card #278 from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set, signed on-card in thin black sharpie.

Autographed Scott Young Card

I wasn't a fan of my hometown Montréal Canadiens growing up - it was too easy: they were everywhere, they were always winning, everyone knew at least one of them in person, and too many people loved them, not just here, but all over the continent; to this day, in any given arena where they're the visiting team, you'll see a strong contingent of Habs fans supporting the winning-est team in the sport's history.

No, I was a fan of the Québec Nordiques. Blue to the Habs' red, Quebecers to the Habs' Canadians, the new kid in town rather than the establishment, the underdog instead of the favourite. After the Stastnys and Goulet came Sakic, Sundin, Nolan and Stéphane Fiset - a new generation ready for prime time, a high-scoring machine built through both five years of mediocrity and some of the best trades of the past 25 years.

Not quite part of the elite of that squad but a key piece nonetheless was Scott Young, the team's second-line right winger and point man on the power play. His shot was as accurate as it was hard, and his passing skills could also be used at that position, while also giving prime powerplay time to the other offensive weapons on the team (Joe Sakic, Owen Nolan, Mike Ricci, Mats Sundin, Wendel Clark) while giving either Leschyshyn or Duchesne a well-deserved break if they'd been on the ice as the other team's penalty was called.

He was the most important 'not-quite-star' player on that team, which is what I told him when I met him (he wasn't too impressed despite acknowledging that I meant well). In 5 years with the organization, three times he scored 20 goals or more, but only once reached 30, winning the Stanley Cup when the team moved to Denver in 1995-96; he had already won it as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990-91. He was traded entering his final year under contract, as all parties knew he'd be on his way out anyway, looking for greener pastures with a more prominent role elsewhere - and it sort of happened with the St. Louis Blues, although it did take him until his third year there to score 40 goals.

This was signed during those St. Louis years, but I couldn't resist having him sign a Nordiques card - and this one is my favourite of him in that uniform because of the back of the card: the most beautiful jersey in the game - and the Château Frontenac as the backdrop - a terrific sight. It's signed in black sharpie - one that seemed to be on the verge of dying.

This card was from the 1993-94 Leaf series (card # 108), made by the same company that used to produce Donruss cards, before they were acquired by Pinnacle Brands in the mid-90s (Score, Pinnacle) and Panini recently.