Michaël Bournival Autographed Card

Michaël Bournival has not played a hockey since January 29th, when he last suited up for the St. John's IceCaps. He's dealing with concussion issues that could very well hinder him in his hopes of becoming a NHL regular, according to Montréal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin in this French-language article.

Bournival had also suffered a concussion last season with the Habs, but he hid it from the team in the hopes that it wouldn't cost him his job as a fourth-liner; the exact opposite took place, as he just wasn't himself on the ice, seeing double (and at times even quadruple), and he was sent down to their then-AHL affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs, where the concussion was properly diagnosed.

Both the Habs' GM and coach Michel Therrien praise Bournival's work ethic, and the kid who captained his hometown Shawinigan Cataractes to a Memorial Cup in 2012 is exactly the type of player who can develop into a solid, two-way third-liner with leadership skills à la Dustin Brown, Mike Keane or Kris Draper.

He's been in town trying to recover and dealing with the team's NHL-level medical staff for the past couple of weeks, during which he took the time to get this card my way, which he signed in blue sharpie with his then-number (78) tagged at the end:

It's card #44 from In The Game's 2010-11 Heroes And Prospects set, showing him in the Cataractes' white (home) uniform, which is hugely inspired by the Buffalo Sabres' Buffaslug jersey design.

He's still an RFA after this season, so if the Canadiens want to do right by him, they could always re-sign him to an identical one-year, two-way contract next year.

François Groleau Autograph Card

Today we look at François Groleau, a 40-year old defenseman drafted in 1991 (41st overall by the Calgary Flames) who is still active today, albeit it in the LNAH, a minor pro league based essentially in Québec.

A veteran of 4 AHL teams, an IHL team, and 5 teams in 3 European leagues, he managed to play 8 games in the NHL over three seasons with the Montréal Canadiens. They did take place after the team had traded Patrick Roy, though, so the team was in disarray.

He played most of his Juniors career with the Shawinigan Cataractes, of which I have this card to show for:

It's their white (home) jersey, and is from Classic's 1991-92 Draft Picks set, numbered 1075/1150, a number so high it almost didn't exist.

Other Cataractes alumni include Enrico Ciccone, Sergio Momesso, Alexandre Burrows, Mario Gosselin, Stéphane Robidas, Radim Vrbata, Jason Pominville, Alexandre Bolduc, Marc-André Bergeron, Zbyněk Michálek, Jean-Claude Bergeron, Jean-François Jomphe, Timo Pielmeier, Patrick Lalime, Patrick Lebeau, Stéphan Lebeau, Dominic Roussel, Daniel Shank, Patrick Traverse, Stéphane Morin, Steve Penney, and Claude Pronovost. Not a bad history, eh?