Showing posts with label Sheldon Souray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sheldon Souray. Show all posts

Friday, October 21, 2016

Sheldon Souray Autographed Card

Montréal Canadiens. Booming shot to receive Andrei Markov's perfect passes. Grit. Fights. Before Shea Weber, there was Sheldon Souray.

Who knew a New Jersey Devils draft pick (third round, 71st overall in 1994) would one day set the Habs' record for powerplay goals for a defenseman (19, for 26 total goals, in 2006-07)? He'd been traded for Vladimir Malakhov, one of the most talented yet laziest defensemen ever to play in the NHL, so it was 50/50 as to whether Souray would pan out.

And because the Canadiens needed grit first and foremost at the time, in his first three seasons with the team, Souray - who had just scored 4 goals in 182 games with the Devils - scored three goals per, but averaged more than a pair of PIMs per as well.

After sitting out the 2002-03 season entirely to recover from multiple hand surgeries, he scored 15 in 2003-04, then 12 more in 2005-09.

Following his record-setting season with the Habs, however, fresh off an eighth-place finish in the Norris Trophy race, he signed as a free agent with his hometown Edmonton Oilers. Although it didn't end well for him in Edmonton, his contract buried in the AHL with the Hersey Bears because of a disagreement with management over medical issues, he still managed a 23-goal, 53-point season with the Oil in 2008-09.

He had a decent bounce-back season with the Dallas Stars in 2011-12 (6 goals, 15 assists,21 points and 73 penalty minutes in 64 games), he signed a three-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks, but was sidelined for two of them. He did manage a career-best +19 rating in his last season, in 2012-13 before, essentially, waiting at home for his contract to expire so he could officially retire.

He married model Barbie Blank - also known as WWE Diva Kelly Kelly - earlier this year. Things had not ended particularly well with his first wife, Baywatch, Playboy and Fantasy star Angelica Bridges.

Here he is wearing the Canadiens' white (then-home) uniform, on card #258 from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Parkhurst set:
He signed it in (fading) blue sharpie.