Cliff Floyd Autographed Card

I've been hearing rumours of the existence of a sport I once thought was extinct: baseball. Apparently, not only is it still going on, but we would be in the midst of their playoffs, and an imaginary team called the Washington Nationals would be a part of it; I can't wait for the New York Yankees to win the World Series so things get back to normal and I can focus on hockey and football again without having the sports highlights be interrupted by bat-glove.

In a former life, I used to go to the Olympic Stadium in the East end of Montréal to watch the Montréal Expos keep pace with the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies until early September, then just crumble like dead leaves as hockey training camps got underway.

One player I had a love/hate relationship with was Cliff Floyd, who was essentially there to replace my favourite player of all time, Hall of Famer Tim Raines, which was a no-no and a no-win, in my book - and that was just in his first stint with the team, back when it actually still was one.

You see, after the fire sale following the 1994 players' strike which possibly cost the Expos a World Series berth, fans stopped going to the games in protest against an administration it felt was just out to collect money without trying to field a winning team, essentially just developing players until they're good enough to be traded for more prospects, and eventually the team was sold to an American con man, who bought low, sold high, collected millions by the boatload in the years in between while not selling local TV or radio rights and went on to scam the good people of Florida out of money for a stadium and yearly guaranteed millions in revenue without having to field a competitive Florida Marlins team, all because MLB passed him over as owner of the Boston Red Sox for someone who wouldn't ruin their legacy. Sound familiar?

Well, while Jeffrey Loria moved on from the Expos and set his sights on the Marlins, MLB was operating the Montréal team, handcuffing its GM into not hiring or re-signing free agents, actually over-fulfilling the fan prophecy of the team being more or less the development farm team for the other franchises.

Then came the trade that sent Floyd back to the Expos - with utility pitcher Claudio Vargas, Wilton Guerrero, and cash - for workhorse reliever Graeme Lloyd, pinch hitter with two seasons batting at .280 or better in Montréal Mike Mordecai, Carl Pavano, prospect Justin Wayne, and Donald Levinski. The Marlins re-loaded two-for-one on equal or better talent than what they gave away.

Also: cash. The Expos didn't need cash, they were operated by the league. They could have printed money; instead, the owners of all other teams decided they just wanted a cut of what was left of that team, had them acquire cash and refused to let them use it.

But wait, there's more!

Floyd was back in town for just 15 games before moving on... to the Red Sox, with whom he batted for a .317 average in 47 games. In return, Montréal received Korean pitchers Seung Song (never played in MLB) and Sun-woo Kim, who appeared in a total of 118 games with four different teams in a six-year span. Another fleece in a series of questionable deals made that summer, the second involving the same power-hitting All-Star Floyd.

Here he is on card #154 from Fleer/Skybox's 1997 Metal Universe set, which he signed in black sharpie in 2003 or 2004:

At the time, Skybox was owned by Marvel, and many of its comic book artists had a say in the set's design, which incorporated comic book-type elements into the all-foil graphics. This card is not as "black" to the naked eye but remains quite dark, representing a stormy sky that ranges from purple to dark blue.

I have to say Mr. Floyd was very nice and gracious when I met him. We talked about the politics and economics of the sport, and he was both lucid and engaging the entire time.

Rodney A. Grant Autograph Card

As 2,000 veterans make their way to Standing Rock to hopefully alleviate some of the pressure at the pipeline protest site, where members of over 300 Native American and Aboriginal tribes and a few courageous others who defy the local government's threat of daily $1000 fines for standing alongside people trying to protect not just their land but also their entire region's water supply, I thought I could take a moment to feature character actor Rodney A. Grant - a member of the Omaha tribe of Nebraska - who is perhaps more known for his portrayal of Wind In His Hair in the 1990 Kevin Costner epic Dances With Wolves and legendary warrior Crazy Horse in the 1991 TV movie Son Of The Morning Star.

He also had bit parts in Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), The Jack Bull (1999), Ghosts Of Mars (2001) and both iterations of Ghenghis Khan (1992 and 2010). On television, he was a regular on Hawkeye (1994-95) and had guest spots on Due South, Two and Stargate SG-1.

However, for the purpose of this post, I'll show him from his tiny part in the 1999 flop Wild Wild West starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek and Kenneth Branagh, with card #A-13 from Fleer/Skybox's 1999 Wild Wild West collection (and Autograph Series sub-set), with a close-up of his face and an on-card signature in thin (fading) black sharpie:

 I got this card in a re-pack of "Celebrity" cards.

Rod Brind'Amour: Two Autographed Cards

I must admit, I initially thought there'd be more Broad Street Bullies and Big Bad Bruins featured when I first came up with my "scary" Halloween theme for October. Heck, the Philadelphia Flyers even have the colour scheme in their regular palette...

So I'll make up for it by featuring Rod Brind'Amour, a true leader whose statistics at times resembled those of a power forward even though he played center, who twice passed the 100-penalty minute mark and had nine seasons near or over the point-per-game mark in his 20-year career.

His career-high for goals was 37 (1992-93), while his tops for assists (62) and points (97) were hit the following year, both times with the Flyers, after two seasons with the St. Louis Blues.

He mainly served as alternate captain in Philly, but he did fill in as actual captain when Eric Lindros would be injured. He was eventually traded to the Carolina Hurricanes (for Keith Primeau, essentially a future captains trade), whom he led to two Stanley Cup Finals, including a Cup victory in 2005-06 against the Edmonton Oilers.

In his other two Finals, with Philadelphia in 1996-97 and with Carolina in 2001-02, his teams fell to the Detroit Red Wings in short series.

So here's to his days of wearing the "A" in orange and black, first featuring their away uniform, on card #86 from Upper Deck's 1994-95 SP set, one I never actively collected but traded for when it came to specific players (this one may have been an add-on):

And here he is wearing their white (home) uniform, on card #78 from Fleer/Skybox's 1996-97 Fleer set:

He signed both at the same time but with different blue sharpies, as it was dying out on the first card (the Fleer). He added his jersey number (17) with the newer pen.

The two-time Selke Trophy winner (2005-06 and 2006-07) has suited up for Team Canada a number of times, winning gold at the 1994 World Championships, but was also on the second-place 1996 World Cup team as well as the disappointing 1998 Olympics showing - that time when Lindros was made captain ahead of Wayne Gretzky, that head coach Marc Crawford selected Ray Bourque for the shootout ahead of Gretzky or Steve Yzerman, on a roster that included Rob Zamuner but neither Scott Niedermayer nor Mark Messier.

Marshall Faulk Jersey Card

Did you know the Los Angeles Rams haven't scored a point since 1994? Indeed, after spending 21 seasons in St. Louis, they were shut out 28-0 last week against the lowly San Francisco 49ers.

The Los Angeles Kings have won two Stanley Cups in the Rams' absence; heck, the St. Louis Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV in 1999, despite Offensive Player Of The Year Marshall Faulk being contained in the final.

Still, upon retiring, the Hall Of Famer was the only player to ever rush for 12,000 yards and catch for 6,000 more; as a matter of fact, only two can claim the combo of 10,000 and 5,000... Add that to 7 Pro Bowls (one Pro Bowl MVP title), 6 All-Pro nominations, 15 different trophies won, having his jersey number retired by the St. Louis Rams and ending his career as the tenth-leading rusher of all time and you have some idea of how exceptional he was.

Here he is on the beautiful card #JA-MF RIPPED card from Skybox's 2002 Fleer set and AuthenTix sub-set, featuring a game-worn jersey swatch:

I really like the concept of incorporating a fake ticket into the card to go with the swatch, and to have RIPPED (I may have cropped too much of that "rip" at the right of the scan) and REGULAR versions is just another hint that they put a lot of thought into it.

Peter Bergeron Autographed Card

Last year, I made Peter Bergeron #33 in my Expos Numbers Project. This year, he goes in as #70, with card #U-2 from Fleer/Skybox's 1999 Tradition Update set, which is his rookie card, that he signed in black sharpie:

He's worn a lot of numbers for the Montréal Expos over the years, the result of being a fringe player. I've seen him wearing #70, 30, and 77 in training camp, and 33 and 11 during regular-season play. And that's off the top of my head, although those last few seasons of baseball in town are a bit of a blur.

Oh yeah: fuck Jeffrey Loria, David Samson and Bud Selig. That will be all.

Roman Wick Autograph Card

Roman Wick was the 156th overall selection of the 2004 draft and played a grand total of 7 games for the Ottawa Senators, but he's been nearly a point-per-game player for the last four seasons with Zurich's ZSC (Zürcher Schlittschuh Club) Lions, even winning the Swiss League's MVP award in 2014.

At 30 years of age, he may yet get another chance to represent Switzerland at the Olympics, as he did in 2010 (5 points in 5 games) and 2014 (blanked in 4 games), but he is less likely to attempt a return to the NHL at some point.

Still, he is #43 in my Sens Numbers Project, because of card #96-RW from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro set (part of the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics throwback design sub-set):

It features a blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph that is a tad unclear - his last name could be Ward or Wid and his first initial could be a P or a D...

Brayden Schenn Autograph Card

It looks like the Philadelphia Flyers and Brayden Schenn won't go to arbitration after all; indeed, the 24-year-old former fifth-overall pick (by the Los Angeles Kings, 2009) signed a four-year deal that will earn him an average of $5.125M each year.

Of note, current Flyers GM Ron Hextall was the Kings' assistant-GM when Schenn was drafted, so you'd think he figures in his team's long-term plans.

Schenn reached the 50-point mark for the first time in 2015-16, finishing with career highs in goals (26), assists (33) and, of course, points (59). His best point-per-game average came in the 2011-12 playoffs, when he had 9 points in 11 games, which is good news for other Flyers forwards such as Jakob Voracek, Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Wayne Simmonds and, to a lesser extent, Matt Read and Scott Laughton, who seem to have stalled a bit in their development.

Here he is wearing Philly's classic/retro orange (now-home) uniform, on card #96-SC from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro set (part of the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics throwback design sub-set):

He looks a little stoned (or very tired) in the picture, which might have been funnier if he was shown with the Kings instead of the Flyers...

Guy Lafleur Board Certified Card

Guy Lafleur is a very opinionated man - always was, always will be, but that's exactly why journalists and members of the public keep asking him questions; we know he'll provide a quip that will reflect exactly how he feels at that moment, the truth as he sees it, with no sugarcoating. He was at it again, calling the San Jose Sharks' Joe Thornton's and Brent Burns' playoff beards "a disgrace to hockey", saying P.K. Subban should be on Ritalin (and adding Yvan Cournoyer said back in their day, he'd have gotten smacked with a stick), reiterating that Brendan Gallagher is the heart of the Montréal Canadiens but changing his stance on captain Max Pacioretty from a couple of seasons ago, saying he can be the best player on the ice "when he feels like it", as opposed to when he called him a choker in the past.

Of course, the main reason why he gets away with it is because he was arguably the best forward of the 1970s - the Habs' career leader for assists (728) and points (1246, one of just three to reach the millennial mark with the team with Jean Béliveau and Henri Richard), and the second in goals with 518, behind only Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. Oh, and he has five Stanley Cups with the team he grew up dreaming of playing for, so he knows a thing or two about the team's legacy and fans' expectations.

His six 50-goal seasons are also a team record; Stéphane Richer holds second place with two, and four others have had one such season: The Rocket being the first NHLer to do so, Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, Steve Shutt and Pierre Larouche being the others.

He shares the team record of most goals in a single season with Shutt (60), and holds the single-season team points record (136, in 1976-77). It was also that season that he set the team consecutive point streak record by having his name on the score sheet for 28 straight games.

So, yeah, Lafleur could hockey pretty well.

Because of that, many sets still include him in the modern era even though he retired following the 1990-91 season - often with special edition cards.

Here's one from Fleer/Skybox's 2001-02 Greats Of The Game set and Board Certified sub-set:

With the Joe Louis Arena closing in a couple of years, this piece of memorabilia will be even more rare. And Lafleur looks so natural in the Habs' classic red uniform.

Scott Stewart Autographed Card

Well, it finally looks like summer's here, which is the perfect time to induct the first of at least two more representatives of uniform #51 in my Expos Numbers Project, Scott Stewart:

That's card #U222 from Fleer/Skybox's 2002 Fleer Tradition Update set, which he signed in blue sharpie.

Stewart was originally a 20th round pick of the Texas Rangers and toiled around in the New York Mets' system for a few summers before signing with the Montréal Expos as a minor-league free agent.

He played in Montréal for three of his four years in the MLB, from 2001 until 2003, appearing in 62, 67 and 51 games as a reliever, with a 10-4 record and 20 saves, 17 of them in 2002 as the Expos' closer, although eight pitchers combined for a total of 39 that year.

His 2004 wasn't up to par, though, splitting his time between the Cleveland Indians (0-2 record, 7.24 ERA in 23 games) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1-0, 5.84 ERA in 11 games). He fell off the grid after being let go by the San Diego Padres in 2005.

Orestes Matacena Autograph Card

Here's a fun card to celebrate an historic event: Cuban character actor Orestes Matacena plying Spanish Dignitary in the 1999 big-budget flop Wild Wild West, the Will Smith movie that Kevin Smith inadvertently wrote a scene for when he thought he was writing a Superman script for Tim Burton:

It's card #A-10 from Fleer/Skybox's 1999 Wild Wild West collection (and Autograph Series sub-set), with a close-up of Matacena's face and an on-card signature in black sharpie.

You may also know him as Niko from the 1994 Jim Carrey film The Mask.

I got this card in a re-pack of "Celebrity" cards.

Patrick Wiercioch Autograph Card

Patrick Wiercioch was the Ottawa Senators' second-round pick (42nd overall) in 2008. The 25-year-old defenseman had looked terrific at times, playing a huge part in last season's run to the playoffs (the Hamburglar saga) on the team's second pairing. He was mobile, huge (6'6", 190 pounds), with a very good defensive hockey sense and decent hands. With a few years' seasoning, it was safe to assume he would eventually replace Marc Methot as the team's top two-way defender.

But he's seemingly still working on his consistency, because his post-Christmas play has declined a bit, so much so that newly-re-signed Chris Wideman has been taking his spot alongside Mark Borowiecki... on the third pair.

Beat reporter Bruce Garrioch sure seemed to think he was on the outside looking in, for one, and GM Bryan Murray didn't sound like Wiercioch's biggest fan when he explained why he hadn't traded him at the deadline.

The thing with a defenseman like Wiercioch is that he played University hockey and therefore wasn't eligible to play in the NHL until he had turned 21; give or take a few years in the AHL, he has to be treated like an American defenseman even though he was raised in B.C. and, thus, has to be given until age 27 to see if he'll ever get that consistency at the NHL level or if he's more of a limbo player; the problem is, he's signed - and will have to be qualified - at $2.7M, which is both expensive for a poor (and cheap) Sens team to not have play and a decent amount of pressure on a kid who is in the midst of his development.

But the current NHL contractual rules make it so that teams rush their young players in the league and lose their rights to them just as they reach their peak, where they hit a big payday. Very few GMs have the long-term vision to let them develop in the minors and keep them "up" for more of their top years than their developing years - and that leaves a whole bunch of guys falling out of favour with a whole bunch of teams, just like Jarred Tinordi had for the Montréal Canadiens this season.

I believe last year was a good indication of how he'll play from ages 27-35.

What better time to check #46 off my Sens Numbers Project, with card #99-PW from the 1999 Skybox insert sub-set of Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro collection:

It shows him wearing Ottawa's white (away) uniform.

Peter Bergeron Autograph Card

Peter Bergeron played for the Montréal Expos in five of their final six seasons of existence (he spent the summer of 2003 playing exclusively in the minors, in AAA ball with the Edmonton Trappers, but was in the Expos' system from 1999 until relocation in 2004), and like the rest of the team, was an inexpensive can-do-the-job, middle-of-the-pack lead-off hitter with decent speed but a batting average below .250.

He also didn't get that many walks, but at a quarter million per year, he was basically all the team could afford, as the fans had stopped coming after all the fire sales and the certainty of the team skipping town when owner Satan Jeffrey Loria bought out all the minority stakeholders.

He never played another MLB game after his stint with the Expos, despite siging free agent contrats with the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates. In his final season in 2007, he played in AA (for the Altoona Curve) as well as the independent Atlantic League's York Revolution.

Upon calling it quits, he ran and was an instructor at former teammate Michael Barrett's baseball school, Barrett Baseball; he also started scouting for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

Honestly, those last few years of the Expos are a blur. It was painful seeing them get reduced to a low-level team whose good players would be given away even before they were due to get paid, and the owner didn't care about putting a decent product on the field, or selling decent products at the stadium, let alone stop it from falling apart. I still wish him the best... of what torture has to offer.

Not so for Bergeron, though, who signed this card for me in thin blue sharpie at some point:

It's card #WW6 (of 15) of the Who To Watch subset of Fleer/Skybox's 2000 Fleer Tradition set, and shows him in the team's beautiful grey/final (away) uniform. Ironically, he's seen wearing #33 (which he wore from 1999 until 2001, but finished wearing #11), the number previously worn by Carlos Perez, whom he had been traded for.

Pascal Leclaire Autograph Card

For the life of me, I can't understand why people even think there's a doubt that Craig Anderson will be the #1 goalie for the Ottawa Senators this year, ahead of Andrew "The Hamburglar" Hammond. I see it in every pre-season preview magazine, it's all over the sports blogs, people have no respect for a #1 goalie who has proven time and time again to be among the league's top-10, and who two years ago was leading the Vezina race by a landslide before getting injured.

And it's not the first time a Sens goalie doesn't get his dues; Ron Tugnutt led the league with a GAA under 2.00 (1.79 in 1998-99) and has similar stats in the playoffs (1.98 and .917 save percentage in 1996-97) and he's still considered a career backup; Patrick Lalime, as previously mentioned, was top-10 in Vezina voting twice, and had amazing playoff statistics as well:

2001-02: 1.39 GAA, .946 save %, 4 shutouts in 12 games
2002-03: 1.82 GAA, .924 save % in 18 games
2003-04: 1.96 GAA in 7 games

One goalie who doesn't factor in this conversation is Pascal Leclaire, a very talented netminder who just fell into some injury trouble with the Sens and never got to show he could do the job as well as the others. Upon retiring at age 29 because of recurring hip problems, he became a player agent, a position he still holds to this day.

Here he is looking good and natural in the Sens' white (away) uniform, from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro set (card #96-PL of the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics throwback design sub-set):

He has suited up for Team Canada twice and won silver both times, starting as the #1 guy at the 2002 World Juniors where he posted a 1.80 GAA with two shutouts in 5 games, as well as at the 2008 World Championships where he had a 2.00 GAA, one shutout and a .925 save percentage in 4 games.

Maxim Lapierre Autograph Card

Maxim Lapierre has finally signed a professional contract... except he's headed for famed hockey team Ornskoldsvik Modo of the Swedish league, with an out clause releasing him to the NHL should he sign another deal prior to training camp.

I always thought he'd find a team that would pay him around $1.5M for the year, seeing as he's a decent face-off man, a right-shot center who can play on the penalty kill, and one of the league's biggest pests... although that, and the fact that he's a repeat offender when it comes to embellishment and diving probably played a part in that as well.

He collected 105 hits in 35 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins post-trade last year, which is consistent with the types of statistics he had in his last couple of seasons with the Montréal Canadiens before he was shipped to the Anaheim Ducks. Apart from taking stupid penalties at times, he's the type of player who'll do anything his coaches ask, whether it's shadowing the other team's top centers or chirp at them, or throw his (relatively diminutive) weight around. He can even fill in on the second line for a spell if a coach wants to punish certain players and reward effort.

Here he is wearing the Vancouver Canucks' current/retro blue (home) uniform, from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro set:

It uses the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design and is card #96-ML in the sub-set, featuring a sticker autograph signed in blue sharpie, with his jersey number (40) tagged at the end, which qualifies him for my Canucks Numbers Project.

Yvan Cournoyer Autographed Card

Here's a return that has been puzzling me all evening. I had sent Yvan Cournoyer these four cards on March 17th, 2014, two customs (one I offered he could keep) and two regular-issue cards:

What I received instead today - 135 days later - in addition to the unsigned cards was this beautiful 2001-02 Greats Of The Game card (#25 in the set) by Fleer/Skybox, signed in blue sharpie:

It's such a great, simple design, with classy white borders, and showing him in the Montréal Canadiens' white (then-home) uniform just makes it that much better for autographs. I wonder if he just keeps a stash of these at home for people who send him stuff, or if it was leftovers from a paying signature session. In any event, I am very happy to have it.

I'd been waiting to either hear back from this mailing or give up on it before using another player to cross off #12 off my Habs Numbers Project. I have three others I could have used, but given the choice, wouldn't you have waited out for a Hall Of Famer, six-time All-Star, winner of 10 Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe trophy, three times a 40-goal man and a 25-goal scorer for twelve straight seasons, a man often called the best skater and stick-handler of his generation, whose jersey number was retired by the famed franchise?

Of course you would.

The Roadrunner started as a powerplay specialist, because then-coach Toe Blake wasn't satisfied with the fiery short man's defensive play. A seven-game demotion to the AHL and limited ice time in his first three years built his character, though, enough for Cournoyer to have served as the Canadiens' captain from 1975 until 1979, one of two Habs captains to have won the cup every season the additional 'C' was stitched onto his chest, joining the legendary Maurice 'Rocket' Richard.

And though he had many admirable adversaries in the NHL - and you'd think with 428 goals and 863 points in 968 regular-season games and 127 points in 147 playoff games there'd be ample of those - perhaps his most memorable moments came against one Vladislav Tretiak, both in the 1972 Summit Series - pitting an All-Star cast of NHL stars in Team Canada against Team Russia - and the 1975 Super Series which saw the Habs play (and beat) Moscow's Central Red Army team (which was pretty much 95% of Team CCCP anyway). On both occasions, games were played at the old Montréal Forum, and both had Tretiak and Cournoyer each getting named among the three stars.

Jeff Fassero Autographed Card

After a brief break in reality, which led to hockey-time temperatures, I decided to not taunt the Gods and return to the summertime classic, PED-fed America's Pastime with this autographed card of past Montréal Expos star starter Jeff Fassero:

Like his role on the team, his uniform number changed over the years: he started wearing 39 when he was considered mostly a middle reliever, then switched to 13 when he became a starter.

With the Expos, he was particularly great in 1993 (2.29 ERA, 140 Ks) and 1994 (2.99 ERA) on great teams, but wasn't recognized league-wide until 1996, when he finished 9th in Cy Young (best pitcher) voting, despite no longer being the team's star, having been surpassed by Pedro Martinez.

After that season, he moved on to the Seattle Mariners, the first of 8 MLB teams that would use his services, but would never again be a star-caliber player.

This i a bizarre card I don't remember owning or having purchased, be it in a pack or individually, from Skybox's Fleer '97 set (card #377); I don't remember the card, but I remember having him sign one/it for me in blue sharpie in 2003, when he was a member of the St Louis Cardinals. Maybe he signed a lot at a time, and gave the wrong ones back to people, or maybe my memory's becoming faulty with age. Yet, here it is,in all its matte glory - no, can't blame that one on the scan, the card really does look this way!

Patrick O'Sullivan Autograph Card

Patrick O'Sullivan is widely considered one of the biggest draft ''busts'' in recent NHL history, but most of the other cases aren't as documented as his, and we can easily pinpoint its origins to an abusive father, career minor-leaguer John O'Sullivan, who even went as far as banging on the rink's glass and shouting (swearing) at his son during an OHL game, making the family problems public. Patrick filed for a restraining order on John.

Projected as a first-rounder, Patrick was instead chosen in the second round, 56th overall, in 2003, the strongest crop of the last generation.

After averaging almost a goal per game and two points per in Juniors, Patrick entered the AHL on a similar high note, re-writing the Houston Aeros' history books with 47 goals and 93 points as a rookie. Still, his rights were passed around ten times as he suited up for a total of 5 NHL teams so far, twice belonging to the Phoenix Coyotes and going through both Alberta teams.

He now plays in Europe.

With 161 points in 334 NHL games (he's never played in the post-season), his statistics aren't awful, but they're far removed from what most blue chip prospects manage. His Team USA totals are more impressive, though, what with 29 points in 28 games with Junior teams (and gold at the 2004 World Juniors as well as the 2002 U-18 tournaments) to go with 14 points in 19 men's games. At 28 years old, though, chances are his peak years are past him, if not most productive.

I got this card in a trade for a Bryan Allen autographed card and a few minor league singles because I had another autograph card of his that I figured I'd put in a binder together, and because I was already deep into Panini's 2012-13 Fleer Retro inserts:

Like most of my own pulls, it uses the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design; they do, after all, come in every ten packs... This one is #96-PO in the set and shows him wearing the Coyotes' white (away) jersey, a simple-yet-effective hockey design, though to make it more classic, the purple could be changed for maroon...

Mike Ribeiro Autograph Card

I guess I cold have mentioned when I featured the Teemu Hartikainen card that I got it when I was barely half-way through my box which ''guaranteed'' 6 hits. Well, at my very last pack, I got hit #7, this terrific Mike Ribeiro card:

Like the Hartikainen and my very first hit card of Andrei Markov, it's a sticker autograph, signed in blue sharpie, from the 1999 Skybox insert sub-set (card #99-MR), found approximately in every 20 packs of Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro. Notice how the signature ends with '63' - it was his number with the Dallas Stars, meaning he likely signed it before getting traded to the Washington Capitals last summer.

And this summer, as the Free Agent Frenzy got underway, he signed a 4-year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes, where he'll be their no-contest #1 center - though he won't have a James Neal, Jamie Benn, Michael Ryder or Alex Ovechkin to dump his perfect passes into empty nets. I see him flanked with Shane Doan and Mikkel Bodker, while Radim Vrbata will likely play with Antoine Vermette. Lucky for them they play in the West, where it'll be 19% easier to make the playoffs than in the East...

Ribeiro is one of my favourite centers in the NHL. He ranks as one of the best play-makers out there, right after the likes of Jason Spezza and Sidney Crosby. He doesn't really stand a chance of playing for Team Canada at the Olympics, though, because he ranks behind them and Jonathan Toews on the offensive side, doesn't have Ryan Getzlaf's size, and doesn't play a two-way game like Patrice Bergeron or Mike Richards. But I'm still shocked that he's yet to play at the World Championships or Spengler Cup. He is a world-class player. If there was a Team Québec - and he'd be a shoe-in for that! -  I think he could help them to a medal.

Teemu Hartikainen Autograph Card

My show-and-tell is nearing its end. A reminder: I was lucky enough to get my hands on a box of Upper Deck's 2012-13 Fleer Retro cards for $160 (I've seen them go up to $250); they consist of 100 cards per box, including 6 autographs, which revisit classic Fleer and Skybox designs.

This was my sixth ''hit'' - the first one which wasn't a defenseman. It was of Edmonton Oilers prospect Teemu Hartikainen, who unfortunately left North America for the KHL's Ufa Salavat Yulayev:

Over the past three years that he was in North America, Hartikainen had several auditions with the Oilers, with boxcars of 52 GP, 6-7-13, -10, 16 PiM. He also played extensively in Oklahoma City, where he posted regular season numbers of 164 GP, 45-66-111, +6, 69 PiM, with an additional 11 goals and 13 assists in 37 career playoff games. His season to season numbers have persistently translated to an NHL equivalent of about 25 points (plus or minus 10%) per 82 games, whereas his actual production in the bigs was similarly on about a 20-point pace for a full season. Anticipated development in his offensive game was slow in coming, although Teemu’s strong performance (17 GP, 7-8-15) in the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs had provided some cause for optimism. He seemed well-positioned to make a strong bid for a full time job in the NHL come the fall. Suddenly he’s gone from RFA to UFA in one swell foop.

His 2012-13 in the AHL led me to believe he was going to turn into a potent second-or-third line winger - 14 goals and 37 points in 47 regular season games, and 7-8-15 in 17 playoff games, but it'S true that the KHL overpays for players aged 18-25 in their first few NHL contracts (the first of which is capped).

And I'm always happy to add an Oilers card to my collection:

It's a sticker autograph, signed in blue sharpie. It's from the 1999 Skybox insert sub-set (card #99-TH), found approximately in every 20 packs. It shows him wearing the Oilers' white (away) uniform.

Hartikainen was originally a 6th-round pick, 163rd overall. Chosen after him were Justin DiBenedetto (175th), Zac Rinaldo (178th), Jason Demers (186th), and Anders Lindback (207th).

Nicklas Grossmann Autograph Card

Now that I've digressed with an awesome Henrik Zetterberg return and a tribute to Scott Niedermayer, let's get back to that 2012-13 Fleer Retro box break...

My fifth hit was also the fifth defenseman and fourth with the 1996-97 Skybox Autographics design; they do, after all, come in every ten packs...

It's card #96-NG in the set, and though it's a bit over the top in the multitudes of inserts, it's a great idea from Upper Deck. Also, Nicklas Grossman looks right at home wearing the Philadelphia Flyers' uniform.

Grossman was originally a second-round (56th overall) pick of the Dallas Stars in 2004, and toiled around with their AHL affiliate Iowa Stars for a few seasons before making the jump to the NHL. He was even voted the AHL team's Most Improved Player after his first season, during which he was converted into a defenseman rather than a right winger. The Flyers acquired him in exchange for a second- and a third-round pick.

While I can see him notching one or two 15-to-20-point seasons in the near future, he is not exactly of the point-per-game variety; he plays a complete game and even managed to post a -1 season last year with a Flyers team that didn't even make the playoffs and was thought to have problems defensively. He'll seldom put his team into trouble and will accumulate less than a penalty minute per game.

In March 2012, it was revealed that his last name had been misspelled for years in North America, and he was just ''too shy'' to have it corrected, though it is now a done deal. Ironically, this card is from the 2012-13 season and still sports his 'old' last name... Also, I particularly like this quote, especially in regards to this card:

Grossman said he'd sign autographs with the double "N" and his parents back in Sweden were aware of (the situation).

But looking at the blue-sharpied signature on the sticker of this card, I'm hard-pressed to find even one 'N'...