Bill Guerin Autographed Card

Bill Guerin has a tough job ahead of him as the Minnesota Wild's new GM, one made even tougher because he should have landed it a year and a half earlier and he instead has to clean up the mess inherited by the guy who did get that job, Paul Fenton.

It's unclear whether all of Fenton's moves came because he had some sort of plan or because team owner Craig Leopold forced him to make them by refusing to go through a rebuild, but the fact of the matter was that fan favourites Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter left town and another one, Jason Zucker, was repeatedly shopped around. Mikael Granlund (who still finished third in team scoring despite having left at three-quarters of the season), veteran Matt Hendricks and 25-year-old defenseman Ryan Murphy were also sent packing.

Victor Rask, Ryan Donato, Kevin Fiala, and Pontus Aberg (who came and went) did not have an immediate impact with the team.

While some of the moves looked like a shift towards icing a younger club, Fenton also signed oft-injured free agent veteran offensive spark plug Mats Zuccarello to a five-year deal. Hiring Zuccarello made sense for at least 20 teams, and to those terms to possibly a dozen of them (even if only to stop competitors from hiring him themselves) - just not the Wild, who already crumble under overpaying for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter for too long and need the rest of their lineup to look like financial steals.

To be honest, I wasn't entirely sold on Fenton even though he came with a good reputation from his previous position as assistant-GM with the Nashville Predators, and I'm not 100% confident Guerin (who held the same position with the Pittsburgh Penguins and is friends and former teammates many times over of Wild executive Mike Modano) can right this ship without going through a complete five-year rebuild then going through the growing pains of a young roster for five more.

My dream job in the current-day NHL landscape would be GM (although I may be best qualified at the moment as a goaltending scout), but I would not take the Wild job on even if it was my only shot at it - it seems like a no-win situation.

That being said, he's won two Stanley Cups as a player (1995 with the New Jersey Devils, 2009 with the Penguins) and two more as assistant-GM (2016 and 2017 with the Pens), played in four All-Star Games (2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007), been a captain (2007-09, New York Islanders).

Internationally, he's suited up for Team USA in two World Juniors championships, the 1996 and 2004 World Cup (winning in 1996), as well as the 198, 2002 and 2006 Olympics, winning silver in 2002.

Here he is sporting the American team's blue (away) Nike Olympic uniform on card #96 from In The Game's 2007-08 O Canada set and Formidable Foes sub-set:

He signed it in blue sharpie in the 2017 or 2018 as a member of the Penguins' front office, tagging his usual #13 jersey number at the end.

Craig Anderson: 2 Autographed Cards

At this point, many of you realize Craig Anderson is one of my favourite active goalies, because he gets the job done with little fanfare, steadily rocking along on underdog teams and quietly pulling back-to-back shutouts just to bring his stats line back to normal (.921 save percentage, 2.61 GAA, a fifth-in-the-league 508 total saves despite ranking 18th with ''just'' 15 games played) after a sub-par couple of games (and that 7-goal outing against the Nashville Predators especially) had scared off those who just look at the standings but never watch the games.

Anderson's not a nobody: he finished fourth in Vezina voting twice; he outplayed Carey Price both times they faced each other in postseason play (last year, and two years prior to that), and he suited up for Team USA at the World Championships twice (2006 and 2008). But the fact that he plays for a small-town Ottawa Senators team often leaves the goalies playing in the bigger markets (Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, Steve Mason) getting more air time than he does.

Speaking of Team USA, here's one of two cards he signed for me in blue sharpie after one (dominating) game versus the Montréal Canadiens during the last playoffs:

It's card #155 from In The Game's 2011-12 Between The Pipes set (part of the Stars And Stripes sub-set), showing a close-up of him and his mask - though it's a picture of him with the Sens, not actually the American team.

Which brings us to card #348 from Panini's 2013-14 Score set, where he's displaying his full mastery of the butterfly move with a save with his left pad, wearing the Senators' red (home) uniform:

This one will be my first entry of Anderson's in my Sens Numbers Project, rocking #41.

He has terrific leg-rebound control; that was a move I used to love doing myself, either sending the puck away to the corners where my defensemen would recuperate it, or if there wasn't any traffic in front of the net and I wanted to show off a bit, I'd kick-pass it the other way to a defenseman who was back-checking so he could send the play back into the offensive zone right away.

As I've mentioned before, I also (mostly) wore Brian's equipment, and I liked to keep my glove hand lower than most goalies do nowadays, because moving it upwards quickly is more natural than sending it down, so I'd keep it just above parallel to the ice, say at 30-35 degrees, which means that on plays where it was shot low, that picture is pretty much what I looked like - except with a Vaughn blocker and Victoriaville stick. And a full-cage Jofa helmet instead of a mask.

Anderson has two more years past this season as the Sens' #1 goalie; currently standing at 34 years old, he should be exiting his prime by then and might be ready, mentally, to mentor the Sens' next budding star in nets, which looks right now to possibly be Matt O'Connor.

Peter Ferraro Autograph Card

Twin posts for twin brothers... you might have a sense of ''déjà-vu'' if you're read my earlier post about Chris Ferraro...

Peter Ferraro was a blue-chip prospect, a can't-miss minor league superstar who just fell short, perhaps because he was always paired up with his twin brother Chris; not only did they become only the second pair of identical twins to play on the same NHL team, they ended up doing so on three different occasions, first with the New York Rangers, then the Pittsburgh Penguins, and lastly the Washington Capitals (always in the same division)! They also played together for the AHL's Binghamton Rangers, Providence Bruins, Syracuse Crunch, and Portland Pirates, the SEL's Sodertalje SK, the DEL's Düsseldorfer Eislauf-Gemeinschaft Metro Stars, and the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers.

While his brother was chosen in the fourth round (85th overall) in 1992, Peter was selected in the very first round (24th overall) by the Rangers after scoring 153 points in 71 games of high school hockey. He then went on to have a 50-point season (one less than his brother) in 36 games for the University Of Maine Black Bears before making the leap to full-time Team USA the following year. He was named to the 1992 World Juniors All-Star team.

He also ended up with 591 points in 620 AHL games (a lot more than Chris in both categories, but both twins were near the point-per-game mark), but only 24 points - 9 goals - in 92 NHL games. He won the AHL's Jake A. Butterfield trophy as playoff MVP in 1998-99.

He is pictured above with his Team USA jersey, part of Classic's 1994-95 Draft Picks set (card #21 in the Autographs checklist, numbered #635/4875). It was signed with (a dying) blue sharpie. I actually traded for this card to have the pair, I think it was for a signed Tom Draper card I now regret no longer having.

Chris Ferraro Autograph Card

Chris Ferraro was a blue-chip prospect, a can't-miss minor league superstar who just fell short, perhaps because he was always paired up with his twin brother Peter; not only did they become only the second pair of identical twins to play on the same NHL team, they ended up doing so on three different occasions, first with the New York Rangers, then the Pittsburgh Penguins, and lastly the Washington Capitals (always in the same division)! They also played together for the AHL's Binghamton Rangers, Providence Bruins, Syracuse Crunch, and Portland Pirates, the SEL's Sodertalje SK, the DEL's Düsseldorfer Eislauf-Gemeinschaft Metro Stars, and the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers.

Chosen in the fourth round (85th overall) in 1992 after scoring 196 points in 83 games of high school hockey, he went on to have a 51-point season (one more than his brother) in 39 games for the University Of Maine Black Bears before making the leap to Team USA (juniors), where he had 42 points in 48 games. He also ended up with 435 points in 443 AHL games, but only 16 points in 74 NHL games. He won the AHL's Fred T. Hunt trophy for sportsmanship (usually awarded to the ''best - or most patient - veteran'') in 2002-03.

He is pictured above with his Team USA jersey, part of Classic's 1994-95 Draft Picks set (card #10 in the Autographs checklist, numbered #1761/4770). It is signed in blue sharpie.

Mike Modano Jersey Card

Definitely one of the best American players of all time, Mike Modano retired at the beginning of the season when no team would offer him a contract. He spent all except one season as a member of the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise, with his lone season with another organization coming last year, his hometown Detroit Red Wings.

A staple of international competition, Modano played for Team USA 11 different times (which makes guessing which edition this jersey emanates from a useless endeavour), winning the silver medal at the 2002 Olympics as well as the 1991 Canada Cup, and gold at the inaugural 1996 World Cup (the Canada Cup's replacement). All this in addition to 2 Stanley Cup finals (one Cup, with Dallas, in 1999), an All-Rookie Team nod in 1990, and 8 All Star games.

This card is from In The Game's 2011-12 Canada Vs. The World set, the World Junior Grads insert sub-set (card #WJG-25). It is the Silver Version, but as with the Ryan Miller card, I have no idea how many were made.

Ryan Miller Jersey Card

Ryan Miller has probably been the best goalie in the world for the past 2 years, with a Vezina trophy and a silver medal at the Olympics to show for it. And he's from the famous Michigan Miller family, which has already produced 5 NHLers.

Sure, this season hasn't exactly started off on the right track - he was even yanked last night after surrendering 5 goals on 15 shots in just less than 30 minutes - but you can count on him to bounce back in a major way. And, as long as the Buffalo Sabres make the playoffs, with the team they have, they can beat any team there.

This card is from In The Game's 2011-12 Canada Vs The World set, the Global Greats jersey sub-set (card #GG-19), featuring a dark blue swatch of Miller's former AHL team, the Rochester Americans. And, yes, I find it weird that they took an AHL jersey rather than a Team USA one, but it's a nice big swatch, so that's that. Also, I'm aware that it being a 'Silver Version' means something about the number of cards produced, but I have no idea what it is and the product's webpage doesn't say.

Ted Drury Autograph Card

With the sad news of Chris Drury retiring, I thought I'd talk about this signed insert card of his older brother, former NHLer Ted Drury, from Classic's 1994-95 Classic set, which never made the Beckett price guide because it wasn't licensed by the NHL nor the NHLPA - and perhaps also because they were cheaply made and as thin as cardboard can get before it's simply called ''paper''.

It is numbered 827/1920, which Classic still dares to say is a ''limited edition''. Yes, this signed version is ''limited'' to less than 2000 - bravo. How many of the original card did you print? And why does the whole back have to be the proof/guarantee, why can't the autographed version also have Drury's stats or at least a mention of which team he was playing for or drafted by?

In this instance, Drury's wearing Team USA's colours, either from the World Juniors or the National Team, which he was a part of for two seasons. It should be mentioned that before the NHL's players were allowed to play in the Olympic games, most countries (a notable exception was the USSR, who sent a combination of the Moscow Central Red Army team and other star players) had a year-long National Team program where players practiced year-long and played friendly games against low-level professional games to get ready for the next Games.

Drury played for those teams while he attended Harvard University, where he played 3 seasons after being drafted by the Calgary Flames in 1989. He only spent half the 1993-94 season with the Flames, as he was traded to the Hartford Whalers in mid-season. After spending the 1995-96 season with the Ottawa Senators, he spent just over 3 seasons with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks - his longest tenure with a single team, ever - before bouncing around with 3 more NHL teams, 2 AHL teams and 3 German teams before reiring in 2007.

Despite moving around like a prison escapee on the run, Ted Drury still managed to put up decent checking-line numbers everywhere he went, as can be attested from these statistics:

-  93 points and 367 penalty minutes in 414 NHL games
- 121 points in 74 NCAA games
- 30 points and 33 penalty minutes in 69 AHL games
- 168 points and 384 penalty minutes in 252 DEL games

Jim Carey Autograph Card

It had been a while, but I do have plenty of autograph cards from the worst set of all time, Upper Deck's 1995-96 Be A Player series, of which I have already profiled Petr Nedved, Pierre Turgeon, and Brian 'Mr. October' Savage. This time, what many people have come to dub ''goaltending's one-hit wonder'', Jim Carey.

We all know how he was a rookie with the Washington Capitals and won the Calder and Vezina trophies before getting traded to the Boston Bruins and pretty much falling off the face of the earth, but that's not really how things went down.

Being an American, he played College hockey in the WCHA for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers, with whom he was a WCHA All-Rookie, member of the Second All Star Team, and Rookie Of The Year for the 1992-93 season. He was just as good the next year.

In 1994-95, with the NHL lock-out under way, he went to the AHL to play with with the Portland Pirates. The result? Rookie Of The Year, First All Star Team, and Goalie Of The Year, despite the Capitals calling him up to finish the season in the NHL, where he dominated the opposition, going 18-6-3, which pretty much ensured he'd be the Caps' starter the following year, where he was Rookie Of The Year, Goalie Of The year, and a member of the First All Star Team. Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, the team under-performed in 1996-97, and despite his decent individual statistics (2.75 GAA), he lost more than he won (17-18-3) and was sent packing to Boston, as the Bruins thought they could reboot the Massachussets native's career, but Pat Burns elected to go with Byron Dafoe instead. Carey was sent to the Providence Bruins

, in the AHL, and made enough of an impression for the St. Louis Blues to pick him off waivers; unfortunately, a serious inner-ear concussion playing with their AHL affiliate ended his career.

As of now, Carey is the CEO and President of OptiMED Billing Solutions, a medical billing company in Sarasota, Florida. There is an even more complete blog entry on his career here.

This BAP card (# s189) depicts him wearing Team USA's uniform with the ''World Class'' mention, as he was slated to be Mike Richter's backup in the 1996 World Cup. He is sporting a Shark-like mask, holding a Titan stick high, and his trademark Brian's equipment - all reasons to like him at least a bit (I had a similar setup myself).