Caps Preview: Alex Ovechkin Swatch Card

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: I liked doing last year's format, so I'll be doing it the same way this season as well, partly because of that but also because as a father of a toddler and a baby, I just do not have enough time to write two separate posts per day on each blog. I'll copy these on each one instead. Like last year, the entire scope of the analysis will take place here and the player will have some sort of direct connection to what's written.

Caveats: At this point, despite training camp being set to start, several players haven't found a team yet, many RFAs haven't signed with their respective teams, and a few clubs are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

Key exits: Brenden Dillon (D), Craig Anderson (G), Michael Raffl (LW), Zdeno Chara (D)

Key Arrivals: Matt Irwin (D), xxx (LW), xxx (C/LW), xxx (C), xxx (LW), xxx (D), xxx (D), xxx (G)

Top prospects: Connor McMichael (C), Hendrix Lapierre (C), Martin Fehervary (D), Alexander Alexeyev (D), Vincent Iorio (D), Damien Riat (LW), Aliaksei Protas (C), Brent Johnson (D), Brett Leason (RW), Kody Clark (RW), Lucas Johansen (D)

Sure, the Washington Capitals' stars are all in their 30s, they have few top-tier prospects that have Toronto-based pundits salivating and have exited the playoffs early every year since their 2018 Stanley Cup win, but this nucleus remains rock-solid with the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Anthony Mantha, Tom Wilson, T.J. Oshie, John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov. The goaltending position is also in good hands with Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek.

What makes their odds look good:
They can outscore the opposition like few teams can and have better goaltending than the Toronto Maple Leafs. If someone in the Atlantic can eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team from the Metropolitan Division could make it to the Cup Final.

Question marks: A lot of their firepower is tied into a handful of players, who account for a lot of the team's cap space. There are depth issues, and any injury troubles would mean a huge drop in the standings for the Caps.

Outlook:
This team hired Peter Laviolette as head coach because it is still hungry for a Cup. Regular-season seeding doesn't have to matter much, the postseason is how this team will be judged, now and forever.

Prediction:
Third in the Metropolitan Division.

Fresh off a five-year deal that will realistically lead him to breaking Wayne Gretzky's career goals record, Ovechkin is a man on (another) mission. And while the chase for Gretzky's goals record is huge in itself, Ovie is also chasing Sidney Crosby's two undeserved Conn Smythes, a gimme from a handful of Toronto-based journalists who didn't want to give Phil Kessel his due. Should Ovechkin get a second one, it might even force the Hall Of Fame to waive its three-year waiting period to get him in.

Here he is wearing the team's dreadful red (home) Reebok Edge uniform from a few years back, on the swatch version of card #73 from Panini's 2010-11 Luxury Suite collection:

It features a white game-worn jersey swatch. I got this one on Ebay for just over five bucks; its usual book value is closer to $40-50.

Philipp Grubauer Autographed Card

(team links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

Colorado Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer has just passed important milestones, hitting the 100-win mark (career, including his first 43 with the Washington Capitals) in the same game where he broke the Avs franchise record for most wins in a single month, his 11 surpassing the previous mark held by Semyon Varlamov, Craig Anderson, Peter Budaj and Daniel Bouchard (with the Québec Nordiques). That's right - goaltending legend Patrick Roy didn't hold that record, though his childhood idol Bouchard achieved it in probably just the right period for Roy to take notice.

Which is not to put Grubauer in the same league as Roy yet - he's still 450 wins and, more importantly, three Vezinas and three Conn Smythes away from entering the conversation - but it does cement his position as the Avalanche's current undisputed #1 goalie in a league where that position (on the same team) has a shelf life of three to five years at the moment.

The team is one of two clear powerhouses in the Western Conference these days - with the Vegas Golden Knights - and it's reasonable to think Grubauer might win a Stanley Cup or two in the next few seasons.

Here he is wearing the Caps' red (home) piping-heavy Reebok Edge (2007-2017) uniform on card #273 from Upper Deck's 2016-17 O-Pee-Chee collection:

He signed it in thin blue sharpie, I believe in March 2018.

Tom Wilson Jersey Card

(team links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

Fucking Tom Wilson.

A former first round draft pick (16th overall in 2012, by the Washington Capitals), Wilson is a hard-working, very talented and physically strong power forward, who at 6'4" and 220 pounds ranks among the most difficult to move from the front of the net or along the boards. He has a decent shot that could have him hit the 30-goal mark a couple of times before he retires and some 20-24 goals for four more seasons at least. He's pretty much the halfway mark between 1986-94 era Cam Neely (a Hall Of Famer who reached the 50-goal mark three times in the high-scoring late 1980s) and 2011-13 Milan Lucic. Perhaps he is even a fine human being off the ice.

He also has a habit of delivering questionable, dangerous and illegal hits such as this one on unsuspecting Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo: One thing's for certain, many hockey observers are getting fed up with one aspect of his game: his habit of continuously crossing the line that separates "tough" and "predatory". While I agree with the Sports Illustrated/The Hockey News article on the fact that the NHL was lenient towards him before his first suspension in 2017 and that instead of now standing at five (plus a couple of fines), he should probably have seven to ten on his record at this point, I, however, would like to commend him on the fact that he hadn't been suspended in a little over two years. He hasn't done as admirable a job of keeping his nose clean as Brad Marchand, but he has trended in a better direction, which is why I'm satisfied with this being a seven-game suspension instead of ten.

I also disagree with SI/THN's assessment that this hit should have been reviewed under the "hit to the head" rule instead of "boarding", because the initial contact is above the heart, between the shoulder and neck - not the cleanest of hits, but not a direct, unequivocal hit to the head either; it's the follow-through that has Carlo's head crashing in the glass. I do think the league has missed the boat on many occasions this season, particularly early on, to set the tone and demand clean play, with a handful of players deserving of at least a game or two getting a pass instead.

There's something about Wilson's attitude that has me thinking I may like him on my team - a sentiment I absolutely do not share about Marchand, for instance, despite his rehabilitation into a true star player - but he really needs to stop crossing that line and let up when he sees he's nearing a face, just like all players should let up when they see an opponent's numbers on their backs.

I have a card of his that I traded for last year, #SS-TW from Upper Deck's 2019-20 SP Game-Used collection and Showcase Standouts sub-set:

It shows him wearing an NHLPA uniform based on the New York Rangers' classic white garbs and features two swatches that are believed to be from that jersey. Both the front and back claim it's from the 2017 NHLPA Rookie Showcase event/photoshoot, but Wilson played for the Capitals in the 2012-13 playoffs, and his true rookie season was in 2013-14... three full years before the showcase they claim he was in. Also, this is what he looked like in 2017 (courtesy of Wikipedia):

That face - and the facial hair - looks much older than what's shown on the card. My guess is he was actually in the 2012 or 2013 showcase.

Caps Preview: John Carlson Jersey Card

This will likely be the preface to all of this year's Season Preview posts: 2020 is a different beast and requires adaptability; in my case, it means the joint posts with my "main/personal" blog will not be in the "player here/analysis there" format but rather the entire scope of the analysis will take place here and the player will have some sort of direct connection to what's written. Caveats: at this point, despite the season being set to start in Mid-January, several impact players haven't found a team yet and quite a few teams are currently above the salary cap, which means there is much maneuvering left to do.

The Washington Capitals have been a powerhouse for the better part of the last decade, with captain Alex Ovechkin proving to be an unstoppable goal-scoring machine despite the entire world knowing exactly how, where and when he will set up to shoot, almost every single time. He has the best release of all-time, and is the only serious contender for Wayne Gretzky's career goal-scoring record (because the season record of 92 cannot be achieved under current rules and quality goaltending). But the Caps are more than a one-trick pony, they're a recent Stanley Cup-winning team who has won its division for as long as I can remember on the strength of secondary scoring (Nicklas Backstrom, Jakub Vrana of late, Evgeny Kuznetsov before him), production from the blue line (Mike Green in the past, John Carlson in stunning fashion nowadays) and opportune elite-level goaltending. And just as Braden Holtby seemed to hit a decline, in came youngster Ilya Samsonov to save the day.

What makes their odds look good:
Ovechkin has shown to be a true leader on the ice; he can carry and inspire a team. It's just that his teammates shouldn't follow him into his off-ice adventures, because he is a unique physical specimen and not everyone is built to sustain his lifestyle that seemingly never includes sleep. The offensive depth remains as strong as ever, too, with T.J. Oshie and Lars Eller providing some appreciated stability while Tom Wilson has evolved from merely a trouble-maker to an actual point-producing threat. And say what you will about Carlson's lack of finish in his own zone, that's where Dmitri Orlov, Brenden Dillon, and Michal Kempny shine, and newcomer Trevor Van Riemsdyk can hold his own as well. Samsonv has looked solid between the pipes, although it's always dangerous to just hand the reigns to a young goalie.

Question marks:
Can Samsonov hold his own with no safety net? Also, count me among those who were unimpressed with the Caps' showing in last summer's playoffs. It was a dismal effort, and hopefully new head coach Peter Laviolette can keep his stars motivated.

Outlook:
Those are not many question marks, because this team remains stacked despite the departures of Holtby, trade deadline acquisition Ilya Kovalchuk, Radko Gudas, Travis Boyd and Tyler Lewington. I actually had them winning the division at first before I opted to put the Philadelphia Flyers slightly ahead, if only for a change of scenery up top.

Prediction:
Second in the East/Metro Division.

And we revert back to Carlson, who would have been my pick for the Norris Trophy. I understand Roman Josi and Victor Hedman are better all-round players (and Hedman made it especially clear in the Tampa Bay Lightning's Cup run), but what Carlson has accomplished for three straight seasons is the type of stuff that warrants recognition, and Josi will likely have at least another couple more cracks at it, whereas if Carlson couldn't win it after posting a 15-goal, 75-point season (in just 69 games) to lead the Capitals - of all teams - in scoring, then he never will.

Here he is wearing Washigton's red (home) Rbk Edge uniform from a decade ago on card #GJ-JO from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Series 1 collection and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a white game-worn jersey swatch.

Internationally, Carlson plays for Team USA, with whom he won gold at the 2010 World Juniors (on a strong team that included Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan) but fell short at the 2014 Olympics and 2016 World Cup.

Boyd Gordon Autograph Card

Boyd Gordon was a serviceable defensive forward who at one point in the 2014-15 season "owned the defensive zone" under Dallas Eakins' "everyone-has-just-one-job system with the Edmonton Oilers.

It was the year Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied for the team lead in goals with 24 goals apiece and the Oilers failed to make the playoffs despite playing in the worst division in the league, finishing with the third-worst overall record and second-worst in the Pacific on the "strength" of a 24-44-7-7 record, with no fewer than three head coaches (Eakins, Craig MacTavish and Todd Nelson) failing to crack the .500 mark with Ben Scrivens spending 57 games in front of the blue team's net.

It was the worst of times.

It must have been particularly nightmarish for Gordon, who had come to Edmonton to share what he had learned under head coach Bruce Boudreau with the Washington Capitals, finishing with division titles year in and year out yet still being criticized for not winning the Stanley Cup every year. The veteran wanted to show he could teach other youngsters to win.

Even the best laid plans can backfire, so those put forth by the likes of Eakins and Nelson were doomed from the start. This was before Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (and during Nail Yakupov).

These days, the Oilers are on the rise, heavy favourites to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in the play-in to enter the official playoff picture, while the Caps are still contenders, participating in the round robin to determine the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference. The smart money favours them earning one of the top two spots.

Here is Gordon wearing the Caps' red uniform (2007-present) on card #S-BG from Upper Deck's 2009-10 Be A Player set and Signatures sub-set:

It features a black-sharpied on-sticker autograph with his jersey number (15) tagged at the end.

All told, Gordon played for 13 season sin the NHL. He won championships at nearly every level, with a Memorial Cup (Red Deer Rebels, 2000-01), World Juniors silver medal (Team Canada, 2003), and Calder Cup (Hershey Bears, 2005-06).

Mike Green Jersey Card

Mike Green is an offensive defenseman who can quarterback a powerplay very well. He has a fine pass, a pretty good shot and can still find speed on the rush although his actual footspeed isn't what it was in his heyday when he was putting up 780-point seasons and scoring 30 goals from the point.

Defensively, it's still a mixed bag, but not as bad as his critics would say; there will not be a quality shot on his team's net every time he hits the ice, but perhaps a quality chance or two per game.

Essentially, it was a net gain when the Edmonton Oilers acquired him from the Detroit Red Wings for Kyle Brodziak's LTIR cap hit and conditional draft pick that is at best a third-rounder and at worst a fourth. As an immediate replacement for the injured Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell, he was an immediate fit on the NHL's top powerplay unit and would provide defensive depth for the playoff run.

Except he got injured in his second game with the Oilers, and will be out three-to-four weeks with a sprained MCL. Ouch.

Edmonton is currently second in the Pacific Division, four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights who sit in first, but also just four ahead of the Arizona Coyotes, who are outside the playoff picture in fifth place, with the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks sandwiched in between and a mix-and-match quality and quantity of games in hand (the Coyotes have the fewest games remaining, however).

It's going to be a tight race, but hopefully Green comes back with stored energy and helps boost the Oilers upon his return.

Here he is sporting the Washington Capitals' white RBK Edge (away) uniform with the alternate captain's "A" on his chest, on card #AF-GR from Upper Deck's 2013-14 SP Game-Used Edition set and Authentic Fabrics sub-set:

It features a matching game-worn jersey swatch.

Dale Hunter Autographed Card

For the first time, the head(s) of Canadian Juniors hockey's best program (apologies to Patrick Roy's Québec Remparts) will lead Team Canada at the World Juniors Championship, as London Knights co-owners Mark Hunter (GM) and Dale Hunter (head coach) try to win the country an 18th gold medal in that tournament.

Dale has coached the Knights for 18 seasons, winning nine division titles, six OHL championships and two Memorial Cups. Like Roy, he has a tendency to develop talented first-round prospects (Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Patrick Kane, John Tavares, Bo Horvat, Max Domi, Matthew Tkachuk), but also gets in trouble for icing aggressive teams (he was suspended for four games in 2005 for letting a player leave the bench to join a fight and again for two games the following year for the same reason) and abusing officials (he was suspended for two games and fined $5000 for criticizing referees), but his kids seem to think he's fair and a good teacher.

He coached one year in the NHL, leading the Washington Capitals to a second-place finishing in their division back when teams ending with 92 points was impressive and got to the second round. His defence-first system didn't suit the run-and-gun lineup as well as he'd hoped, so he declined to return for a second season and went back to the Knights instead, winning an OHL title right away.

He remains the only NHL players with more than 1000 career points and over 3000 penalty minutes, ranking second on the all-time list behind Dave "Tiger" Williams with 3565 minutes in the sin bin (plus some 30 games in suspensions, 21 of which came for a single extremely dangerous after-the-whistle hit on Pierre Turgeon) in 1407 regular-season NHL games.

He was also a very good two-way centre, often finishing his seasons with Selke Trophy votes; he was the very first player in NHL history to score two overtime series-clinching playoff goals - both during his days with the Québec Nordiques - and his heart-and-soul style had him captaining the Caps from 1994 until 1999.

Which brings me to card #383 from Upper Deck's 1998-99 Upper Deck collection:

It shows him wearing the Capitals' blue (away) uniform from the mid-to-end-90s with the captain's "C" figuring prominently on his chest. He signed it in black sharpie in 2013 or 2014; I had once again written him care of the Knights, knowing well enough to not send too many for him to sign, so it was just this one.

In a nice twist, Dale's and Mark's older brother Dave Hunter played for the Canadian team at the very first World Juniors in 1977, so this is a nice way to go full circle.

Braden Holtby Jersey Card

(As per years past, this is a twin-post with my "regular" blog, where I predicted the Washington Capitals would finish first in the Metropolitan Division in 2019-20).

One of the things that could derail the Caps' season is the fact that two of their biggest stars - Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby - are entering the final years of their currents respective contracts, and that Holtby may be looking to increase his $6.1M annual salary (which would, in my opinion, be a huge mistake).

Only one current goalie is worth 10% of his team's salary cap (currently slated at $81.5M, so just north of $8M), and that's Sergei Bobrovsky, the only active two-time Vezina winner (both deserved, by the way, which is something I can rarely say about this award). The rest, because they should be limited to 55-60 games per and because the position itself calls for an inconsistency rate that falls at roughly one bad season per five years, should make between $5M (middle-of-the-pack guys) and $7.5 (Vezina winners and consistent high-level performers, like Tuukka Rask).

Holtby falls a notch below that, so between $6.5M and $7M, as the second-best Canadian goalie behind the oft-injured Corey Crawford. Crawford's been more consistent; you might remember that when the Caps won the Stanley Cup a year ago, he'd been unseated as the #1 by Philipp Grubauer not only for the final stretch of the regular season, but also the first two playoff games.

At age 29, he also just posted two of the worst regular-season stat lines of his career, with a goals-against average of 2.99 and a .907 save percentage in 2017-18 and 2.82 and .911 in 2018-19. The Capitals need to know if this is his new normal or just two outlier seasons in a row before a three- or four-year stretch of back-to-elite play. After all, the 2017-18 season was one where his head coach was Barry Trotz, the best defensive mind in hockey.

In any event, here's Holtby at the height of his powers, fresh off a Vezina win and about to acquire a Jennings Trophy, on card #GJ-BH from Upper Deck's 2016-17 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It shows him wearing the Capitals' current red (home) uniform, with a blue game-worn jersey swatch that is probably from the underarm stretch of that Reebok sweater.

Semyon Varlamov Dual Jersey Card

Although he had a down year ahead of the 2017 Expansion Draft, Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov has really bounced back in an impressive manner in the past year and a half, even if he's statistically not on the level of his Vezina-worthy 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons:

from HockeyDB

He and the team's top line, comprised of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, have often been the sole bright spots on a team that currently sits tied for last place in its division (yet only four points behind a Wild Card spot, albeit in a gridlock with seven other teams) with 61 points (25-24-11) in 60 games.

The contrast between Varlamov and teammate Philipp Grubauer is also stark:

The two former Washington Capitals were supposed to platoon until the team feels KHL superstar Pavel Francouz is ready to join the main team, but Varlamov seems like he's running with it despite his contract being up at the end of the year.

I strongly feel like he's the Avs' best shot in nets for the next two years, so they might want to re-up him, but if they don't, chances are he'll be traded for a couple of second-rounders to a team that will either lose its own #1 to a trade (Columbus Blue Jackets) or a team (Calgary Flames) whose number one (Mike Smith) is having an inexplicably sub-par season.

I'm a pretty big fan of this card, which showcases Varlamov's NHL history as a member of both the Caps and Avs with a white jersey swatch from each one:

It's card #CL-SV from Upper Deck's 2014-15 SP Game-Used Edition set and Career Legacy sub-set.

Karl Alzner Autograph Card

Amid the series of questionable-to-awful-to-terrible moves Montréal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin has made this summer, one signing seems out of place for being smart, reasonable and savvy: the free agent signing of former Washinton Capitals defensive defenseman Karl Alzner. It won't be enough for the team to make the playoffs, but it was a very good move.

In Alzner, the Habs get a high-level defensive specialist the likes of which they haven't had since Josh Gorges in his prime. He's a good shot blocker who intercepts the puck well by covering passing lanes in the defensive zone. He's reliable and can kill penalties. In terms of pure skill, he's an upgrade over the loss of Alexei Emelin, tough Emelin's departure leaves just Shea Weber as a capable, physical checker.

What hurts Montréal most is who else left over the summer, because in addition to Emelin's hard-hitting checks, Andrei Markov and Nikita Nesterov both left for the KHL, Nathan Beaulieu was sent to the Buffalo Sabres, and future Norris Trophy contender Mikhail Sergachev was sent to division rivals Tampa Bay Lightning for Jonathan Drouin (whose offense merely replaces that of free agent goner Alexander Radulov). And that's just on defense (well, apart from Radulov). The Habs also lost heavy depth players Brian Flynn, Steve Ott and Dwight King, but they already had 15 fourth-liners, so that hurts less - except for the fact that those are probably guys who would fit better under "new" head coach Claude Julien's preferred style of play.

All told, I expect a difficult season in La Métropole, one filled with growing pains and fan anger, perhaps even (gasp!) not selling out every game. There will be panic-induced trades, and Bergevin might not make it until next season. After all, Patrick Roy's contract with the Colorado Avalanche has now run its course, and he's now free to peddle his services anywhere he wants to. And he really wants to make the Canadiens contenders again. And he still believes in Carey Price, whose $84M, 8-year contract is a no-trade clause by itself.

But Alzner's five-year deal worth $4.65M per season is a good bargain.

Here he is on card #A-Al from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Artifacts set and Autofacts sub-set:

It features a blue-sharpied on-sticker autograph - and a relatively clear one at that - with his uniform number with the Caps (27) tagged at the end.

Mike Ridley Autographed Card

Ealier today, I wrote that I thought the Washington Capitals would finish third in the Metropolitan Division, which leads me to card #320 from Pro Set's 1990-91 Series 1 set:

Once again, I loved this set. A nice, big action picture, huge borders that matched the team's uniform's colours, the player's position and jersey number on the front of the card... this was the height of card sophistication, in my book. Unfortunately, Pro Set made too many error on them, then they made too many of them, all the other manufacturers followed suit, and for a white they worth less than the money you'd get by taking them to a recycling plant, because (yes, kids) there was a time when they paid you to do that.

Still, it's a beauty, and Mike Ridley's black-sharpied signature on it, complete with his uniform number (17) tagged at the end, just adds to it.

Although Ridley was never drafted and spent some time in Tier II Juniors and the Canadian Collegiate system, he made an impact the second he was invited to a New York Rangers training camp, instantly becoming the team's second-line center and contributing 65 points, finishing fourth in Calder voting although he garnered 20 more points than the second-place Wendel Clark; Gary Suter is the one who won the Rookie Of The Year award that year. He followed that with 14 points in 16 playoff games, and a Stanley Cup Final may have been in the cards had it not been for Patrick Roy's heroics single-handedly winning the Montréal Canadiens the Cup.

Midway through his sophomore season, the Rangers sent him to the Washington Capitals, where he would shine for seven and a half years, accumulating 547 points in 588 games, including a 41-goal season in 1988-89.

He followed that up with a short tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where head coach Pat Burns didn't like smooth and skilled players, preferring brawn, and he was promptly shipped to the Vancouver Canucks for rugged veteran Sergio Momesso. It was Ridley who scored the Canucks' first goal at General Motors Place (now Rogers Arena).

Although his time in Vancouver was synonymous with herniated disks and back pain, he still managed to put 26 goals, 47 assists and 73 points on the scorecard in 112 games with the team, and 4 more points in 4 games with their AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose when giving it a final go in 1997-98.

Throughout his career, he garnered Selke and Lady Byng votes, proving his two-way gentlemanly play was respected by everyone in the game.

Yvon Labre Autographed Card

Some of the worst NHL teams of all time were expansion teams, and none were worse than the 1974-75 Washington Capitals. They won just a single game on the road that year, en route to a 8-67-5 record.

On that team, some players even struggled to make the team those first few years, leaving the impression that they weren't much themselves. Among those was a slow defensive defenseman by the name of Yvon Labre, who scored a grand total of 14 career goals. That, of course, is forgetting he won a Best Defenseman award in Metro Junior B and not knowing his combativeness.

By 1976, he was the team's captain, a title he held for two seasons until star player and future NHL head coach Guy Charron took over. Playing in the same division as the Philadelphia Flyers and stacked teams such as the Montréal Canadiens, New York Rangers and New York Islanders (depending on the season), the Caps needed someone who wouldn't be afraid to take to the ice and view it as trenches in a war - especially at the Spectrum. Labre was there, always ready for a fight. He didn't win many of them, but he kept going at it.

To everyone's surprise - including Labre himself - the Capitals retired his #7 in 1981 after he retired due to a knee injury. That was a classy move. Weird, but classy. Perhaps the fact that he scored the team's first home goal (against Hall of Famer Rogatien Vachon) played into it as well.

Post-retirement, Labre remained in the organization, serving many roles ranging from assistant coach, colour commentator, scout to director of community relations for the Capitals, a role he was prepared for from his playing days, as he was very involved in the community.

Here he is sporting the Caps' classic white (home) uniform, on card #61 from O-Pee-Chee's 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee set:

He signed it in black ball-point pen - my autograph weapon of choice when I was a kid - at a game where he followed the Capitals at the Montréal Forum. I'm thinking it was the game that ended in a 0-0 tie where Pete Peeters and Patrick Roy both got the shutout although the Habs clearly scored but were denied the goal by the referee.

Olaf Kolzig Autographed Card

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow collector named Aaron contacted me for a trade; one day was all it took for us to agree on the terms of the trade: I would send him a card of Jhonas Enroth's I'd featured in 2014 for this one of Olaf Kolzig:

That's card #200 from Upper Deck's 2003-04 Victory set, which he signed in blue sharpie.

Upon agreeing to the trade, I set my entire binder of players whose last names start with the letter "E" aside and asked Aaron if he had a story pertaining to the card that I could share when showing it off; it turns out he didn't, he got it in another trade, presumably with the person who acquired the signature, and hadn't thought of asking for specific details.

Still, I have a story with this card anyway, one in which I do not come out in a very positive light and, hopefully, this is just what I need to get the situation corrected.

You see, I set the Enroth card aside, as well as the rest of the binder containing my special cards of Jordan Eberle, among others, yet it has eluded me ever since. I've turned my (relatively small) apartment upside down three times already, and with work (playing music gigs outside of town at night and doing freelance translations by day) and the rest of my life, it's literally been weeks since I promised to send my end of the deal.

I even offered Aaron to just send the Kolzig back right away and the Enroth when I find it - he's actually a fan, and it was my only card of his, so he'd likely have a much better use for it than I would, and he would probably deserve getting it for free anyway - but he has given me more time to look for it.

Here's hoping karma or some other mystic form of goodwill compensation helps me fall onto it soon. This is not a good feeling at all. It dampens my enthusiasm of adding to my Kolzig collection, and I'm certain the former Vezina winner and Conn Smythe finalist wouldn't be proud.

Steve Konowalchuk Autograph Card

The Washington Capitals have clinched the Presidents' Trophy for the second consecutive season, but getting out of the Metropolitan Division won't be a cakewalk, seeing as it's home to three of the top five teams in the league - points-wise, at least, although the division's basement-dwellers were among the worst in the league - but it must be pointed out that one of those will be eliminated when the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hopefully, the Jackets make it through.

The Caps really are a force, having the most offensive depth in the league (Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Justin Williams, André Burakovsky, Tom Wilson, Marcus Johansson, Lars Eller, Daniel Winnik, and Jay Beagle), the best goalie in the game in Braden Holtby, a very reliable defense that operates without a superstar (John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov, Matt Niskanen, Karl Alzner, Brooks Orpik, trade deadline acquisition Kevin Shattenkirk, Nate Schmidt, John Erskine and Taylor Chorney), and one of the best coaching minds in the league in Barry Trotz.

Here's an error card of former Cap two-way center Steve Konowalchuk (spelled "Konowalchuk"), showing him with the team's turn-of-the-millennium dark blue (away) uniform with the Capitol building logo, which is the signed silver version insert of card #13 from In The Game's 2000-01 Be A Player Signature Series set, autographed on-card in thin black sharpie:

When he first joined the Caps, who had drafted him 58th overall in 1991, he was slotted behind Dale Hunter, Dave Poulin, Michal Pivonka and Joé Juneau but climbed the ranks steadily, earning his teammates' respect enough to serve as captain (2001-03) until he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. He could be depended upon for 40-some points each season in the era between the first two Gary Bettman-led lockouts (from 1995-96 until 2003-04).

He earned enough league-wide respect to not only be selected as a depth player for Team USA's 1996 World Cup run, but even to suit up in a game and help it earn the win. He also played in the 2000 (5th-place finish) and 2002 (7th place) World Championships.

Following his playing career, he spent time with the Avs in player development roles and two seasons as an assistant coach before becoming the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds head coach in 2011-12; the team lost in the Finals last season and boasts an even better record (46-20-0, for a .681 win percentage) this year.

Dave Poulin Autograph Card

One thing that's cool about players from the 1980s and early 1990s is that they were entirely relatable to me; most of them were my parents' age, and most started playing seriously when I was born, or when I was a child.

Such was the case for former Philadelphia Flyers captain Dave Poulin, who was born the same year as my Mom and started playing College Hockey for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish the year I was born, then went on to star in the NHL during all of my formative years.

Undrafted after his four seasons at Notre Dame, Poulin had a busy 1982-83, playing in Sweden for Division 1 team Rögle Bandyklubb (a.k.a. Rögle BK) for head coach Ted Sator, who moonlighted as the Flyers' power skating instructor and Swedish league scout, and upon the season's end promptly recommended him to his "other" employer, who opted to have him start with the AHL's Maine Mariners, where he was a point-per-game player (7 goals, 9 assists for 16 points in 16 games), earning him a call-up with the parent team to end the season, playing the final two regular-season games (scoring two goals) and three playoff games (posting 4 points), skating alongside future Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler and future star player Ilka Sinisalo.

The next season, he would line up with Tim Kerr and Brian Propp on perhaps the best two-way line in the entire league. Another Flyers playoff defeat signaled the end of an era with the team, and their captain and leader Bobby Clarke retired and was named GM, and fiery Mike Keenan was made head coach, meaning Poulin was thrust into a leadership role wearing the "C" on his chest at just 25 years old, in his second full season.

On a team that featured award-winning goaltending (Pelle Lindbergh first, and upon his death, Ron Hextall), Poulin was chosen to represent the team at the All-Star Game in three straight seasons, with a Selke Trophy win to end the 1986-87 season, after posting a +47 rating. The Flyers went to their second Stanley Cup Final in three years that season, but lost to the Edmonton Oilers.

After a disappointing 1988-89 and early 1989-90, the Flyers tore down their nucleus and traded Poulin to the Boston Bruins (for super-pest Ken Linseman), where he was reunited with Propp, leading the Bs to the Cup Final... which they lost to the Oilers.

In his final season with Boston, in 1992-93, he won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for his charitable work. He then spent two seasons with his former rivals, the Washington Capitals, retiring after the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season to become head coach at his alma mater, Notre Dame, for a full decade, with 19 of his players getting drafted by NHL teams.

My favourite quote of his is this one:

It's important as an athlete to know your limits and play within yourself. However, it's best to play at the upper limits. Everyone has limitations – it's how far you push the top end of them that makes you distinctly different and successful.

Here's a card of his from his final season, so with the Caps:

It's the signed insert version of card #124 from Upper Deck's 1994-95 Be A Player set, an NHLPA-only licensed product, which is why they do not name the team he plays for nor shows their logo, though it's clear he's wearing their classic red (then-away) uniform. He signed it in black sharpie and tagged his Caps jersey number (9) at the end.

Brendan Witt Autograph Card

In the 1990s, the Washington Capitals had a habit of selecting tough guys early in the draft, and they continued down that path in 1993 when they made Brendan Witt the 11th overall selection, ahead of the likes of All-Stars Kenny Jonsson (12th), Adam Deadmarsh (14th), Jason Allison (17th), Finnish legend Saku Koivu (21st), Todd Bertuzzi (23rd), Janne Niinimaa (36th), Bryan McCabe (40th), Éric Dazé (90th), Miroslav Satan (111th), Tommy Salo (118th), Patrick Lalime (156th), Manny Legace (188th), Pavol Demitra (227th), and Kimmo Timonen (250th).

However, none of those players have 1424 career penalty minutes, nor were run over by an SUV making an illegal turn only to participate in his team's (the New York Islanders, at that point) morning skate mere hours later.

The Caps loved Witt so much they made him co-captain (with Steve Konowalchuk) for the 2001-02 season, until they revoked the title from him at the beginning of the following season; he eventually asked for a trade in 2005, a demand the team acquiesced to in March 2006, sending him to the Nashville Predators for former Caps first-rounder Kris Beech and the first-round pick that became Semyon Varlamov.

A three-time member of the 200-PIM club in Juniors, his highest single-season total in an NHL sin bin was the season he split between the Preds and Caps, with 209, followed by 131 in 2006-07 with the Isles.

Upon retiring, he and is family moved to a log cabin in Montana, which he put up for sale earlier this year as the group was preparing to move to California so their daughter could study in marine biology.

In The Game included him in their 2013-14 Enforcers II set (and Autograph sub-set), showing him with the Capitals:

It's card #A-BW in the series.

Philipp Grubauer Autograph Card

For a long time, the Washington Capitals had plenty of goaltending prospects in the pipeline but, because of a lack of a clear #1 under whom the others could start as understudies, strong goalies the likes of Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth didn't take the pole position quickly enough for the team and were sacrificed, with Braden Holtby eventually grabbing the reins.

And now that Holtby is among the NHL's elite, his backup is posting numbers that are just as good; indeed, Philipp Grubauer's season and career numbers are impressive:

His save percentage is pretty consistent throughout, despite having yet to record a shutout (something I can definitely relate to).

There are only 30 starting gigs in the NHL, so the 24-year-old may have to wait a bit to catch on somewhere permanently, though there will eventually be spots opening up, notably with the Florida Panthers as Roberto Luongo turns 37 next year. The Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, Arizona Coyotes and Dallas Stars might also likely need a boost on the back end at some point in the near future.

In the meantime, here he is wearing the Caps' #31 red (home) uniform, from Panini's 2013-14 Score set and Hot Rookies and Dual Rookie Class sub-sets:

It's the signed insert version of card #619, featuring an on-sticker autograph in blue sharpie.

Don Beaupre Autographed Card

Going into the All-Star break, the Washington Capitals are leading the NHL with 73 points ahead of defending Stanley Cup champions Chicago Blackhawks, offensive powerhouse Dallas Stars, regular-season juggernaut St. Louis Blues, the perfectly-balanced Los Angeles Kings and the rising Florida Panthers, with games in hand on everybody, ranging from 2 (Kings) to 7 (Hawks!).

They are currently on pace for 130 points, which would not only shatter their team record of 121 (reached in 2009-10, though they were ousted in the first round that year by Jaroslav Halak and the Montréal Canadiens), but they're also on pace to break the Detroit Red Wings' 124 points from 2005-06, which marks the highest total since the season-long 2004-05 lockout.

Alex Ovechkin remains a scoring machine, Nicklas Backstrom remains an elite set-up man, Braden Holtby is the early favourite to win the Vezina Trophy (ahead, in my opinion, of Corey Crawford and Roberto Luongo), and head coach Barry Trotz looks like he's in full control of the situation.

Speaking of All-Stars and goalies, here's a card I uncovered recently when going through old stuff, actually looking for old textbooks full of songs as I was preparing for my first-ever all-French show on January 15th:

That's Don Beaupre, of course, the two-time All-Star, who was wearing Cooper equipment instead of the Vaughn gear he'd wear a few years later. It's card #307 from Pro Set's inaugural 1990-91 Series 1 collection, which he signed in thick blue sharpie, which pinpoints this to probably just before I stopped paying attention to hockey for a few years, so probably November 18th, 1995, as his Ottawa Senators lost to Patrick Roy and the Habs, two weeks before the infamous trade that burried the Canadiens for over a decade and was the final nail in the coffin of my rooting for them, following the trades of Guy Carbonneau, Chris Nilan, Éric Desjardins, John LeClair, and Donald Brashear, and the naming of Vincent Damphousse as captain (terrific player, not a guy you want to have as a leader).

But I digress. Beaupre was a fine goaltender, often found in the top-5 in many categories, notably goals-against average and shutouts, in which he led the league (with 5) in 1990-91, while with the Caps. He played parts of six seasons in Washington D.C., for 269 regular-season games and 36 more in the playoffs, but spent eight and a half seasons with the Minnesota North Stars (316 regular-season games and 34 in the postseason), so he was a big part of two different teams.

Tomas Fleischmann & Milan Hejduk Dual Jersey Card

Today's card comes from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Rookie Update set (card #237 of the Rookie Inspirations sub-set), a Dual Jersey Card featuring a rookie and a veteran that I got as an add-on in a trade roughly a year ago:

I guess Tomas Fleischmann and Milan Hejduk were paired on this card because they're both Czechs... because there was no way for UD to know they would eventually both suit up for the Colorado Avalanche in 2010-11, with Fleischmann posting 21 points in 22 games to revive his career before moving onto the Florida Panthers.

He had three other seasons where his point production averaged nearly one per game, in 2009-10 with the Washington Capitals (23 goals, 28 assists, 51 points in 69 games) and in consecutive years with the Panthers, in 2011-12 (27 goals, 34 assists, 61 points in 82 games) and 2012-13 (12 goals, 23 assists, 35 points in 48 games).

Paired with David Desharnais on an unusually strong third line with the Montréal Canadiens this season, he currently stands at 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 13 games having signed a one-year deal after attending training camp on a PTO. He had three points against the Winnipeg Jets last night in a 5-1 win.

Still, those numbers are far from Hejduk's, who won the Maurice ''Rocket'' Richard Trophy as the NHL's best goal-scorer (with 50) in 2002-03 and finished his All-Star career with 805 points (375 goals, 430 assists) in 1020 games (plus another 34-42-76 in 112 playoff games, culminating with the 2001 Stanley Cup). He surpassed the 70-point mark on five separate occasions, with a high of 98 in 2002-03.

Internationally, Fleischmann has a bronze medal from the 2002 U-18s, while Hejduk has Olympic gold (1998) and bronze (2006), as well as a bronze medal from the 1998 World Championships and a third-place finish at the 2004 World Cup. With Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek, he was the Czech Team at the turn of the millennium.

Olaf Kolzig Jersey Card

In The Game has a thing for Olaf Kolzig, I guess, seemingly always featuring him in their sets of game-worn jerseys - and I sure won't complain. In the case of their 2003-04 In The Game-Used set, this card (#GUJ-32 in the collection) shows him in his prime, with the Washington Capitals' dark blue (then-away) uniform with the Capitol building logo and a matching swatch:

I prefer the Caps wearing red, but this was a decent jersey nonetheless, though the gold/bronze stripes didn't look as good on players' equipment as it did on the uniform.

Kolzig spent 16 years in the Caps' system, upon being drafted in 1989. If it wasn't for 8 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008-09 in which he obtained just 2 wins, he would have spent his entire career with Washington.

He has a Vezina to his name as well as a King Clancy and a First-Team All-Star nod, two All-Star Games, another Vezina top-5 run, Hart votes in two seasons, and a Stanley Cup Finals loss on his NHL resume to go with a Butterfield trophy (playoff MVP) and Hap Holmes award (best GAA) in the AHL, and a league championship in Germany during the 2004-05 lockout.

He was the Caps' goaltending coach last year, but asked to be re-assigned this season to player development coach; he will also serve as part-time goalie coach, but will no longer have to be on the road with the team at all times, so he can spend more time with his family.