Ciara Price Autograph Card

Happy Valentine's Day!

To get there, here's card #RB-CP from Benchwarmer's 2015 Signature Series set, featuring none other than Ciara Price, the Maine-born model-turned-DJ:

It features a black-sharpied on-card autograph (with a heart tagged at the end of it) and a superb gold/black/red design and colour palette.

Here's the back:

If I remember correctly, she now has a tattoo on the left side of her back where her bikini top is, and another on her right butt cheek.

Formerly linked to rugby player Mitchell Pearce, UFC fighter Sean Loeffler and the Dallas Stars' Tyler Seguin, she usually likes her men built and slightly bearded - and her sports tough and physical.

She was Playboy's Playmate Of The Month in November 2011, and also graced the cover two more times after that.

Glenn Close Swatch Card

I recently watched Guardians Of The Galaxy for the second time, as the sequel's trailer made the rounds at the Super Bowl, looking good enough to go see in theaters, which in turn made me think of this card I got in a trade earlier this winter:

That's Glenn Close  - playing the role of Nova Prime - and two wardrobe pieces from the set of the first film, on card #CS-9 from Marvel's 2014 Guardians Of The Galaxy set and Cosmic Strings sub-set, manufactured by Upper Deck.

She will reprise her role as chief of the intergalactic police force in the next movie as well.

You may recall her from 101 Dalmatians (1996), but she received Academy Award nominations for The World According to Garp (1982), The Big Chill (1983), The Natural (1984), Fatal Attraction (1987), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), and Albert Nobbs (2011) - the first three sor Best Supporting Actress, the latter for Best Actress.

While she has yet to win an Oscar, she has three Tonys, three Emmys, two Golden Globes, a Drama Desk Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has also been inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Craig Anderson Jersey Card

It's been a hell of a season for Craig Anderson, what with staying home to help his wife in her battle against cancer, yet coming back for shutout wins against the Edmonton Oilers and now the surging New York Islanders.

I've been a fan of Anderson's since he came to the Ottawa Senators in 2011 and just took possession of the net, never relinquishing his starter status even when the team had such viable and younger backups as Ben Bishop, Brian Elliott and Robin Lehner. He just wouldn't budge and kept offering strong performances, which is why I'm not surprised he's currently in the top-5 in the NHL with a 2.34 GAA, .927 save percentage, and 4 shutouts in 20 games, for an average of 1 every 5 games.

I've said it before, but I'll display the staggering statistics, just for fun: he's also bested Carey Price in both playoff series where they've faced each other, which happened to be in a three-year span, starting with 2013:

Oh yeah, Price has a tendency to get injured when things don't go his way, and let the other goalie face elimination

But even when the Sens lose, Anderson's still on top, as can be attested by when they faced each other in 2015 (keep in mind Anderson came into game 3 without having played in months due to injury, the Sens losing the series 2-0, as they'd played Andrew Hammond first, who was in better game shape and had just been in a Cinderella run):

Both did well in 2015 (it was Price's dream season, after all), but Anderson was better. He just has that ability to shut the door when it matters, under pressure.

And this is why I'm giving him another nod today, as he's making a strong case for the Bill Masterton Trophy, which recognized perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game, with card #GJ-CA from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

It shows him wearing the Sens' red (home) uniform, wearing his Colorado Avalanche blocker and glove; it features a white (presumably from his days with the Avs, perhaps going as far back as his days with the Chicago Blackhawks or Florida Panthers) game-worn jersey swatch.

Steve Bégin: 3 Autographed Cards

Steve Bégin was an impossible-to-dislike grinder and penalty-killing specialist with a huge heart who was almost a spiritual captain on the Montréal Canadiens from 2003 until 2009, often needing a ridiculous injury to keep him off the ice, usually two at once.

He was forced to retire after years of enduring hip pain that the Boston Bruins' medical team had told him was "normal" for "many" hockey players, that could be operated on upon retiring. Three and a half years after retirement, he still ails, despite an operation by the Nashville Predators staff.

Still, he and Georges St-Pierre held a press conference earlier today promoting Challenge U, an app that enables folks to earn their high school diploma. Bégin, who had to quit school to move from Trois-Rivières to Val d'Or to play Juniors, has now vowed to finish high school before his teenage daughters, one of whom is a Senior.

So, yeah, he's still impossible to dislike.

Here he is with the Calgary Flames, the team who drafted him 40th overall (second round) in 1996 and with whom he retired, wearing their red turn-of-the-millennium red (away) uniform, on card #299 from Topps' 2000-01 O-Pee-Chee set and NHL Prospects sub-set:

Like most Quebecers, however, I will remember him most fondly from his days with the Habs.

First, here he is wearing the team's white (then-home) uniform, on card #257 from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Parkhurst collection:

And here he is with the classic red uniform, on card #264 from UD's 2006-07 O-Pee-Chee set:

With that, he is included in both my Habs Numbers Project and Flames Numbers Project (twice).

He signed all three cards in blue sharpie, adding his uniform numbers (7 and 22) at the end, though it seems he mixed up the numbers on the Flames and white uniform Habs cards!

Cam Neely Jersey Card

It had been years in the making, but Boston Bruins President Cam Neely has finally okayed the firing of head coach Claude Julien, whom he inherited from previous regimes; indeed, Julien had been head coach of the Bruins since June 2007, whereas Hall Of Famer and former star power forward Neely returned to the organization in a front office capacity first as VP in September 2007, then as President in 2010.

In the meantime, Julien had coached the team to a Stanley Cup (2011), another Final (2013) and a Presidents Trophy (2013-14), earning the Jack Adams Trophy (2008-09) in his tenure as well, which he concluded as the franchise's winningest head coach. He had missed the postseason these past two years and was outside the playoff picture as of his firing as well.

Neely, on the other hand, has fired GM Peter Chiarelli and hired Don Sweeney to replace him; the next coaching nomination could spell the end for either or both of these Bruins alumni.

Neely had also been a contested inclusion in the Hall Of Fame, having never won a major award - the only hardware he owns from his playing days is a Masterton for his comeback season in 1993-94 - nor participated in noteworthy international competitions.

He had three 50-goal seasons in the high-scoring 1980s, and retired short of the point-per-game mark (395 goals, 299 assists and 694 points in 726 games, plus another 57-32-89 in 92 playoff games, reaching the Final twice and losing to the Edmonton Oilers both times).

Was he good? Undoubtedly. Great? That's debatable. In an era that featured most of the record-setting seasons of all time, he stands behind contemporaries Brett Hull, Jari Kurri, Mike Bossy, Pavel Bure, Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne and Sergei Makarov for sure. Alex Kovalev - a 1000-point man and Stanley Cup winner of whom Mario Lemieux once said had the "greatest hands (he'd) ever seen" - as well.

At best, he's equal to Dino Ciccarelli, Alexander Mogilny, Steve Larmer, Owen Nolan and Theo Fleury, which means slightly superior to Claude Lemieux, Mike Gartner, Brian Bellows, Glenn Anderson and Brendan Shanahan (in that order, probably).

Because he came before the likes of Keith Tkachuk, Éric Dazé, Tony Amonte and Todd Bertuzzi, I will gladly slot him ahead of them. Later, however, Jarome Iginla, was much more dominating at his position (right wing), as was Daniel Alfredsson.

Here he is wearing the Bs' classic 1980s black (away) uniform with the alternate captain's "A" on card #WM-CN from Upper Deck's 2010-11 SPX set and Winning Materials sub-set:

It features black and yellow game-worn jersey swatches. I got it in a trade a couple of years ago, I forgot what I sent in exchange.

Pat Falloon Autograph Card

10. X. Ten.

Ten days from now, I will lose my daytime job as a marketing consultant and translator at a market research firm I'd been with for over five years, after spending ten with another one before that. Both had been founded in 1984.

Which leads me to this Pat Falloon card I thought I'd feature today, featuring him wearing #10 with the Edmonton Oilers:

It's the (silver) signed insert version of card #205 from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set, showing him wearing the Oilers' dark blue (away) turn-of-the-millennium uniform.

People like to rag on Falloon as a failed draft pick, and though the second-overall pick didn't reach the 1000-point or 1000-game mark, his 0.56 point-per-game average (322 points in 575 NHL games) is better than many. It just falls very short of Eric Lindros' (1.14), the guy who was picked ahead of him, relegating Falloon to the rank of "consolation prize"...

Which is how I'm trying to view my upcoming situation: I released two books in 2016. I played shows. I wrote new music. I have a shot at my first-overall passion, and I'm going for it; if it fails, I'll see what other options lie before me, and if and when I get there, I'll use it to make the best of both of us - the job and I - and how to use each other's strengths to make for a better team overall.

That's where I'm at, just past my mid-thirties.

Brandon Robinson Autograph Card

Brandon Robinson was an OHL first-rounder when the Brampton Battalion selected him prior to the 2011-12 season, and the fact that he played in the league for five full seasons is a testament that he knows how to play hockey, but also that he failed to meet expectations in the sense that not only was he never drafted by an NHL team, but that he also failed to secure a professional roster spot in the ECHL at 20 or 21 years old, though he did attend a Detroit Red Wings rookie camp.

In two and a half years with the Battalion and the same length of time with the Kitchener Rangers, Robinson never was a point-per-game player, despite playing a hard-hitting game with a good shot, and improving his skating nearly every year. His best season in Juniors was in 2014-15, when he scored 25 goals with 29 assists for 54 points in 62 games.

This season, he's got 9 goals and 5 assists for 14 points in 21 games so far with the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks.

Here he is wearing the North Bay Battalion's (the team moved prior to his third season) white uniform, on card #A-BR1 from In the Game's 2013-14 Draft Series set and Draft Prospect sub-set:

He signed it on-card in black sharpie.

Joni Pitkanen Jersey Card

I briefly mentioned Joni Pitkanen when talking about the 2005-06 Philadelphia Flyers yesterday, which reminded me I'd been aiming to feature this card for a while now:

That's card #FI-JP from Upper Deck's 2005-06 Ice set and Fresh Ice sub-set, showing him in the Flyers' turn-of-the-millennium black uniform, and featuring an orange game-worn jersey swatch. What's great about it is it's made of plastic and the bottom-left, where it says Ice, is see-through.

Pitkanen retired in February 2016, after playing three games with the Finnish team Oulun Kärpät, scoring one goal in the process. He hadn't played a game in the three years prior, after suffering a broken heel while with the Carolina Hurricanes.

In nine NHL seasons, he reached the 40-point mark three times, twice with the Flyers, once with the Canes. He also spent one season with the Edmonton Oilers, posting 26 points (8 goals and 18 assists) in 62 games in 2007-08.

Internationally, he has two bronze medals with Team Finland at the World Juniors (2002 and 2003, in the first golden age of Finnish hockey) as well as one at the 2010 Olympics.

Turner Stevenson Autograph Card

Montréal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty has been on a tear lately, which may have something to do with playing with offensive genius Alexander Radulov and perhaps also with Team USA head coach John Tortorella singling him out during the World Cup. Or perhaps he has finally found the maturity to be able to lead an NHL team.

Whatever the reason, though, Pacioretty has now elevated his game to that of a big-time player, no longer a 30-goal scorer specializing in scoring hat tricks in 6-3 losses but an actual difference maker.

That's a pretty long detour to come back to Turner Stevenson, isn't it?

Pacioretty was a 22th overall pick in 2007, thought to be a power forward in the making; Stevenson was drafted 12th overall in 1990, with similar aspirations.

Obviously, with 75 goals in 644 games, Stevenson became something other than a first-line John LeClair-type, but no one can take away his Stanley Cup (2002-03, with the New Jersey Devils), something Pacioretty still lacks; the latter does have three straight 30-goal seasons and is five removed from a fourth this year, however.

I actually thought the 2005-06 Philadelphia Flyers, coached by Ken Hitchcock and featuring Stevenson in a reduced role but also the likes of Simon Gagné, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Peter Forsberg, Joni Pitkanen, R.J. Umberger, Éric Desjardins, Derian Hatcher, Petr Nedved, Donald Brashear and an injured Keith Primeau would win it again, but unfortunately, they were brought down by Carter and Richards' lack of maturity and hard-partying ways, as well as shoddy goaltending from Robert Esche and Antero Niittymaki.

And so today, reminiscing about the times when the Habs would select heavy guys from the WHL in the first round instead of American kids looking at four years of College Hockey, I have decided to feature the signed silver version of card #71 from In The Game's 1998-99 Be A Player set:

It shows him wearing the Canadiens' white (then-home) uniform, and a thin black-sharpied on-card autograph.

Gaston Gingras Autographed Card

What a weird season for St. Louis Blues fans... but totally in line with what a Bob Gainey-led organization - he's currently a "special advisor to GM Doug Armstrong", his protégé from their Dallas Stars days - feels like, as many of the moves and results are reminiscent of his time as Montréal Canadiens General Manager...

First, anointing a #1 goalie without competition too early is one of his signature moves, one he pulled with Carey Price six years too early, trading a staggering number of #1 goalies to make room for him, among which Vezina and Hart winner José Theodore, David Aebischer, Crozier winner Cristobal Huet, and of course playoff wunderkind Jaroslav Halak. Then came appointing no-threat backups, such as Peter Budaj, who just spent two full seasons in the AHL (although, to be honest, I would have put him in this year's All-Star Game).

To make room for Jake Allen to star in net, the Blues first got rid of now-Jennings winner Halak themselves, then co-Jennings winner Brian Elliott this summer, to install Carter Hutton as backup, who had one decent season out of the three-or-four he's played in so far.

Another signature Gainey move - and one that is rarer in professional hockey - is to have both the incumbent head coach and his heir behind the same bench, already labeled. With the Habs, upon firing Claude Julien, Gainey installed himself behind the bench to conclude the season, with "best friend" Guy Carbonneau as "associate head coach" to become full-time boss the next year.

In St. Louis, Ken Hitchcock, in the final season of his six-year term with the Blues, had next year's head coach Mike Yeo with him behind the bench. Not having the benefit of also being the team's GM, Hitchcock saw the players respond more to Yeo than himself, leading to his firing today; Armstrong said he had to let his "best friend go"...

Speaking of the stress of being in the final year of a contract, Gainey had no less than 13 skaters become free agents at the end of the 2008-09 season for a total of 22 player changes that summer - and not just bit players, either: out went ten-year captain Saku Koivu, All-Star Game MVP Alex Kovalev, first-liner Alex Tanguay, All-Star defenseman Mike Komisarek, as well as dependable players such as Tom Kostopoulos; in came Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, and no less than four new defensemen: Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Paul Mara and Marc-André Bergeron. Oh, and he traded for Scott Gomez...

In St. Louis this year, in addition to Hitchcock, several players are set to turn UFA this summer (Kevin Shattenkirk, Patrik Berglund, Scottie Upshall, Chris Butler) and a few will be RFAs (Nail Yakupov, Robby Fabbri, Colton Parayko, and pretty much everyone on the Chicago Wolves).

Speaking of Shattenkirk, one player he reminds me of is Gaston Gingras; they have similar styles of play, Gingras may have had a better shot and better skating ability and Shattenkirk may be better all-around, more physical and more impactful nowadays because of the way the game is played - which is why the current player is a #3 defender on a top-level team while Gingras was a #5 and powerplay specialist - but both are 40-some point producers while playing a sound game that moves the puck forward.

Here is Gingras, depicted with the Blues, on card #229 from O-Pee-Chee's 1987-88 O-Pee-Chee set, in one of those airbrushed photos they were so fond of:

Back in the day, OPC either airbrushed the player's new uniform on top of an older picture, or they just added "Now with X" in text on the picture when the design was too difficult or the trade/signing came too late in the summer.

Gingras played with Gainey on the Stanley Cup-winning 1986 Habs, with rookie Conn Smythe winner Patrick Roy in nets, which may have skewed his vision of how to deal with starting goalies. Speaking of which, the Blues also fired goaltending coach Jim Corsi, inventor of the Corsi shot-tracking pretend-advanced statistic, who paid for Allen's and Hutton's sub-par season, where they currently stand in 27th position overall. He was replaced by the two-headed monster of Martin Brodeur and Ty Conklin, because what the team needed this year was another scapegoat and another bizarre occurrence.

Oh, and by the way, the Habs had also let go of their goalie coach, Roland Melanson, after Price choked in the 2009 playoffs. Because history loves to repeat itself around Gainey.