Clarke MacArthur Autographed Card

Back in January, the Ottawa Senators announced they were shutting Clarke MacArthur down for the season due to post-concussion syndrome, and many thought it spelled the end for his career.

Until last night, when he suited up in a 2-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings:

It was only his fifth game since the start of the 2015-16 season.

This was 18 months in the making, and a grand moment for him and his family. We'll see where that leads, as concussions have a sneaky way of being symptom-free for a day or two then hitting back with a vengeance - and notwithstanding the fact that the playoffs are right around the corner and usually involve heavier hitting than the regular season - but, for now, this is a pure and positive a story as can be.

I wish him luck and health going forward.

Here he is wearing the Sens' white (now-away) uniform, on card #406 from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Series 2 set, which he signed in (fading) blue sharpie:

It depicts him fighting for the puck in front of then-Anaheim Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen, now with MacArthur's former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs... the Sens' likely first round opponents.

Paul Kariya Dual Jersey Card

It turns out the St. Louis Blues will be making the playoffs after all, despite having traded defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and fired head coach Ken Hitchcock. Good for them, though they will likely face the Minnesota Wild - no small task, considering they led the league standings nearly all year.

The Blues are one of two teams - with the Colorado Avalanche - with whom Paul Kariya has not had a point-per-game season. He was, of course, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's long-time captain, but many folks forget he also holds the Nashville Predators' team single-season marks for assists (54) and points (85), both set in 2005-06.

Kariya retired after taking the 2010-11 season off altogether while recovering from the many concussions he incurred during his career, which he ended with exactly 989 points (402 goals and 587 assists) in 989 regular-season games; it would have been nice to see him reach the 1000-point mark, but alas, like Wayne Gretzky before him, he fell victim to Gary Suter's medecine: a cross-check to the head that forced him to miss the 1998 Olympics. Gretzky had been cross-checked in the back during the 1991 Canada Cup.

Upon retiring, Kariya had some strong words towards the NHL's safety measures and correctional department. Things haven't changed all that much since - except for the fact that Kariya no longer attends games or cares about hockey.

Here he is wearing the Blues' post-lockout blue (home) uniform, on card #FF-PK from Upper Deck's 2007-08 Ice collection and Frozen Fabrics sub-set:

It features grey and white game-worn jersey swatches taken from the Preds' post-lockout uniforms.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson Autographed Card

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Oliver Ekman-Larsson will miss the Arizona Coyotes' final (and very meaningless) games as he will travel back to Sweden to attend his mother's funeral, then take time to grieve.

He'll turn 26 this summer, and the Coyotes are about to waste his prime years by remaining bottom-dwellers for at least two or three more seasons. And with the NHL now saying they won't be sending their players at next year's Olympics, the league may also be robbing him of a chance at another medal, after helping Team Sweden to silver at the 2014 Sochi Games.

He's yet to capture gold at any level, having also won silver at the 2011 World Championship, as well as bronze at the 2010 World Juniors, 2010 Worlds and 2016 World Cup.

He's literally All-World and holds the NHL record for most game-winning goals by a defenseman in a single season, with 8 - again, on the Coyotes, who barely win more than 8 games per season as a team. He's also the franchise's all-time leader in powerplay goals by a defenseman, having tied the Winnipeg Jets' 1980s reliable Fredrik Olausson last month, with two years remaining on his current contract and possibly a decade left playing the sport.

This year, there's pretty much no way the Norris Trophy doesn't go to Brent Burns. Erik Karlsson is probably still the best defenseman in the world, skill-wise, while Duncan Keith is probably the "best package".

The rest of the "current elite" class has to include Victor Hedman, P.K. Subban, Aaron Ekblad, Roman Josi, Mark Giordano, Kris Letang, Ryan McDonagh, Marc-Édouard Vlasic, John Carlson, Alex Pietrangelo and Ekman-Larsson, while the "still pretty great but on their way down" crowd includes the likes of Dustin Byfuglien, Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber, Drew Doughty, Ryan Suter, and Andrei Markov. The likes of Seth Jones and Zach Werenski are on the rise.

That is a mighty clogged list of defensemen deserving of end-of-the-year accolades, a rich crop reminiscent of the 1980s (Ray Bourque, Chris Chelios, Brian Leetch, Éric Desjardins, Larry Robinson, Al MacInnis, Denis Potvin, Mark Howe, Paul Coffey, Phil Housley, Gary Suter, Scott Stevens, Steve Duchesne, Doug Wilson, and so forth), so he may never get his hands on a Norris.

Our thoughts are with Ekman-Larsson in these hard times.

Here he is sporting the Phoenix Coyotes' former alternate uniform, on card #639 from Panini's 2010-11 Score Rookies And Traded set and Hot Rookies sub-set, which he signed in blue sharpie:

At this point, I'm tired of how pathetic the Coyotes franchise has become. I feel sorry for every talented player they have for how inept their management and ownership has been, is, and likely will remain. They are a joke, which isn't funny for players like Shane Doan, Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and a slew of other kids whose dreams are about to get shattered by the incompetence of those tasked with developing them.

Andrei Kovalenko Autographed Card

After entering him in my Oilers Numbers Project back in August, I thought I should feature Andrei Kovalenko once more to enshrine him as #51 in my Nordiques Numbers Project once and for all as well.

The 68 points (27 goals and 41 assists) he posted in his rookie season (1992-93) were not only a career-high for him, but also tops for a wearer of #51 in Québec Nordiques history, which makes him the perfect entry for said number, with card #122 from Leaf's 1993-94 Series 1 set, which he signed in blue sharpie:

What a beautiful uniform; this version, with the jersey numbers contoured in white, is particularly remarkable. That's the team's blue (away) uniform. He's seen here fighting for territorial advantage with the New York Rangers' Sergei Zubov, probably right after a face-off.

Kris King Autograph card

Kris King is the type of grinder that not everyone remembers the same way. His career-high in goals (11), assists (14) and points (25) all came in the high-scoring 199-91 season as a member of the New York Rangers, good for 11th on the team - which didn't even include Tony Amonte and Doug Weight, who only played in the postseason.

Most remember him for being a tough guy, twice surpassing the 200-PIM mark (286 in 1989-90 with the Rangers, 2005 in 1993-94 whilst with the Winnipeg Jets, and another 199 in 1997-98 with the Toronto Maple Leafs).

Those with pretty good memories will remember he also captained the Jets during the 1995-96 season, after superstar and previous captain Keith Tkachuk signed an offer sheet with the Chicago Blackhawks; the Jets didn't want their locker room leader to be a defector, so they punished him by making likeable King the face of the franchise; other options included superstar Teemu Selanne, long-time defenseman Teppo Numminen, veteran Ed Olkzyk, tough defenseman Dave Manson, and rookie Shane Doan.

Here's a card depicting him as such:

That's card #A-KK from In The Game's 2012-13 Decades - The 1990s set (and Autograph sub-set), which he signed on-card in black sharpie.

It was after his lone season as captain - the team gave the title back to Tkachuk upon moving to Phoenix - that King was awarded the King Clancy Trophy, which combines leadership and humanitarian qualities.

Nowadays, he works for the NHL's Toronto office, as Senior Director of Hockey Operations.