Corey Perry Jersey Card

Inevitably, the Anaheim Ducks lost a Game 7 after winning their division; as was the case when he was with the Washington Capitals, head coach Bruce Boudreau was soon dismissed. Goal-less sniper Corey Perry (who I dropped in my keeper pool along with Ryan Getzlaf in favor of Henrik Lundqvist and Jakub Voracek) shouldered the blame, but it was still on the coach to devise a strategy to beat his adversaries and to have the know-how to prepare his team for the ultimate game.

Boudreau. Who is 1-7 in Game 7s. And whose teams - always the highest seed and, thus, playing at home - inevitably fall behind in the decisive game.

Perry can cry that his four assists in seven games are a disappointment, but Boudreau never provided him with an environment in which he could get better match-ups against the Nashville Predators' best defensemen, nor with a game plan that would use his strengths against the opponents' weaknesses.

Perry's won the Stanley Cup and three gold medals with Team Canada (at the 2005 World Juniors as well as the 2010 and 2014 Olympics); he can play under pressure, he can play a disciplined game (apart from not giving cheap shots, which come just after goal scoring as his main contributions to the game), he's experienced enough to let the opportunities come to him and not force a play that will lead to an awful mistake. He's a safe player to have on the ice. He shouldn't take the blame by himself.

Here is the 2010-11 Hart and Maurice Richard winner wearing the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's purple (away) uniform from Fleer's 2005-06 Fleer Ultra collection and Scoring Kings sub-set, manufactured by Upper Deck:

It features a white swatch from a jersey that was worn in a rookie photo shoot.

Peter Forsberg Jersey Card

It feels weird to say, but with the Montréal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers now out of contention, the Nashville Predators are now one of a few teams I wish good to (along with the Washington Capitals for Alex Ovechkin, Dallas Stars for Jason Spezza, New York Islanders if Jaroslav Halak comes back and Tampa Bay Lightning for Ben Bishop), and I was more than happy to see them eliminate the Anaheim Ducks, even though I didn't think they would.

I really like Pekka Rinne, Mike Fisher, and Mike Ribeiro, Shea Weber is a terrific defenseman, and Jack Laviolette is a perfect coach to follow up a defensive-minded coach who put a good system in place (as Barry Trotz had), in that he lets the players use their maturity and what they've learned but lets them be creative on offense; it's a complementary system that works well with veteran teams who have just a few young guys come in to give the older players a spark, like when he led the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006. He's also be perfect in following a Ken Hitchcock or a Mike Babcock.

And so I pay tribute to the Preds today by showcasing a card of a player most of us forget ever played in Nashville, with a card I hinted to earlier this week, #GJ-FO from Upper Deck's 2014-15 Series 1 set and UD Game Jersey sub-set:

That is, of course, Hall Of Famer Peter Forsberg wearing the team's former blue (away) uniform, with a silver game-worn jersey swatch that could very well have come from that jersey (or the Colorado Avalanche's).

Bill Muckalt Autograph Card

The New York Islanders took Game 1 of their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, so I thought it'd be nice to show off this card of Bill Muckalt's from Upper Deck's 1999-2000 SP Authentic set (card #BM of the Sign Of The Times sub-set) to celebrate:

It shows him wearing the Isles' turn-of-the-millennium blue (away) uniform, shortly after the Captain Highliner debacle.

Muckalt played in 256 regular-season NHL games, scoring 40 goals with 57 assists for 97 points; he also accrued 204 penalty minutes in that span and suited up for five playoff games with the Minnesota Wild in 2002-03, going pointless.

Gabriel Bourque Autograph Card

Technically, at 25 years old, Gabriel Bourque should be entering his prime years as a point producer in the NHL. The diminutive winger - listed at 5'10" and 190 pounds, and while the weight seems right, he seems a couple of inches shorter than that in person - was drafted (132nd overall in 2009) by the Nashville Predators specifically because he was a point-per-game performer in Juniors, both in the regular season and the playoffs.

However, an undisclosed injury and added forward depth in the Preds' line-up have limited him to 22 games in Nashville (plus 4 with the Milwaukee Admirals on a conditioning stint); in fact, he only has 4 points to show for this year, partly because he's only averaging 12 minutes per game, down from nearly 16 just three seasons ago, when he had 11 goals and 16 points in 34 games.

He's quick and is as good setting up teammates as he is burying the puck in the net, but I do realize that having, say, both Bourque and Mike Ribeiro on the same line makes for a trio that is likely to get pushed around by rough teams such as the Anaheim Ducks.

Still, it must not have been easy for Bourque to be a healthy scratch since his call-up over a month ago, particularly considering his last NHL action was four minutes of play on November 27th.

He'll be a restricted free agent this summer and will have very little bargaining power.

Here he is in the Predators' awful yellow (home) uniform, on card #23 from Panini's 2012-13 Prime set (and Prime Signatures sub-set), which I traded for doubles of Peter Forsberg jersey cards last year:

He signed it on-card in blue sharpie, with his jersey number (57) tagged at the end. It's numbered 43/99.

Kyle Okposo Swatch Card

The New York Islanders eliminated the Florida Panthers this weekend, and much was said about the clutch performances of John Tavares and Thomas Greiss, and deservedly so. But second on the team in scoring was Kyle Okposo, with 6 points in 6 games against the Cats.

The seventh-overall pick of the 2006 draft and upcoming free agent has been a consistent force for the past three seasons, with 184 points in 210 games, 67 of them goals. He's not the biggest at 6'1" and 200 pounds but he's hard to knock off the puck and wins most of his battles along the boards.

He'll be relied upon even more evidently to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the next round.

Here is a nice close-up of him in the Isles' almost-retro/current blue (home) uniform, from Panini's 2013-14 Titanium set (and Game-Worn Gear) sub-set, card #GG-KO in the series), with the alternate captain's "A" and featuring a white game-worn jersey swatch:

He complained about the ice at Barclays Center last month; here's hoping an upcoming heat wave doesn't make it worse.