TTM Success: Steve Downie

  I was always a big Steve Downie fan.  I loved the way he played the game - with reckless abandon.  His career started out a bit too reckless as he was suspended for a vicious hit on Dean McAmmond in an exhibition game.  Downie was suspended 20 games before even playing an official NHL game.  The Flyers, who had drafted Downie in the 1st round in 2005, eventually tired of his act and sent him to Tampa in 2008.
  It was with the Tampa Bay Lightning that Downie, under the tutelage of Rick Tocchet, finally started to reel in his game and become a top 6 forward.  In 2009-10 Downie became the first player since 2002, to score 20 goals and get 200 PIM in the same season.  He also had a great post-season, helping the team make it to the semi-finals.  Downie wasn't able to build on that success and was traded to the Colorado Avanlache in 2012.  Downie finished the season strong with the Avs but was injured for almost the entire 2013 season.
  One of things I like about TTMing is learning about the players when you do research to make a kiss kick ass request letter.  Although sometimes you learn some things that aren't too flattering.  In junior, Downie attacked teammate Akim Aliu during a team practice. Downie, in his 3rd junior season, was upset that Aliu, a rookie, had refused to take part in a hazing incident, which involved being naked on the team bus. That's messed up.
  In the process of preparing a TTM, have you ever learned anything disagreeable about that player?

TTM Success: John Slaney

  John Slaney had a long professional career, albeit mostly in the AHL.  He played in 1124 games in 20 professional seasons, but he will best be remembered for a single moment before his pro career began; The Slaney Goal.  Before the influx of Eastern Bloc players in the early 1990s, it was only once every 4-5 years when the best players from Canada and Russia would face-off.  In between those years, it was at the World Juniors Hockey Championships where the two countries would battle for hockey supremacy.  January 4th, 1991, Canada versus Russia.  It was only a round robin game, but considering the standings, the winner would get Gold, or in Russia's case, a win or a tie for Gold.  With the score tied 2-2 and a little over 5 minutes remaining in the game, John Slaney picked off a clearing attempt at the blue line in the Russian zone and wired a slapshot past the Russian goalie.  The goal would clinch Canada's first ever back-to-back Gold medals in the tournament.  Slaney would go on to play 268 NHL games over 9 seasons with 7 different franchises.  He did find success in the AHL, setting a record for career points by a defenceman, since broken.  While Slaney never found the NHL success that was expected of him, he did have a very long pro career and will always be remembered for the Slaney Goal of 1991.

Take this Shutout and Shove it!

  Who doesn't like a good goalie fight?  Rick Dipietro's mom, that's who.  Otherwise everybody loves goalie fights.  Goalies rarely get involved in the fisticuffs.  It takes a lot of effort.  It's not like the skaters who already part of the scrum.  For the goalies to meet, one, or both, have to skate across the ice and then receive the dreaded leaving the crease penalty.  It takes a lot of effort to get a goalie fight going but for some goalies it must be high on their bucket list since not only do they get into the fight, they give up their shutout to do so.  There have been three goalies who have giving up a shutout bid with 7 minutes or less left in the game, and got a into a fight instead.  How many can you remember?

TTM: Craig Anderson

 Craig Anderson was originally drafted 77th overall in the 1999 NHL entry draft by the Calgary Flames.  Anderson and the Flames couldn't come to a deal, so Anderson was available to be redrafted in 2001.  Anderson was drafted by his hometown team, the Chicago Black Hawks.  Anderson wouldn't find success in the Windy City as he went 12-26-6 over the course of three seasons with the Hawks.  After a three year stint as a back-up with the Florida Panthers, Anderson won a starting job with the Colorado Avalanche, a team expected to be one of the worst in the NHL.  With Anderson's help, the Avs finished 2nd in their division before bowing out in the 1st round of the play-offs.  2010-11. turned out to be the season many were expected the Avs to have the previous year.  The Avs finished the season with the 2nd worst record in the NHL.  Anderson played his way out of Colorado and late in the season, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators.  After the trade, Anderson excelled and played some of his best hockey in his career.  In 2011-12, Anderson saved his best for the play-offs, helping the Senators push the #1 seed New York Rangers to a 7 game series.
  Mr. Anderson signed 3 of 3. c/o the Ottawa Senators.  He also signed and returned the extra copy of the picture.

TTM: Patrice Brisebois

  Patrice Brisebois played 1009 NHL games over an 18 year career, 16 of those years spent with the Montreal Canadiens, including a Stanley Cup in 1993.  In the early 2000s, Brisebois became the favourite whipping boy of Canadiens fans.  A situation that came to a head in 2003, when new GM, Bob Gainey spoke out about the booing calling the fans "a bunch of gutless bastards".  In 2005, Brisebois signed with the Colorado Avlanche for two seasons before returning to the Canadiens in 2007 for two seasons.  After retiring, Brisebois, has spoken about the tough years in Montreal and the bouts of depression brought on by those years.  Mr. Brisebois signed both of my cards and then added a card and a picture.  My request was sent to the Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame.

NHL Trade Deadline

The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone with a whimper.  The headlining trade is the Canucks and Sabres trade, which saw former first rounders, Cody Hodgson and Zack Kassian, switch teams.  The bigger news is what didn't happen.  Flames stood pat, the Leafs didn't get a goalie and Rick Nash is still a Columbus Blue Jacket.  

The trade that has already had the biggest impact, was Steve Downie being sent to the Colorado Avalanche on February 21st.  Downie already has 7 points in 4 games while playing on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O'Reilly.

While Rick Nash is determined to chase Dany Heatley's point record for Team Canada at the World Championship, Downie hopes to lead the charging Colorado Avalnche to a play-off spot.

88-89 OPC Tribute: Pominville, Giguere, and Couturier

 Jason Pomnville was a first-time All-Star in 2012.  He currently leads the Buffalo Sabres in points (47) and is on pace to challenge his career high in points, 80 in 2007-08.  Jean-Sebastien Giguere is having a revival this season.  Giguere had seven straight season where his GAA was 2.66 or lower and save percentage was .911 or higher.  He followed that up with 3 seasons that had a combined 2.95 GAA and save percentage of .902.  After signing as a UFA with the Avalanche, he has stolen the starting job and is top 10 in GAA and Save Percentage this season.

#80 - Jason Pominville

#81 - Jean-Sebastien Giguere

  Sean Couturier, the 8th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, is the son of former NHL player, Slyvain Couturier.  Sean has already bested his Dad in career games, goals and points.  In 2009-10, Sean became the first player to ever lead the QMJHL in scoring without scoring 100pts.  The following season he repeated his point total, 96, but finished 5th in scoring.

#130 - Sean Couturier

TTM: David Aebischer

A nice return from the #2 in career win by a Swiss goalie, David Aebischer.  Aebischer last played in the NHL in 2007 with the Phoenix Coyotes.  He spent the last four season playing in the Swiss league before attempting a comeback with the Winnipeg Jets.  Aebischer currently plays with the St. John's IceCaps of the AHL.   I sent out a card and 2 pictures, each picture had an extra copy for Aebischer to keep if he desired.  He returned the card and two copies of each picture signed.  He personalized one copy of each picture.  They were sent October 12th and received November 30th.

TTM: Alex Tanguay

After a forgettable year in Tamp Bay, Alex Tanguay returned to the Calgary Flames.  Tanguay finished 2nd on the team in scoring last year and currently leds the Flames in scoring through 24 games.  There is one thing Alex needs to do more of... shoot!  Tanguay has the best shooting percentage of all active players and is 21st all-time with a 18.6 shooting percentage.   Mr. Tanguay signed all three cards I sent.  They were sent on October 27th and received on November 25th.

88-89 OPC Tribute; Benn, Stastny and The Nuge

#56 - Jamie Benn

  Jamie Benn has started strong in 2011-12, with 8 points in 9 games.  In 2010-11, Benn had 56 points in 69 games including a six game goal scoring streak.  Benn, drafted 129th overall in the 2007 draft, has never played a regular season game in the minor pro leagues.  Although he did play 24 play-off games in 2010, when he led the Texas Stars in play-off scoring and to the Calder Cup Final.

#57 - Paul Stastny

  Paul Stastny comes with a hockey lineage.  His two uncles, Anton and Marian, played in the NHL.  Oh, and his Father, HHOFer Peter Stastny play a bit too.  2010-11 was Paul Stastny worst year for points per game, 0.77.  He hopes to rebound and buil on some his early season success.  His 78 ponts as a rookie were good enough to land him on the 2007 All-Rookie Team.

#125 - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

  Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hopes to set a record by having the longest last name ever to grace the Calder Trophy and perhaps a few other trophies by the time he is done.  He already holds the distinction of having the longest name of any 1st overall pick.  "The Nuge" has started hot with 5 goals in 8 games, including a hat trick against the Vancouver Canucks.

88-89 OPC Tribute: Vokoun, Bryzgalov and Landeskog

  The last two weeks have been busy at work.  I had to work on a few of my days off and the bloging time has been a causality.  Then today I wrote up my post only to find it wouldn't publish.  I was able to log back in later and I found out none of it saved.  So here we go again.  This time the shorten version.
  Tomas Vokoun has finally found himself on a Stnaley Cup contender.  He's now only 32 wins away from 300 in his career.  I think he'll easily get over 300 wins for his career this season and should be up over 40 wins on the year.  This is the year he becomes a household name.

#54 - Tomas Vokoun

  Even before He had even won a NHL game, I had about 50 rookie cards of Ilya Bryzgalov.  This could be the year, that collection hits paydirt.  Out of the desert and onto Broad St., Brygalov has found himself as #1 man between the pipes for a Stanley Cup Contender via free agency.   

#55 - Ilya Bryzgalov

  Gabriel Landeskog was the second overall pick in the 2011 entry draft.  After a strong start, it appears he will be spending the year with the Colorado Avalanche and should be a contender for the Calder trophy.

#124 - Gabriel Landeskog

88-89 OPC Tribute: Alfredsson, Lidstrom, and Forsberg

#38 - Daniel Aflredsson 

  In 2010-11 Daniel Afredsson was limited to only 54 games due to back injuries and posted his lowest points total, 31, and points per game, 0.57, of his career.  The team mirrored Alfredsson's decline as the Senators posted thier first losing season since 1995-96 - Alfredsson's rookie season.

  Alfredsson had back surgery in the off-season and both he and the team are looking forward to making improvements over last season.

  Alfredsson is 11 goals away from 400 career goals.  In 2010-11, Alredsson registered his 1000th point of this career.  Is Alfredsson HHOF worthy?  Unless he does something spectacular in the next year or two, I think he falls short.  Not coming to the NHL until, he was 23 really hurt his career totals.  Although did anyone really want to play for the Senators in the early-mid 90s?

#39 - Nicklas Lidstrom

  Speaking of the HHOF, Niklas Lidstrom will be in on the first ballot.  A seven time Norris Trophy winner and 12 consecutive 1st or 2nd All-Star team selections, Lidstrom is often mention as one the top 5 defencemen of all-time.  Lidstrom also has 4 Stanley Cups and an Olympic Gold Medal.  Previously Lidstrom won a gold medal at the 1991 World Hockey Championship, making him a member of hockey's Triple Gold Club.

#105 - Peter Forsberg

  I didn't mean to go a Swede run, but it just happened.  Peter Forsberg rounds out this update. full of Swedish hockey stars.  Forsberg re-retired in 2010-11 after a 2 game comeback.  He retired a few hours before what was to be his home debut, leaving many fans disappointed.  It is unfortunate that injuries had to play such a significant role in Forsberg career.  Forsberg only once played more than 78 games in a season and that was in his sophomore campaign.  Forsberg sat out the entire 2001-02 regular season in to heal from a rupture spleen and the culmination of previous injuries.  Forsberg returned for the play-offs and led all players with 27 points.

  Forsberg is 10th all-time in points per game with 1.25.  A remarkable accomplishment considering his prime was during the years of the Trap.  Did Forsberg do enough with the time he played to make it to the HHOF?  When healthy, I think he was the dominant all-round player of 90s and will in on the first ballot.

88-89 OPC Tribute: Byfuglien, Duchene, and Greening

#30 - Dustin Byfuglien

   In 2010-11, Dustin Byfuglien switched teams, converted to a full-time defenceman, played in the All-Star game and had his best season of his young career.  The following summer Byfuglien has been in the news for other reasons.  On August 31st, Byfuglien was arrested under suspicion of boating under the influence.   Criminal charges have been pressed.  What was also unearthed was Byfuglien's weight of 286lbs!  40lbs over his playing weight of  the previous season.

  The irony of all this is his Panini Sketch card.  The card on which Byfuglien drew a boat.  That same card sold for over $120 on ebay.  I thought it was a joke, but the card is real.  The details of the sketch cards can be found on the Panini Blog.

#31 - Matt Duchene

   A first-time All-Star in 2010-11, sophmore Matt Duchene led the Colorado Avalanche in scoring during the 2010-11 season.  After finishing third in the Calder Trophy voting in 2009-10, Duchene increased his totals for goals, assists and, therefore, points the following season.
  With the return of Peter Mueller, another season of increase across the board, would not be considered a bold prediction.  That would call for a celebration dance.

#121 - Colin Greening

  Colin Greening is the first 2011-12 rookies to make the set.  Greening played 24 games for Ottawa last year so he still qualifies as a rookie this season.  A player has to play 25 games before losing his rookie eligibility   He also had no rookie cards in 2010-11, so that also still qualifies him for as a rookie for this set.
  In 24 games last season, Greening had 13 points.  Although the more important stat is that he was born in Newfoundland.  On Feburay 1st, 2011, Greening became the 28th player born in Newfoundland to play in the NHL.  Why is this important?  Because my Dad is from Newfoundland and he collects their cards. So here is one more card for my Dad to get.