2013 Trade Deadline Update

  The 2013 NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone.  Let's use that an excuse to make some retro update cards for some of the players traded in the days leading up the deadline.


  Brenden Morrow is following up his second least productive season in the NHL, with his least productive.  Morrow had 11pts in 29 games this year with the Dallas Stars before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  In seven games with the Pens so far, Morrow has one goal and one assist.  The Pens don't need Morrow for his scoring as much as they need him for his grit and toughness.










  The St. Louis Blues added a few veterans to its blueline at the trade deadline.  One of them was Jay Bouwmeester, whom the Blues acquired from the Calgary Flames.  While not expected to produce offensively, Bouwmeester had three assists in his first three games as a Blue









  Ryane Clowe was goalless in 28 games with the San Jose Sharks.  Hardly the type of player you'd think would create a buzz at deadline time.  The New York Rangers were interested and Clowe paid immediate dividends, scoring twice in his first game as a Ranger.








  The biggest name at the trade deadline was Jarome Iginla, who was reported to be traded twice in the same evening.  The first time to the Boston Bruins, and then to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  So far, Jarome has not lit up the scoresheets in Pittsburgh, having one goal and one assist in his first five games as a Pen.  Can Jarome win that elusive Stanley Cup this year with the Pens, or maybe he'll need to pull a Raymond Bourque and stick around for another year.






  There were two big name goalies on the block at the trade deadline, neither of them moved.  Roberto Luongo is still in Vancouver and Miikka Kiprusoff announced his plans for retirement, just so he could stay in Calgary.  That left Ben Bishop, the odd man out in Ottawa, to be the biggest name, and size, goalie to be moved at the trade deadline.  Bishop has started all four games for the Lightning since the trade, including a shutout in his Lightning debut.







  Marian Gaborik put up two 40 goal seasons in New York in the past three years but found himself in the doghouse in 2013 and eventually as a Blue Jacket.  For the first time ever, the Columbus Blue Jackets found themselves as buyers at the trade deadline and they made a splash by trading for Gaborik.  Gaborik has welcomed the move, scoring 5 points in his first 4 games for Columbus.








  The Philadelphia Flyers, a pre-season favourite to contend, are one of the biggest disappointments of the season.  Currently, sitting in 12th place in the East, it appears the Flyer won't even make the play-offs, but atleast they got tougher.  The Flyers acquired Jay Rosehill from the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Rosehill, who had not played in the NHL this season, joined the Flyers just in time for a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Rosehill made the Leafs pay, beating up Leafs tough guy Colton Orr and also scoring the game-winning goal as the Flyer won the game 5-3.





  Jaromir Jagr found himself on the move, joining his third team in two seasons.  In his Bruins debut, Jagr would score the lone goal in a 1-0 Boston Bruins victory over the New Jersey Devils.  Jagr, who turned 41 this season, is looking for that elusive third Stanley Cup, after winning two in his first two seasons. 









   Derek Roy is the third former Dallas Star to be included in this update.  Roy was traded to the Vancouver Canucks to help provide some scoring depth.  Roy, who has been a borderline point a game player in his best seasons, has started slow with the Canucks, notching one assist and four shots on goal in three games since the trade. 

TTM Success: Matt Calvert

  Matt Calvert helped me set a new record.  It's a dubious one.  A 432 day return, my longest so far. What I find most interesting is that I sent this to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the start of the 2011-12 season.  According to the postmark, he sent it from Springfield, where Columbus's AHL team plays.  I was considering resending this since I was seeing quicker returns for other senders.  I guess this one must have got misplaced.  It was a real surprise when it came back.  What made me want to send to Matt was this picture.  I just felt like it was an amazing picture.  Even cooler is that there is a reverse angle of this pic here.  I was tempted to make a double sided card.  It really does look like the pictures were taken at the exact same time.  Or maybe you want to see it in moving pictures.  He doesn't score often, but when it does, they tend to be highlight material.

TTM Success: R.J Umberger

  R.J. Umberger has been an all-star in terms of responding to ttms, and now with Rick Nash out of Columbus, the Blue Jackets hope he can be an All-Star for them.  Umberger has been second on team in goals in three out of the past four seasons.  Umberger is also the franchise's all time leading goal scorer in post season play.  He scored 3 goals in 2008-09, the only time the Blue Jackets have ever made the play-offs.  They were swept in four games, and outscored 17-7 by the Detroit Red Wings. 

TTM: Curtis Sanford

  This return was a bit different.  I sent to Curtis Sanford c/o the Columbus Blue Jackets.  I sent him a total of 4 cards and 2 copies of the same picture.  I offered a copy of the picture and 2 cards for him to keep.  I even put the two cards in a plastic sleeve together and a post it note telling him to keep them.  In the end he return all four cards and both copies of the pictures signed.  The SASE threw me for a loop.  Mr. Sanford took his fanmail back with him to Ontario, peeled the USA stamps off and put a Canadian stamp on it. So there's a lot going on on this return, compare to most.  The effort Mr. Sanford put in is appreciated, especially considering that he has signed on to play overseas in the KHL for next season.

  Mr. Sanford was signed as an undrafted free agent by the St. Louis Blues in 2000.  He made his debut in the 2002-03, a season in which the St. Louis Blues used 7 different goalies.  While in St. Louis, injuries seemed to continually derail his chances at taking over the #1 spot.  In 2007, Sandford signed with the Vancouver Canucks as a back-up to Roberto Loungo.  Late in the 2008-09 season, Sanford was sent to the AHL.  Over the next 2 1/2 seasons, he went 52-27-8, with a 1.98 GAA and .925 save percentage.  In 2011, he signed a one year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Sanford outplayed starter Chris Mason but minor injuries once again hampered Sanford as he finished the season on injury reserve.  An UFA this off-season, Sanford was quick to sign on with another team... in the KHL.  Sanford will play on Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.  Lokomotiv took the 2011-12 KHL season off , after the horrific plane crash that claimed the lives of all passengers.

TTM: Mathieu Garon

Mathieu Garon has worked his way into the starting goalie gig in Tamp Bay this season.  The previous starter Dwayne Roloson will be a UFA this off-season, so whether the Lightning bring in competition for the job via free agency remains to be seen.  The Lightning is Garon's sixth NHL team and fourth in the past four seasons.  Aside from the teams pictured with the autographs, Garon has also been with the Oilers and also played 5 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008/09; good enough for a Stanley Cup ring.  Garon has played in two career play-offs games and has never been scored upon.   Mr Garon signed 3 cards and a picture.  He kept a copy of the picture as offered.  Thank you Mr. Garon.

TTM: Derek Dorsett

Derek Dorsett is best known for being Taylor Hall's dance partner in Hall's ill-advised, and season ending, first career NHL fight.  Dorsett is trying to shake the goon label.  He is helping his cause by scoring a career high 10 goals, but he is hurting it, by leading the league in PIM.   Mr. Dorsett signed 3 of 3 and also signed and returned the extra copy of the picture.

88-89 OPC Tribute: Parenteau, Elias and Johansen

  While Pierre-Alexander Parenteau may seem like part of the young core of the New York Islanders, he has actually been around for the past decade.  A 264th overall draft pick by the Anahiem Ducks in 2001, Parenteau, via Chicago and NY Rangers, has found a home with Isles.  Parenteau is currently 5th in the NHL with 44 assists.  

#88 - P.A. Parenteau

  Patrik Elias reached the 1000 game milestone on January 6th, 2012 and ranks 3rd all time on the New Jersey Devils career games played list.  Elias does ranks first overall for career goals (354) , assists (520) and points (874) for the Devils/Rockies franchise.

#89 - Patrik Elias

  The 4th overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Ryan Johansen, made his NHL debut in the 2011-12 season.  In 2011, Johansen played for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, helping the team win a Silver medal and earning a spot on the tournament's All-Star Team.

#132 - Ryan Johansen

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: Carter, Loungo, and Henrique

  After being a key player with the Philadelphia Flyers for several years, Jeff Carter was sent packing to the Columbus Blue Jackets.  There are already rumours of Carter demanding a trade out of Columbus.  Roberto Loungo continues to be a hot topic in Vancouver.  Should he stay or should he go?  Is he hot or cold?  In last years Finals, Loungo was often either the best player on the ice or the worst.  2010-11's Wins leader and Williams Jennings winner is struggling to hold on to his starting job this season.

#70 - Jeff Carter

#71 - Roberto Loungo

  Adam Henrique has been moving up in the rookie scoring race, with 12 points in his last 10 games.  Henrique, a 3rd round darft pick in 2008, centers the Devils top line with Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise.

#129 - Adam Henrique

88-89 OPC Tribute; Backes, Nash and Dryden

  David Backes was recently names the team captain by the St. Louis Blues.  A first time All-Star in 2010-11, Backes is a regular on the hits leaderboard.  He has back-to-back 200+ hit seasons.  He likely has more than just back-to-back but I can't find a website that show player stats for hits prior to 2009-10.  Does anyone know of such a site?

#14 - David Backes

  Oh, Rick Nash, what could you do if you ever had a 1st line center to play with?  Nash has been the Blue Jackets leading scorer for past 4 years,and has led the team in goals for the past seven.  No other Blue Jacket has had over 27 goals or 64 pts since Nash's Rookie year in 2002-03.  But life isn't all bad for Rick Nash.  He won an Olympic Gold Medal in 2010 and he bears a striking resemblance to myself.  Looking good, Mr Nash!

#15 - Rick Nash

  As a certain song says, it's better to burn out than to fade away.  Ken Dryden won 6 cups in 8 years and numerous accolades before retiring at age 31.  But I don't think he was burnt-out, perhaps just bored.  In his retirement years Dryden has surmounted other challenges including broadcasting, writing a few books, and winning a few elections.  We could only imagine what kind of career stats Dryden could have had if he had player another several years, or how many more Stanley Cups the Canadiens would have won.
  This is the first card that I actually edited the player image.  The original image struck me as the perfect image but the background had to be fixed.  It was a small job but I think it came out pretty good.

#94 - Ken Dryden

  I couldn't find a Legend of Hockey video for Ken Dryden.  It's like trying to find a Ken Dryden Upper Deck card, it must be out there somewhere, but where? So I found these instead.  If you are fan of Indian music, then this then check out this Ken Dryden tribute video, otherwise we'll check out how the legendary NHL career of Ken Dryden began.