TTM: Pierre Sevigny

  With the World Juniors in full swing, let's post a return from '91 WJC grad, Pierre Sevigny.  Pierre was a fan favourite from the 1992 Team Canada squad.  A gritty player who could put the puck in the net and the man through the boards.  He made the QMJHL All-star team three years in a row, and in the 89/90 season he finished 9th in league scoring while also receiving 207 PIM.  At the 1991 WJC, Pierre scored 6 points in 7 games, including a goal in the pivotal Canada vs USSR match-up.  While he enjoyed a lengthy and successful career in the minor leagues, he was never able to secure a permanent roster spot with a NHL team.  In 4 seasons, he scored 9 points in 78 games.  He would retire from professional hockey in 2008.  Pierre started planning for life after hockey early.  Even before he played a NHL game, he owned, and still owns, a Tim Horton franchise in Quebec City.

The Lost Cards: Jiri Crha

  O-Pee-Chees sets of the early 80s are known for their poor pictures, especially of the goalies.  In the 1981-82 OPC set, there are 32 goalie cards.  Out of the 32, there are 22 on which the goalie is not even wearing his mask/helmet.  Check out Jiri Crha's rookie card below.

#315 - Jiri Crha

  Crha was a 29 year old rookie when he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs near the end of the 1979-80 season.  He had spent his previous seasons in Czechoslovakia.  The Maple Leafs had actually won a bidding war for Crha's services.  Chra spent the majority of his first season, learning the North American style of hockey, in the AHL and also as a third goalie for the Maple Leafs.  On February 16, 1980, Crha, sporting one of the ugliest masks ever, makes his NHL debut, coming in for the injured Curt Ridley.  Crha would play well the rest of the season and would be the #1 goalie for the Leafs for the 1980-81 season.  While Crha was the Leafs best goalie in the regular season, he bottomed out in the play-offs.  The Leafs would be swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champs, the New York Islanders.  The series wasn't even close.  The Leafs lost 9-2, 5-1 and 6-1.  Crha would never play again for the Leafs.  He would only play 3 more games in North America before going overseas to play in Germany.  He is sometimes mentioned by Leaf fans as one of the worst goalies who ever played for the Leafs.  I think it based more on bitterness that reality.  There were some high hopes for Crha, (think Jonas Gustavsson) but instead he was basically one and done.
  When I came across Crha, I thought he had a really cool mask, his second mask that is.  I thought it was a great injustice that he had such a bland hockey card.  So I set out to change that.

1981-82 OPC Jiri Crha - Remastered

  In the end, I made two alternate versions.  I love the picture on the left.  The colours pop and his mask is on full display, but in terms of pixels, it's a low quality picture.  The card on the right has a much better quantity, in terms of pixels.  The mask is on display, but it's not as exciting as the first card I made.  Which card do you prefer? 


2014 Update since for some reason I was looking up Crha again
First goal scored against Crha was scored by Jordy Douglas.  Gordie Howe got an assist.
Ex-teammate David Shand calls Crha as the worst goalie on the planet.
Nobody can find the game Shand is refering to

Lost Rookies: Frank Caprice - with Q&A

  Frank Caprice played 102 NHL games over six NHL seasons, all with the Vancouver Canucks.  Caprice spent the majority of his career as a back-up, battling incumbent "King" Richard Broduer and injuries during his tenure with the Vancouver Canucks.  While Frank was never able to secure the starting job to himself, he still had a remarkable career and some great achievements.
  Prior to the 1982 World Junior Hockey Championship, Canada had never won a gold medal in that tournament, but Team Canada, led by the goaltending duo of Mike Moffat and Frank Caprice, secured the nation's first ever World Junior Hockey Gold Medal.  Frank was 3-0 with only 7 goals allowed in his starts.  Going into the tournament an underdog, not even expected to medal, Team Canada rolled over the competition, going 6-0-1 in seven games.  It was the first year of Canada's Program of Excellence and it paid immediate dividends. 
  Frank Caprice would also be a underdog in his first career start in the NHL, versus the Edmonton Oilers, shown live on Hockey Night in Canada.  The 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers, who would set a NHL record by scoring 446 goals that season, could only put two pucks past Frank Caprice.  The Canucks would win 3-2 and Caprice would earn the First Star of the Game.  Later in the same season, he would earn his first career shutout in a 5-0 victory against the Hartford Whalers.

     While Caprice would battle Richard Brodeur for starts, he would battle John Garrett for a spot in the OPC card sets.  John Garrett would win out in the 84-85 OPC Set, with one of the better looking cards in the set, and also in 1985-86, with one of the worst looking cards in the set.  Seriously, Garrett went 1-5 with a 6.49 GAA in the season before and then retired to boot.  Although 1988-89 OPC was a low point for Vancouver Canuck goalies, as no Canuck goalies made the set that season.
  The Cauncks would trade Caprice to the Boston Bruins at the 1989 NHL Entry draft.  After one more season, Frank would retire from hockey.  But only for a few seasons, before restarting his career in Europe.  He would play several more seasons in Italy and Britain before retiring from professional hockey for good.  
  When I realized Frank Caprice never had a rookie card, I decided to make a custom rookie card of him.  Below is how Frank Caprice's rookie should have looked.
 

1984-85 OPC #399 - Frank Caprice

  So what did Frank Caprice think of his new rookie card?

Frank Caprice: Thank you for your kind letter and for the card, I actually don't have any cards and its great to now have one as a keep sake.

The Cardboard & Me:  You were part of the first team under Canada’s Program of Excellence to compete at the WJC.  What were the expectations for the team? 

Frank Caprice:  We did not have any expectations as it was a new program.  We all wanted to prove ourselves but did not know what to expect or what the level of competition would be,

C&M:  Today, the selection camp for the WJC team is heavily covered by the media.  TSN will even show the highlights of practice scrimmages on sportscenter.  What kind of media coverage was there on the team before the tournament in 1982? 

Frank Caprice:  We had almost no media coverage, in fact there is almost no footage of any of our games.  The gold medal game was played in a small arena far from the city center and I think we had just one reporter following us the entire time, including the gold medal game.

C&M:  Today, by the time players make it to the WJC, they are already familiar with a lot of the other teams through previous international experience or playing as opponents or teammates in junior.  How much did you know about your opponents leading into the tournament?

Frank Caprice:  Me personally, not one thing, just that the Russians were to be feared along with the Swedes the Czechs and the Fins.  We were very much underdogs.

C&M:  With a gold medal on the line, and the game being played in Rochester, Minnesota, (a 7 hour drive from Canada) can you describe the atmosphere in the building? 

Frank Caprice:  The games was played in a small dim lighted arena, the atmosphere was not much of a factor, not really different than any other game in fact. We were so pumped as a team and just really focused on the job at hand, the Gold medal, which was passed around the room before the game.  We all had a chance to see it and touch it, from that point on, that's all we could think of, just win or tie this game and it was ours. The Czechs were the best team we faced and it was a huge task. In the end, we won the Gold and when I look back, we had a extremely talented and great team, with a great coach. I only have very happy and wonderful memories.

C&M:  What is your strongest memory from the Gold medal game?

Frank Caprice:  The last 5 minutes the Czechs were all over us and the end when we won and all sang the national anthem because they did not even have the anthem to play over the sound system.

C&M:  Is there a game in particular from your NHL career that stands out the most, and why that game?

Frank Caprice:  My first ever game against the Edmonton Oilers, the Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr era.  We won 3 - 2 and I got first star.

C&M:  The “Flying V” jersey of the Canucks is on almost every internet list of 10 worst NHL jerseys.  Was it the worst jersey you ever had to wear in your professional career? 

Frank Caprice:  Tough question, I would say the most boring jersey was the Maine Mariners.

C&M:  You played several years overseas in Italy and Britain.  Can you compare the experience of playing in Italy as opposed to playing in the NHL.

Frank Caprice:  I loved my time in Europe, it was a wonderful experience, I have nothing but the fondest of memories. I was treated so very well in Italy. It was more about the lifestyle than it was about the game. Dont get me wrong, the people were very passionate about their teams, but it was the culture that I fell in love with.

C&M:  Did you have a favourite teammate? 

Frank Caprice:  Favorite teammate was Cam Neely, we lived together and roomed together on the road.  We became close friends.

C&M:  Who was your favourite team and player while growing up? 

Frank Caprice:  Did not have one, just loved all the goalies.

C&M:  Did you collect hockey cards?  Do you have a favourite set or card? 

Frank Caprice:  Nope never did.

C&M:  You never had a hockey card during your playing days.  Would you check each year to see if you had a card?


Frank Caprice:  Nope, the only one I had was the shell gas station card


C&M:  Do you have a favourite piece of hockey memorabilia? 

Frank Caprice:  My gold medal and my Italian all star jersey.

C&M:  Do you get many autograph requests through the mail? 

Frank Caprice:  Yes, still do, and its humbling and flattering.  I get about 5 or 6 a year


C&M:  What have you been doing since you retired from hockey? 

Frank Caprice:  I have worked with the provincial government of Ontario, for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming as a senior manager of corporate compliance, I am in my 13th year.

Merry Chirstmas!

  There's no NHL hockey, but the World Junior Championship starts tonight, or tomorrow morning, depending on where you live.  Santa's ready for some hockey.  Are you?

TTM Success: Ryane Clowe

Ryane Clowe, that's Ryane with an "e".  I didn't get a response to my first letter to Ryane.  It's possible that me spelling his name "Ryan" might have had something to do with that.  On the positive side, I got a response on my 2nd attempt.  Ryane is spending the lock out getting coaching experience with the San Fransisco Bulls of the ECHL.  He has been pretty active in responding to TTMs.  In 2012, Ryane became the third Newfoundland born player to eclipse 100 career NHL goals.  He is actually in the top 5 for each of the following categories; GP, G, A, PTS, +/- and PIM.  Clowe made some news late in the 2011-12 by being involved in a questionable play.  I love the use of the telestrator by the play-by-play guy.  That is how you do it.  Clowe signed 3 of 3 care of the San Fransico Bulls.

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: Vincent Riendeau

  Vincent Riendeau played in 184 games over the course of a eight year career.  Riendeau's career was looking up after the 1990-91 season.  He was 29-9-6 while playing in 44 games with the St. Louis Blues.  In the play-offs he helped the Blues come back from a 3-1 deficit in the first round against the Detroit Red Wings.  In the second round, he had two bad games on the road in Minnesota and even though he allowed two goals in each of the final two games, the North Stars sent the Blues, along with 86 goal scorer Brett Hull, packing. 
  The following season, the Blues found itself with a glut of young goalies, along with Riendeau, the Blues also had Pat Jablonski, Guy Hebert and Curtis Joseph.  Jabonski and Hebert shared the James Norris Trophy the previous year, the IHL version, which is for the Lowest GAA.  Six games into the 91-92 season, Riendeau was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Rick Zombo.  27 minutes into his first game as Red Wings, and while pitching a shutout, Riendeau suffered a knee injury that would force him to miss the next 70+ games.  Riendeau played a few more seasons as a back-up and would eventually finish his NHL career with the Boston Bruins in 1995. 
  He had a diverse career after the NHL, playing in Manitoba, Germany, Switzerland, Britan, Russia and Alaska.  As a rookie, Riendeau only played 1 game for the Montreal Canadiens.  I had to be a bit creative with making him a 88-89 OPC card.  The only decent picture of him I found in a Canadiens jersey had a plain white background.  I had to layer two pics together.  Riendeau is currently the goalies coach with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.