Le Rogers Hockey d'Hometown: Montreal

Two weeks late, but what the hell.  Made the drive up to Montreal for the final Hometown Hockey stop.  The weather was nice, so I only brought my spring jacket, only to discover everything was in the shade, so I froze my ass off a lot of the time.

I started the afternoon by waiting for Serge Savard.  I went up to him and he signed all my items.  I asked if it was true that he lit a newspaper that Scotty Bowman was reading on fire while they were flying.  He said it wasn't on a plane, but I don't have to believe him.

Next up was Chris Chelios.  During his playing days, he was rarely pleasant, but he seemed to have chilled since retirement, as he gladly signed a photo for me last year.  I wasn't prepared for how nice he was this time.  I asked how many he was willing to sign (expecting one or two at the most) and he said it was up to the volunteer running the booth.  She looked back at us with an "I don't give a shit" expression on her face and he signed all I had, except for the 92-93 Upper Deck card with his kids since he only signed it for them.  I also talked with him for a good 5-10 minutes.  I asked him if he saw highlights of Scott Foster playing for the Hawks, and I showed him the highlights.  It's amazing how people can change.

I took the opportunity to see the Stanley Cup that was on display.  Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me lift it.  Bastards.

I then waited in line for Darcy Tucker.  He somewhat begrudgingly signing two for me.  I guess he didn't like the fact I had a folder and cards on photo album paper, which I do to keep them organized, not for ebaying.

I then went to get Shayne Corson, and he was cool too.  I guy in front of me had him sign an original seat from the Montreal Forum, but a lot of the autographs looked like they were starting to fade.  That's why I keep things in binders and away from sun light.

A couple of days earlier, Mike Hoffman was appearing at a car dealership.  All he had were metallic pens so I gave him my blue pen to sign with, which meant I didn't have one for Montreal (which turned out alright, since everyone but Tucker signed in blue anyway).

Overall, it was a good weekend and I look forward to more road trips next year.  I'm still shocked how good Chelios was!

Mike Hoffman x 4
Serge Savard x 7
Chris Chelios x 8 (!!!)
Darcy Tucker x 2
Shayne Corson x 5

TTM this week

Karl Alzner
c/o Canadiens
02/19 - 04/10
2/2

If you squint, you might be able to see the autograph.

Scott Mellanby
c/o Canadiens
09/06/2016 - 04/13/2018
4/4

#Humboldtstrong

For the last little while, I haven't really been myself.  I have been battling depression on and off since I was diagnosed with it 20 years ago.  There have been good days and bad.  I've been angry at the world for the last little while, at how my life is going and that I'm almost 40 years old and feeling like I haven't accomplished a darn thing.  Then, I heard the news of EB spokesperson, and sufferer, Jonathan Pitre succumbing to his condition.  At age 17.  Young enough to be my son. 

Then the next day, a bus carrying a Junior A hockey team from Humboldt, Saskatchewan was hit at a dangerous intersection on their way to play a playoff game.  15 people killed, 14 others wounded, and many more whose lives will never be the same.  Like roughly 35 million others, I know what the families and the entire small community of Humboldt, Saskatchewan are going through right now is simply unbearable.  Kids that will never have a chance to graduate and skate for a professional team.  Sons that will not come home to tell their Parents and/or billet family about the big goal they scored or the big save that their teammate made to preserve a victory.  The majority of those kids, again, young enough to be my son.

I have been having trouble trying to find the right words to say the last couple of days.  Then I remembered something a friend said to me when I was preparing to go to a funeral of a co-worker, “It doesn’t matter what you say.  What matters is that you’re there.”  This phrase has never rung more true than now.  I ask everyone who is reading this to please donate to EB awareness to commemorate Jonathan Pitre.  I ask everyone to make a donation to the Humboldt Go Fund Me page, as these people are hurting emotionally as well as financially.  I ask everyone to either wear their favourite hockey jersey, or any sport for that matter, or something green and gold, as a sign of solidarity.  I ask everyone to not just remember the names of the young players, but also these as well:

Darcy Haugan: He was in his 3rd season as Head Coach and was a mentor to the young players.

Mark Cross: First year as Assistant Coach, and former Junior A player in Estevan, Saskatchewan.

Brody Hinz: A high school intern, who volunteered as a statistician.

Tyler Bieber: The play-by-play radio announcer for the Broncos, and worked with Humboldt radio station 107.5 Bolt FM.

Glen Doerksen: The driver of the bus, who worked for Charlie's Charters and was a great family man.

I also ask everyone not to jump to conclusions and start laying blame.  This has been tough on everybody and the police and investigators need time to conduct a proper and thorough inspection.  I realize that in this Social Media age, people want answers now, but in order for people to conduct a proper investigation, we are all going to have to wait.

After I let all of that sink in, I was immediately stricken with guilt.  I had the nerve to say I wasn’t happy with my life at age 38, when these people likely just got their learner’s permit, and haven’t had the chance to enjoy what life really has to offer.  I know depression isn’t at the fault of the person who has it, but still, news like this certainly puts things into perspective.

I am going to end this piece by saying this: Don’t be afraid of getting older.  It’s a privilege unfairly denied to many.

#Humboldtstrong

Ttm Returns

Stupid camera!  At least I got it working now!

Jonas Hiller
c/o EHC Biel Sport AG
03/08 - 03/28
5/4

Added the 5x7

Shea Weber
c/o Canadiens
03/02 - 03/29
2/2

Tax Return Box Break

I got my tax return last week and budgeted for my next box break.  Most of the money went to my Visa balance, and to pay off various bills.  Whatever was left, I spent on Cards.  This is what I settled on:

2017-18 AHL

Cost: $70
Cards per Pack: 8
Packs per Box: 20

Base Set SP #101-150 (1:2) : 10

Base Set Autographs (1:10), (1:20 SP): 3

Mike McKenna
Kyle Rau
Kevin Porter

Silver Parallel (1:10), (1:20 SP): 3

Cameron Shilling
Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Timothy Liljegren (SP)

Team Standouts (1:5): 4

Ty Rattie
Nick Lappin
Emil Petterson
Klim Kosten

Team Logo Mini Poster (1 per Box): 1

Cleveland Monsters

Thoughts:  Good on Upper Deck to increase the number of cards per pack from 5 to 8.  The removal of the patches is disappointing.  A lot of doubles as well, though it comes in handy for hounding.  The decreased odds of the SPs from 1 per pack to 1 per 2 packs makes this a tougher set to build than it should be.  If you're an autograph hound, just pick up singles second hand.

2017-18 CHL


Cost: $60
Cards per Pack:12
Packs per Box:16

Star Rookies SPs (2:3): 10

Autographs (1:13): 1

Givani Smith

Exclusive #/100: 1

Ethan Kempen

Promising Futures (1:7): 3

Vitalii Abramov
Jordan Kyrou
Ty Smith

Top Prospects Game (1:5): 3

Nick Suzuki
Ian Scott
Maxime Comtois

Thoughts: Finally!  An affordable Juniors product!  With no gloss on the cards yet!  This is a definite must for people who hound the Junior teams or want a challenge building a set that shouldn't burn too much.  I likely won't bother buying another box because I'm not a huge junior collector.

2017-18 Parkhurst (2 Boxes)


Cost: $30 (per box)
Cards per Pack: 10 (per box)
Packs per Box:12 (per box)

Red Border (1:3): 8

Rickard Rakell
Patrice Bergeron
Robin Lehner
Artemi Panarin
Keith Yandle
Cory Schneider
Alexander Steen
Checklist #300

Black Border (1:12): 2

Thomas Greiss
Jonathan Marchessault

Blow the Horn (1:10): 2

Brad Marchand
Vladimir Tarasenko

East vs. West (1:6 E, 1:6 W): 4

Erik Karlsson
Alex Ovechkin
Brent Burns
Drew Doughty

Parkhurst International (1:4): 6

Patrick Kane
Pavel Bure
Teemu Selanne
Dominik Hasek
Dennis Seidenberg
Nino Neiderreiter

Prominent Prospects (1:12): 2

Alexander Nylander
Owen Tippett

Thoughts:  Despite shrinking the base set, this product once again impresses me.  It comes out early enough, with updated rookies and rosters.  The rookies aren't short printed so the base set is pretty easy to build.  A definite breath of  fresh air, for those sick of the high end $500 packs that contain 1 or 2 cards.  The only downside is that you have to buy them at Wal-Mart.

2017-18 Upper Deck Series 1 (Retail)

Cost: $65
Cards per Pack: 8
Packs per Box: 24


Young Guns (1:4): 6

Josh Ho-Sang
Adrian Kempe
C.J. Smith
Vladislav Kamenev
Tyson Jost
Will Butcher

Canvas (1:7): 4

Jaccob Slavin
Frans Neilsen
Alexandre Burrows
Brayden Point

Canvas Young Guns (1:48): 1

Jack Roslovic

Shining Stars: 3

Auston Mathews C (1:16)
Craig Anderson G (1:48)
Johnny Gaudreau LW (1:24)

Shining Stars Red: 1

Viktor Arvidsson LW (1:72)

Portraits (1:6): 4

Jack Eichel
Filip Forsberg
Sean Couturier
Alex Ovechkin

Game Jersey (1:36 Overall): 1

Adam Larsson Group F

Thoughts:  I decided to switch to Retail since it's cheaper.  The only real differences are that there are no chances at getting some rarer subsets and Exclusives (most of the time which are commons).  This is most recommended for people collecting Young Guns and the base set.  I have actually done pretty well with the two retail boxes I bought this year.

Overall:  Not a bad day.  The only box I was really disappointed in was the AHL.  Parkhurst was kind of a pleasant surprise, despite getting mostly the same base cards in both boxes.