Malkin's Young Gun card

Earlier this season, I broke the news that hockey fans would have to wait until the release of the Upper Deck Hockey Series II for a chance to score this season's Holy Grail of hockey hardboard -- a Young Guns version of Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin.

Guess what? It's here. Or, should I say, they're here. As a premium, I suppose, Malkin is also featured on the front of the Young Guns checklist. The one shown at right, card No. 486, is the regular Young Gun card. Card No. 495, showing Malkin in a home uniform, is the checklist card.

Others Young Guns sure to be worthy of chasing are Nashville's Alexander Radulov (card No. 476) and San Jose's Joe Pavelski (card No. 487).

Drawing strong regional interest will be Boston's Matt Lashoff (card No. 453), Buffalo's Drew Stafford (card No. 456), Calgary's Dustin Boyd (card No. 461) and Tanpa Bay's Karri Ramo (card No. 474).