Summer chores

With all this time on my hands, it's a good idea to put away last year's bounty. This one, from the 2006-07 In the Game Heroes and Prospects, is one of the nicest. The swatch, a shoulder patch, comes from a Kelowna Rockets jersey worn by Tysen Dowzak.

Back in form

Boston’s Phil Kessel, who had the scare of his young life earlier this season when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, seems to be settling back into the hockey life these days.

One of the first players to leave the hotel this morning, he passed the time waiting for the bus to leave by kicking back, reading USA Today and signing this autograph.

“I’m doing pretty good, thank you,” he said. “Everything seems to be OK.”

For the record, the card is from ITG's 2006-07 Heroes and Prospects set.

Sunday morning homily XI

Kudos, I suppose, are due to Upper Deck for providing not one, but two cards, of Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin within the Young Guns subset of its Series II release. As I reported yesterday, Malkin has two cards within the subset. This card, shown at left, is the Young Guns checklist.

It should come as no surprise that I'm not the biggest fan of Upper Deck, seeing that it owns all of the licensing for NHL trading cards. In essence, Upper Deck is a monopoly. That's why I don't mind helping out the little guy, paying a little more for a box of ITG Heroes and Prospects, provided I can find any here in Tampa Bay.

As a consumer, I want to have choices within the hockey card industry. And branding cards with such names as Fleer and Parkhurst, as Upper Deck has done, is a cheap attempt at tricking uninformed hockey collectors. Unfortunately, though, this lack of competition means I'll have to give my money to Upper Deck if I wish to continue in this hobby.

The only way I can protest, other than writing these little ditties, is to limit the brands that I'll buy. So, other than Upper Deck Series I and II, the mainstays of any collection (primarily because of the value of the Young Guns subset), I'll be limiting my future purchases to the Fleer and Parkhurst brands, solely because those cards require no prep work for autographs.

What about these deals?

Over at Wicked Bruins Fans, blogmaster Jaci (sounds like a rap name, doesn't it?) isn't asking for too much from her beloved Bruins. She wants them to play hard and win games. I mean, who doesn't want their hometown team to fulfill those goals.

In response, I've proposed these trades:

To Tampa: Brad Boyes, Stanislav Chistov, Brad Stuart and Hannu Toivonen
To Boston: Ruslan Fedotenko, Vaclav Prospal, Doug O'Brien, Luke Richardson and Marc Denis

To New York Rangers: Andrew Alberts, Milan Jurcina, Petr Tenkrat and a No. 1 draft pick
To Boston: Ryan Hollweg and Fedor Tyutin

Any feedback?

Finally, some hockey

After a pretty thin January down here in Tampa, I'm really looking forward to the month of February. Not only do we have tickets to six games, including the Bruins, Penguins and the Dallas Stars, but seven hounding adventures, including Los Angeles and Phoenix of the Western Conference, as well.

Where's Eric?

As much as I'll champion In The Game's efforts to remain a viable entity within the hockey card industry, it's my belief that the company missed an opportunity with its 2006-07 Heroes and Prospects offering.

While much has been said and written about the Staal brothers becoming, with no intended disrespect to the Sutter brothers, the next First Family of Hockey. And, yet, when I review the product's checklist, the set features only three (shown above, in alphabetical order) of the brothers -- Jared, Jordan and Marc Staal.

Adding a card of big brother Eric would have created a set within the set. Even better, I believe, would have been a card showing all four together. Surely, that photo must exist, even if it's within a family scrapbook.

I'm left to wonder whether contractual obligations may have led to this omission, though the set does feature a number of current NHL players, such as Jason Spezza, Sidney Crosby and Cam Ward, from their AHL, junior or international playing days.

Going forward, perhaps ITG will heed this suggestion and make the effort to somehow honor the family. If it does, I hope ITG sends along its work.

An addendum: Here's ITG's response to my question: At the time that Heroes and Prospect was printed, we did not have Eric Staal under contract for autographs.

Review: 2006-07 ITG Heroes and Prospects

They may not be the cheapest cards in the world, but I seldom quibble over the price for a box of In The Game's Heroes and Prospects hockey cards. The 2006-07 edition, the third such release of the line, certainly doesn't disappoint.

Crisp photography, clean design and a decent lineup, including Angelo Esposito, Evgeni Malkin and John Tavares (shown above), should draw plenty of attention from collectors and hounds alike. Besides, it helps to keep independent ITG in the game.

Granted, this year's edition doesn't feature the first-card star power of Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby or Malkin, but if you're lucky, you'll draw a memorabilia card with one of the biggest swatches of game-used fabric you'll ever see.

Because the cards don't qualify as "true" rookie cards (though some are definitely worth putting away), most become an integral part of my autograph stock. Once a player has been in the league for a season or two, and their rookie cards are tucked safely away, I'll use their AHL or junior cards from these ITG sets to round out my four-card setups.

My only criticism, though, is ITG's update set offer. Spending another $34.95 (with pack wrappers) to $39.95 for 50 cards seems a little steep. Knock $10 off the price and it would become, at least in my opinion, a tad more palatable.

Decoys are cards, too

Though I can't ever imagine acquiring 250 of the 2006-07 In The Game Heroes And Prospects decoy cards just to earn a special memorabilia card, it doesn't mean I'll throw the thick slabs of cardboard away.

Instead, I find them quite handy for getting autographs, especially from AHL players called up to their NHL teams. I've even had some NHL veterans signed cards showing junior league teams.

This year's set includes Lowell Devils and Worcester Sharks cards.