We Got Taylor Hall???

Hey all, I am sure you were expecting a post on this much much sooner but alas I was away out of town and the last post or two was scheduled and as a result this is the first chance I have had to post about the craziest 23 minutes in NHL history. I will focus on each aspect one at a time and I will start with the biggest impact to me personally....Taylor Hall!!

I don't think we fleeced the Oilers as much as some suggest, having seen Adam Larsson for the past few years and knowing his projection it is safe to say he will have a good and long NHL career and in Edmonton will finally get a chance to flash his offensive abilities. The Oilers also freed up some cap-space and they used that to sign Lucic and they have a free spot in the roster for Puljujarvi to grow and develop. I am sure everything is thinking why not Eberle or RNH? Well I am sure the Oilers would have preferred that in terms of talent but I am guessing there is also a chemistry aspect perhaps or Ray Shero had no interest in anyone other than Hall and finally got his man. In the end the Oilers will be a tiny bit better and maybe will get over the hump and in the meanwhile the Devils improve substantially and I am very very excited for this upcoming season (Oh boy, I'm starting to sound like a Leafs fan).


10-11 Certified Taylor Hall Auto Jersey Rookie /599

 I haven't shown this card off before and now is the perfect time. Love the set, love the actual game used swatch and Taylor will make a big difference for us this season. He played with Adam Henrique in junior and I am hopeful some chemistry still exists there when Adam scored 20 goals in 19 playoff games with Hall.

For those of you who have been long time readers might recognize these two cards that I still own and appreciate a tiny bit more after June 30th's trade.

10-11 Donruss Taylor Hall Rated Rookie - Toronto Expo /250

10-11 Donruss National Rated Rookies Taylor Hall /25

So what am I expecting as a Devils fan. Progress, if we can keep Cammy healthy and our forwards like Boucher and Blandisi continue developing I am thinking we can seriously contend for a wild card spot this year and break our playoff drought. As far as Taylor Hall goes, I am predicting 35 goals and 75 points for him...lofty but not unrealistic expectations for a player who has career highs of 27 goals and 80 points and is about to hit his prime years!

10-11 Certified Red Pernell Karl Subban Auto Rookie /250

About 5 years ago I wrote Pernell asking for an autograph. Sadly he didn't feel I was worth the time or effort so I am not going to pump up his tires here either.

10-11 Certified Red Pernell Karl Subban Auto Rookie /250

I may have lost the card and time I put into my TTM request, but in the end I got my auto regardless thanks to the internet and despite my bad TTM experience, I still like this card because its a pretty cool modern design.

10-11 Panini Certified Jordan Eberle Auto Rookie Parallel Red /100

One PC that has been neglected over the years is my Jordan Eberle one. I even traded off one of my Eberle auto rookies (Donruss Rated Rookie) so I feel like I needed to balance it off and bring in a new one and a few months ago I managed to get a Red version of a card I already owned and loved.

10-11 Panini Certified Jordan Eberle Auto Rookie Parallel Red /100

Red front and numbered 14 unlike my regular version of this card. Also a different coloured swatch which is also a great feature since they look amazing paired up.

Here is the back, nearly identical except it is numbered to 100. Not a bad addition and pleased to have it in my possession. I am tempted to try for the other parallels but probably won't actively pursue it since many have been probably scooped up and sit in collections or are still buried in packs.

So here is what I bought with my Brendan Gallagher Loot - Part 6

So the posts on this topic are dwindling down and the last two are both fun ones. The 10-11 rookie year in my opinion is one of the best since 07-08. You have Hall, Eberle, Skinner, Seguin, and Subban just to name a few. With that many awesome rookies, I was missing a few key ones from my collection. I have done well nabbing some interesting ones over the years including an Eberle from the 10-11 Certified set which is one of my favourites. What I really like about this set is unlike MANY products which feature rookie memorabilia, these ones are actually GAME USED! Sure the autos are stickers but you need to remember this stuff came out really early in the season so to have game used stuff right off the bat is pretty awesome.

10-11 Panini Certified Jeff Skinner Auto Rookie Parallel Red /100

One of the players I have been missing from my collection was a mid-range Jeff Skinner rookie. I also didn't have any of his autographs yet so when I saw this beauty up for auction, I knew I had a fair bit of funds left to try and go after it. It turns out, I didn't have to go any where near my max! This rookie is numbered out of 100 and features a cool auto with his number 53. Funny thing is there have been a number of other players to have worn 53 in the NHL before including Khabibulin, Chara and Derek Morris.

After winning the Calder, Skinner had slumped a bit in years two and three but this year he is on a tear. Last night he scored his first career hat trick and is on pace to put up another 30 goal season despite missing 11 games already due to injury. What sometimes gets easily forgotten is Skinner is only 21 years old and he has an incredible future ahead of him as he keeps developing.

10-11 Certified Nick Bonino Red Rookie Parallel

Nick is a victim of a horrible looking rookie card photo. However, I am not a victim picking up a great auto rookie parallel for less than 2 bucks shipped. I believe he could be a good second line center for the Ducks if he continues to develop. He has shown some great potential already this season including a 3 goal, 4 point night against LA on Feb 2.

10-11 Certified Red Nick Bonino Rookie /250

I have a hard time reading this auto as Nick, sort of looks like Nat B...but a blue sharpie on card auto is what this is and I certainly couldn't pass it up. 

Cheap Chiros Part 2

So the first two autos weren't that great, but I do promise there are some good autos in that lot. Here are the next couple from the lot. 

10-11 Certified Philip Larsen Rookie Auto /1299

Philip has a beautiful signature...behold! His offensive game is offensive, but he does chew up NHL minutes and was a +11 last season in 55 games.


10-11 SP Authentic Colby Cohen Future Watch Rookie /999

Here is a nice on-card auto of a player I had never heard of before. Sounds like a good excuse to do research right? Well what did I find, that he was in the NHL for a brief 3 game stint. However, he has been toiling between ECHL and AHL with very limited production so I would safely say that his NHL career is likely over as far as cardboard is concerned.

10-11 Luxury Suite Zac Dalpe Rookie /499

I have a few rookies and autos of this guy and if he EVER makes it big, I am going to strike it rich!! Slowly I am losing faith with each passing year, but anything is possible as injuries and trades happen and much like Zach Boychuk, Zac Dalpe may find his chance with another organization.

There you go, a bunch of good old rookie autos which brings the total to 5 autos down, 12 more to go!

At long last.....

Patience is a virtue and patience pays off, I finally got myself a big fish! The guys at the LCS gave me a deal I couldn't refuse a while back and here it is. This one is definitely top 10 in my collection.

Nick Spaling Auto

This recent pick-up of mine isn't going to make many people jealous. But at the same time, it was far too good of a deal to pass up.

Nick Spaling is a current NHL'er who has played every year with the Nashville Predators. That is strike one against him. He isn't an offensive dynamo, but does fill in well into a 3rd or 4th center role and he does this rather well. That is strike two. The $1 price tag ensures that there was no strikeout here!

Love these cards, I know I have said it many times but still, a great deal and nice auto. If anyone out there has more of these Certified autos and wants to unload them, I certainly wouldn't mind making an offer!



Card of the Week - Sam Gagner

Hard to imagine anyone having a better week than Sam Gagner. What does a kid fresh off the first 8 point night since the 80's do? How does a three point night sound? Since the all-star break, Sam has 6 goals and 6 assists in 3 games. Not too bad considering he had only 5 goals and 21 points in the previous 42 games. Now Sam is on pace to top his rookie totals which are his career highs at the moment. The next few weeks will be very interesting for Mr. Gagner as his trade value has increased and the Oilers are still looking to retool their team for future success.

I know the Devils could be interested with their problems filing the Center position with healthy bodies and having a surplus of talented young defensemen could bode well for a future trade....but I am not holding my breath on that one.

My collection of Sam Gagner's increased by one recently (and before the 8 point game) with this card..


10-11 Certified Mirror Blue Materials #58
As I have mentioned before, I really like Certified cards on the secondary market. This card was a part of a decent sized lot of 10-11 Certified inserts and game used cards so the price per card was in the $1.50 range. The front side features the photo on foilboard with a smallish swatch of blue jersey.

The back side

The backs feature the card numbered out of 100 along with stats and a write-up. Like a broken record, I will say this is how Game-Used cards should be. I will certainly buy these cards all day at a buck fifty a pop. In fact, if I didn't have too many partial sets and limited cash, I would like to try and build the Mirror Blue Materials set.

How I received the card: Lot purchase from eBay

Beckett Value: 4-10 dollars