10-11 Zenith Derek Stepan Rookie Roll Call Jersey

Normally I don't card too much for Rangers and steer clear of them, this particular one I grabbed because of what Derek did at the 2010 WJHC where he scored 14 points in just 7 games. He out scored Hall and Eberle along with many other current NHLers.



10-11 Zenith Derek Stepan Rookie Roll Call Jersey

Just a simple Nufex card that looks pretty cool in person. I wouldn't have spent 2 dollars on this card at all so thankfully I was able to land it for 1.50! This year Derek is off to a bit of a slow start but I feel he is due for a break out year and Ranger fans likely agree so best of luck Derek and hopefully you take it easy on my Devils!

Lets Rip Some Wax - 8 Packs of 10-11 Zenith

I love wax as much as any other collector, but sometimes I find myself having trouble justifying buying a box and ending up with a pile of useless base cards (because I don't want to chase the set) and a few hits which are hit and miss sometimes. So what I do myself is try and balance the packs, boxes and singles to optimize fun and success. Well just before Christmas I bought myself 8 packs of Zenith as a gift to myself and here are the results. You may find my luck unbelievable, so I must say they were supposedly "hot" packs.

Hit 1 Antropov, Boulton, Pavelec Mosaics

Talk about a Motley Crew. I don't know ANYONE on the planet who would want this card or think this card is a good idea. The design is cool, don't get me wrong but these three guys? It would be like getting a trio card with Pelle Eklund, Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget.

Hit 2 Jared Boll Winter Warriors

Here is a hit that would hurt if it happened. Mr. Boll has appeared in a break before, and I am just as excited as the last time.

Hit 3 Michael Del Zotto

Mike has loads of offensive talent and it ends there. For a defenseman that can be problematic which is why he spend some of 10-11 in the minors despite an awesome rookie campaign.

Hit 4 Oliver Eckman-Larsson /498

Not sure if my card is an error or not, but my version is numbered out of 498 where the guide suggests it is out of 499. A couple for sale online also say 498 so who really knows. Best  hit of the lot by far and Oliver is off to a pretty good start this season too (7 points in 11 games).

Not a hit, but a pretty good card

In with my next hit was this card. Wish it was Dustin Tokarski, but a rookie is a rookie.

Hit 5 George Parros Epix /100

Very cool looking card or another tough customer. I am sensing a theme here. 

Hit 6 Chris Neil Yours Truly Auto

A very cool auto of a tough guy. These autos are nice, huge space for an on-card auto and his signature is pretty solid.


Hit 7 Tartar/Lidstrom/Zetterberg Mosaics

Ok, this group of three makes a little more sense. Three very good players with one being a prospect and the other two being established stars.

Well there you have it, a small wax fix with 7 out of 8 yielding a hit. It was all fun, but apart from the Ekman-Larson I can certainly live without them. Anyone interested in any of these hits, let's make a deal! Thanks for stopping by.

Luck of the Crosby?

There really hasn't been much money in my budget these days for packs, but I did get a blaster of Zenith a while back when a local hole-in-the-wall second hand store had blasters of Zenith for 14 bucks. I took a chance on one and it appears Sidney has taken a liking to me. This is the third game used Crosby I have pulled in the last year and personally, I don't mind!

The blaster also yielded a Rookie Roll Call Derek Stepan and a nobody rookie I don't even remember now!

Alex Vasyunov Redemption

Last summer before the hockey season started, I made a trade with Luke from the cardboard review. The trade was pretty simple; I sent him a Joe Thornton Acetate card in exchange for two Devils rookie cards. One of those cards was a Panini Luxury Suite Alex Vasyunov rookie redemption. However, Wednesday September 7th happened and Alex was on board with the Lokomotiov Yaroslavl team and perished with his team mates. Like the rest of the hockey world, I certainly mourned the loss of both Alex Vasyunov and Karl Rachunek. The story of how Alex even ended up in the KHL was clearly one of choice. The Devils made it clear to Alex with the large number of young forwards in our system, a spot on the Devils roster was not guaranteed and a two-way deal would be the only one on the table. Alex, wanting to play top-level hockey decided to reject the Devils 2-way offer on June 28th and play the upcoming season in the KHL. The Devils were fine with this choice as Alex would play a decent level of hockey and would still be their property when he decides to return back to the NHL.

Amazing what could happen from the outcome of one choice. If he had taken the two way deal, he would certainly still be here with us today instead of being apart of one of the greatest tragedies in hockey history.

Well, Panini the other day honoured my redemption request after over 9 months. The card they sent wasn’t an Alex Vasyunov autograph, it wasn’t even from the Luxury Suite set. Here is what I got instead:

This card is from the 10/11 Zenith Set.

Nick Leddy isn’t a name I was very familiar with. Doing a little bit of research, he is a defenseman with some offensive potential. This past season, Leddy put up 37 points which was second to Keith’s 43 points among Chicago’s D-Men. Hockey’s Future ranks Leddy a 7.5 which translates into an Ehrhoff or Tallinder calibre defenseman. I am pretty happy with the substitution, but of course I certainly wish this tragedy hadn’t happened, but it did and this appears to be how Panini is dealing with those redemptions.