11-12 Upper Deck Ryan Nugent Hopkins Young Gun

My BFAM Tom has been a fantastic friend completing a number of trades with me. One day he told me about the tin of 11-12 Upper Deck Series 1 he was given by a LCS and I wished him luck and even said I hope he pulls a RNH rookie. Sure enough, he did! What else did he pull? Brett Connolly. So being the nice guy I am I told him he did very well on his box and told him how awesome the cards actually were. I then proceeded to offer up an extra Brodeur auto I had and he was game for the deal!

Gotta love when both sides are happy on a trade and as much as I like Brodeur, I definitely wanted this card which has eluded me so far and felt I could spare an auto for the biggest Brodeur fan I know.


11-12 Upper Deck Ryan Nugent Hopkins Young Gun

I would have had that same look on my face had I pulled this card! The Oilers are hopefully going to turn the corner finally on their rebuild and RNH is one of their players I would say are a cornerstone for their future and this past year he proved it by leading the team in goals with Jordan Eberle (24) and finishing second in team scoring with 56 points.

11-12 UD Tin Break

Just before Christmas, I was shopping for others and buying for myself which included an 11-12 UD tin. Each tin had 12 packs so 3 Young Guns were possible along other wonderful inserts. Truth be told, I am starting to hate all the inserts like EA Sports Dream Team or Ambassadors or whatever they are throwing in these days. I do like the Canvas parallels but apart from that unless it is signed or game-used, I just have no interest in plain insert cards. So, here are the hits straight up...

11-12 UD Sean Couturier Young Gun

Sean Couturier was the biggest hit of the box. Sean was the 8th overall pick in 2011 and as been in the NHL since day 1. He has yet to find his offensive stride but as long as Philly is patient with this kid I think they will have a winner on their hands soon.

11-12 UD Teemu Hartikainen Young Gun

Wow an Oiler.....hard to believe I am disappointed getting an Oiler Young Gun but I am. Teemu will unfortunately be making another appearance on here in the near future.

11-12 UD Erik Gudbranson Young Gun

Chris Pronger without the offensive skill? A much more offensive Brad Marsh? Yep that is Erik Gudbranson, he is stay at home perfection. A player you would want on your team hands down but not want to ever pull from a pack of cards....ok maybe not that bad, I am actually happy pulling this as he is a former Canadian World Junior and I respect a good stay at home man.

11-12 UD Game Jersey Tuukka Rask

So despite Toronto giving up on him and sending him to Boston for Andrew Raycroft, Rask didn't exactly get revenge in this past round of the playoffs. Boston did win, but Rask was pretty shaky and unless Boston starts to tighten up defensively I suspect Rask and the boys will be out on the course before long.

Well there you have it, a tin which was the equivalent of half a retail box. I did reasonably well for 25 dollars which was the sale price down from 40. I also have a load of base cards which means I likely buy a hobby box some day and chase the base set of Series 1. Also in the box was an oversized Winter Classic card but I assure you, you aren't interested in seeing that :)

Don't Be Saad, Marcus is here but all good things must end.

The series of Blackhawk posts are about to end with their future. What Chicago has accomplished the last 9 years or has been remarkable. They were a club in the NHL basement, they won a Cup, got in trouble with the cap, blew up their team, and then rebuilt themselves into a power house once again. Not only do they look pretty good now, but with a collection of solid prospects they Hawks look good going forward. Here are two such prospects:  

11-12 Upper Deck Brandon Saad Rookie

 Brandon was off to a slow start this season but recently has picked it up scoring 12 points in the past 11 games and is seeing a little more ice time as a result.

11-12 Upper Deck Marcus Kruger Rookie

 Unlike the wing position, the centre position is a little more jam-packed so Marcus isn't getting the same ice time as Brandon mostly because they are pretty deep at the centre position with Toews, Bolland and Shaw all getting their fair share of ice. Still, he is making pretty good use of his time and in another season or two should be a pretty solid second-line centre.

11-12 Titanium New Wave Autos Brandon Saad (Exchange)

Here is an auto of Brandon Saad to go with my three Kruger autos. This is a rookie year signature of Brandon which isn't the same as an auto rookie, but sometimes that is just good enough!

So there you have it, a few Hawks related posts in honour of my favourite original 6 team. I will be back to posting about everything else in my collection with little rhyme or reason to the order! Thanks for checking in.